Dirty rooms, dirty dishes, dirty hippies... we've all stayed there. But every once in awhile you stumble upon a unique hostel that makes you realize why some people never graduate to the hotel scene.
Buccaneers Backpackers in Cintsa, South Africa is one of those spots. Set in the middle of the Wild Coast, the country's least developed bit of beach, Buccaneers has a location that screams future four-star hotels and makes you want to stay as long as possible before it gets touristed-up.
Skip the dorms and grab one of the two-person safari tents, which come complete with beds. Mounted on individual wooden decks, the tents overlook the mouth of the Cintsa River as it flows into the warm Indian Ocean. Starting at R90 ($10) a person, you'd be hard-pressed to find a cheaper room with this view anywhere in the world.
We love a spot of spontaneous travel. You know the kind: grab a guidebook at the last minute, hop on a plane, then make all your travel decisions on the fly. Recently the crew at Budget Travel sent writer Jason Cohen on a bit of a mystery trip so he could log the pros and cons of this kind of spontaneous trip.
He and his wife Susan ended up in southern Ecuador: Guayaquil, to be precise. With no advance knowledge of the attractions, transport or accommodation in southern Ecuador, Jason and Susan stumbled around the country--spending a stack of time in buses--but still experiencing a bit of the real Ecuador.
They made sure not to miss the equator at the Museo de Sitio Inti-ñan, where there are basically trick sinks that show the water draining clockwise and counter-clockwise, depending on which hemisphere you stand in. If that's all they really got to see on their spontaneous trip, we'd still rate that as worth it.
Getting cash while you're on a budget RTW trip isn't always easy, and every bank tries to slap on a few extras overseas withdrawal fees when you're not looking. But last week in Queenstown, New Zealand, a cash machine started giving backpackers double the money they were asking for.
The big bonus is that nobody's gonna ask them for the money back. A Kiwibank cash machine was incorrectly stocked, with $20 bills being placed in the $10 bill dispenser. Smart backpackers got the word around to their mates and for about six hours, long queues of happy travelers withdrew double their money. The bank says it made a mistake and won't be trying to reclaim the money. Now that's a holiday bonus.
What's with travel media and "X is the new Y?" Public enemy number one when it comes to the reductionist formulation would have to be the New York Times, which has another new Prague this week: Krakow, Poland.
Writer Denny Lee (turns out Denny is a good photographer as well) has some "fresh" "intelligence" from those who know the city best: a bunch of self-described bohemians. (We're suspicious.) Here's what a dozen expats got up to last October:
The group chatted about their creative endeavors as they polished off six-packs of Tatra Pilsener, smoked hand-rolled cigarettes and, at one point, began scrawling existential messages on the walls. Then, at about midnight, they headed off to Kitsch, a multilevel pansexual club on Ulica Wielopole, where they danced until the wee hours.
Looking for a holiday job in Australia? A car wash in Queensland capital Brisbane is advertising some vacant positions at the moment. They're looking for backpackers and travelers who want to earn some quick big bucks at this "small and exclusive car wash".
So what's the catch? Well, this is the Bubbles'n'Babes car wash and you've gotta be topless or nude to work there. It's a response to a drought-induced water shortage that's made it illegal for Brisbanites to wash their cars at home. Topless car washes start at $50, and full nudity (and a clean car) are $100.
A few locals have been complaining about the new business, but police and the local council say nothing illegal is going on: even the job ads makes it clear there's "no hustling and no touching".
The cops did ask for a screen on the street side of the car wash though:
We don't want any traffic accidents caused by people looking at the girls instead of looking at the road.
Safe driving then, and check it out if you want to make Aussie dollars fast.
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by BS
