From Mumbai to Hyderabad - Leisurely Ride to the Deccan Plateau

I haven’t heard much about the city of Hyderabad. I can venture a sweeping statement that most southeast Asians don't know much about it either so getting into this city is kinda like a traipse into the unknown. What I know is basic: It’s the capital and the largest city of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh with a population of around 8 million people.

From the west Indian coast, I decided to forego Goa from my itinerary and head eastward. From readings, there’s much to look forward to: the Charminar, Birla Mandir, Chowmahalla Palace and, to my mind, the city’s premiere destination - the Golconda Fort.

From Mumbai, I booked a 2AC train seat with Hussain Sagar Express, train # 12701, a fast train that connects Mumbai and Hyderabad. This 38 year old service (it started in 1975) travels a distance of 429 miles (790 kilometers) in 12 hours (this ride took 15) which, by this time, has become easier for me.

Such protracted rides have also inculcated a sense of subtle repulsion on my part. After all, life is too short to be partaking repeated claustrophobic rides. One doesn't exactly get good views from inside your bunk so travelers miss much of the landscape as you glide through places. But I digress. To be fair, this ride was a pleasant one: the cost was acceptable, having paid just 837 rupees; the seats-that-turn-to-bed were comfortable to sleep on. I slept most of the ride since my train pulled out of the Mumbai station at 9:50 PM, arriving in Secunderabad at past 1 PM the next day.

I was initially intimidated to learn that I’d have to get off in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, located north of my destination. On hindsight, this was a welcome detour from my itinerary. At least this provided a way to namedrop another city, and for a constant traveler  it was a pleasure to have to step on a new land founded in 1806 as a British Cantonment (the city boasts of a large army and air force camp). 

Mumbai Railway Station

After several conferment from my Indian bunkmates (they huddled in a conference-style meeting to discuss which station I should get off, curiously leaving me out of the discussion), they decided it should be the Begumpet railway station which everyone enunciated like “Begum Pay”. How French, right?

This experience was relatively painless. Gone were the crass touts and the hundred taxis. In fact, there was almost none. As instructed, I walked out of the station and hailed an autorickshaw (150 rupees) to take me to Hotel Brindavan along Nampaly Station Road in Hyderabad. I was out of luck. They were full. So I allowed a wallah to take me to another hotel which was a mere walking distance from Brindavan.

All this time, I knew this tout would get a commission for taking me to this hotel, as is customary in India. I didn't mind much as long as I get to my hotel soon. I was desperate for that refreshing shower.

The crowd in Mumbai's busy train station

My Mumbai platform

Hussain Sagar Express was named after Hyderabad's scenic lake.

My 2AC two-tier train

My bunk

A beautiful garden just outside the Begumpet Rail Station in Secunderabad. Begumpet also hosts the city's first mall, Begumpet City Center Mall located in Banjara Hills. 

To my delight, I was taken to Atithi Residency Delux Hotel and Lodge (Mahaprabhu House), my second option. With peach walls, large comfortable bed and a rate 2-3x my previous Indian hotels - 1100 rupees - Atithi was several notches better than my Delhi and Mumbai accommodations. Located along JN Road, Atithi Residency was a pleasant surprise. What’s better, accommodations in Hyderabad run on 24-hour tariff; i.e. your 24-hour pay starts running its course upon your time of arrival which means, you don’t have to think about an 11 AM check out or a 2 PM check-in. This Hyderabadi system is advantageous for the customer.

I liked the city from the get-go. It didn't have the frenetic bustle of Mumbai and the aggressive spirits of the touts. Despite its population, the place seemed more relaxed, but then this wasn't exactly in the vicinity of the bazaars or the Charminar. I know some areas are more congested. "Hyderabad" - the name itself sounds middle eastern, and I wasn't wrong.

Atithi Residemcy Delux Hotel and Lodge (yes, "deluxe" is spelled that way)

Quli Qutub Shah

Hyderabad comes from Persian/Urdu words that literally translate to “lion city”. In the olden days, romantic men who wanted to handpick a celestial body (like the moon or the stars) as gifts for their paramours resorted instead to naming places after their love ones. Such was the case in a legendary tale about Hyderabad. 

