You've Got A Pool With Your Hotel? We Have A Group Of Scary
Hookers!
Sydney (Almost) -> Sydney, 21st January 2002
We started up the van again and headed in the direction of Sydney.
As we drove, flashes of lightning became more and more common. The
rain began to fall heavily and huge bolts of lightning raked the
sky. As the sun disappeared and the moon replaced it, the driving
became much more difficult.
We drove along the highway for a while, then ended up in a really
long tunnel. We then came across signs for toll booths. The price
was $3.50. Oh well, it's too dark & late in the day to find an
alternative route. After paying the fee, about 15 minutes later we
came to another one and had to pay another $3.50. This is getting a
bit expensive, we have to make sure we can find an alternative route
out!
We soon came to the city, and followed the signs to King's Cross,
the backpacker central of Sydney. Luckily, the hostel we were
looking for was on a major road and we quickly found it. After
driving past it twice, we turned down a side street and parked the
van and stepped out into the darkness. Things felt a little unsure
in the night-time in a side-street in the middle of a dodgy area of
a big city (King's Cross = Lot's of backpackers = cheap = dodgy), so
we quickly hurried onto the main street and went inside.
The hostel was a bit run-down looking, but bearable. I had been
quoted $20 on the phone, but they only had vacancies in the $24
dorms. Hmmm. We decided it'd do for the night, but when we asked to
check in, they said we needed our passports, which the others had
left in the van. Ok. I then asked them where the parking spaces they
had were. The lady said they had no parking space, we just had to
park on the street. When I phoned, they had said that they had
private parking spaces and that was the main reason I chose the
hostel. We stormed down the stairs and out, saying we'd be back
shortly with out passports. We didn't return.
We hurried over to the nearest phone box and phoned a couple more
hostels on the short-list. The best option was one called Forbes
Terrace, it had a really good rating in The Rough Guide and it was
only $20 for a 4 bed dorm, the cheapest rate I could find for that
sort of room. I phoned them up and they said they had vacancies and
that we could come straight round. We headed back to the van, then I
pulled out the map and realised this other hostel was just round the
corner. So we decided to jump straight back out and have a look for
it.
As we walked along the main street for a bit, we realised we'd gone
the wrong way. So we turned round and headed the other way. It
should be on a turning off this road...We passed Bourke Street, it
should be the next turning...As we came to it, we looked down into
the dimly lit street and the first thing we could see...was a group
of scary looking prostitutes. Ok...that can't be our road.
Please..that can't be our road. We walked on hoping it was the next
road, but nope, we'd gone too far. We paused. We walked back, looked
down, saw the prostitutes, and walked on again. That can't be the
right road. We tried a few other roads, but the facts kept pointing
to the road with the hookers being the correct road.
We drew deep breaths, and turned down that road, staying on the
opposite side of the road to the hookers. We walked down it, but
couldn't see the hostel. As we returned the "ladies" must have
noticed that we were walking back & forth. When we walked down
again, they started calling. One, very manly looking one shouted a
'hooker-jingle' we'll always remember: "Half the prixe, The full
service, Better than any female, I'm the original she-male!" Oh
dear. Things have now gotten worse. We didn't realise at first
because of the low lighting, but these prostitutes weren't women,
but she-males.
Eventually, a guy came down to the road to go to his flat. We asked
him what road we were on, and yep, we were on the right road. We
still couldn't see the hostel so we headed back up to the street to
the phone-box. I phoned again and told him we'd found the road, but
we couldn't find a hostel, there was just a group of hookers hanging
there. Nonchalantly, he said 'Oh, they're from round the corner,
don't worry about them. Just go down the road and look next to the
first alley on the left.'
Alley on the left? But that was where the hookers were standing! We
couldn't go down there! We'd walked down the right-hand side and
that was enough! We decided we'd drive the van down there instead of
walking. A bit more protection. The only problem was, was that we'd
be driving slowly past the prostitutes looking out for the hostel.
They might think we were curb-crawling and come up to us!
After taking a few minutes to get the courage, we jumped in the van
and drove it down the street. We drove slowly, but not too slowly.
We couldn't see anything. We drove round in a loop and drove down a
few more times. Still no luck. The only thing we found was a group
of homeless people sleeping on the corner on the benches. Another
sign of how great this area is!
We parked the van on the next side street along, and I got out to
have a look down the alleys from the other side. As I walked down, I
could see them at the far end. They started whistling, so as there
was no sign of a hostel, I turned back, tripped over a metal grate
on the floor and stumbled back to the car.
We drove round a few more times, then parked again. Nat wasn't
bothered by the prostitutes as much as Stinge and I were so, she
jumped out and walked down the street. I wasn't letting her go on
her own, so I jumped out and went with her. Luckily, because we were
a couple, the prostitutes pretty much ignored us. We then noticed a
police-car was parked on the road and the police-man was breath
testing a driver. So we were safe for now!
After walking up and down a few alleys we saw a small dingy lobby.
Thinking that was it, we went in and asked. They said, no, go up to
the corner and you'll see the hostel. We got the distinct feeling
that this office was for some brothel or something, so we quickly
left.
We walked along the alley again, but couldn't see it. We then went
into the nearby convenience store and asked the guy there, he said
it was on the corner, like the other guy had said. Just as we went
to the corner for the last time, I noticed a sign on the wall saying
'Forbes Terrace Accommodation'. Yes! I rang the doorbell and a
skinny, half-asleep looking guy answered the door. It was the right
place! When we told him about out adventures he apologised, saying
he should have come out and waved his arms. We told him we had to
get the others and we'd be back in a minute.
We ran down to the van, and directed Stinge to the front of the
hostel where there was an empty parking space. As we parked the van,
a car drove by and we could hear a bunch of lads barking like dogs
as they drove by. Stinge started laughing really loudly and we had
to calm him down in case the prostitutes heard him.
They were still standing around and some were looking at us,
obviously hoping for business. We made a point of grabbing our big
rucksacks so they could clearly see we were backpackers. Finally we
got all our stuff, locked the van and went into the building.
The hostel actually looked really good. There were loads of signs
everywhere warning that anyone who came in and wasn't a guest, would
be prosecuted. Probably essential threats around here! We checked in
without any problems and headed up to our rooms.
The hostel was actually really good. Although very basic & in a bit
of a dodgy place, it's clean, new, well-maintained and it's got all
the essential features. We've even got a TV & a fridge in our room!
We quickly threw our bags down and watched telly for a while, before
hitting the sack.
The only problem was, was that the room was REALLY hot, outside was
really warm and it made our rooms too warm. Just lying in bed was
enough to sweat. With no air-conditioning this heat was going to
take some getting used to. But we had to make do. Good practise for
Asian & Indian weather I guess.
Our first impressions of Sydney have been...well...interesting, but
we'll wait until we've walked around the city tomorrow before making
up our minds!
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