Hotel Carly - A demon from Hell itself
Christian February 10th, 2008
We arrived in Buenos Aires 9th of February and decided to go cheap to make up for blowing our budget in Uruguay. We went to a place named Hotel Carly that was recommended in our Lonely Planet South America Book as a cheap but good place to stay. We get there and there were already some tell tale signs that this place wasn´t going to work out. Maybe it was the multiple people in the courtyard just staring into space, or the broken glass on almost every door….
We got to our room, it was small but manageable. However, the piss stains on the bed, not so much manageable. I think this is a situation that the silk sleep sheets could not help. Who knew, it could still be fresh and seep through them. Then to the bathrooms. They looked horrible, but we kept saying at least the showers would be seperate and better than the toilet rooms. Well I went in to explore. The showers were in the toilet rooms. This is very hard to explain, but let me give it a go. The shower was a pipe that came out of the wall and emptied down to the floor, right next to the toilet. Maybe it is the designers way of multitasking.. washing your hair while you are on the john…maybe it is not. Maybe it is designed like that so that they do not need to clean the bathrooms, so that when you shower, it cleans the toliet and the floor. Whatever it was, when I flushed the toilet the water overflowed onto the floor. So yes that is right you can stand in toilet water while showering. Casey and I quickly decided that this was not our cup of tea, even at $15 a night. We quickly ran to our first hostel to check for availability. They did..for 5 pesos more a night for the dorm. That is less that $3 for the two of us. The Puerto Limon looked like the Ritz at this point and we promptly made reservations for two nights. We then headed back to Hotel Carly to let them know we would not be staying.
Yerba Mate — This is a tea that everyone drinks down here all of the time out of a hollowed out gourd that looks like a bowl. It is full of caffine. Just a preface for what is to come….
We found the lady who checked us in drinking Yerba Mate and watching soccer. She must have been drinking Yerba Mate all day because she was pumped. At the first mention of not staying she jumped up and started yelling at me in Spanish. Thank god I know enough Spanish to keep up. She commanded that we pay for the room for the night even though we were only there for 20 minutes. I started to get loud back. This went on for 20 minutes of fighting, while the other people in the room (Americans with the Lonely Planet Guide Book) looked up like what the hell is going on..the kind of look that said ¨what the hell did we get ourselves into¨. Casey and I abandoned the lady and went for our bags. When we came back down, she came off her Yerba Mate high and was more reasonable. I managed to only pay for half a day. $3.50 a piece at this point was a price I was willing to pay to leave the depths of hell. Walking into the Puerto Limon was so refreshing after that. Pay the extra $2.00 and stay three blocks away if you are ever stuck between the two in San Telmo.
- Argentina
- Comments(11)
Oh my gosh, I can hear Casey’s high pitched, “Ewwwwwww!” all the way in the States! haha, thanks for the tip on never staying somewhere with a combined shower/toilet.
Hey Case, your cousin Stefan here. Man, I just got done writing you somewhat of a lenghty reply, and my computer kicked me off, me losing everything I wrote. Taking too much time I guess. Alright, so quickly then… I’m envious of you guys as I’m a “Roadman” of sorts myself. “Roadman” just so happens to be the name of my poetry manuscript getting copywrited as we speak and hopefully published within the year. But you two…niiiiice. I love to travel, too. Congrats! Ya know, I’ve traveled all over Europe- Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, etc. Ofcourse I was in a baby carriage or in the back of my dad’s backpack. So I don’t remember JACK! LOL. You two take care. Don’t drink local water, less u have to. Be wary of overly friendly locals, and as the Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy says on the front: “Don’t Panic!” Write to you soon…Stef.
The place my husband stays when he’s in Sweden is very similar. There is no tub or shower stall of any sort. (I can’t remember if there’s a curtain). The water just hits the bathroom floor (there’s a drain right in the middle). You’re supposed to then squeegee the floor after you’re done showering. Maybe it’s their way of eliminating the need to mop. Otherwise I can’t quite figure out why anyone thinks this is a good idea.
The overflowing toilet into the “shower”–that’s disgusting.
Your stories are very enjoyable, sounds like you are having a nice time.
Hey Casey and Christian! Sounds like you two are having quite the experience! Pictures look great, keep us filled in on your adventures! Be safe!
haha, i know exactly what you mean with hostel horrors! we had black scorpions last night!!!!
Hi Guys,
Looks like you are having a lot of fun,With anything comes some pain,but the joy and fun always over shadows the bad.We are following you guys.
Take care of her,Christian she is our joy.
Memmers&BopBOP Love you
You to Christian a little bit
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Hope you are having fun, be safe
Hi Christian & Casey,
It sounds like you’re well into your adventure now. Keep documenting everything that you see and everything that you experience. You’ll want to look back on this trip for years to come.
I just wanted to suggest that you ask at the hotel front desks to look at the room they will rent you before putting down your credit card. Knowing that they might lose your business, you might get better accommodations.
We’re all living vicariously through you two, so have fun out there.
Chris, you are such a good writer…very comical too! I love reading your adventures! Be safe and take care of my beloved daughter.
WOW! I mean, WOW! Can’t even start asking questions. I would go on forever. Love the cooking aprone(did you bring the body tatto outfit). Can’t wait for the next update. Hope your both staying in good health, your both in my prayers.