Buenos Aires

Grumpy teenagers, cultural events, enormous avenues, dogs in sweaters, pollution, street markets, slums, homeless children, the port, the local slang, the dance recognized as a world heritage, local pride, the subway, classic coffee shops, fashionable men and women, and a hundred people lining up politely for the bus - Buenos Aires is the beating heart of a large nation.

There is no way you can match up with the city. At the clubs, the night starts at 2 a.m. Sometimes you just skip sleeping altogether.

Hostel Life

A good hostel is more than just a place to sleep. It's part of the trip experience. A hostel doesn't have to be a hermit's paradise; some offer nice facilities, private bathroom, meals, laundry services and other conveniences. But hostels also offer much more. They offer a fine cross-section of mankind. Traveling by myself, hostel world was my world.

Home Sweet Hostel

These are not the old lonely gentlemen who live in the solitude of their hotel room, eating the stale cooking of the old landlord's wife. People in their twenties and thirties make hostels into their homes, sometimes for years. Some cannot offer the guarantees required for renting an apartment and some just like it. No cleaning to do, varied and international rotating social circles. No bedtime, ever.

Party Hostels

4 a.m. and there are people up surfing the internet. The bar is closed for an hour and the music is turned down. Four well-liquored guys play pool. In an hour or so people will start coming back from the parties. Breakfast will be served two hours later. If it's a more regulated hostel, the rooms would be relatively quiet. In an "Israeli" hostel, music can go on in the rooms until 2 a.m. The first to leave as a result would be the other Israelis.

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