Tag: India-travel

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Beyond the Taj Mahal: Unveiling India’s Untamed Natural Beauty

India. The land of vibrant colors, rich history, and bustling cities. But for many, India’s allure goes far beyond the iconic Taj Mahal. Nestled amidst the chaos lies a treasure trove of breathtaking natural beauty, waiting to be explored.

A Tapestry of Landscapes:

Imagine snow-capped Himalayan peaks scraping the sky, their slopes carpeted with vibrant wildflowers in spring. Picture the Thar Desert, a seemingly endless expanse of golden sand sculpted by wind into dramatic dunes. Travel south to Kerala, where lush, emerald jungles teem with exotic wildlife like tigers and elephants. Envision pristine beaches bathed in golden sunlight along Goa’s coastline, or the crystal-clear lakes nestled in the Kashmir Valley. This is just a glimpse of the kaleidoscope of landscapes that defines India’s natural beauty.

Adventure Awaits:

Adventure seekers can embark on a challenging trek through the Himalayas, encountering ancient monasteries clinging to precipitous cliffs and breathtaking views that stretch as far as the eye can see. In Kerala’s backwaters, navigate tranquil canals lined with coconut palms, encountering local fishermen casting their nets and a unique ecosystem teeming with life. Dive beneath the waves in the Andaman Islands and explore vibrant coral reefs teeming with colorful fish.

A Feast for the Senses:

India’s natural beauty isn’t just a visual spectacle; it’s a feast for all senses. Breathe in the crisp mountain air scented with pine needles after a refreshing rain shower, or the salty sea breeze carrying the tang of the ocean. Listen to the cacophony of birdsong in the jungles, a symphony of chirps, whistles, and calls. Witness the vibrant colors of wildflowers blooming in the valleys of Kashmir or the fiery hues of a desert sunset painting the sky in shades of orange, red, and purple. Feel the cool mist rising from a cascading waterfall or the soft sand between your toes on a deserted beach.

A Journey for the Soul:

India’s natural wonders offer more than just stunning scenery. A sunrise over the Ganges River in Varanasi can be a spiritual awakening, bathing the ancient city in a soft golden light as devotees perform their morning rituals. A quiet meditation amidst the serene beauty of a tea plantation in Munnar can bring inner peace, surrounded by rolling hills and the calming scent of freshly brewed tea.

Beyond the Tourist Trail:

The beauty of India lies not just in famous landmarks, but also in the hidden gems waiting to be discovered. Explore the serene lakes of Kashmir, their mirror-like surfaces reflecting the snow-capped peaks above. Wander through the ancient ruins of Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was once the thriving capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Marvel at the natural rock formations of Meghalaya, some resembling bridges formed by the patient work of tree roots over centuries.

Travel Responsibly:

As we explore India’s natural beauty, let’s do so responsibly. Respect local cultures and traditions, minimize our environmental impact by leaving only footprints behind and using eco-friendly practices. Support local communities by purchasing souvenirs from artisans and staying in homestays. By traveling responsibly, we can ensure that India’s natural beauty is preserved for generations to come.

So, ditch the usual tourist itinerary and embrace the adventure! India’s natural beauty awaits, promising an unforgettable journey that will leave you breathless, rejuvenated, and with a newfound appreciation for the wonders of our planet.

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Dear Delhi, Starting tonight take a Gozo for local travel in the Delhi NCR region!!

Tonight NOVEMBER 1, 2022 is an ICONIC day in our journey.

Our loyal customers & taxi operator partners have been urging us to support them to travel EASY in-the-city as well. Uber & Ola’s commissions have been hurting taxi operators so our taxi partners & customers have asked us to extend our technology to intra-city travel. Tonight we are launching Gozo in-the-city services in the NCR region (beta release)

At the start of 2022, Gozo elevated our focus on Airport transfers across India. Today, Gozo provides Airport pickup & drop off services at all the major airports in India.

Now you can go point-to-point within-your-city at incredibly low prices.

Why is Gozo offering in-the-city services?

We’ve always had the technology to offer in-the-city services but our focus has been on #intercity cab transportation across India.

How is Gozo’s in-the-city / local point-to-point services going to be different than Uber or Ola?

