Having covered all I needed to see in Ica, I decided to leave a day earlier and head into Lima. So after a 5 hour bus ride, I caught a taxi and headed to San Borja to a hostel address for “Happy Up Here Hostel” (without a booking), which I had taken off one of the famous hostel booking website, in the hope that there would be a bed available. And if not, availability of other hostels in the area.
When I arrived in the area, I was surprised to find that it was a residential area, and the address brought me to the doorstep of a house! There was no hostel name on the front, and so I decided to try my luck and ring the bell.
An old lady came at the door and I asked if it was a hostel, which she replied yes. Thus I asked if there was a bed available, and she subsequently asked if I had a reservation, which of course I did not. She replied saying that she did not have any beds available, but hesitated for a while and asked me to wait.
After a few minutes, she came back out with a book, which I assumed contained all the reservations, and she mumbled something in Spanish about not having any beds available and that I am a lady plus at this hour, and subsequently opened the door for me, and asked me to come in and head to the 3rd floor to wait.
It was at this time I realised that the 3rd floor of the house has been converted to a hostel with 2 private rooms and 1 4-bed dormitory with a living and kitchen area specific for the usage of the hostel guests. It is pretty cosy actually, and one of the guest is staying here for the 2nd time, with the 1st time of a period of 6 weeks!
I continued waiting and about 15 minutes later, another lady by the name of Anna came, which I assumed was the old lady’s daughter. Anna unfortunately had bad news, confirming that she had no beds available, but said she can recommend a friend’s place for me. Not wanting to travel any further, I asked if it could be around the same area, which she said she would try.
After about another 15 minutes of waiting, Anna came back and provided me the address of her friend Carmen, and gave me directions to walk to her place.
I subsequently learnt from Carmen that apparently the old lady had asked Anna to make sure that I got a place to stay as it was already late in the night and especially for a single lady, and so pulled a favour with Carmen. Carmen had only just moved into her current apartment about a week ago, and still had a bedroom available that she was planning to rent out.
I guess that’s the advantage of being a lady! Don’t think the old lady would have recommended otherwise if I was a guy :P
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