Finding the Unicorn

Saturday – my last day in Hyderabad. Yesterday I went to the railway station and arranged my ticket (under the carriage ceiling, not above it) to Mumbai. I was amazed – tickets are applied for! So I picked up an application form and looked at it a little dazed. Within seconds a kind stranger offered to fill it in for me. Now that I have watched him do it I feel confident the next one will be a cinch – as long as I know the name of the train I want.

Afterwards I made a concession – I bought a thick, squishy pillow. Just need to get a pillow slip now.

Afterwards, still worried about not having found anywhere that serves the Hyderabadi Biriyani, I called the guy I was seated next to on the plane, Harsha. He was kind enough to offer to take me along with him while he did some errands, we checked out a new shopping centre that had newly opened last time he was home. I thought it would be a good opportunity to check the price of the Bird book I promised Marcos – not there. After that, a drive along the lakeshore to Secunderabad, to the Restaurant that is famous for it’s Biryani. Yum!! Afterwards we had Quarbani ka mitha, a dessert made from fresh dates and honey, also a specialty of Hyderabad.

Harsha dropped me off at my hotel and after a nap to sleep off lunch I went to the MPM mall with every intention of spending time on my blog and getting last minute supplies for the train ride. Only minutes after getting into the supermarket the power went out. I decided to stay waiting – at the expense of blogging – until the tills were operational again so that I could buy everything I wanted. I waited about 3/4 hour as it got hotter and hotter, before finally deciding to give up buying everything I wanted and settling for getting a couple of things from various small salls around he place. One thing you can’t buy – even from supermarkets – here in Hyderabad is yoghurt, of any kind. Apparently people don’t buy it, they always make it themselves.

After checking out of the hotel, I had an early dinner. I managed to find out that Ausralia had won the toss for the Cricket WC final but play was delayed due to rain, before leaving for my 10 minute stroll to the station.

At the station there were hundreds of people milling around at a platform with no train so I decided to have a gander around the place. Next time I looked there was a train and not many people so thought I had better see if I could find out where I was supposed to be. I found my name on one of the carriages and stowed my backpack with just enough time to buy a bottle of water from a vendor on the platform.

While at the station felt a few strange twinges in my gut….

After almost 2 full days having a look around Hyderabad the thing that stands out most for me is the noise of the traffic!! The noise of it all is just amazing.

But lets go back to what has happened since my last post….

After a massage I picked up my bag from the Suk and thinking I had another 2 hours to kill decided to just “check” my flight time anyway. Boy am I glad I get “feelings” that tell me to check things. As usual the “feeling” was a good thing because it was actually time to be leaving the Suk in a taxi – not time to hang out as I had thought. I hightailed it to the road and found a taxi driver, haggled for about 20 seconds and was on my way. I know the amount was still too much but it also happened to be right on peak traffic time.

This flight had none of the hassles of the last flight. By the way – I can’t believe Thai airways don’t have individual screens throughout their planes – especially for longer flights of 6 hours or more. I was seated next to an nice young Indian guy that has been studying in Australia.

We interrupt this spiel for an announcement – we just had power failures in the building with the exception of the computers. They must be on some sort of back-up plus generator or something. The lights go out but the computers don’t even blink. That’s power in India for you.

Back to the story… The flight was without incident and I have now had a taste of customs but I have to say that I have seen worse. Maybe Hyderabad is better than other airports in that respect. I caught a taxi to my first hotel and wondered how the driver could see anything through the windscreen. The Hotel was fine but has definitely seen better days. I shared a large room with a couple of timid cockroaches (I’m just thankful there aren’t any grasshoppers to be seen – yet). No need to use hot water for my shower but it was there none-the-less. My only gripe was that the mattress was like sleeping on a carpeted floor – absolutely no give. The hotel I am at now has the same mattresses too. I have been wishing the whole time that I had brought my inflatable mattress – my lower back is not liking my choice of beds. Laura, if you decide to come over, please bring my inflatable mattress with you!

