Jaipur

Elephant ride at Amber Fort

Met up with Val & John on Saturday for breakfast at the Four Points Sheraton hotel. They had been traveling in India for a week and it was good to see them. Unfortunately John was suffering a bit and would not be joining us for sightseeing that day. We started our day at the Amber Fort, just outside Jaipur. As we waited for our elephant ride up to the fort, we had to run the gauntlet of the hawkers - lots of them and very persistent.  The elephant ride was great fun - Val & Sarah on one and I had one to myself. They slowly walked up the winding path to the fort. It is made of red sandstone and marble, and was built in 1592 by Raja Man Singh I.  We spent about 2 hours wandering around the fort, with its courtyards, multiple staircases and ornate temple.

Our next stop was the Lake Palace, which looked like it was floating on water. By the side of the lake a young girl was practicing her tightrope walking - with about 5 pots on her head! We then stopped for some lunch at a multi-cuisine place. We had butter chicken marsala, rice & nan, washed down with a beer - just the ticket. On the way back to the hotel we stopped off at a textile shop.  The owner showed us lots of bed covers - mainly made a block printing. They were nice, but we had to remind ourselves that we didn't really need any.

Hawa Mahal

The following day Val was not feeling good, so John came out with Sarah & myself. Our first stop was Hawa Mahal. I'd seen plenty of photos but to see it us close in the early morning light was amazing. The colors were incredible - such a unique piece of architecture. We made our way inside but it was clear  that John was still suffering. Combination of dehydration & lack of energy was getting to him.  He was driven back to the hotel.

Sun dial

Sarah and I were then taken to the observatory, or Jantar Mantar. It is a UNECO world heritage site. It's a collection of architectural astronomical instruments, made in 1727 by Jai Singh II. It includes the worlds largest sun dial, capable of measuring time to the nearest 10 seconds. It was a fascinating place to wonder around.

Rambagh Palace

Sarah & I treated ourselves to G&T at the Rambagh Palace - which is now an exclusive hotel owned by the Taj group. It was a great way to end the weekend.

Pench National Park

Our deluxe tent

I'd been looking forward to this weekend trip for a while. It is on my 'list' to see a wild tiger in India - this was my first opportunity. But I didn't kid myself - the chances were pretty slim, especially given  the decline of the overall population, plus that fact that the monsoon rains made sure that the jungle would be thick & green, with plenty of water around, making it even harder to spot the elusive cat. Sarah and I boarded a plane from Hyderabad to Nagpur. We were picked up by a driver at Nagpur airport and then embarked on a 2.5 hour road trip on very rough roads. We arrived at Pench Jungle camp around 1pm. At reception I noticed a photo of Ian Botham & David Gower, who had both stayed there, plus some signed cricket bats. We were in good company then! We were shown our 'tent' - which was very nice - overlooking a lake. The inside had been done very nicely indeed. However the first thing I noticed was a huge spider on the wall, which alas had to be dispatched on Sarah's orders. We had a quick lunch then headed out for our first safari into the park. The main entrance was not opening until the next day, so we had to drive for 1 hour to another gate. When we got there it was closed - and they would not let our safari jeep in - so we drove another 1 hour back to the lodge - not  a good start! Our guide was suitably embarrassed, and took us on a drive into the buffer zone, pointing out birds along the way - not quite what we thought we would be getting.....That evening as we sat at our table for dinner that we were in fact the only people staying at the resort (they only opened 1 day ago)! Needless to say the service (and food) was very good, even though we felt our every move was being monitored by the entire staff!

Spotted Deer

Indian Roller

We woke at 5:15am as our safari started at 6am - time only for a quick cuppa. We arrived at the park entrance (we were the 2nd jeep in line). This was the opening day for the park, so there was a lot of activity, including having our jeeps's photo taken. Formalities over (had to show passports), we entered the park. We were the only ones in the jeep, which could seat 7 plus driver and guide. We started scanning the dense jungle for any sign of orange and black stripes. At one point the jeep stopped as our guide had heard the distress calls of the Spotted Deer - clear signs that a predator was near by. We waited for about 20 mins but no big cat appeared (the park has about 100 leopards and 60 tigers). During our morning safari we saw a lot of wildlife - lots of deer (several types), Gaur - Large Indian Bison, several Jackals, loads of monkeys and amazing birdlife. After 3 hours of driving through the jungle we stopped at 'Central Point' where we stopped for a picnic breakfast - very posh! The morning game drive finished around 12:30.

