Having now arrived in town it was easy to find my hostel as there were several next to the Masjid Reya. I dont recall the choices being that great when I checked online and I had specifically chosen a newly opened hostel that had nice pictures and reviews.

I chose a superior double room for two people with air con instead of fan, so would have the room to myself. When I got there the girl showed me to the room but the blower on the air con was not working. She said there were power problems and maybe tomorrow it would be working.

Since I specifically chose the air con room over the fan room I wasnt too happy and asked for a fan to be brought in. I also noticed open vents over the bedroom door so anything could come crawling in during the night. I went to use the washroom and couldnt find how to flush it.

Then I saw two German girls so asked in German 'das hotel ist gut oder ist fuchtbar', getting to practice my really rusty German and having met so many Germans during the trip. They replied in English it was ok and I asked them how I was supposed to flush the toilet. They said you use the bucket beside and scoop loads in to manually flush the toilet. 'Das ist wunderbar' I replied! They may enjoy the novelty of it but to me this was no better than urban camping

Back in my room I needed an extension plug to be able to charge my batteries now that they were using the plug for the fan. When I plugged it in the whole building had a momentary blackout.

I just did not feel comfortable staying here for two nights, no A/C, open vents with anything crawling in, manual flush toilet. I had to get up early to take the ferry from Langkawi and need to get up early in two nights for my flight back so wanted somewhere comfortable to stay.

I already had one bad experience like this with blackouts in Mindanao also in a superior suite room where a giant roach came out during the blackout and sat in the middle of the room along with a colony of ants in multiple places.

There were a couple of big posh hotels nearby along with other hostels beside. I decided to check the big hotel a few doors down. My hostel room was supposed to be $10/nite. The hotel had studio rooms for $40 but a sale on for $27 which wasnt a big jump from my hostel price. Also they took credit cards, have tv and wifi in rooms, free water bottle, and buffet breakfast.

I asked to see the room and it was much nicer compared to the hostel a few door downs and had a private bathroom which I hadnt had the two nites in Langkawi. I went back to the hostel to get my stuff and they were ok and did not charge me as I hadnt given them any money yet, even though the hostelbookers policy is that you must pay for the first night.

One thing I noticed later is that there was a big grill directly over the bed so I'd have to sleep with the lights on to keep out unwelcome visitors but I normally sleep with lights on in hotels anyway to keep them out. Also the bathroom had no sink which was a minor irritant but no big deal.

With accommodation taken care of I needed food so went to the big shopping centre across the road. Surprisingly it was a multi level centre with an amusement level and kids rides on the top floor. I'd passed some street vendors by the hostels but didnt understand any of the food and thought the shopping centre would be safer.

The first chicken restaurant Texas Chicken was closed at 10pm but another chicken restaurant one floor up with the childrens rides was still open. They said all the spaghetti was closed for today but I could order the burgers or other items.

I got a chicken pepper for 15,000IDR ($1.50) and orange float for 10,0000IDR ($1). A waiter brings your meals over even though this is a fast food restaurant. The float was nice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream floating on top but the rest was just diluted orange juice filled with lots of ice.

Indonesia has affordable high standard hotels under $50 and I dont think it was necessary to book a hostel. Last time I went I stayed in a luxury resort hotel in Yogyakarta in 2008 for about $40