In search of the strangest places to spend the night, I’ve contacted a few fellow bloggers and friends and asked them to share with us their most adventurous night’s sleep.

On the rim of an active volcano in Ethiopia

A night by an active volcano, Ethiopia | © Trains, Plains and Tuktuks

The strangest place I’ve spent the night is on the rim of Erta Ale, a volcano in Ethiopia. I hiked up the volcano in the dark. When I got to the crater, my guide said the lava had overflowed three days earlier. I asked, “What happens if it spills again?” His answer: “Run.”

We walked across the newly hardened lava. We watched waves of molten rock crash against the rim. Our shoes melted underneath us. We were close enough that the sparks hit our feet.

All night long, we watched the volcano belch out fire under the starriest sky I’ve ever seen.

Carrie from Trains, Plains and Tuktuks (Facebook/Instagram)

Snowcastle in Finland

Snowcastle in Lapland, Finland | © Worldwide Wendy

My most memorable night in a hotel room goes way back to February 2000. My husband and I stayed in the LumiLinna Snowcastle in Kemi (Finnish Lapland). We booked one night in this magnificent castle where everything is made of ice and snow, even the beds. Two hours before you want to go to bed, you have to contact the reception because it takes some time to heat your reindeer-skin sleeping bag. At night a ‘guard’ checks all the bedrooms every hour to make sure everyone is covered well, because you could freeze to death without your sleeping bag.

The hotel offers a snow restaurant, an art gallery, and even a chapel. If you are looking for a special wedding location, this is the place to be.

I can’t say we slept very well, but it was by far the most special place we ever stayed.

Wendy Maes from Worldwide Wendy (Facebook/Instagram)

Treehouse in Thailand

Treehouse in Thailand | © Positive Impact Journey

With AirBnB launching an entire campaign on treehouses around the globe, I found myself vying to spend a night suspended above the ground and intermingled with trees. Luckily Pai in Northern Thailand gave me the prefect launching point to sleeping in a treehouse.

Nestled into the center of the Pai Treehouse Resort was a gigantic tree housing three private rooms. This was a focal attraction, although most guests chose to stay in the more luxurious villas. After making the rocky climb up with backpacks, the villas seemed fairly appealing. But we were here for the experience. And it’s novel.

While I completely recommend it, the novelty wears off after your first night. It’s similar to wanting to stay on the top bunk when you’re a kid, but dreading maundering up once you’re an adult. Eventually the charm of stunning views and enjoying a unique experience succumbs to the hurdles of climbing a small staircase up a tree and using the toilet wedged between a few branches.

Alexandra Black Paulick from Positive Impact Journey (twitter/Facebook)

Homeless in Luxembourg

Homeless in Luxembourg

“This is happening,” I think to myself, looking for a patch of grass that’s both dry and out of sight of passing cars. I’m in the old town of Luxembourg, and I’m about to become the city’s only homeless person.

This shouldn’t be happening. When I asked for a bed at the city’s only hostel, the grumpy bastard at the desk told me to “Go and do the fucking of oneself” in terrible French. I decided instead to go and do the fucking of someone else, confident that I could charm a local lass into taking me home from a bar. How wrong I was…

Now I’m huddled under a tree in a small park, wrapped in all my clothes to protect against the late-September chill. Using my bag is a pillow I lie dead still, feeling as optimistic as a corpse in a morgue. But as the fitful night passes and I flicker in and out of the dream world, my despair turns into an inexplicable thrill. Somehow I feel free.

Finally the sun rises, warming my shivering bones and revealing the spectacular, fog-shrouded castle looming over the valley below. The view is spectacular, and it’s just for me.

Nick Johns-Wickberg from the Tragic Traveller (Facebook)

The Orangutan Stilt House in the jungle of Indonesia

Courtesy of Liya Panayotova

Spending two months on the islands of Indonesia was a real treat. Among all of the unique places that Indonesia harbors, the island of Kalimantan (also known as Borneo) is the most special. Its dense tropical jungle is one of just two places in the world, inhabited by the mighty orangutan, with whom we share 97% of our DNA. Getting to see wild orangutans is a rare and special experience. One that requires you to venture deep into the jungle, travel down narrow rivers and swampy trails. In the village of Pematang Gedung, an organization called International Animal Rescue, offers this opportunity. I got to spend a night in their stilt house, hidden deep in the jungle, as part of my exploration of Borneo.

We did sleep on the floor, but the hosts provided comfy mats, mosquito nets, and even Hello Kitty pillows, to keep us snug. As a tropical rainstorm poured over the jungle, we went to our stilt-home paradise, and found a few local women preparing a traditional feast. As I drifted off to sleep, hundreds of frogs sung me a lullaby. No party hostel, gorgeous campsite, or lavish hotel could ever compare to becoming one with Borneo, even if it’s for a single evening. And so, my one-night stand with the jungle, turned into love for a lifetime. Hopefully, this story will inspire you to live out your own love affair with Indonesia!