Jackals

The afternoon safari started around 2:30pm. We saw a lot of the wildlife as in the morning - this park was obviously very healthy, with plenty of natural tiger prey on offer.  Even though I sensed this was not going to be our day for spotting a tiger, it was nonetheless exciting as you never knew if you may get lucky. To our amazement  there were groups of women cutting grass by the trails in the middle of the parl. Apparently since there is so much natural prey, the big cats do not see humans as food. Our driver chats to the women who say they had seen 2 tigers that morning - Sarah said we would have been better off helping them cut grass and get a tiger sighting! Although it was a shame that we came away without seeing a tiger, it added to the allure of this elusive, almost mystical animal.

Golconda & Charminar

On Sunday I had breakfast with Sumedha at the Westin hotel. He had a membership which allowed him to take a guest with him during the weekend. Tempted as I was to have another dosa, I could not resist a good British fry-up - bacon, eggs, sausage, tomato & baked beans - it was great! I enjoyed talking with Sumedha - a very cool bloke. He was originally from Sri Lanka but had worked in New Jersey and also Mumbai.  he told me about a place in NJ that they call 'Little India' - somewhere near Edison - will have to check it out when we get back.

Golconda Fort

Light Show

Later in the day Mazhur (driver) picked me up and we headed into the Old City - I wanted to visit Golconda Fort again. I'd been there a couple of times before, but  not on this trip yet. The fort dates back to 1143 - that's pretty old in my book. Seven Kings of the Qutub Sahi dynasty ruled over Golconda from 1518 to 1687.  The fort was built on a hill that overlooks Hyderabad. It's quite a climb in the heat of late afternoon, but worth it - the views are amazing. Halfway up there's a mosque, and then a bit further up is a Hindu temple - it's odd how often you see these two close together in Hyderabad. The place was busy, especially at the top - seems to be a common place for families to come on a Sunday. I waited at the top until the sun set, then headed back down the fort to the bottom. Once there I noticed that the walls were being lit up, creating a spectacular vision.

Golconda

On Tuesday evening after another long day at work, I asked Mahur if he could take me to see Charminar at night, since I had heard it would be lit up for the Biodiversity conference that was happening in Hyderabad. The traffic was unusually light, mainly because in Indian Prime Minister had visited earlier in the day and a lot of people had stayed at home fearing bad traffic! We arrived at Charminar and was astounded at the sight - yellow, green and blue lights had transformed the mosque. The colours produced an incredible image. I spent the next hour walking around the structure talking far too many photos.

Charminar

Chowmahalla Palace & Shamrock Bar...

Chutneys

This Saturday I met up with Venkata, Janice & Kiran for a days exploring Hyderabad. The plan was to have breakfast, then head to the Salar Jung Museum (which i had done already), then to Chowmahalla Palace & Golkonda (plus the Tombs if time) - I had my doubts if we would fit it all in. Breakfast was a Chutneys in Jubilee Hills - we had dosa marsala (my fav),  idly and puri. It all tasted great, but very filling. We were there about 1.5 hrs, so by the time we left it was already about 11am - but didn't mind as it was very enjoyable. While they took Janice to the museum, they dropped me off and I walked towards Charminar (best place in HY!). There's always so much to see, and everyone is friendly (the Hindus generally don't like walking around here, for obvious reasons).  I take loads of photos (again).

After getting my Charminar fix I walk towards Chowmanhalla Palace. Venkata calls me en route and we agree to meet inside the palace. This place was only opened to the public in 2005, and was where the Nizams lived and entertained. We spent about 2 hrs here - there was so much to see. They even had some vintage cars, including a very rare old Rolls Royce in yellow. Inside the main part of the palace there was this incredible room with amazing chandeliers and carved/painted ceilings -  this is where visitors were met and entertained. The Nizams clearly new how to live and how to throw big parties!

Chowmahalla

On the way to Golkonda we dropped Kiran off. The traffic was even worse today (normally weekends are not too bad). By the time we got to Golkonda we decided we would not have enough time to do it justice. We headed on to the Tombs (which Janice had not seen).  It was dark when we arrived, but some of them were lit up, which created a very eery atmosphere. There was nobody else walking around - just the 3 of us plus lots of dogs. The lighting made for some interesting photos.



