South America Awards – Part 1

Brrrm ba da booom! Ba boooooom! That’s the textual equivalent of a drumroll, and this is your official welcome to Eastlondoncurlontour’s Award Ceremony of Travelling South America. I am well aware that this may not interest all of you. But what the hell – this will crystalise my nostalgia and make my otherwise workaday day more amusing for me. And Sam.

Essex girls may remember 1999’s edge-of-your-seat, utterly unmissable Kibbutz Awards which I just found tucked away in my hotmail account (for a DECADE!) and which were the inspiration for this post. I’d also like to thank my parents, God, and all the fans… Right, enough of the acceptance speech, let’s get to the prizes…

So, the categories (to be said a la Ross in the Friends Game Show Episode talking about Monica’s towels) are:

Hostels
Best bar
Best Breakfast
Best fellow travellers
Worst hostel experience
Best Hostel

Trips and Places
Best beach
Best trip
Worst trip
Favourite place
Favourite local
Best Meal

HOSTELS

BEST BAR:
Nominees: Milhouse, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Loki, La Paz (Bolivia); Pit Stop, Medellin (Colombia); Stone of A Beach, Rio (Brazil).

And the winner is…..

LOKI LA PAZ
Fighting off the competition in a very strong category, with Milhouse boasting DJs and drinks nights, the Pit Stop’s great atmos and Stone of a Beach’s rooftop spa pool, Loki La Paz sweeps in and takes the bar honours. Benefitting from Bolivia’s bargain basement beverage prices, the bar at Loki is a centre for South American hedonism. What’s more, we were lucky enough to enjoy it with a certain Kitty, Boulanger and Malcomia… With its decadent decor, perfect pool table and long benches for meeting other travellers, even the over-loud music and too-smoky atmosphere can’t dull its shine.

 

Loki Bar. Loki is the Norse god of mischief, fact fans.

BEST FREE BREAKFAST:
Travelling from lovely location to lovely location is hungry work, especially for a girl who guzzles her breakfast like me. To tempt travellers, hostels often offer a free morning meal. Some, however, are better than others…
Nominees: Hostal de Sammy, Santiago (Chile); Mellow Yellow, Rio (Brazil); Stone of a Beach, Rio (Braziil) Moon and Stars Pousada, Ilha Grande (Brazil).

And the winner is:

HOSTAL DE SAMMY, SANTIAGO
It’s telling that only the richest of countries we visited were even nominated in this important category. After (s)he’s crossed the border into Bolivia a traveller is lucky to get even a stale piece of bread and jam (thanks, Loki La Paz) thrown in for free. Our other nominees put up a good fight with their ham, cheese, fruit, toast and cake options, but Charles of Hostal de Sammy made his brekkie stand out from the rest.  Three kinds of freshly home-baked bread, expertly cooked eggs, buttermilk pancakes and fistfuls of fruit is what it takes to win this fiercely coveted award.

Mmmm

BEST FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Nominees: The Point, Cusco (Peru); Aquario, Ilha Grande (Brazil); Milhouse, Buenos Aires (Argentina); The YHA Sucre (Bolivia)

And the winner is…

MILHOUSE, BUENOS AIRES
In Ilha Grande our crew rolled about 20 deep, with a winning mix of Yaniv-master Israelis and Brits. In Sucre, the guys at the YHA were uber-friendly and welcoming and made the city a delight. And those pleasing peeps at the Point were really the gang we’d first met at Milhouse. But it’s that BA institution that swipes the prize as there, Sam and I managed to meet the folk who’d remain some of our faves for the entire trip. We played poker with deceptively sweet-looking hustler Sarah. We made a pact with North London boys Jez and Fayez that if they managed to spend our duff pesos they’d owe us a beer. (It took them four months to pay up….) We had a ridiculous Sunday session with Alex and Ben. Whenever a Milhousonion popped up on the journey, a good time was guaranteed.  

