In praise of Zostel - Jodhpur

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Zostel Jodhour was the fifth hostel in this new chain in which we have stayed. The seven guys from Kolkata who have started the business a year ago have opened eight and have plans for another 14. None of the Zostels we have stayed in was the best (I would give that prize to Sanjay at the Jugaadus Eco Hostel in Amritsar). They do have a clear vision - to provide Western style hostel accommodation throughout India and seem to have the investment behind them to deliver.



They do know what hostellers want: clean cheap accommodation with helpful friendly staff, access to a kitchen, that has a homely feel. I had not fully grasped the need for the last point until I talked to young travellers. Some are a long way from home. The walls are brightly covered. Most do understand the importance of customer service (who wants a negative Trip Advisor review). Take the manager at Jodhpur. When I came back from a fruitless ATM/cash machine mission he took me out on his 110cc Hero Honda to find one. It was just like my old student bike. We got my money and I got to enjoy riding pillion with no helmet the wrong way up a one way street with traffic streaming the other way. Brilliant.



They run a 'passport' system where you collect stamps at each Zostel. This gave us room discounts and in Jodphur free T shirts having visited five different Zostels. Our picture may get to their website (www.zostel.com) as we are one of the first if not the first to achieve this milestone although the website is a bit of an Achilles heel at the moment.



Each hostel was slightly different in character. Interestingly the Jodphur hostel was attracting more young local tourists than Westerners. Ian and Dan had one evening chatting with a group from Mumbai (or Bombay as they called their home town). Rajasthan was certainly a popular destination for Mumbaian and Gujarati families over the holiday season.



Jodphur fitted the formula of ex Rajasthan city states. The city was dominated by a majestic palace/fort above the town. The bastions have some great examples of old cannons of different vintages. It proudly showed off the cannon ball scars where the locals had repelled a siege by a Jaipur enemy force as recently as 1808.



A key differentiator for Jodphur fort is that they have a zip wire tour out the back over lakes and ravines (http://www.flyingfox.asia/destinations/index/Jodhpur). The longest of the six zip wires is 400m and all have the fort as a magnificent backdrop. Not surprisingly it is the top attraction in Jodphur on Trip Advisor.



Afterwards we had a great meal on the roof top of a Jain guest house, Jhankar Choti Haveli. Jains are strictly vegetarian (they are against killing any animal no matter how small) and also do not eat garlic or eggs. We had an excellent lunch of Rajasthan specialties in the sunshine with an unbeatable view of the fort towering above us.



In Jodphur we discovered via Zostel the Ola taxi service. This is a bit like Uber, although the cars are branded and charges a strict 10IRS per km much to the chagrin of the local tuk tuk drivers who are looking for considerably more especially from foreigners. As the IT infrastructure improves in India this is going to really shake up the market. We await to see how Ola cars operate in Delhi.



We made full use of the Jodphur hostel kitchen. We had our first attempt at making panner which was moderately successful despite not having the best ingredients and equipment. It certainly is fun to cook and is one more reason we are happy to recommend the Zostel chain to all.

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Photos

The clock tower
Jodhpur's key land mark is surrounded by bazaars of every colour