Qutub Saha Tombs



We finished the day at the Shamrock 'Irish' Bar in Madhapur (my suggestion). Venkata had not been  there so it was a new experience for all of us. We entertained ourselves by seeing if we could find anything to do with Ireland - and failed, apart from the green walls. They did not serve Guinness (or any Irish beer) - only Bud (USA) or Corona (Mexico). On the menu  they offered traditional Irish bangers made from chicken(!), and a pot stew which we agreed we should probably avoid. Venkata and I ordered Corona and Janice hit the G&T. We ordered several appetizers from the menu. When we walked in the music was fairly loud, but you could still have  conversation. However, it soon increased to the point where I couldn't heard anything being said - showing my age! It was 'ladies night', so Janice's drinks were free (I think). There was a dance floor and the DJ was cranking up the music. After several more drinks we all hit the dance floor (Venkata needed some coaxing) - lot of fun!

Goa

My journey to Goa seemed simple. Flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai with a connection to Goa. But in India nothing is so straightforward. The flight from HY was delayed,so I missed my connection. Jet Airways were pretty useless, so I ended up paying an extra $100 on a flight to Goa with Air India. I arrived at Goa airport at 9:30, jumped in a taxi and headed off to my b&b place in Palolem, about 1.5 hrs away - right in the southern tip of Goa. I got there and was warmly welcomed by the owners of 'The Village Guesthose', Goran, from London,  and his wife Janet who was Irish. We had several beers together on the verandah of their fantastic house. We were later joined by Keith, from Texas who had lived in Bangalore for 6 years. There was also a German couple staying there. My room was very nice & clean.

Fishing boats - Palolem

Early on Saturday I went for a walk along the sandy, palm-tree lined beach - it was very idyllic and quiet. There were many local fishing boats but none were out since there had been rough seas the last few days. This morning was calm & sunny though. I was fascinated with the boats - many were brightly coloured, with out-riggers and fishing nets piled inside.  I returned to the Village for breakfast - bacon, eggs, tomato & bread - nice! I decide the best way to see the area was by scooter. Goran arranged one for me - 200 rupees for the day - about $4! I spent most of the day riding around the quiet roads visiting other beaches - it was a great time, and nice to be on a road with little traffic - world away from HY! Later in the afternoon/early evening I watched the catch being brought onto the beach - there must have been 30 people pulling the nets in. The amount of fish did not seem that great for all the effort - maybe 5 baskets of fish total. Aparently the fishing is not so good just after the Monsoon.

Palolem Beach

That night I went for dinner with Keith - we chose a place right on Palolem Beach. The food was good - had chicken satay. We were joined later by the German couple & had  good evening - plenty of beer was consumed. I'd noticed at lunch (when I had a very hot fish curry) that smoking marijuana  was done quite openly, even in the restaurants. Same in the evening - a couple of girls sat down next to us & lit up without any hesitation.

Bringing in the catch

Dolphin boat trip

Early Sunday morning I paid a guy 800 rupees to take me on a 1 hr boat trip to see dolphins & some other beaches. I had my doubts about the dolphins, but sure enough within 10 mins we saw 2 come very close to the boat! I enjoyed the trip - was nice to be on the sea. We saw a fishing boat pulling in their nets for squid, only to spend most the time taking out  jellyfish - problem around here.  After breakfast I wondered into town looking to get a massage. I came across a hairdresser who also offered head massages - perfect sine I needed a hair cut. He used only scissors and did a nice job. For 200 rupees I got the hair cut and the massage. He put some oil onto my head and gave it a right pounding - very invigorating!  I then took a river trip on another traditional boat - we saw kingfishers and eagles. We also heard monkeys but did see them. After that it was time to head back to the airport. I came back feeling very re-freshed and ready to face the heat & traffic of HY!

Qtub Shahi Tombs

Dosa at Cafe Nandini

This weekend was due to be a hectic one in Hyderabad. Saturday was the end of the Ganesha festival, with the idols being immersed in their final resting places, most notably Hussain Sagar Lake, where thousands of people were expected to gather. On Sunday there was due to be a planned demonstration in support of  a separate Telangana state - they were expecting trouble in the old part of the city and around Necklace Road.  Given all this I decided the best thing to do was play it safe, and go for breakfast in Madhapur. I found this great place called Cafe Nandini, where you could get a freshly made dosa and a coffee for 50 rupees! It was a real locals place, and the food was great - you could see it being made at the back. I stopped and bought some grocery supplies & headed back.