Milhouse - ran by fave Argentinian, Mariano

 

WORST HOSTEL EXPERIENCE
Nominees: Mellow Yellow, Rio; All of the salt flats hostels, Bolivia; Hostel Wadi, Copacabana (Bolivia); Sol y Mar, Mancora (Peru);

And the winner is…

SOL Y MAR, MANCORA
Yes, at Hostel Wadi we slept only fitfully, having to ensure that not a single limb escaped from our sleeping bags lest it brush against the stinking sheets. Yes, we were forced to move rooms 4 times in a single night to escape the bedbugs, AND have all our luggage fumigated at Mellow Yellow. And yes, in the unheated Salt Flats hostels, temperatures plunged so low that if we needed the loo in the night we had to break the ice off the bowl before weeing. But none of these compares to the sheer horribleness of being attached by hundreds of locusts/cockroaches (we’re not sure now) whilst in our bed. As chain hostels Loki and the Point have now opened brand spanking new houses in the Peruvian beach resort, I’m thinking Sol y Mar’s days in the sun are numbered.

A plague on both your beach huts

 

BEST HOSTEL
On a trip such as this, the place you stay is make or break. Hostels have a huge influence on whether you enjoy a location. They’re information gold mines, meeting hubs and the starting point for numerous nights out. The best of the bunch will ensure memories of the place they’re situated stay forever sweet.

Much as how, in the Oscars, each of the Best Film nominees are profiled before the big announcement, here’s the inside info about Eastlondoncurlontour’s top hostels in South America.

Hostel Inn, Iguazo (Argentina)
Whoever had the idea of turning a giant casino into one of the coolest hostels in South America got it right. Hostel Inn sits lavishly on the road from Puerto Iguazo to the famous cataratas (waterfalls) and offers a sparkling swimming pool, giant lounge area, pool AND table tennis tables, free interet usage and what I’d wager is the best hostel bbq on the planet. Argentine meat is heaven on a plate. As if this isn’t enough, the kitchen is partly open-air, there is a twice-weekly free samba show and a bambu cocktail bar by the pool. Mine’s a caiparina, cheers.

A very cool hostel

Hostel Aquario, Ilha Grande (Brazil)
To reach Hostel Aquario travellers must carry their backpacks accross a stunning stretch of sandy beach, hopping over streams which wind their sinuous way to the sea. Our double room was more like a hotel than a hostel, with a bright orange flower on the wall, oh-so-comfy bed, and private bathroom. When we were quiet we could hear the waves lapping on the shore.  Although their BBQ party wasn’t a patch on Hostel Inn’s it was still pretty darn tasty.

Pequenos pieces of paradise

Hotel Bambu, Canoa (Ecuador)
With bamboo huts arranged around resort style gardens, fragrant with the scent of exotic blooming flowers, daily cocktail hour, table tennis, plentiful hammocks and mozzie nets as standard, it’s no wonder that Hotel Bambu trapped us in lovely Canoa. Views of the beach from the deckchairs and the best food in town helped this gorgeous place wrestle its way into the top five.

Bambu-zled by loveliness

The Pit Stop, Medellin (Colombia)
I’ve already detailed how this hostel just got everything right in the blog, so here’s a quick recap. A big, clean TV room, open 24 hours with a dazzling array of movies. A huge, spotless kitchen. A pool. A bar open 24-7. Excellent bathrooms. Comfy beds in a spacious dorm. Friendly, cool, and not to mention hot staff. A secret house at the back for post-club fun without waking up the rest of the hostel. Goodlooking fellow travellers. A monster supermercado down the road. Seriously, who could ask for more?

Not the pits stop at The Pit Stop

Mellow Yellow, Rio (Brazil)
It is a mark of the sheer quality of Copacabana Beach’s Mellow Yellow that it makes the top 5 DESPITE its troublesome bedbug infestation. The knowledgable, friendly staff give all the best info on where to go and what to do, and the hostel runs unbeatable trips and tours. Transporting 40 travellers to the Macarena Stadium for the Rio State final was an impressive feat of logistics and a Latin American highlight. The bar is buzzy and atmospheric, the TV room basically a rundown cinema, and the chillout room warm, cosy and hammock-strewn. There’s even a spa pool; no wonder the Mellow Yellow Tshirt is one of the most coveted fashion items on the Gringo Trail.

They call it Mellow Yellow... because that*s its name...

 And the winner is….

The Pitt Stop, Medellin
For all the reasons above…. (I just COULDN’T give it to the bedbug place….)