Yesterday I was up early. Thirst and the mattress drove me to it. I didn’t have any bottled water with me, it was too late to get some when I arrived. So I asked for a place close by to have some breakfast and was directed to a restaurant around the corner – Rs50 / AUD1.50 for a buffet breakfast – that was already bustling with customers. They put a glass of water in front of me and it took me about 30 seconds of mind wrestling until I gave in and just went for it. I drank my fill!! Not even 12 hours in the place and already I am breaking the “travel in India” rule #1. 2 minutes later I broke rule #2 and ate paw paw cut into pieces. I figured if I was going to break the rules once I may as well get it all over and done with and do the rest of them. Besides, it seemed that the locals trusted the place so I figured I can too. Just to ease Mum’s mind, I had a Lassi as well to help with the flora situation. I then went back to the hotel to try to sleep some more. As it is I have not had any trouble yet with my digestive system.

Later that day I bought myself some local attire which I wore for the first time today. It hasn’t done anything to lessen the staring, but I am finding the salwar kameez quite comfortable. I even feel quite comfortable having the shawl just hanging there. Also I have adjusted it’s use to allow for the backpack. The sunnies sorta stand out too – i haven’t seen anyone else use them.

The weather is hot and dry – much like northerly weather in Victorian summers. There is a persistent haze but that might just be because I am in a city. The dirty exhaust factor, while evident, really isn’t much worse than Brisbane.

Today I went to the Char Minar, Hyderabad’s main drawcard. I went up to the top and wandered around looking at the view of the rest of the area. Adjacent is the huge Mecca Masjid that has room for up to 10 000 people at a time. Apparently about 70% of the population in Hyderabd is Moslem. It is called Mecca Masjid because a few centrally placed bricks were made from soil in Mecca and brought here especially for it’s construction. Afterwards I went back through the gauntlet of beggars to a rickshaw and off to a place to eat.

Wow!! I had a bit of excitement on my way from Sydney to Bangkok. Our flight was delayed for about 4 hours while they tried to get #2 engine on our plane working. After waiting on board for about an hour and a half (it took them that long to figure out if they were going to be able to fix it on the spot) we were offloaded for a couple of hours. It all worked out and I am now in Bangkok. Spewing that I didn’t get to spend more time in the hotel bed though!!

Here is a picture of the street – Sukhumvit Rd 11 – where the Suk hostel is. Under the 7/11 sign is a side street, when you turn in there you are looking direcly at the entrance. It might be a little hard to recognise it as an entrance due to the profusion of greenery.

Just a quick note from Sydney airport!! Another 2 hrs or less until I’m on my way. No pictures this time. ime for a celebratory drink.

Only days to go until the trip starts. “How Excitement!”

The hot weather is winding up here in Oz and heating up in India – my next major destination. So that means I only have a couple more days to perfect this blogging thing. After that – I just run with it.

Right now though, it’s perfect weather for chilling out. The sunlight is bouncing off waxy philodendron leaves and into the room. Kingfishers are making regular appearances on the power lines that run past the house. I haven’t spotted any Cockatoos yet today. They were in checking Dad’s passionfruit vines yesterday morning. Luckily for Dad they don’t raid the vines close to the house.

If I can get this organised quicktime, then I might even let Suzy take me for a walk later on. The river should be looking good and hopefully plenty of water over the rapids.

Wow – my new tech experience!! Mum will be so proud of me taking this leap into the (by my standards) digital unknown. But who wants to hear about my techie savylessness? On to the important stuff – going places!!

Again today – as per my daily ritual developed over the past few days – I called my travel agent to check on how many flights I have pinned down. No change. It would be nice to find a few more of those little ‘confirmed’ tags. It is still about 4 weeks away until I leave – this is an approximation because the departure date still has one of those ‘waitlisted’ tags next to it. And yet – I have faith in Justin’s magical keystrokes that tick tack down the phone line while searching for that elusive seat! Meanwhile I prepare, for the adventure to come. (Sound corny enough?)

Now we are experiencing a bit difficulty here – and I am sure I will eventually figure it out by my self… but how the hell do I make my picture show up? I uploaded it, gave it a title and a spiel, but in the end product it’s a no-show!! Frustrationalisms!!

Success!! It only took more than a week to get this fixed!!
Here is a picture of part of the rapids at Little Sands, on the river near my parents house.