Idol on it's way for immersion

In the afternoon I went to the Inorbit Mall, close to work, and wondered around the shops - you could easily be in the US - so many shops are the same. I quickly got bored of the mall and decided to go back to Durgam lake to see if the large idol was being immersed. Turns out this wasn't going to happen until 6pm - another 3 hours. The lake was really horrible & smelly - can't see it every being clean even though there is a campaign underway. One my way back up to get an auto near the mall,  a group passed me covered on purple & yellow paint - dancing to a drum beat on their way to immerse their idol which was in the back of a truck.



On Sunday Venkata picked me up in his car and we headed to the Salar Jung Museum. It houses a large collection of ancient Indian paintings and artifacts from the Hyderabad area. The Salar Jung dynasty came from Iran and settled in this area. They became very rich on the precious gems found in and around Hyderabad, including the kohinoor diamond. We wondered around the museum for about 3 hours before was agreed we'd seen enough. Our next stop was the Qutb Shahi Tombs. This is the site of the tombs containing the founding rulers of Hyderabad. There are 7 tombs, and each are slightly different in size and design, but all based on the same Persian, Hindu design.  The day was grey and overcast but made for a great light for photographing them. We had a guide who showed us around, then got angry when Venkata gave him a 100 rupee tip - he wanted 350!

Qutb Shahi Tombs

Chutneys & Jayabheri

Wednesday I had dinner with Rajesh at Chutneys in Jubilee Hills. I like this place - good food and nice decor. Rajesh ordered the Poori - basically a large bread filled with hot air - a bread balloon. It was very tasty - dipping it in the chole - chick peas in  spicy sauce.  They also serve their special chutneys - some spicy and some cool (coconut). We then had a smaller batura - sweeter than the other one, but tasty. We finished off with an Indian filtered coffee. It was a good evening - my new driver was waiting outside, which made a nice change from haggling with the auto drivers.




On Thursday our group decided to go out for a social event.  I suggested starting with drinks at my apartment then going on for dinner somewhere. We ended up ordering some food from a local place and had it delivered to my apartment, so it was there when we arrived. Chandra was stuck in a meeting, but had a nice evening with Sanjay, Abhi & Venkat. The food was really good, and the conversation flowed (as did the beer!).  Enjoyable evening.

Giant Ganesha..

Khairatabad Ganesha

After a quiet Sunday morning I met up with Sujoy & Sneha in the afternoon. They wanted to show me the huge Ganesha in Khairatabad - the biggest idol in Hyderabad, and probably in the whole of AP. The road leading to the idol was closed off to traffic and was full of market traders selling food,  balloons, tat and all sorts of stuff. It was very busy - kept my backpack in front of me after Sujoy warned me of pick-pocketers. As we approached the idol the crowds increased. We were swept past the giant Ganesha - about 75ft fall! Either side were 2 other idols - Shiva and Lakashmi (I think).  The sweet held in the hand will be auctioned - last year it sold for 800,000 rupees! It will then be broken up and given out.  I snapped some photos as we were ushered along. On the way back we passed a mosque - strange how 2  religions can co-exist together with no apparent problems - refreshing to see.

Durgam Churuvu Ganesha

The following day, after a long day at work (finished around 8:45pm), I decided to walk to see another famous local Ganesha - think it's becoming some sort of obsession with me! I walked past several IT companies and then ended up walking down a dimly lit dodgy area down some very rough tracks which I was happy to get out of. I ended up by a lake called Durgam Churuvu. By the side of the lake was another large idol - only 55ft this one! Each one if different - this one was very pink and slightly lop-sided! This one was also 'eco-friendly', being made from clay & sand from West Bengal. Eventually each idol is immersed in water, so there has been a drive towards those that do not cause harm to the environment. I took a few photos then hopped into an auto and headed back home.

Botanical Gardens & Charminar

Botanical Gardens

About 1 mile from where I ma staying is a botanical gardens, called Shri Kotla Bhaskar Reddy Botanical Gardens - nice and short.....It cost 15 rupees to get in and an additional 10 to use a camera - so thats about 50 cents total - not bad value I guess. The gardens were quite large - at one end was a large pond with water lilies and a large greenhouse of sorts that contained lot of tanks with water plants. A path guided you around the gardens. It was well maintained, and there was an army of women sweeping the paths. There were a lot of flowering plants - lots of red, yellow and orange, which seem to be India's favourite colours. It was nice to be away from all the traffic -  it was like an oasis of green. I spent about 1.5 hours walking around and taking photos before heading back home.

