I'm taking the opportunity of a mid-week Public Holiday (Independence Day) and waking up a little too early in the morning to get up-to-date with my blog. A big advantage of a Public Holiday is that no-one knocks on the door before 0730 (on a normal day, this includes the paper man, car wash man, driver and cleaning lady) so it's a rare chance for a lie-in!
Last weekend we went to Hyderabad; a city conveniently positioned in the centre of India and the state capital of Andhra Pradesh (for now). With a population of approximately eight million people, Hyderabad is the fourth most populous city in India. Wikipedia gives a bit more background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India
Hyderabad is unusual in that it continued to be ruled by monarchs, the Nizams of Hyderabad, throughout British occupation; rule that ended only when the state of Hyderabad was brought into the Indian Union by force in 1948. The last Nizam of Hyderabad (ruling from 1911 to 1948) was the richest man in the world throughout his reign which is excellent from a tourist perspective, as Hyderabad is adorned with incredible palaces and interesting things to see. It's worth reading about the Nizams too, a fascinating family:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizam_of_Hyderabad
I arrived in Hyderabad at lunchtime on Friday to join Phil following a work visit. My first impressions of Indigo airlines were very positive (long may that continue!), I've now found a very convenient taxi firm where everything can be done online (Meru cabs, I recommend to anyone coming to India) and the length of time from leaving our apartment to being through security at the airports was under 30 minutes. This bodes well for future holidays!
My first impressions of Hyderabad were of a more ordered, clean and less frenetic city that Bombay, although this is all relative in India. The streets were adorned with huge posters of the leader of one of the main political parties, the BJP, as we found that the leader (Gujurat premier Narendra Modi) was visiting Hyderabad that weekend. Our hotel was pleasant and located on Hussain Sagar; a large lake which is visually appealing but I became less keen on when reading a plaque which said that large amounts of Hyderabad's sewage gets dumped in it every day...
There is a large status of Buddha standing in the middle of the lake. This is made from white granite, weighs 400 tonnes and took 200 men two years to construct in the late 1980s. The story takes a interesting turn as, when the statue was first taken out onto the lake to be erected, the boat carrying it sank! It took two years to recover the statue but it eventually took its place in 1992, and very nice it looks too.
Once Phil had finished with work at the end of Friday, we headed out to start out sightseeing. Transport is a little more ad hoc in India, and we attempted to negotiate fixed rates with several auto drivers before finding one who would take us anywhere. In the end though, we found a reliable man who spoke a little English and earned himself a decent income for two days by agreeing to take us around the city.
On Friday early evening we made it to Golconda Fort; a marvellous and enormous 12th fort stationed high above the city. This was stunning and we enjoyed a pleasant time exploring and learning about the security system there. The building has amazing acoustics; anyone clapping their hands at the main entrance can be heard at the main watchtower a long way away owing to the echoes. A local movie was also been shot whilst we were going round. Anyone visiting Hyderabad should definitely come here.
Another feature of our visit was the many Indian tourists who wanted to speak to us and have photographs with us, something we haven't seen in Bombay. We were the only white tourists around and groups of teenage boys in particular seemed to want to have their photos taken with Philip. I'm not quite sure what conclusion to draw from that...
On Saturday, our itinerary included the Sagar Jung museum (housing lots of the treasures of the Nizam's and related wealthy families), the Charminnah (Gateway to the city), Chowmahallah Palace (actually four palaces belonging to the Nizams), Laad Bazaar (famous for bangles and pearls) and the Birla temple, all of which were well worth visiting. We travelled around with our auto man who was generally very good. His favourite pastime was sleeping in his autos between journeys and he did get a little tired and grumpy towards the end of the day, but was perked up by an extra 100 rupees to keep him sweet.
