Where's my health insurance document???

It doesn’t rain it pours…… then again I suppose how long can you get away with travelling in a developing country before getting some ailment or another???
Limited to one foot for the last day or so, ive been hobbling my way round Hyderabad, (much to the amusement of the indigenous population) determined not to allow some expired freshwater mollusc remnant to have the last laugh … ohh no….that river crossing at Hampi may well of been convenient, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it bare foot….. nasty things can happen, trust me… I know….
Arriving in Hyderabad on the overnight bus, I did wonder why my foot felt weird, I mean yes, ok, considering that the elderly lady in front of me had articulated her chair back as far as it would go so that she could get a good nights sleep was bound to make my long legs suffer as a result of crush injuries and the regulation dose of DVT, but this felt different, in some weird way, more sinister….
So, after (begrudgingly, I might add) taking a Rickshaw to the nearest hotel, I whip my boot off with a certain degree of difficulty and after a few second of digging around with a pair of tweezers, find that a razor sharp piece of shell had embedded itself into my poor foot….
And therein lays the danger of just diving into the closest hotel, even if you are racked with the torments of pain…. The next morning I woke up in a terrible sweat, with a throbbing headache and feeling like I was about to give birth to Alien.
“Great, so this is what it feels like to have Malaria”, I said, scratching the 30 or so mosquito bites on the heels of my feet. So there I am digging in my bag for the emergency Malarone when I come across my thermometer, which reads a somewhat unbelievable 39c!
Obviously its given up the ghost and gone haywire and I keep digging for my tablets, when suddenly it dawns on me that it is a tad warm in the room im staying in…..
Anyway, a change of room, one cold shower, 6 bottles of mineral water and 3 pints of Alka Seltzer later im still alive and feeling much better …..lets just put the stomach ache down to too much curry and one too many Kingfishers….
Ive come to the conclusion that salt is vitally important too. My dear ol Mumsie and my Ex wife always took delight in telling me that salt isn’t good for me…well, im sorry but your wrong and im eating all the salt I can get…. I now actually feel like a little child in a sweet shop when I get a saltcellar in my hand!!!
Hyderabad is basically just a stop over point for me as I transit between Hampi and Aurangabad. To be honest with you, I don’t think I can take any more temples and religious sites, but ive decided to grin and bear it as apparently Ellora and Ajanta are two of the most impressive historical sites in India, so I think its only fair to give them a chance and see what they have to offer!
This city is not really that much different to all the other cities ive been in (and tried to get out of as quickly as possible again). The noise is still there, so is the dirt and the grime and it does gradually wear you down. Im starting to realise that the “Real India” isn’t in the cities. You find it in the smaller towns and villages, where you can actually communicate with people, things are more relaxed and there is time to stand and chat without having to listen to the constant cacophony of noise in the background that you get in the cities.
Walking around the city you begin to realise that there is a huge Muslim influence here, the 10th holiest place in Islam, the Mecca Masjid is also located to the South of the city. Completed around the end of the 17th century, this building has two stones brought here from Mecca that were included in its construction.
Just across the road is Charminar, built towards the end of the 16th century and stands as a memorial to the founding of the city of Hyderabad. To the North is a large lake, one of the main reasons why Hyderabad was built here. The Hussain Sagar lake also has a huge Buddha positioned in the Southern part of it, standing almost 60ft tall, it is quite a dominant feature.

While the cities might not be the best place to view and admire Indian culture and meet the people, they do tend to throw up some nice surprises as far as food is concerned and while I am not one to plug certain hotels and restaurants, I must say that Karachis Fast Food in Hyderabad knocks up a wicked Hara Bara Kebab. This dish is totally comprised of vegetables which are made into a compact almost sausage like form and then cut into slices and steaked, I even had to complement the chef Vikram for this extremely scrummy dish, which I thoroughly recommend especially to vegetarians! Unfortunately, the day before this I was feeling a bit delicate and I have to confess that I fell foul of the grinning idiot Ronald McDonald who lured me in with his cheesy grin and the promise of quick, non spicy food….. God at that stage I could of murdered a couple of Cheeseburger or a Big Mac….. But, what you have to remember is that there is no Beef in India as the cow is holy and being faced by an Indian McDonalds menu is enough to make you weep!!!
No Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Big Macs or Quarter Pounders with Cheese….. the thought of eating a Fillet of Fish was enough to make me want to vomit and of course, everything else is covered in curry or some kind of Masala…… so, weep I did and ended up consoling myself with the Indian equivalent of a packet of chocolate Hob Nobs from the local shop!
I suppose ive only got myself to blame. After 3 weeks of devouring of every kind of curry I could lay my hands on there does come a time where simply the smell of a curry makes you feel ill and with it comes those longings for some good old bland food from home.
That’s the problem with a good deal of the food here, it is either completely bland and tasteless, or it blows your taste buds to bits, leaving your mouth hotter than the post launch shuttle pad at Cape Canaveral. Even sweet things have either almost no sugar in them, or they are sickly sweet….. there is simply nothing in the middle, nothing is done in moderation!
I suppose really this applies to all walks of life here, it’s the same with music, there is either no music or its played at 10,000dB. Then you wonder why Indians scream into their mobile phones, well they have to, they are all deaf, they have all been deafened by the traffic, the music and all the other noise.
Nah that’s it, I thought I would never ever say this, but I actually find myself longing for a Pot Noodle, who knows, maybe I will find one in Aurangabad!!!

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