In the afternoon I decided to head for the old part of Hyderabad and visit Charminar again - I just love wandering around that place - so much to see. Since I have not yet got another driver to replace Rama, I had to go by auto rickshaw. I asked the driver to use his meter (it's rare that they do). He said it was about 12 km away and they charge 9 rupees per km - reasonable I thought. However, I had not bargained on 2 things - that the driver did not know the way, and that it was a lot longer than 12km! He had to stop several times to ask other rickshaw drivers, and I was trying to show him the way on my iphone. Eventually after about 1 hour and 20km later, he stopped by the Salar Jung museum, which was close enough to Charminar. The museum was closing in 1 hour otherwise I would have gone in.  I gave him 300 rupees and set off walking. I was right next to the Musi River, which looked so polluted. People here just throw rubbish into the streets without a second thought.

Mosque

The walk to Charminar ("four towers") was not for the faint hearted. This is the heart of the muslim part of Hyderabad (controlled by the Nizams for a couple of centuries), and was crowded with shops of every kind, with people everywhere. Traffic choaked the roads and you had to be very  careful. As a westerner (taking photos) I stood out and a lot of people wanted to sell me stuff - just have to say no politely and move on. The kids often wanted me to take their picture and practice their English on me - I was happy to oblige.  Not too many Ganesha's here (him being a Hindu god), but I did see a couple.  I passed a mosque painted bright green - typical of muslim mosques. One of the streets off the main Charminar monument was filled with vegetable sellers - always like to wander around that kind of place.

Charminar at night

 Had a coffee in a place just by the mosque - was nice to have some peace for a while. I wanted to get some photos of the Charminar at night, so went out again at around 6:30 just as it was getting dark.  You always get a lot of attention around here - a lot of it annoying. One guy wanted to sell me some 'Raybans' -started off at 1,500 rupees. I told him I didn't want them, but he followed me until he got down to 250 ($5) - I still didn't want them, but shows how much you can haggle around here - even without trying! I got some good photos then decided to head home. I hailed an auto and he said 300 rupees fixed fee. I agreed and hopped in. Again it took close to 1 hour but at last this guy knew the way! I gave him 350 as it was a tough ride through the busy Sat evening traffic. 

Ganesha

Flower seller

Clay idols

Starting today (Wednesday Sep 19th ) and continuing for another 9 days is the Ganesha festival. Ganesha is a god, son of Parvati and Shiva, whose head was cut off and replaced with an elephant head. He is the 'remover of obstacles'. Suresh, who cooks me breakfast and cleans the apartment offered to take me on a walk to show me the preparations for the festival. We walked about half a mile down the road and saw several vendors selling colourful flower garlands made of orange and yellow marigolds, plus other assorted leaves and other flowers which will be used to decorate the Ganesha idols later in the day. I bought some flowers and a couple of clay idols - about $1 each.

Lord Ganesha

Back at the apartment complex Suresh showed me a giant Ganesha that was being prepared. I came back later and saw it all decorated and lit up. There were many offering of food and money around him - I gave 20 rupees hoping that would bring me some luck on my project at work! The people looking after the Ganesha gave me some lemon rice and some indian sweet which were offered to Ganesha then was given out to anyone who dropped by. Back at the apartment I placed the clay idols & flowers in the prayer room beside a picture of Ganesha & said a silent prayer for my family - well, no harm in trying.....

Borra Caves..

Entrance to Borra Caves

I woke up at around 4:30am not feeling that well. Went to the bathroom and.....well you guessed it. It was probably the chicken in bamboo - I was a little suspicious of it when I was eating it. I was expecting lean meat, but it was bones and all. I informed Venkata & JC that I wasn't that great and  would not be joining them for breakfast. They were concerned, as was I, since I was faced with another      15 hour journey in the car! I took some immodium and hoped that would work. The plan today was to visit the famous Borra Caves which was not far away. We arrived about 11am. I was feeling quite weak, but not too bad. I drank a lot of water as I knew I was dehydrated. The caves were spectacular. It was very deep with huge stalagmite/stalactite formations. There were a lot of very excited locals shouting loudly as they descended the cave. It was well lit but at one point all the power went out (in typical Indian style), which was a little unnerving as it was pitch dark and bats were flying around our heads! At the entrance to the cave monkeys had made their home, looking for easy pickings from the tourists. They had no hesitation in grabbing anything that looked to be edible from the hands of people.

