Bed & backpack: unusual hostels around the world

For young cost-conscious travelers worldwide, hostels are as much a staple as fold-up maps and books of foreign phrases. They date to 1909, when German schoolteacher Richard Schirrmann arranged for his students to stay in barns and empty schoolhouses in the German countryside to broaden their horizons. Now Hostelling International, the organization Schirrmann founded, is nearing its 100th anniversary with more than 4,000 hostels in 89 countries. But hostels are more than cheap, convenient places to stay. You'll find them in some interesting and unusual buildings -- castles, Buddhist temples or former prisons. Here, some unusual hostels in the HI network.

By Jason La

October 14, 2007