Having had a pretty uneventful last day in aurangabad, we set off to Hyderabad, the city of culture (apparently!) . this was our 4th sleeper train, out of 6. When we arrived into Hyderabad we were blasted with heat, having been in ac all night! We hadn't planned anywhere to stay (again) so we stopped off a the closest hostel to the station, called YMCA. Turns out there was no ac (gutted), but we could get a twin room with a fan and balcony for 4.50 a night, equalling 2.25 per person! Winning!
So we headed out promptly, keen explore the city. There are three areas which make up Hyderabad - secunderabad (where we were staying), abids area, and charminar. We decided to go to charminar first, and visit the charminar building, get lost in the bazaars, and the check out chowmahalla palace. The charminar itself wasn't too impressive. On the outside, it is beautiful, but there was no reason to pay to get in. I mean sure, it has a pretty awesome view of the city below from the top o the building, but other than that, nothing too exciting. Something that really came to my attention during this visit, was how poorly the Indians treat their sights. Here, in the charminar, every inch of wall inside was graffitied with names of people who though it would be a great idea to deface a building which, in its day, would have been spectacular. And this is the same with every monument you go to visit in India, with the exception on the taj mahal! I think its such a shame. Imagine if the same thing happened to the Albert hall.
We then checked out the bazaar. We were told that Hyderabad was famous for its bangles, and so it was. Hundreds of pearl and jewellery shops scattered along the street. This wasn't really what we were lookin but had a wander through the bazaar anyway, for a couple of hours. The colours were incredible, from saris to spices. If we were girls, we would be in seventh heaven!
We rounded off the day with a cheeky visit to the chowmahalla palace, which was basically a holiday home for a family called the nizims, but is an amazing place. I've never seen such a beautiful ballroom. They also had a huge collection of vintage cars on show, including a rolls Royce..! It was a nice way to finish the day, and George had his picture taken with him dressed up as a maharaga (Indian royalty).
It was a good, but very hot first day, and we got back to our boiling hot rooms, which were actually warmer than outside! Should have gone for the ac....oh well.
Adios,
H
X
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