Inside the caves

We finally set off on the long journey home at around 1:30pm. I settled myself in the back seat and tried to get some sleep. Not easy as we were still in the hills and  the roads were very winding and bumpy. Not to mention the local jeep taxi's trying to ram us off the road (they literally come straight for you at full speed!). After 2 hours we reached the main highway. It was pretty much the same road all the way back to Hyderabad. I slept a lot of it, thankfully, and didn't ned to use any facilities (thank god). We stopped for dinner and Venkata & JC kept asking me if I wanted more to eat - that was the last thing I wanted to do. I had some rice and a small amount of butter chicken. Eventually we reached my apartment - it was about 4am. I went straight to bed, exhausted but glad I went on the trip.  

Road to Vizag...

This weekend was going to be interesting. Venkata had arranged a weekend road trip to an area called Vizag, about 700km away from Hyderabad. Now given how Indians drive and the general state of the roads, some might think this was a tad foolish - but I was up for an adventure.  You have to take advantage of these opportunities. We were joined by Jayachand (JC for short), who would be sharing the driving with Venkata. We set off at 3:30pm on Friday.  It was nice to get out of hyderabad for a change and leave all the crowds behind. The scenery became more rural, and I saw lots of buffalo & goats being taken back to their pens for the night. Sometimes they were on the road, but this is normal in India. The road at this stage was good, but sometimes you'd get a car going the wrong way, heading straight towards us! Ventaka said this is normal - no rules in India! We stopped for dinner after about 6 hours in a busy town on the river Krishna. We had butter chicken with nan bread - really nice. It was dark now and we still had another 6 hours to go! I managed to get some sleep but not much.

Sunrise over Araku Valley

At about 6:30 am we entered a region called Araku Valley - famous as a region of outstanding natural beauty and an indigenous local tribe who inhabit the area. We started climbing up into the mountains and had a great view of the sun rising. We also spotted some monkeys who seemed very interested in us - much to the dismay of JC, who quickly got back in the car! We continued to our hotel - The Hill Resort in the town of Araku. The location was fantastic - looking out over part of the lush valley, with paddy fields and jungle in the distance. We had a late breakfast, then had a rest in the rooms. After an hour we got back in the car and went for a drive, ending up at a tribal village. The houses were very basic, with old clay roofs. They grow all their own food, and keep goats, chickens and buffalo.

The markets we saw were filled with amazing looking vegetables - all organic of course. We returned to the hotel late afternoon. For dinner Venkata had asked then to prepare a local speciality - chicken cooked in a piece of bamboo on an open fire. They put out a table for us right by the fire. It was a great end to the day - sitting outside, chatting, drinking beer and eating great food. At one point a whole colony of large bats flew overhead.

Vegetables at local market

Preparing the chicken in bamboo

Talk of  recent tigers sightings in the area caught our attention.  Apparently one of the locals had seen a tiger cross a road beside a small temple where it drank from a pool before heading into the jungle further down the valley. We were considering heading out to that area to see f we could see it - probably the beer talking, then thought better of it. The chances of seeing it were negligible, plus the roads at night would be very dangerous. Still, it was nice to know that they were out there. 

Hotel heaven...

Staying at the Westin Hotel at Mindspace for 3 days had a lot of advantages, the main one being with Sarah of course, but I also had a bit of luxury after having a week in my apartment. It also meant that I could walk to Novartis rather than the daily stress of the Hyderabad traffic! On Monday after work I met up with Sarah and other colleagues of hers in the bar of the hotel.  It was a good evening, and was pretty late by the time we went back to our room  (1am is my guess). Back in the room I tried and failed to watch the US Open final - shame really given the result!

Sarah left early Tuesday morning for work so I snatched an extra hours sleep. Went  for breakfast and met up with Bill & Sheila from Novartis. Had another long day to work - got back about 8pm (an 11 hour day!) feeling knackered and hungry! As I arrived Sarah & the others were also arriving after their team-building event - so we all went to the bar again! Said my goodbye to Sarah at 7am the following morning, who was flying up to Mumbai, then went back to bed! Looks like I may be moving apartment soon - fingers crossed!

Out and about at the weekend....