Chowmahalla (actually four palaces; "Chaar" means four, "mahalla" means palaces)
Something that we have learnt about Indian tourist attractions is that they have two prices, which are strictly enforced. First, there is the local price (typically 5 to 10 rupees), then there is the foreigner price (typically 100 to 150 rupees). The absolute price charged to foreigners is not extreme (less than £2) but it does feel strange to be overcharged (relatively) as part of the 3% of the population paying tax in India. The fact that we live here and pay tax is irrelevant; we are not Indian and therefore must pay for that according to the Indian system. There is no point getting worked up about this, and ultimately I'm pleased that prices are such that they allow lots of people to visit these places, but this disparity does stand out to me more as a resident than it would as a tourist in India. Essentially, many aspects of life here include a foreigner tax (implicit or explicit) and it is something to accept. This applies in multiple arenas, and we have recently heard about a group of expats campaigning to stop Indian hospitals vastly overcharging foreigners who are living here. Foreigner = rich in India, where in practice that is not always the case.
We also tried to visit the Faluknama Palace (now a luxury hotel) for a drink or afternoon tea, but this was fully booked for a private function sadly. One good reason to go back to Hyderabad is to see this though from what we've read online.
In the evening, we had a Hyderabadi feast at the Paradise restaurant, including the famous Dum Biryani which was superb. Another Hyderabadi speciality is Haleem, though this is served only during Ramadan (written Ramzan here) which we just missed, having arrived on the day of the Eid festival. Hyderabad has a much higher Muslim population than many other Indian cities.
On Sunday we explored a large and well-kept local park at the north end of the lake and enjoyed the opportunity to walk (even in the heat!) and try out a basic but fun mini golf course. The park was surprisingly empty but nicely kept. When walking to and from the park, we were stopped by a couple of locals just to chat, as they were fascinated to see Europeans walking around on the streets (a path by the lake, perfectly safe and accessible, dirt aside). On the whole, we found local people to be friendly, curious and keen to welcome us to their city.
The journey back to the airports was more crazy than expected as we had a wild taxi driver who took the opportunity of a non-congested road to drive at scary speeds with some suspect under and over-taking, but we live to tell the tale (as, we hope, do the other drivers and pedestrians on the road) so all is well.
Last weekend we went to Hyderabad; a city conveniently positioned in the centre of India and the state capital of Andhra Pradesh (for now). With a population of approximately eight million people, Hyderabad is the fourth most populous city in India. Wikipedia gives a bit more background:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyderabad,_India
Hyderabad is unusual in that it continued to be ruled by monarchs, the Nizams of Hyderabad, throughout British occupation; rule that ended only when the state of Hyderabad was brought into the Indian Union by force in 1948. The last Nizam of Hyderabad (ruling from 1911 to 1948) was the richest man in the world throughout his reign which is excellent from a tourist perspective, as Hyderabad is adorned with incredible palaces and interesting things to see. It's worth reading about the Nizams too, a fascinating family:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizam_of_Hyderabad
I arrived in Hyderabad at lunchtime on Friday to join Phil following a work visit. My first impressions of Indigo airlines were very positive (long may that continue!), I've now found a very convenient taxi firm where everything can be done online (Meru cabs, I recommend to anyone coming to India) and the length of time from leaving our apartment to being through security at the airports was under 30 minutes. This bodes well for future holidays!
My first impressions of Hyderabad were of a more ordered, clean and less frenetic city that Bombay, although this is all relative in India. The streets were adorned with huge posters of the leader of one of the main political parties, the BJP, as we found that the leader (Gujurat premier Narendra Modi) was visiting Hyderabad that weekend. Our hotel was pleasant and located on Hussain Sagar; a large lake which is visually appealing but I became less keen on when reading a plaque which said that large amounts of Hyderabad's sewage gets dumped in it every day...
View over the lake from the terrace of the hotel restaurant
There is a large status of Buddha standing in the middle of the lake. This is made from white granite, weighs 400 tonnes and took 200 men two years to construct in the late 1980s. The story takes a interesting turn as, when the statue was first taken out onto the lake to be erected, the boat carrying it sank! It took two years to recover the statue but it eventually took its place in 1992, and very nice it looks too.
