Courtesy of Kingfisher, within an hour and a half we were 675km away from Sri Lanka and in a new country - India. This short flight was in stark contrast to the budget airlines at home, where you're not even given a complimentary packet of peanuts. As wells a full meal, we were given lemon juice, water and kingfisher beer, although the man in front of Ashley, who already stank of alcohol, managed to squeeze in 3 in quick succession. He will be the guy who will ruin it for the rest of the Indian population!
Stopping over Chennai for just the one night, we spent the day wondering around The Government Museum - the city's equivalent to The Natural History Museum in London. Apart from the fact that the stuffed animals could've done with a dust, it made for an interesting day and helped pass the time until our evening sleeper train to Hyderabad. The couple sleeping opposite us were on their way home after visiting their son's fiancée's parents to organise their wedding. As well as asking us why we marry so late and how we were able to go travelling, the wife gave an insight into our star signs as she was rather into her astrology. Apparently, Richard is a loyal and reliable friend and his birthday suggests that he will be rich when he is of middle age. Ashley is organised and her birthday dictates a talkative personality (pretty spot on)!
Hyderabad is a busy, predominantly Muslim city with burqas, muezzin (call to mosque) and mosques. It was therefore fitting that we went to visit one of the world's largest mosques. A few of the bricks at the Mecca Masjid were made using soil from Mecca (hence the name) and it had room for up to 10,000 worshipers. Before heading over to the Laad Bazaar (which contained literally hundreds of thousands of bangles), we went to the Charminar which was built to celebrate the founding of Hyderabad and is a little like the Arc De Triomphe.
We thought the roads in Sri Lanka were crazy, but the cliches of India ring true - nowhere quite compares. There's no such thing as a one way road as there is always a stray vehicle driving the opposite way, people drive horizontally across 5,6,7 lanes of traffic and do u-turns whenever the feelings takes them. As well as cars, motorbikes and auto rickshaws, the roads contain cattle, goat and human traffic, as the latter look to avoid the pavements - home of the homeless and all round public toilet. We were no exception and, along with 100s of Hyderabadians, walked alongside the traffic. As we did, a motorbike drove past carrying two ladies wearing burqas (one of whom was carrying a microwave) and sandwiched between them was a young child. Lacking in spacial awareness, the left handlebar of the motorbike hit into Ashley's left arm knocking her sideways and leaving her with a nasty bruise. The knock unbalanced the bike and so it swerved from side to side for a few long seconds before, thankfully, righting itself.
Looking for a quieter day, we headed a few kilometres from the centre of Hyderabad to visit Golconda Fort and the Tombs of Qutb Shahi Kings. Whilst at the fort, we encountered the phenomenon of what we'll call 'gora snapping', that is local people asking for our photos. We felt like celebrities as we were asked to pose with locals young and old. In return, we asked for a photo with them and so we're slowly starting to build a catalogue of photos filled with strangers.
Whilst walking from the fort to the tombs, 2 of the guys who had asked for a photo with us earlier pulled up in auto and asked if we wanted a lift there. We don't make a habit of jumping in a taxi with everyone that offers, but their genuine nature convinced us to squeeze 4 people (plus the driver) into the tiny vehicle. Once at the tombs, Shams as Sakir Kahn (pronounced similarly to Chaka-Khan, the artist famed for the song 'I'm Every Woman') did their best to explain each one despite the obvious language barrier and also arranged for someone at the tombs to demonstrate a muezzin, placing his palms over each of his cheeks and making what can only be described as a very nasal sound. It sounded as if every warbles note was emanating from his nostrils. The way in which one of the tombs had been designed was to act like a PA System and so this call to prayer could be heard throughout the site.
We headed back into Hyderabad and Shams insisted on paying for both our bus and mini taxi fares despite our insistence - a mini taxi being like an auto on steroids, about the size of a Daihatsu Hijet and able to sit 12 people. "You are guests in my city and so I pay", he said, which would become his catchphrase for the evening. We went for a drink, Richard sampling a beer called 'Knock Out', a 7.5% strong beer and Ashley sensibly sticking to the milder Kingfisher, and 1 quickly turned into 6 plus dinner. Despite only earning a salary of 6000Rs per month (less than £100), Shams insisted on paying for the majority of the drinks and dinner. He must have spent a third of his months salary in one night and we literally could not give him the cash. We eventually managed to pick up one bill, but physically couldn't give him anymore.
We had agreed to meet Shams the following day at 12.30 at the clothes shop that he worked at, MTS Collection, but mildly hungover we were a little late and couldn't find him. One shop claimed they were MTS and even pointed at a random man claiming he was Shams. He definitely was not and so we decided that we would text him to say thanks for the previous night and sorry that we missed him. We spent the day wandering round the Birla Mandir, a Hindu temple constructed from white Rhajistani marble and in pristine condition as it was only constructed in 1976. As we walked around with our shoes off, the floors were incredibly hot due to the sun and, whilst it was great chatting to some of the locals looking to practice their English and pose for the odd Gora snap, it was difficult to stay in one spot for too long for fear of the soles of our feet melting.
