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!
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!
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......
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!
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| View from apartment balcony |
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!
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| Extreme Sports Bar |
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