The bus stops in Nazca’s central square. The driver, who is supposed to take me to my lodging, complains because he says the hostel where I booked is in a dangerous and remote part of town.
Indeed, as soon as I cross the bridge over the river that bisects the city, everything changes shape. The unkempt buildings, the dusty and not everywhere paved streets, there are not many stores, and the area is a bit scary…
The hostel from the outside appears to be closed, we are off to a good start….
I ring the bell and after a few minutes an old lady comes to open the door. I go in and with my usual Spanish tell her I have booked a bed in a dormitory. She panics, not expecting my arrival, surely some problem with the reservation. She takes a liking to me though, calls her daughter to see what to do and then takes me to see the room. The dormitory does not exist, the room is very small is already occupied by another person. There are two beds but the space is so small that they are almost joined, like a double bed. The old lady takes the things left by the other guest on what would have been my bed and moves them. The situation is quite awkward, dormitory is fine, but sleeping practically together–I have no choice, I have to make friends with him, whoever he is, so I wait for him to come back. Here he comes, a tall, blond, long-haired guy…typical southern European traits 😀
Moment of embarrassment, even he did not expect this eventuality , so I take charge and introduce myself. He responds shyly, but I soon win his confidence, determined not to let the conversation drop. In short, an hour later we find ourselves walking around the neighborhood to find a place to have a beer before bed. Of course there are no bars or anything like that, we buy a couple of beers in a “botega” and return to the hostel. The chosen place is the courtyard, sitting on two overturned buckets and in the company of a dog that keeps barking at the moon…. We go to sleep, but not before my Dutch roommate decides to expel the superfluous gases generated by his body. Both ways possible…. Apparently this is a perfectly normal practice in the company of a semi-stranger…. Good night!