Liya Panayotova from Contrabond Blog (Facebook/Instagram)

Floating bungalow in Thailand

Floating bungalows in Khao Sok National Park, Thailand | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Since I heard there were floating bungalows in the middle of the jungle in Thailand, I knew a night there would be the highlight of my trip.

It takes more than an hour by boat to get to the bungalows, and I got this ‘end-of-the-world feeling’ when we finally arrived. The surroundings were bursting with life (birds, monkeys, fish) and the sky at night looked like it had been Photoshopped, with ten times more stars than the usual sky. It was very basic inside – only a mattress, two pillows, and a mosquito net. The bungalow kept floating gently in a soothing way… until all those beautiful creatures started their night activities, jumping into the water, chirping and uttering mating cries all night (according to our guide, every weird beast-like sound was insects mating).

Maria from 203challenges.com

Neolithic house in Bulgaria

Neolithic house in Chavdar village, Bulgaria | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Take a one–hour drive out of the capital, Sofia, and you can travel back 7,000 years in history. The five reconstructed neolithic houses near Chavdar village are not only a museum, but you can actually spend the night in three of them.

They were built with natural materials only (okay, you have one power socket hidden beneath a wooden plank) and you need a ladder to get up to your bed right under the roof. You can mill your own grains in the neolithic installation and you can light a fire in the fireplace, although I didn’t do that because it was a very hot summer night.

Maria from 203challenges.com

Read more: Champing: Sleep in a medieval church in England

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Floating bungalows: hear the sounds of the jungle at night

Kayaking to our floating bungalows in Khao Sok National Park, Thaialand | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

A night in a floating bungalow will easily turn into a highlight of your trip to Thailand. There are popular 2 day/1 night tours in Khao Sok National Park in Southern Thailand, where you’ll explore Cheow Lan Lake and sleep more than an hour by boat from the nearest shore. The bungalows are very basic: essentially just a floating box containing a mattress with a mosquito net over it. During our stay the raft house gently swayed, while the whole jungle orchestra performed a lullaby for us, including monkey calls, insect mating cries, and the roars of indistinguishable beasts. The views at sunset are magical and the night sky makes you believe it’s the first time you’ve really seen the stars.

Tree houses: see how monkeys live

What better place to live like a monkey than in jungle-rich Thailand? In a recent collaboration post, Alexandra Black Paulick from the Positive Impact Journey blog told the story of her stay at Pai Treehouse Resort.

Night trains: watch the sunrise out the window

The night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

If you’re traveling on a budget (although you don’t really need a lot of money to travel in Thailand) and you’re struggling to find cheap flights to the far-flung destinations on your list, you’re sure to experience Thai night trains at some point. During the high season, tickets for long-haul trains on popular routes such as Bangkok – Chiang Mai and Bangkok – Suratthani sell out very fast, and you’ll have to book your seat/bunk bed a week or two in advance.

The sleeping cars in Thailand come in two varieties – with AC and with fan (cheaper). The fan option was quite bearable despite all the bad reviews we had read about it (and we also met Santa Claus from Australia in that car, but that’s another story to be told some other time). When the sun sets, the attendant unfolds the seats into beds and gives you linen and pillows. When the sun rises, make sure you wake up to see the majestic light and mist show out the window.

Sleep in a riverside hostel tent for as little as €2.50 ($3)

The view from this hostel says it all | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

Our $3 riverside camping spot in Mapping Hostel, Chiang Mai felt so much like home that every day we woke up with the irresistible urge to stay for another night, and in the end we prolonged our stay four times. The hot weather in Thailand makes it pleasant to sleep outside at night – a mosquito net is all you need and it’s crazy cheap.

Become part of the family at a family-owned hostel

Family is important in Thailand | ©Maria Angelova/www.203challenges.com

I got the impression that most hostels in Thailand are family-owned, which means that from day one you are considered a family member and treated as such.

True story: Our first night in Bangkok was a nightmare with a happy ending (not that kind!). We arrived from the airport late in the evening and took a tuk-tuk, handing the address of our booked hostel (Love Hostel) to the driver. But what a sense of adventure overwhelmed me when, already at the desired address, we discovered there was no such hostel here. After 10 minutes of wandering around, we were sure this supposed hostel did not exist anywhere within a radius of 10 streets. I called the hostel’s telephone number and nobody answered. We continued searching in the hope that we’d notice a hidden tiny sign to our hostel, and in the process we accidentally entered a Buddhist monastery, which was fun but not really helpful. In my despair, I called again and this time the owner answered. After 20 minutes of discussions and zigzagging the streets, he finally found us and took us to our refuge for the night.

