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Couchsurfing (CS) is my favourite way of accommodation when it comes to travelling. Not only you can save a bit (as it is for free) but you will get to know the culture of visited country from the point of view of local people. In case you would like to know more about couchsurfing, click HERE, where I explained how couchsurfing works and how to avoid psychopaths on CS.
In this articles I would like to summarize my TOP couchsurfing experiences from my travels through South America where I spent more than 8 months, travelled through 7 countries and was hosted by 27 CS hosts. 🙂
My craziest couchsurfing experience
When I arrived to small Argentine town Lujan de Cuyo, my CS host Leandro was supposed to meet me close to his place. Instead Leandro there was a Colombian girl waiting for me and taking me to his house – tiny place with one separate room, kitchen and bathroom. And only there I found out that Leandro was not only hosting me but also one Colombian girl, one Brazilian boy and French 5 member family with 3 small kids. Leandro arrived home around 4am from some wedding and only then he realised I was there, too. 😀 To my surprise we all fit into his little cute house and spent couple of nice days all together.
My best couchsurfing host
His profile has 0 references. It could mean two things. Either he is without any couchsurfing experience or he is a psychopath. I risked that. And didn´t regret. Because Diego from Medellin was my best CS host I have ever had. Already after arriving to the Colombian city of eternal spring, Diego picked me up with his sport moto and gave me a ride of 240km per hour to close by town called Guatape and showed me stairs to heaven called Piedra del Penol. From my planned 3 day trip it became 8 day stay. Diego introduced me to his friends and family. He took me to different and beautiful places every single day, we attended various concerts and even thanks to Diego I got a chance to try paragliding. We ended my whole stay by attending a magical flower festival „Feria de las Flores“ and the very last night his friends prepared me a good-bye dinner. I will never forget Diego and his kindness and generosity.
The most unexpected meeting with my couchsurfing host
In the small Colombian town Ipiales located close to Ecuador my internet was pretty shitty. And that is why I didn´t have a chance to have a proper look at a profile of my next CS host who was supposed to pick me up in Ipiales, helped me cross borders to Ecuador and host me at his place for couple of days. So I didn´t check his profile correctly, his photos, age, almost nothing, The only thing I noticed were positive references what was important to me. So you can imagine my shocked face when at the determined time and place two older grandpas came to pick me up with their own car with a sentence: „Mili, is it you? Hurry up, take your passport, backpack and let´s go“. Trust me that in this moment I wasn´t sure what I should have done. I was expecting one person, younger and probably coming by bus not by own car. So combination of two around 60 year old gentlemen and my very first border land crossing in South America was little bit scary. At the end these 2 CS hosts were cute grandpas who helped me cross the border, change my first dollars and showed me friendly culture of Ecuadorians.
the most unusual couchsurfing accommodation
In Brazilian city Paraty my 70 year old CS host Michael came to pick me up with his old bicycle and took me to the local port. Then we got on small wooden boat which took us to his yacht located in the middle of port with very limited access to and from. I stayed at his luxurious yacht for 3 days. But trust me, if Michael hadn´t had more than 100 positive references, I probably wouldn´t have accepted his invitation to his remote but still special accommodation. Thanks to references I accepted and didn´t regret. I had a chance to fall asleep in a cabin inside of a yacht with a view over sea from the tiny window and at the same time Michael told me so many interesting stories about his life that I have never heard before. Meeting inspirational people such as Michaels is another reason why I am so passionate about travelling.
The least comfortable couchsurfing accommodation
Imagine small almost destroyed house. Once you enter it, you smell cats and dogs everywhere. Its hair is in each corner (and I am allergic to cats). Bathroom wasn´t cleaned for ages, dirty clothes everywhere. Forget about warm water. And as an extra was my bed. Little tiny bed which was supposed to be shared with my CS host. Sounds awesome, right?! 😀 Probably you would be thinking whether to stay there or not. I stayed and again didn´t regret. My CS host and his family treated me like their own family member, prepared me breakfast, took for various trips and made me feel like at home. Little and uncomfortable home, but still home. 🙂
NO FOTO ATTACHED 🙂
I could write whole book about my couchsurfing experiences but for now it is more than enough. So what about you?? Do you have any extraordinary or unique CS experience you would like to share it with me?
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