Past the stage of tolerating hostel hells

I've been attracted by hostels that, in my eyes, stand for youth, traveling and enjoying yourself wherever possible.

Before the long holiday, I searched online and found several hostels in a southern city. I made a call and reserved a room with a "big bed" at an old hostel with solid reputation. My friend and I landed in the picturesque city and looked for the hostel. Mysteriously, it was not at the place I thought it should be.

Finally, we arrived at a bar, which had a small board, pointing to the youth hostel upstairs. A young lady at the bar gave me a key to a room on the fourth floor. It had been a long time since I had seen cement floors or wooden doors with cracks during my travels.

An old big bed in the room was beaming with perfume left by previous guests and camphor balls to keep off borers. The window was locked. I couldn't stand the smell. The lady said the only room with ventilation was for three people at 170 yuan ($24). So be it.

A big bed equipped with three sets of quilts and pillows filled the room. There was a TV in a hole on the wall. But I couldn't tune in any programs on the screen.

It was dusk at around 7 pm. We turned on the light but it was still too dark to read or play chess. Luckily, there was a DVD player with the TV in the corridor. But the old TV had a dark screen and low sound. We chose Stephen Chow's Kungfu Hustle. Having watched it so many times, we didn't need to see or hear it to know what's happening.

Other guests soon showed up. Almost all of them were foreigners. Changing into slippers, many of them headed for the bar downstairs. Suddenly, I heard a heavy thump and a shriek. A guest had tripped on the slippery steps and rolled downstairs.

It was only 10 pm by the time we finished the blurred movie. The miniature bathroom had a strong smell coming from a small pool on the floor. I washed my face in a hurry and got into the bed.

Ouch, it was a bed laid with bricks, just like the kang bed in the northern villages. During then night I kept on twisting and turning and woke up the next morning aching all over.

At dawn, we checked out and headed for a regular hotel. Not far away, we spotted one. At 90 yuan ($13), we got ourselves big, soft beds, a bright, finely equipped bathroom, TV and a desk. We could even order books over the phone. I rejoiced at returning to the earthly world and almost got into the bed for a nap immediately.

I finally realized that I am not the kind of "spiritual youth" to enjoy the youth hostel. After all, I don't have a particular longing for overcoming materialistic difficulties to reach sublimity.

(China Daily 02/27/2008 page20)