Upon arrival in Beijing we escaped out of the sprawling airport which seemed to go on for miles and miles and raced into the city. Our first stop was the Far East International Youth Hostel. Samarra had gotten good reviews from her friends about the place and so she booked us a room for three the first few nights and for four when our friend Sarah joined us.
The hostel is very close to sights such as Tiananmen Square and the Mao Mausoleum, or Maosuleum as we affectionately called it. Unfortunately, they never received our reservation and instead of the traditional courtyard hostel we got stuck in what I like to call the dungeon.
The dungeon comes complete with four racks, I mean beds, and four lockers to store your stuff. As we were three we had an additonal person who tended to creep in at late night hours. He did his best to be quiet though. As you can see, Samarra is giving her bed a stern lecture about comfort and hospitality. Though at the prices we were paying the bed was probably rolling its eyes.
The Far East International Youth Hostel also had an in house restaurant that served buffet style breakfast as well as a dinner and lunch menu split with Western & Eastern dishes.
Delicious. Yeah, my heart and arteries were probably blanching, but I was on vacation.
Delicious. Yeah, my heart and arteries were probably blanching, but I was on vacation.
After Sarah arrived we did manage to get into the traditional courtyard hostel across the street. Their traveller’s cafe was cool to hang out in and chat up other backpackers or just hang out and grab a beer or two.
Much nicer than the dungeon, don’t you agree?
My whole feelings about the hostel changed once were in the traditional courtyard. The atmosphere was more congenial and there were more people out and about socializing. The ambience was just a lot more welcoming.
Even the room was nicer with twin bunkbeds. It all felt like a big slumber party except that no one did each other’s hair or dished the dirt on who was sleeping with who or whispered how dreamy JT looked in his latest video. Shudder. So all in all it was probably better than a slumber party.
The hostel also doesn’t skimp on the recreational options.
Though we never around that much we did pop inside to play some pool and just watch their neat looking fish tank.
Watch out folks, she’s a hustler.
All in all the Far East International Youth Hostel proved to be a fine place to stay. Just be sure to book your room in the traditional Chinese courtyard. Oh, I forgot to mention the manic pet chipmunk they keep on premises. See below:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3BlT6d9WAw]
