A journey to meet a graduation friend who stays in Hyderabad began late at night around 10:00 pm. Considerably long journey and the night traveling hours made me choose a sleeper bus to Hyderabad despite feeling that the ticket was on the higher end. As I waited for my bus, the showers started....
My bus dropped me at Erragadda at 8 in the morning. I now had to cover a distance of approximately 10 kms to reach my friend's place which was in Kondapur. As I was planning to stay with my friend, I did not look for any particular place which would be close to the major tourist destinations. In fact, people who are travelling for the first time and have no acquaintances in Hyderabad, may choose OYO or other similar services, as they are pretty decent.
There is no significance of Prashanth Nagar Colony, Kondapur for tourists. However, if you have friends or batchmates living here, then this place may be of some importance to you. I managed to stay with an old time friend in his PG. As the accommodation was newly built and there were lot of vacant slots, my friend managed to find me an accomodation for which I wasn't charged. Such stay with your friends, batchmates or acquaintances saves a lot of money and gives you an opportunity to explore the place along with them. Even if you are not fortunate enough to have friends and acquaintances who are willing to accommodate you, you may still stay in Kondapur in any of the buildings as a paying guest. This wouldn't cost you much yet would be a memorable and a satisfied one.
At a distance of about 20Kms from my stay was the first destination which was to be explored. After having a discussion for about half an hour, we decided to hire Vogo to Golconda Fort. We had to ride for about an hour to reach Golconda fort. As we entered to fort area, the first sight made it appeared quite small and did not seem great. But as we continued further, we realised that the fort was actually quite big, massive and required a lot of efforts to reach the top. As usual we bought tickets and proceeded towards the fort. The entrance of the fort gave us a feeling that we had entered a garden or a park. The place seemed slightly crowded as there were a lot of school kids who had come on a one day trip to the fort. As the sun started shining brighter, we started to feel quite hot and humid. After a walking past the garden area, we stopped at the canteen to take some water and snacks. The institution in charge of taking care of the fort has taken some appreciable steps to curb littering and acts of damaging the place. Despite there efforts, there were signs of defacing the walls of the fort.
The fort is different from other forts that we come across in the northern part of India. The forts of Northern part of India are built on plain landscape and do not have much of climbing. This fort is built on mountain terrain which makes it split in different parts at different altitude.
In lay man's language, Qutub Shahi Tombs are nothing but the graveyard of the people of Qutub Shahi Dynasty. This was built exclusively for the people who belonged to the ruling family of the Dynasty and some others like the doctors (hakim) and others who were revered and considered important by the ruling family. Every grave here has a massive, seperate dome constructed around it, which reflects the importance that was given these people.
Though this place is a graveyard, but people here come here for picnics and dates which was quite surprising. As there were a lot of people who treated this as a picnic spot, and there was no proper mechanism fir disposal of litter, the place looked as if it wasn't taken care of.
Most of the domes are not taken care off and have turned black/dark green and some have even withered. There are some initiatives which have been taken by some trusts like Agha Khan who are trying to restore these monuments.
Tired of a whole day's ride, we were planned to drop the Vogo rental and head to some decent place to dine. Impressed, tempted and attracted to the smell of tandoori chicken, we decided to dine at Siddique Kabab Centre. We ordered two chicken (one grill and one tandoori) with some rotis and a bottle of thumbs up. It took us not more than 15 mins to finish two whole chicken. The food here tastes delicious and gives you a feeling to have more.
The only thing that disappointed me was that we had to stand and have our dinner. Apart from it, the food was delicious and the price was reasonable.
After a sound sleep of almost 8 hours, the third day started at 8 am in the morning. The weather in the morning was comparatively better and cooler. The PG provided dosa with chutney and some rice for breakfast. As we had our breakfast we planned our day to vist Charminar and Mecca masjid.
One of the 3 most relevant things of Hyderabad is Charminar m Charminar is the entrance to the then city of Hyderabad. With the development and expansion of the city, Charminar, which was once considered as the begining of Hyderabad is well within in the central part of Hyderabad. Soon after it was constructed, it became a market for small vendors and hawkers.
Just next to the Charminar is the Mecca Masjid. This masjid was in news after the bomb blast which resulted in a few casualties. The security has been beefed up since then. Once you get through the security frisking and scanning, you will enter a place which is quite serene and peaceful. Though the masjid is in the midst of a busy market, once you enter the masjid, you don't hear the noise of the market. You may even see many people sleeping and relaxing in the masjid.
The main part or let's say the inner part of the masjid ws closed as there was some maintenance work going on.
Old crowed city and midst of a market, there is a famous restaurant which is nearly as old as the market. This place is great for people who wish to stop by the way to sip some great tea and some snacks. The lower portion is similar to a cafe whereas the first floor houses a restaurant. They have a variety to offer. You may try their special Hyderabadi Biryani. The prices were a bit to the expensive end for a place like this.
NOTE:- There is a seperate portion for family dine in. It is better to dine in there than in the any other portion.
Having missed some places to visit yesterday, we planned to visit them today. Impressed by the convenience and how economical Vogo rides were, we decided to use it daily for rest of the days we had to explore Hyderabad. We picked up our ride from a near by Vogo station and started our journey at around 11 in the morning.
Chowmahalla palace is the residence of the Nizams. It is huge, elegant and impressive. The palace has been beautifully crafted and is a sign of royalty. Much of the time and resources have been spent to appease aesthetics.
By the time we came out of chowmahalla palace it was 5 in the evening. We decided to go to Hussain sagar. Hussain sagar is a man made lake which has been a source of water to the people of Hyderabad. This lake was fed by a river named Moosie but as the river dried up, this lake faced a lot of difficulties. A lot of research and study on this water resource.
Hussain Sagar is surrounded by a lot of cafes. These cafes and then attitude of the people has adversely affected Hussain sagar. It is a good place to hangout in the evening and to have some snacks sitting beside the lake. However, all the waste generated is unfortunately dumped in the lake itself. The place can be developed and can be maintained better by keeping the place clean and hygiene.