  • Gozo’s point-to-point services are going to be quite different than Uber or Ola.
  • Gozo will not decide the prices. The prices will be decided by the taxi operators directly
  • Customers will request service by providing their pickup address, time of pickup and drop address.
  • Taxi operator will respond the price they wish to get paid for travel.
  • The customer will select the operator, make the advance payment and continue with service
  • For the first 3 months of service, Gozo will not take any “service fees” on the transaction. Our service fees when enabled will be kept low and shall never exceed 7% of the overall transaction amount.
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What is the purpose of Gozo’s penalty system for taxi partners

The taxi business in India has been an unorganized market for too many years. Everywhere in the world you go – the travel business is a service oriented business.

  • Customers prefer to travel by airlines who provide great experience at the best prices
  • Customers prefer to stay at hotels where they get great experience at the best prices
  • In general, Customers prefer to use any service where they can get a great experience at the best price

Traveling by taxi is way better than taking the bus or the train. The experience due to the very differences in transport types is better and more convenient with taxi cabs.

Long distance transportation has few choices – Trains, Buses and Taxis

TrainsBusesTaxis
Shared transport on a fixed scheduleShared transport on a fixed schedulePrivate transport on your preferred schedule
Infrastructure is not great. Luxury trains are few. Tickets are hard to getSleeper & Luxury buses are available but its still somewhat crowded. Roads are betting better so its a good optionRoads are getting better. Larger & luxury cars make it easier to go longer distances, faster and on your own schedule/itinerary

Most customers middle or upper middle class customers (a growing portion of India) prefer to take a cab. Sometimes, its cheaper for a family to take a cab vs buying 4 bus or train tickets for the family.

However, When we spoke to over 1000 family and travellers in 2015 we found a shocking truth. Customers were worried about booking a cab. These was no single dependable source to book a cab. You always needed an inside connection, a jugaad or a friend who knew someone reliable and trustworthy. Basically, the overall cab booking & travel experience before 2015 was questionable at best.

Also prices for cab services were sometimes way too high and quite random in many cases. We started studying this market and realized that we can help not just customers but also taxi operator partners through technology. We created Gozo to solve these problems and to make it easy for customers & partners to find each other. Gozo exists so you can book a quality cab at amazing prices anywhere in India.

When we started Gozo, we observed most of the taxi bookings across India were done with travel agents. In most of these cases we observed that the customer paid a hefty fee to the travel agent but little of that money actually made it to the taxi owner/driver. So we adopted a model where any taxi owners can work directly with Gozo and get business continuously as long as they provide good customer service.

Gozo’s penalty system is a way to ensure that partners who provide great customer experience thrive and those who don’t care about customer experience are either encouraged to behave better.

Gozo’s vision is to be the most trusted platform for travel & tourism. We provide customers with quality cabs at best possible prices. We keep our operating costs low so we can also create the highest money making opportunity for our taxi driver partners.

Our role is to match customers with drivers & once the match is made ensure every ride is a great experience and a fair transaction for both customers & drivers.

Deepesh Arora, Co-Founder

For partners our guidelines are simple –
(1) Be on time for pickups (2) Provide great customer service – clean car, polite behavior, be honest with the customer & follow the law (3) Grow your business, make money by abiding to these guidelines.

Our promise to you is – better your services, the more business you will get from the Gozo platform.

Sometimes our partners violate the above guidelines and that causes bad experience for customers, hurts Gozo’s reputation and even hurts other partners who are following guidelines.

Only as a disciplinary measure, we apply penalties to those who violate guidelines. We compensate partners with in Gozo coins when they follow guidelines and get great cusotmer ratings. Good partners make mistake sometimes but they can easily pay for those using the Gozo coins they have earned (does not affect your pocket). But bad behaving partners get penalties and eventually get blocked by our system.

The ultimate goal of penalties is to encourage taxi driver partners to provide great customer experiences. Follow our service guidelines so you can get the best ratings from customers and grow your business. Always remember, travel business is a service-oriented business. Business grows for those whose service is best.

Gozo has teams for customer & vendor advocacy. We realize sometimes customers are not completely right either, so these teams help by listening to the customer & the taxi partner (vendor) and help mediate to a reasonable solution. Taxi partners should remember, Gozens work hard to enable a fair, honest and amazing experience for customers & taxi partners for every ride, every day.

As always we appreciate our partners and our customers and are listening for your feedback and suggestions at all times.

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How to pay the lowest price when booking a taxi for your vacation

We all want to pay the lowest price for the best service, irrespective of what we are buying.

