More than meets the eye

I don’t think I have ever written a post solely to describe a hostel, but this time I found it a special enough experience that deserves a separate entry.

I have a love-and-hate relationship with the hostel we are staying in in San Pedro de Atacama. The day we checked in, we started right away to look for some alternative place; we were planning to stay in San Pedro for some 10 days and I couldn’t imagine spending all this time in the hostel I had just seen.

To start with, Atacama Desert in the winter is not the hottest place one can imagine (I refer you to Marc’s post on temperatures). It is no big deal during the day, but the temperature drops radically at night. Well, all common spaces in the hostel are located in the inside court and even to go to a washroom or use the showers one needs to go outdoors. To take a shower I always carefully choose the moment when the sun shines the strongest. If one is unfortunate enough to use the toilet at night, big boots and a coat are necessary.

Although the kitchen is fortunately indoors, it is too small to hold more than 2-3 people at once and, frankly, it is not the nicest place to spend time, so we usually try to get out as soon as possible. And the rooms are bare, quite dark and quite cold – I sleep under three covers AND inside my sleeping bag.

Why are we staying here, one might ask? Well, I’m willing to believe that this place emits some magical magnetic forces that draws me to here and make me love it despite all the shortcomings.

Practically every night after sunset there is a big bonfire in the middle of the interior court. Everybody draws near it, of course, and there is always a bottle of wine circling around and lots of laughs and a strange sense of community (only partially related to alcohol) :)

The owners of the hostel are both French and they are both very direct and friendly. One of the owners, in fact, reminds me a little bit of my mum; she takes such a good care of us, she is very warm, but doesn’t hesitate to scold us if we come back too late from an escapade to the desert (“Finally! Where have you been?! I have almost called carabinieros to look for you” – these were the words of greeting when we came back after the stargazing trip a little before 11pm).

During our stay in the hostel we had a movie night featuring a fantastic documentary “Nostalgia of the light”, followed by a discussion at the fire. And soon after our departure, there will be a presentation on the project ALMA, the largest telescope on Earth currently being built not far from San Pedro. And this is just the beginning. The owners’ plan is to turn the hostel into a cultural centre for tourists, as well as for the locals. They are building up a library, giving French courses to locals, and organizing a weekly chess club for all willing to play.

It is also quite incredible how easy it is to make new friends here. After staying in the hostel for a bit over a week, I already exchanged emails with at least 10 people! This has never happened to me before.

I hated this place when I arrived here and now I hate to think I will have to leave. But the owners have built so much more than a barren hostel here. I cross my fingers for the owners and hope the hostel will only get better!!