Room Share in Hoi An
I'm travelling alone and in a few days I plan to go and visit Hoi An. However, I've noticed on Hostel World that the hotel prices are quite high for my budget in Hoi An and I was wondering if anyone knew of any forums or websites where you can find people who are looking to share rooms with?3
To be honest, if anyone tried to nick my stuff they'd be pretty disappointed! I don't even have a mobile phone. Plus I do have padlocks and bike locks to secure my bag just in case anyone thought to nick it without checking it. I've stayed with a few people I've met along the way and it's all been fine - you just have to be cautious. So you think wander about and try to find somewhere? My experience so far is that hostelworld generally has a good grasp of the going rate for accomodation in places...5
An idea of your budget may help,lots of cheap hotels in Hoi An.6
Having your things stolen is not really a big issue coz those things can be replaced if necessary. What you should really be concerned is if your “new friend” gets involved in crime and you are somehow dragged into troubles as well. Not sure about the situation in VN but in Thailand if you are with your “new buddy” who gets busted for serious crime such as having illegal drugs then you will also be considered guilty, guilty by association and the consequences are far more worse than having a few of your things stolen. The article below tells a story of a Brit gal who shared a room in a Bangkok guesthouse with someone she barely knew and got into BIG trouble:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/apr/16/tracymcveigh.theobserver
I have just come back home from a 4.5 months backpacking around SEA and while staying in Thailand for a month in Sep 2012, I narrowly avoided getting into the kind of trouble that Brit gal in the article above experienced, ie, I happened to be with someone (a French tourist) I barely knew who was in possession of drugs. Sounded scary?? It did and it still scares the sh!t out of me every time I reminisce the situation.
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I've shared with quite a few people since I've been here and had no problems, but cheers for the heads up. It's pretty common to meet people and share rooms with them.And yes, the budget is really tight. It shouldn't have been, but had a couple of situations at home just before I left but I didn't want to concel my trip. $20 a night is far too much, I've been averaging on about $5 or less. I'll just check out couch surfing or bite the bullet and hope the budget evens out somewhere else!
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#9: "so your saying that anyone who is associated with someone who has drugs on them is arrested"I did not say so, it actually has happened in a few cases. Did you read the article above? Here it is again in a different version:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/695809.stm
And here is another one, pls read the section about "Police raid
with the case of Rachel McGee".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/817015.stm
You know as I was well aware of these cases, that was why when I discovered the French tourist who I met, chatted and hung around with for just a few hours that night in Pattaya beach last month was in possession of drugs, without saying goodbye I took off fast just like a horsefly running away from a swatter and never to be seen again. I can't imagine myself being arrested and locked up in a Thai jail just simply because I hung out with an IDIOT who was stupid enough to have a dope-coke-crack in Thailand. Now it still scares me whenever I think of it to be honest.
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Hi Mozbie,I've given up on hostelworld and hostelbookers in SE Asia. Partly because there are so few dorm situations in that region, and partly because the way they list prices is so misleading--if you're searching for a room for one person, that is.
www.agoda.com often has online prices that are really low. If you go to their site and filter (along the right-hand side) to 1-star or not rated, you'll see that you can get rooms for as little as $13 in Hoi An (maybe more or less, depending on exact dates).
I'm a first-class cheapskate, but I can't imagine getting rooms in Vietnam regularly for $5 or under.
Have you tried the TT Travel Companions branch?
Good luck
Lee