Once Phil had finished with work at the end of Friday, we headed out to start out sightseeing. Transport is a little more ad hoc in India, and we attempted to negotiate fixed rates with several auto drivers before finding one who would take us anywhere. In the end though, we found a reliable man who spoke a little English and earned himself a decent income for two days by agreeing to take us around the city.
View from our carriage
On Friday early evening we made it to Golconda Fort; a marvellous and enormous 12th fort stationed high above the city. This was stunning and we enjoyed a pleasant time exploring and learning about the security system there. The building has amazing acoustics; anyone clapping their hands at the main entrance can be heard at the main watchtower a long way away owing to the echoes. A local movie was also been shot whilst we were going round. Anyone visiting Hyderabad should definitely come here.
The spectacular Golconda Fort
Another feature of our visit was the many Indian tourists who wanted to speak to us and have photographs with us, something we haven't seen in Bombay. We were the only white tourists around and groups of teenage boys in particular seemed to want to have their photos taken with Philip. I'm not quite sure what conclusion to draw from that...
Philip and some of his fans
On Saturday, our itinerary included the Sagar Jung museum (housing lots of the treasures of the Nizam's and related wealthy families), the Charminnah (Gateway to the city), Chowmahallah Palace (actually four palaces belonging to the Nizams), Laad Bazaar (famous for bangles and pearls) and the Birla temple, all of which were well worth visiting. We travelled around with our auto man who was generally very good. His favourite pastime was sleeping in his autos between journeys and he did get a little tired and grumpy towards the end of the day, but was perked up by an extra 100 rupees to keep him sweet.
View up Laad Bazaar to Charminnah
Nizam's entrance hall (one of them)
Something that we have learnt about Indian tourist attractions is that they have two prices, which are strictly enforced. First, there is the local price (typically 5 to 10 rupees), then there is the foreigner price (typically 100 to 150 rupees). The absolute price charged to foreigners is not extreme (less than £2) but it does feel strange to be overcharged (relatively) as part of the 3% of the population paying tax in India. The fact that we live here and pay tax is irrelevant; we are not Indian and therefore must pay for that according to the Indian system. There is no point getting worked up about this, and ultimately I'm pleased that prices are such that they allow lots of people to visit these places, but this disparity does stand out to me more as a resident than it would as a tourist in India. Essentially, many aspects of life here include a foreigner tax (implicit or explicit) and it is something to accept. This applies in multiple arenas, and we have recently heard about a group of expats campaigning to stop Indian hospitals vastly overcharging foreigners who are living here. Foreigner = rich in India, where in practice that is not always the case.
Pricing disparity
We also tried to visit the Faluknama Palace (now a luxury hotel) for a drink or afternoon tea, but this was fully booked for a private function sadly. One good reason to go back to Hyderabad is to see this though from what we've read online.
In the evening, we had a Hyderabadi feast at the Paradise restaurant, including the famous Dum Biryani which was superb. Another Hyderabadi speciality is Haleem, though this is served only during Ramadan (written Ramzan here) which we just missed, having arrived on the day of the Eid festival. Hyderabad has a much higher Muslim population than many other Indian cities.
Ladies out for a walk. Hyderabad has a high proportion of Muslims (~50%) relative to the overall Indian population
Food Paradise
On Sunday we explored a large and well-kept local park at the north end of the lake and enjoyed the opportunity to walk (even in the heat!) and try out a basic but fun mini golf course. The park was surprisingly empty but nicely kept. When walking to and from the park, we were stopped by a couple of locals just to chat, as they were fascinated to see Europeans walking around on the streets (a path by the lake, perfectly safe and accessible, dirt aside). On the whole, we found local people to be friendly, curious and keen to welcome us to their city.
Park Life
Mini Golf Indian Style
The journey back to the airports was more crazy than expected as we had a wild taxi driver who took the opportunity of a non-congested road to drive at scary speeds with some suspect under and over-taking, but we live to tell the tale (as, we hope, do the other drivers and pedestrians on the road) so all is well.
Gandhiji and his followers at Hyderabad Airport
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