At first, we thought he and his wife didn’t speak English, but a day later we realized they spoke English with Thai pronunciation, i.e. not pronouncing a single consonant (or so it seemed). Just try to speak this way and get the message across that there’s a leak in the upper-floor bathroom… Anyway, once we started understanding them, we also came to understand that they were constantly joking about us, themselves and everything else around. We loved these people and prolonged our stay with them by two additional days.

Then, two weeks later, we had to stay another night in Bangkok and chose the same hostel. Not only did the owners give us a huge discount on the already cheap room, but they also supplied us with free bananas for our night train ride the next day. From time to time, they still send us photos of their family and cats on Facebook.

With this oversized story, I’m putting an end to this post and wishing you a homey and adventurous stay in Thailand!

Read more: 7 quotes that explain why everyone loves Thailand

See more information about Thailand tours.

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My mojito in La Bodeguita, My daiquiri in El Floridita. – Hemingway

It is rumored that during a trip to Havana a few years ago, Hemingway’s granddaughter Mariel said, “Cuba has three iconic personalities – Fidel, Che, and my grandfather”. That is certainly true. In Havana, Hemingway is everywhere, in all shapes and forms, but mostly alcohol-related. Of course if you are Hemingway and announce the place where they make the best Daiquiri and Mojito, it is inevitable that heaps of devotees will keep following in your footsteps, even decades later.

La Bodeguita

La Bodeguita del Medio, Havana, Cuba

As soon as we enter Old Havana, we see an alley where a crowd is taking pictures in front of what seems like an unremarkable establishment, covered in scribbles and declarations of love from all over the world.

When we figured out that this was La Bodeguita del Medio – the place where Hemingway loved to sip his Mojito, we also quickly learned why tourists here pay a steep price for that same drink. In fact, here you ll find the priciest Mojito in Cuba.

Hemingway preferred his cocktails stirred with Cuban rum, which is the beverage that made Mojito and Daiquiri famous.

El Floridita

El Floridita, Havana, Cuba

Since we mentioned Daiquiri, El Floridita is another iconic location where the writer enjoyed his cocktails. Once again, the prices here are sky-high and there is often a line of people waiting to get in. Young Cuban men linger at the door, trying to convince female tourists that they can get them a table in the restaurant, in exchange for a treat. Of course these are empty promises.

If you are a fan of Hemingway’s works and lifestyle, you simply must include those two establishments in your tour of Havana. Both house a cocktail room and a restaurant. Although Hemingway preferred to drink alone, unnoticed and in full seclusion, his favorite places are now overflowing with tourists.

Ambos Mundos hotel

A view from Ambos Mundos Hotel, Havana, Cuba

Are you already imagining the spirit of Hemingway resurrected within you? Then the next stop in your expedition is the Ambos Mundos Hotel, which served as the writer’s home for 7 years during the 1930s. Room number 511 is now a mini-museum you can visit during the day (you may be Hemingway s reincarnation, but they are still not going to let you spend the night). The room’s interior has been arranged to create the impression that its most famous inhabitant has just left.

Finca Vigia

Finca Vigia, Cuba

The writer’s home address might have been a hotel from 1932 until 1939, but he then bought a house 10 km away from Havana. His mansion, called Finca Vigia, is in the small working-class town of San Francisco de Paula. Hemingway chose to live in an ordinary place, among the common people, with whom he liked to go fishing. The Cuban people have always respected him for this choice. Today the house is open for visitors (although it seems to close regularly for renovations). It is open every day from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm and on Sunday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

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It’s getting easier than ever to travel for free – and it’s not all about hitchhiking and camping. Once a year you have the chance to stay for free at B&Bs all over the world. Here’s how you can do it.

Money isn’t the only means of receiving services. Indeed, more and more hoteliers and landlords are prepared to offer you a night at their guesthouse in exchange for a small repair, a set of shiny new photos of their property, a new painting, or even some books… The list of all the things you can offer to receive a free night is long. Equally long is the list of B&Bs, hostels and guesthouses taking part in the annual Barter Week.

Inspired by the original concept of Settimana del Barrato – which has taken place in Italy every year for the past nine years – this week-long event now spans far beyond the Boot, from Burkina Faso to Cape Verde and Canada.

Bangalue – a student-run project that provides aid to disadvantaged local children in the eastern Ugandan district of Mbale – is a great example of the Barter Week spirit in action. The project offers free accommodation to any travelers arriving with books, comics, computers or other materials that are useful to its educational programs.

How does Barter Week work?