Taramati Baragati

Saturday I met up with Sujoy and his girlfriend Sneda. We went to a nice place for lunch - very posh Indian restaurant. Sneda ordered the food, which was served by a waitor all dressed up in traditional Indian costume and holding a skewer with flaming chicken! After lunch we headed out to Hussain Sagar Lake, famous for it's giant 40ft buddha on an island in the centre. Cameras were not allowed since someone was caught taking pics of girls recently, so we had to leave our SLRs with a security bloke. Luckliy I had my Canon compact! We took the boat our and looked around the statue for a while, taking some photos, including one of me looking like Lady Diana all on my own. We then went to Taramati Baragati which was a kind of arched building built in 1625 on top of a hill. On our way I saw a bloke crawling accross the street - not sure why! The views from Taramati were fantastic, and the sunset was breathtaking. On the way back we saw a buffalo that had been hit by a car, with about 20 people standing around it, probably thinking 'now what do we do?' They then took me back to my apartment - all in all a good day!

Charminar mosque

Sarah arrived in Hyderabad early Sunday morning. I met up with her at the Westin hotel around 10am. I was looking forard to seeing her again, and also having a bit of luxery for 3 days! We had breakfast and then chatted by the pool for a couple of hours - very nice & relaxing. I tried the pool which was pretty cold! After a brief lunch we met Venkata. He drove us into Charminar in the old part of Hyderabad. The streets were alive with activity! We part near the large mosque and wondered around the bazars. This area is famous for bangles, and Ventata helped Sarah haggle for one. There were shops selling all kinds of goods - pure sensory overload! We tried to gte into see the large Mecca, but Sarah was not allowed in as she was wearing shorts! I went in & took a few photos. A Muslim outside put some perfume of some kind on my hand - was pretty nice! I really like this area of Hyderabad - it's alive this people & amazing sites. Ventaka then took us past Hussain Sagar (on  the 'Necklace Road') on our way back to the Westin. Sarah and I had dinner with Rajesh at the 'Exotica' - on the top floor, open at the sides. There was a nice breeze and the food was great. We dropped Rajesh off and headed back to the hotel. Sarah had done really well given that she'd just arrived  that morning!

First week in Hyderabad.......

Well, it's been quite a first week in Hyderabad! This is the start of a 10 week experience in India - hope you enjoy my postings. I will try to update on a regular basis. This first post summarizes my first week......

The flight from the US on last weekend was fine - arrived in Dubai at some stupid hour. Wondered around looking at all the gold, a bit then hit the Emirates lounge for wine & nuts! Finally got to Hyderabad at 4am Monday morning, and was met by the Emirates driver, complete with suit & cap! Little did I know that another driver was also waiting for me - sent by the Athome Apartments where I would be staying!

View from apartment balcony

After having got lost in Hyderabad, we finally arrived at the apartment at about 5:30am. First impression of  the apartment was not that great - bit of a strange odour and very dim lighting. The apartment is big - a 3 bedroom place with kitchen, lounge and dinning room. I selected the room with the biggest bed, dumped my stuff and crashed.

Woke at about 10am and started unpacking. Moth balls in the closets - that was the smell - lovely! My first task was to get some bottled water & basic supplies - ended up with water, beer, biscuits & chocholate!

Showered and headed to work. the had assigned a driver to me - 'Ramakrisha'  - henceforth to be 'Rama'. He seemed a nice bloke but his English is not that great - but better than my Hindi! Hit the Hyderabad traffic - I forgot how bad it is - totally crazy!!

Back from work and I started noticing problems with the apartment (not just the smell). Almost no cutlery, no bowls, tiny coffee cups, and the door to the balcony had no lock! To be fair, these are now sorted - they seem to be responsive to my complaints. Had dinner at the restaurant - Indian veggie buffet.

Next day I didn't feel so good. Not sure if it was the dinner from the night before, or change in climate, jet-lag of all three. Spent some time on the bog - think you get the picture......

Wednesday went out in evening with Sujoy who kindly offered to show me some alternative accommodation. Sawn Suites was  not that great - think I'm better off where I am! We got a bit lost on the way back to Athome, but that was just part of a fun night. Very kind of Sujoy to give up his evening. He even stopped by to look at my apartment & made some suggestions for improving it - like getting rid of 2 old mattresses in a closet that were contributing to the interesting aroma!

Extreme Sports Bar

On Friday I went out for dinner & a drink with Venkata. Ended up a the 'Extreme Sports Bar'. We were the only ones there....but had a great night playing pool & drinking beer. On the walls there were flags from various sports teams - including Newcastle United! Good way to end my first week in India......