There were several theories as to this reference. My favorite involved Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the city’s founder and the fifth sultan of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. When he fell in love with Bhagmathi, a nautch (dancing) lady, he named the city “Bhaganagar” who eventually converted to Islam and took the title “Hyder Mahal”. In her honor, the city was renamed to what we know it now.

Kamat Pure Vegetarian Restaurant

My 44-rupee vegetarian Club Sandwich

After a quick shower, I stepped out of my hotel and took a walk around the vicinity. There was a stand alone cinema called Ramakrishna Theatre. I took a mental note of this for my night activity. Nearby was Kamat Pure Vegetarian Restaurant. I was, by this time, desperate for food, and the only viable option was a Club Sandwich which was unbelievably cheap at 44 rupees. After a fast mastication (toldya I was famished), I took a leisurely stroll.

There was a mosque surrounded by small shops, many of which were selling ice cream. Hyderabad is known for their tasty bread (Karachi Bakery has been mentioned many times); now, ice creams? With nothing much to do, I decided to go for it. I bought myself a couple: Pista slice ice cream at 10 rupees and Kulfi stick at 7 rupees. I am not exactly sure what Pista and Kulfi are, but they looked delectable. I hoped they weren’t scorpions, worms or cockroaches. J

Lo and behold, they tasted better than delectable.

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Famous Ice Cream Restaurant

"Kulfi" stick or  "ice cream" stick?

Pista slice. "Pista" seems to refer to a "pistachio-flavored" ice cream.

Ice cream menu: what the heck is a "thunder ball"? "Kharbooza" sounds like it explodes. :)

My train ride from Mumbai to Hyderabad took 15 hours which should only take 12 hours.

My train stop was at Begumpet Rail Station located in Secunderabad. I just took a short rickshaw ride to Hyderabad, my destination.

Visiting the Charminar here - http://eye-in-the-blue-sky.blogspot.com/2013/02/charminar-hyderabads-crown-jewel.html

Facespotting All Over India

A Hyderabadi lady carries a pot called "matka" which carried water for drinking. Golconda Fort, Andhra Pradesh.

AMONG my favorite preoccupation during travels is just sitting in a corner, watching people walk by. But in India, this wasn't a very easy endeavor. A foreigner is always a point of interest among the locals - although nothing will beat the Bangladeshis in terms of boundless unabashed curiosity. Until recently, photographing people hasn't been a favorite pastime. But there are obvious rewards! People render kinetic energy to a stationary tableaux. And capturing the different expressions on photo is priceless.

School children waiting for instructions from their teachers. Agra Fort, Agra.

Black shroud riding. Charminar area, Hyderabad.

Reservoir Dog Millionaire? Hahaha! City of Mumbai, Maharashtra, central India.

Ride with me? Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Impeccable whites! Oooh, that's gonna get soiled! Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Salaamalaikum... Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Gosh! I had goosebumps seeing these women all draped in black (these gowns are called BURQAH) at the Charminar area. It was a sea of blacks, which just a slit for the eyes. You would think you're in the heart of the Taliban country of Afghanistan. Hyderabad.

Rest your weary feet. Chennai, Tamil Nadu, southeast India.

Congratulations to the cast and makers of Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire for winning the most number of Oscars at the recent 81st Academy awards. Though the movie has faults, nothing can beat its theme of hope and love amidst the squalor and these days, we need more films that can lift the spirit. I was just a little disappointed why in all the Oscars that it won (8, i think), actors Dev Patel and Freida Pinto were not actually mentioned by any of the winners. They were just part of the "talented cast". Without the perfect casting of these two, Patel especially, the movie wouldn't have completely worked! After all, there are limits to the situational probability of explaining ones answers through the chronological retelling of ones life story. But hey, all the pieces fit almost perfectly. Congratulations again! (currently playing A.R. Rahman's Om Saya and Jai Ho as I write this.) If you haven't seen it yet, Boy! You're missing out on great cinema!

This is the Eye in the Sky.

Lifestyle of the Rich, Famous and Dead in the Deccan Plateau of India

Chowmahalla Palace. This photo only courtesy of rahul kumar.