• If you are a B&B owner, you should register your property and describe what creative or tangible work (or items) you are willing to accept as payment from your barter guests. For example, perhaps the piano in your dining room needs tuning, or your house needs new professional images for its website. Or maybe your garden just needs some maintenance from a careful hand.
• If you want to stay for free, you should register and browse through the list of places to stay, choosing a city or country you’d like to visit. You should then send a proposal with specific dates and the service you can offer. When the owner confirms your stay, you are ready to embark on your barter trip.

It’s that simple!

In 2017, Barter Week takes place from November 13 to 18, with more than 800 properties registered. As you browse the list of options, note that some places happily welcome barter guests year-round.

Pin it for later, because you never know when you’ll need a free place to stay:

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Prestige Hotel & Aquapark is conveniently located just 150 m from the beach and the promenade. Apart from water attractions, it offers two restaurants – an All-inclusive Restaurant and an A La Carte Premium restaurant, while the spa center is perfect to enjoy a glass of wine in the Jacuzzi or to indulge your senses in a relaxing massage.

The hotel

The hotel, renovated in 2017, has 120 apartments, 22 studios, and 45 double rooms. Families with children will appreciate the advantage of having a kitchenette and a dining room at their disposal. Further, there are numerous food venues, bars, and shops around the hotel. There are two free parking under a 24/7 security surveillance.

The Water Park and the pools

A perfect family vacation includes a wide variety of water attractions in the water park of the hotel – five water slides (three open-air and two indoor), a pirate ship, fountains, and animals-slides quickly become children’s favorites together with the inflatable trampoline and an outdoor playground. Additionally, there are three pools – an indoor heated pool (at 30°C/ 86°F), and two outdoor pools, one children’s and another for adults.

Entertainment

Both children and adults could join the complimentary activities without leaving the premises of the hotel. Children can take part in a special disco, Olympic games, eco days, and magic days. Adults, on the other hand, could enter sports tournaments, play darts or board games, dance or have fun during the karaoke nights.

Three things we love about Prestige Hotel & Aquapark:

– Only 150 m from the beach

– unlimited access to the water park if you stay at the hotel

– spa center for the parents + playground for the children = perfect vacation for the whole family.

Book your stay at Prestige Hotel & Aquapark now.

Photos Courtesy © Prestige Hotel & Aquapark

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Up until recently, sleeping in the bed of a stranger, in a foreign country, sounded like the beginning of an unthinkable feat, possible only for those without a shred of self-preservation instincts. Today, however, travelers from all over the world choose to make their trip cheaper and more interesting, by utilizing the hospitality of locals, who have registered to the website Couchsurfing.

Since you are reading this article, you are either already a participant, or you are asking yourself “What is Couchsurfing?” and if it could work for you.

The third option is that your roommate keeps dragging in people with huge backpacks every week, and sometimes asks to use your bed.

Couchsurfing is a community of millions of hospitable people from around the world. They will offer you a place in their home, while you are visiting their city or village. Sometimes you ll have your own room, and other times you ll be sleeping on the couch, or on an air mattress. Sebastian from France reminisces with a smile, when he says that in Norway he had to sleep under a table, and then get up to dress in a sharp suit and go to work. On the other hand, when you are the one offering a place to sleep, you can view your hometown in a new light, and meet people from every continent, without leaving the couch (yes, every continent – there are registered users even in Antarctica!)Since you are reading this article, you are either already a participant, or you are asking yourself “What is Couchsurfing?” and if it could work for you.

“Our goal is nothing more than to change the world”, say proudly, and justly, the creators of Couchsurfing, one their website. Every week, between 14 000 and 40 000 new users are registered.

When you share your couch, the most important rule is that you are not a hotel – you don t ask for money, rather you share your culture, your experience, and a night with no plans. You won t have the desire to think of any other rules, just minutes after meeting your host or guest. Usually, the host would show you and tell you about the most interesting places in their city, amazing finds that have been left out of the tourist guidebooks, and if they have the time, they might even take you on a tour. Your guest might cook a delicious recipe from their native country for you, help you learn to play that new song on your guitar, tell your future…

Another option is to register under the category “Wants to meet up” and to simply meet foreigners, who have traveled to your city, to exchange experiences, and ideas about life, over a glass of wine. “Couchsurfing helps us overcome the difference between ‘us and ‘them and creates a world where there is only ‘us ”, says Rob Dud, who has hosted over 50 people on his couch in Bangkok.

Even if you live with your parents, or don t have a single square meter of free space on your floor, for one sleeping bag, that doesn t mean you will be rejected by Couchsurfing. In every city, regular meetings are organized, where people go see plays together, hike, and do all kinds of other things.

Hospitality Club is similar to Couchsurfing, however, like every other club, it will evaluate your application, before you can become a member.

So, welcome to my couch!

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