A quick snack The mission for today was to climb Golconda Fort, and also check out the Qutub Shahi Tombs. On the way however, we decided to make a short stop at a bakery to pick up something for breakfast. I was naively envisioning a croissant or something similar. I really should know better by now! Eventually I took something that looked like breadcrumbs on the outside and with peas and corn inside. The man behind the cou [View Full Entry]

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Well you can't come to Hyderabad and not pay a visit to the enormous Ramoji Film City. Ramoji is apparently the biggest film studio in India (it takes up about 2000 acres in all) and we certainly had a fun day of it! Razzak, Nicole and I left the apartment bright and early (ok, it was 9am) and rocked along to the sound track to Dhoom 2 and other Bollywood movies until we arrived at Ramoji about an hour and a half later. We opted for the 'Royal' package - which meant we got to skip all the lines and have [View Full Entry]

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Well the plan to check out Golconda fort on Saturday didn't quite pan out but it's still on the itinerary so stay tuned. Also on the to-do list is a trip up north to the Taj Mahal and that general area, although that will take a little more planning I think. Saturday was fairly uneventful, I ended up having to work most of the day, but we did go out for dinner to a restaurant called 'Mainland China'. It's always interesting eating out in India, I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the waiters hovering around, watching like hawks for [View Full Entry]

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Well, I've returned to the sub-continent for round two. The trip over was fairly uneventful, and I'm pleased to say I actually managed to get my passport stamped this time (for those of you I haven't spoken to, accidentally missing that stage when I arrived last time caused me some trouble when I tried to leave!). Getting to the appartment I'm staying in was also quite painless, and the cook/caretaker and owner were there to let me in. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to stay at the hotel again this time around, its a little too expensive (which is fair enough) so [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a while between blogs, but this is a work trip after all. Unfortunately the work aspect has taken up much more of my weekends than I would have liked, but I took the opportunity to get out of the hotel / car / office routine on Sunday and put on my tourist hat for a while. So first up I headed out to the church I went to the other week, which I really enjoyed. After the service everyone was having a communal lunch, which I joined in on while chatting with a couple of American girls who have [View Full Entry]

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I love India. Its such a funny place! My car turned up with no problems this morning and Ramchander, my driver for today is really good. So first up was finding the church. We got a bit lost and went past it by a long way. Ramchander asked a couple of people for directions - at one point he stopped us on the side of the highway outside some roadside shops and houses and told me I should wait in the car while he went to find directions. I had quite a lot of people watching me through the window of [View Full Entry]

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Well, after lunch the adventures continued. Ramchanda was very helpful as a tour guide and started by taking me to the Balaji Temple (aka the Birla temple, after the company who built it). Apparently this is a fairly modern temple, which is dedicated to Lord Venkateswara. The whole thing is completely made of marble - which is good because you aren't allowed to wear shoes in. In fact you aren't allowed to take much in at all, Ramchanda even asked me on the way whether I'd eaten meat at lunctime because I couldn't go in i [View Full Entry]

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Well I guess the downside to the whole business trip thing is that I'm actually here to work. So pretty much since Tuesday I've just been working, even today! However tomorrow is Sunday and I've got the day off to explore! Whooooo! But first, I have to apologise to everyone who I haven't emailed back. I'll try reply to you all personally tomorrow - I really love getting your emails, I've just been so exhausted after work all I want to do is go to bed! So I called a lady who is somehow linked in with a christian organisation over [View Full Entry]

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So here I am in India. The remainder of the flight was pretty uneventful, which is probably not a bad thing! I arrived at Hyderabad airport and found there was no customs check at all which surprised me, especially considering the article that was on the front page of the paper this morning. As promised, there was a driver from the hotel ready to meet me, with my name on a board. I was really quite pleased he was there because there was an enormous crowd outside the door of the airport, held back by barricades. I guess they [View Full Entry]

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So, I'm on the way to India! How completely random is that! I'm actually writing this on the plane to Singapore 'cos I'm sick of watching movies, but I have to say, I could really get used this whole Business class thing (or 'Raffles' class as Singapore air call it). I haven't even arrived in India yet and I'm already looking forward to the ride home... Business and First class seem to get express lines for everything which is kinda cool. For those Kath & Kim fans out there (Marg, Pando & Liz - I'm talking to you guys here) yes [View Full Entry]

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