Our team at Gozo Cabs has established a massive network of taxi operators and is at this point the largest taxi services provider for travel to and from anywhere in India. In the past few years building this incredible team we have learnt a thing or two about working closely with taxi operators and customer helping them both to get the best out of their transaction with each other.

Gozo is an intermediary and through this note you can better understand our tech and the problem we are solving.

Let’s first understand the taxi market on India

(That’s a seperate post that I’ll come back to soon)

Next let’s understand the operators mindset

(more on this later too)

Now let’s understand the customers expectations

(more on this soon)

How do I pay the best price for cabs in India

Finally, here are the tips that will help you save money and get the best possible service when you travel (we’re talking intercity travel not commuting within your city. Our friends at Uber and Ola have that covered quite well) by taxi.

  • Decide what kind of service you want
    • Price and quality are traded off against each other all the time.
  • Are you okay with an older car?
    • As the price goes lower, the operator focuses on optimising their cost structure there are many seats they can achieve this – with an older car, one that has greater wear and tear (direct affect on your comfort… Think seats, shock absorbers, how cold the AC runs etc) or use an alternative fuel type
  • What about the fuel type?
    • CNG is quite popular in India. Electric cars are newer so that not exactly a cheaper option at the moment. At the time of this writing Diesel fuel has topped ₹100 a liter
    • There are fuel pumps all over the place and are easily accessible. CNG stations are a different story… These are fewer and far between. You could be spending and extra hour sometimes taking a detour to find a CNG pump and if you’re not so lucky, the wait time at the fuel pump can top up to an hour somtimes.
  • What about luggage space?
    • Cars fuelled with CNG have very limited luggage space.
    • In addition take into account the number of travellers. More the people, lesser the luggage you can carry. Not all cars are equipped with roof top luggage carriers (so request one of you need one)
  • How we do this at Gozo?
    • Gozo tiers it’s service offering – the value tier leans more towards price and attempts to make a best effort on service quality. Our value+ tier attempts on a balance between quality and price. The select tier puts quality first. Ultimately, you get what you pay for.
  • How do I make sure I’m paying the best price?
    • There is always a fixed inventory of vehicles available in any given town or city
    • The nicer vehicles are in great demand and tend to sell out sooner. (everyone wants good service. The early bird catches the prize)
    • And if you have specific preferences, it’s best to relay them to your provider as early as you know about them.
    • The best prices are typically available a week to 10 days ahead of your date of travel.
    • And if your date of travel aligns with a major holiday or a holiday season then try to book even earlier if possible
    • Another factor that matters a lot and seems to be the most neglected by travellers is your source and destination towns of travel. Smaller towns have lesser inventory and the risk of inventory sellout is higher.
    • Now if you are traveling with a provider like Gozo (we pioneered one way intercity travel in India and continue to be the leader in getting you the best prices for one way travel), you will need to also consider your one-way travel requirements. Our one-way prices between towns that have a lot of up and down traffic are almost half of what you can get from most other players however our one-way prices could be higher than usual (or not as discounted) if the likelihood of us finding the cab operator a return ride is low or unlikely for your route

At Gozo, we’re constantly innovating and building phenomenal technology to make quality cabs available for intercity travel. We do not own a single cab but we are very conscious of our duty to look out for the best interests of not just our customers but also our taxi operators.

Did you know?

Almost 75% of the Gozo taxi fleet is owned and operated by individual taxi operators. These operators had to previously depend on a variety of travel agencies for business. Today with Gozo, they receive regular business through our platform. Through the Gozo platform we have enabled a steady income for over 2 Lac households across India. Any taxi operator who understands the concept of hospitality and quality customer service prospers with Gozo.

So the next time you travel intercity, use these insider tips and get the best price taxi for India travel. While you save money, you can be proud that you aren’t just traveling in a cab you are also moving the Indian economy forward. Jai Hind!

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Puri Travel Guide | How to Reach & Places to visit

Puri Travel Guide

Puri, the ancient land of Lord Jagannatha, is amongst the most popular pilgrimage destinations of the country, and in this article, we are going to cover  a complete detail of the Puri travel guide, including few places of interest and how to reach. Being one of the sacred ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage sites, Puri consists of several old temples that carry great religious, historical, and architectural importance. Historically known as “Sri Kshetra”, this wealthy land was invaded 18 times by Hindu and Muslim rulers who had eyes on the temple’s treasures. Continue reading “Puri Travel Guide | How to Reach & Places to visit”