A short walk amongst the traffic took us to Lumbini Park, where we caught a boat to the Buddha statue, which sits in the middle of the Hussain Sagar. It was incredible to look at and, weighing 350 tonnes, getting it into the middle of the lake wasn't without its difficulties. As they were transporting it o it's spot in 1990, the barge it sat on sank and the Buddha went down to the bottom of the lake with it, staying there for 2 years before it was retrieved in perfect condition. The lady we were speaking to on the train to Hyderabad told us about the Hindu tradition, which involves dropping a statue of Ganesh into water each year and then buying a new one. At the time, the news was apparently speculating about the conversations the Hindu and Buddhist icons were having with one another. Lumbini Park itself was lovely and very well kept, but we didn't stick around for long as various bystanders were unsubtly taking photos of us on their mobiles from a distance and without asking.
The same night, as we were heading back from an incredible mutton byriani at the renowned Hotel Shadab, we passed a familiar face. It was Shams and it turned out that when he returned to work, his colleagues had told him we been looking for him. He therefore took the afternoon off and had been hanging around the road to our hostel since 3 - it was now 8pm! We took him for a couple of beers where we were able to say goodbye properly. After a couple of beers (which we managed to pay for!), he walked us back to our hostel, telling us that "this has been a very, very nice meeting" and that he would "miss us very, very much". We were "2 of his best friends", he told us, and, pointing to the 3 of us, said "this friendship is love". He wasn't drunk, but looked ready to well up. After a hug, we said our goodbyes to what was a really nice guy.
Stopping over Chennai for just the one night, we spent the day wondering around The Government Museum - the city's equivalent to The Natural History Museum in London. Apart from the fact that the stuffed animals could've done with a dust, it made for an interesting day and helped pass the time until our evening sleeper train to Hyderabad. The couple sleeping opposite us were on their way home after visiting their son's fiancée's parents to organise their wedding. As well as asking us why we marry so late and how we were able to go travelling, the wife gave an insight into our star signs as she was rather into her astrology. Apparently, Richard is a loyal and reliable friend and his birthday suggests that he will be rich when he is of middle age. Ashley is organised and her birthday dictates a talkative personality (pretty spot on)!
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| On the sleeper trains |
We thought the roads in Sri Lanka were crazy, but the cliches of India ring true - nowhere quite compares. There's no such thing as a one way road as there is always a stray vehicle driving the opposite way, people drive horizontally across 5,6,7 lanes of traffic and do u-turns whenever the feelings takes them. As well as cars, motorbikes and auto rickshaws, the roads contain cattle, goat and human traffic, as the latter look to avoid the pavements - home of the homeless and all round public toilet. We were no exception and, along with 100s of Hyderabadians, walked alongside the traffic. As we did, a motorbike drove past carrying two ladies wearing burqas (one of whom was carrying a microwave) and sandwiched between them was a young child. Lacking in spacial awareness, the left handlebar of the motorbike hit into Ashley's left arm knocking her sideways and leaving her with a nasty bruise. The knock unbalanced the bike and so it swerved from side to side for a few long seconds before, thankfully, righting itself.
Looking for a quieter day, we headed a few kilometres from the centre of Hyderabad to visit Golconda Fort and the Tombs of Qutb Shahi Kings. Whilst at the fort, we encountered the phenomenon of what we'll call 'gora snapping', that is local people asking for our photos. We felt like celebrities as we were asked to pose with locals young and old. In return, we asked for a photo with them and so we're slowly starting to build a catalogue of photos filled with strangers.
Whilst walking from the fort to the tombs, 2 of the guys who had asked for a photo with us earlier pulled up in auto and asked if we wanted a lift there. We don't make a habit of jumping in a taxi with everyone that offers, but their genuine nature convinced us to squeeze 4 people (plus the driver) into the tiny vehicle. Once at the tombs, Shams as Sakir Kahn (pronounced similarly to Chaka-Khan, the artist famed for the song 'I'm Every Woman') did their best to explain each one despite the obvious language barrier and also arranged for someone at the tombs to demonstrate a muezzin, placing his palms over each of his cheeks and making what can only be described as a very nasal sound. It sounded as if every warbles note was emanating from his nostrils. The way in which one of the tombs had been designed was to act like a PA System and so this call to prayer could be heard throughout the site.
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| One of the 7 tombs of the Shahi Kings |
We had agreed to meet Shams the following day at 12.30 at the clothes shop that he worked at, MTS Collection, but mildly hungover we were a little late and couldn't find him. One shop claimed they were MTS and even pointed at a random man claiming he was Shams. He definitely was not and so we decided that we would text him to say thanks for the previous night and sorry that we missed him. We spent the day wandering round the Birla Mandir, a Hindu temple constructed from white Rhajistani marble and in pristine condition as it was only constructed in 1976. As we walked around with our shoes off, the floors were incredibly hot due to the sun and, whilst it was great chatting to some of the locals looking to practice their English and pose for the odd Gora snap, it was difficult to stay in one spot for too long for fear of the soles of our feet melting.
A short walk amongst the traffic took us to Lumbini Park, where we caught a boat to the Buddha statue, which sits in the middle of the Hussain Sagar. It was incredible to look at and, weighing 350 tonnes, getting it into the middle of the lake wasn't without its difficulties. As they were transporting it o it's spot in 1990, the barge it sat on sank and the Buddha went down to the bottom of the lake with it, staying there for 2 years before it was retrieved in perfect condition. The lady we were speaking to on the train to Hyderabad told us about the Hindu tradition, which involves dropping a statue of Ganesh into water each year and then buying a new one. At the time, the news was apparently speculating about the conversations the Hindu and Buddhist icons were having with one another. Lumbini Park itself was lovely and very well kept, but we didn't stick around for long as various bystanders were unsubtly taking photos of us on their mobiles from a distance and without asking.
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| Carved from one piece of rock |
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