They are called Hostels

It's 2009 and what can be a better start? Satyam finally coming out with Satyam! Lets face it and hope we live by it every moment.

I am back from an exhaustive tour of 10 days from Austria and Czech. Returning to normalcy from 10 days of Nirvana is no easy job. Afterall, one cannot continue with just Beer:-

I (and another friend of mine) started with Innsbruck which is nothing less than a paradise for Skiers and Snowboarders. I was both elated and horrified watching them go down the pinnacle of mountains in rocket pace. They do have Austrian Nerves! It was then Salzburg, a beautiful UN heritage city, Vienna - the city of palaces and back to Hometown to get ready for the next big thing - Czech.

One horizontal feature throughout my trip has been Hostels. I had ofcourse stayed in Hostels during earlier trips in EU but they were neither this long nor chosen with due care. We chose the Hostels together - proving the power of two. How have they been? One word - Orsem! Four different hostels in different countries have certainly had an impact on how I used to perceive them.

For a traveller on a shoestring (like me), it simply cannot get any better than this. The Hostels were surgically clean, safe with lockers, free of bed bugs, cost effective and guess what - there was an ocean of like minded crowd out there. Put in an Introvert in a Hostel and see him transform into a Connector of Connectors!

It was interesting and fun to meet these Backpackers (a good chunk of them travel alone) and exchange ideas. We infact toured the city of Vienna together with a Chinese who was in the same Dorm as ours. A couple of Beers in the indigenous pub and we were a team of 10 playing Snooker. Ofcourse, it was amazing to realize the linear relationship between Perfection and Beer:-
Not to forget the friendly staff who equip you with every basic information you need, the moment you check-in. Wanna visit local Heurige in Vienna, comes an instantaneous reply "try 10 er Marie", authentic Czech food "try Medvidku", disco "try Roxy".

You're single and looking forward for some luck on your side, book mixed Dorms and you could just be as lucky as us. We were three in Czech and we had three ladies in our Dorm! Of course, we were only lucky, not the luckiest:-(

Worst case, you get bored to death - Do not worry, there's free Wi-Fi and LAN (limitied nos. for a fair price) to hook on to your gmail account. So, all you travel freaks out there, next time you're out with your backpack, do give a thought on the Hostels. Its great fun and you'll love it.

But never ever, I repeat, never ever forget to carry your Earplugs.