Golconda Fort

Nizam's throne at the nizam museum - photo courtesy of flickr's krithika

Now something has to be said about the drivers - autorickshaw, taxis, tuktuk drivers of india. They are the bane of a tourist's life. They come to the world with dollars and moolah instilled in their minute cerebral cortex. In the spirit of my insightful musings, i would like to dedicate this post to them:

MAY EVERYONE OF YOU DECIMATE, DISINTEGRATE INTO SUBMOLECULAR PARTICLES WITH NO CHANCE OF REGENERATION! FURTHERMORE, MAY YOU ALL ROT IN HELL AND BE FED WITH THE CHILLIEST INDIAN DISHES THAT WILL BURN YOUR IDIOTIC GREED TO ETERNITY! Having said that, may every greedy Indian driver turn into amoeba where, at least they will be excreted to where they rightfully belong - the sewers!

Hmmm. That felt better! LOL

It was interesting how these ancient lives of rich men, mughals, kings, emperors mirror the affluence of the past as it also puts a distinct comparative demeanor to how 1.2 billion Indians live nowadays. 90% wallow in abject poverty, and when your stomach is churning and doing cartwheels, all matters of decency jump off the window.

NIZAM

The Nizam's Museum was particularly interesting to me. Accoutrements made of gold and silver, ivories and marbles - everything would equal the grandeur of the royal jewels of the British Monarchy.

Golconda Fort was a 20 minute ride from the city. It sits atop a hill - and the whole fortress is an inspired amalgam of towers and temples. From the top, you can see the awesome view of Hyderabad.

CHOWMAHALLA PALACE

Chowmahall Palace was also picture perfect. Divided into 4 towers, all the old riches of the ancient owners are in full view; some available for public photography; some not! And of course, there's an extra fee if you take your still camera or video cam with you. Everything in India has a price - for foreigners! And why not? Beauty has a price.

I just felt lazy today so I opted not to check out the museum and just took a walk around the lanes and the nearby market. Gosh! I consumed 3 different kinds of ice creams, which are said to be famous in Hyderabad - as well as the Karachi breads.

Another One

I will be on another overnight train journey going further south tonight. Am starting to feel the tedium of these train journeys, although I know I shouldn't complain. But it does take some physicality - and require stamina.

Chennai, here I come!

This is the Eye in the Sky!

Hyderabad, Secunderabad and All the Bad Things That Are Good

This photo only courtesy of flicker's amit k.

I'm starting to dislike all these train journeys i'm having. Every single one of them have had stories to tell, and every one of them tiresome. You see, every single day, 14 million people ride the extensive Indian railways all over this subcontinent. Some of the services are good, but some of them also leave nothing to be desired. All the platforms are a mind boggling maze, and finding them is a little adventure in itself.

I am very good with finding platforms, but in India, I am just plain clueless.

My train journey from Mumbai ("bombay", to the local residents) to Secunderabad was a pleasant one. I befriended a really delightful Indian and we have become fast friends. He is a businessman who travels all over the country to do some hands-on checking for his family business (spices, dried fruits, etc). His name is Himanshu, married with a child. Had it not been for him, it would have been one dour trip with dour-looking bunkmates (they hardly spoke english, you see, and my only hindi is "namaste").

I got off the Begumpet (which the locals pronounce as "Beg'um Pay") instead of Secunderabad Junction, then got an autorickshaw to my hotel of choice, which was full. Lucky for me, a tout was waving the call card of my next hotel of choice! So I walked from there to the next block.

Hyderabad, as it turns out has a different system. Your hotel stay is 24-hours, not until the usual check out time between 9AM to 12noon; so if you arrive at 6PM today, your check out time will be 6PM tomorrow. Another thing, the local government imposes a travel tax of 10% on all hotel bookings. That isn't so bad. Mine would fetch 55 rupees (PhP55).

Later in the afternoon, I went 20 kilometers out of the city to see the Golconda Fort on the hills. I was with a delightful septuagenarian Indian couple who later turned out to be retired lawyers. I also became a celebrity of sorts. THREE different Indian people stopped me and wanted MY photo with them. I felt like the circus freak, but hey, a photo - or 3 - won't hurt me. Haha.

Fun fun!

Tomorrow will be hectic.

P.S.

I realized I have seen east, north, west, south, and soon, south southeast of India. Imagine that!

P.S. 2

Hyderabad is a minor cyberhub of India (Bangalore is India's Silicone Valley), thus you would see the noveau riche driving their BMWs and Mercedes on the streets of Hyderabad. Secunderabad is its twin city; much like Old Delhi and New Delhi.