When I finally arrived, I took a tuk-tuk to the 11 Happy Hostel. Why that one? Because that's the hostel I found on Workaway (a site where backpackers find work in exchange for accommodation) looking for someone to paint a mural on one of their walls. Not only would I have a free place to stay but will also get to paint a mural. A win-win situation, or so it seemed.
When I arrived, the person I had emailed wasn't there so I was given a room and told she wouldn't be back till very late. My room was very small and the view from the balcony included a large clump of barbed wire. That said, it probably wasn't the worst room I've slept in on this trip. I went to their rooftop bar to get a bite to eat and it quickly became clear that 11 Happy is a total party hostel. Just the kind of place I've been trying to avoid.
 |
| The stunning view from my balcony. |
This morning, I went to see if the person who I was supposed to talk to was in yet. She wasn't. I waited in my room for a while then went back downstairs. The woman I was supposed to meet finally showed up. We talked for a bit and she showed me the wall she wanted me to paint. It was huge. It would take me at least three days to finish. We talked for a while and I showed her a couple sketches of ideas I had. She clearly didn't like them but didn't say so. Then she got up and left. I waited at least thirty minutes for her to reappear. During that time, I made a new sketch. I showed it to her and she said she had to show it to her business partner before I started.
At that point, I gave up. I knew it would be more stress than it was worth. I told her I didn't want to paint the mural. I said I would pay for the night I spent there and leave. She said that wasn't possible because it was past checkout time so I have to spend another night here and check out tomorrow morning.
After that unpleasant interaction, I was stressed and needed to get away from the hostel. I hired a tuk-tuk to take me to the Russian Market. The Russian Market is a huge market selling all manner of goods but I wanted to talk to a tailor about getting a new vest made. Despite the multiple repairs I've made, the vest is still falling apart. I talked to a couple tailors before finally finding a guy who said he could copy my vest and have it done by tomorrow evening. He told me how much material he needed and I walked to the part of the market with fabric vendors. I found materials I liked and haggled for a price.
Tomorrow I'm going to check out of this terrible hostel. I wrote someone on Couchsurfing about crashing at his place but if I don't hear back I'll just find a quieter hostel. I'm tired of the challenges of traveling solo in Southeast Asia so on Thursday I'm flying to Tokyo to visit my friend Oona. I will stay a week or so there but I'm not sure where I'll head after that.
No comments:
Post a Comment