India


Advertisement
India's flag
Asia » India » Andhra Pradesh » Hyderabad » Banjara Hills
May 8th 2014
Published: May 8th 2014
Edit Blog Post

Hi all arrived here in the early hours of Tuesday morning, half an hour away from my lovely hotel. Didn't take in much on the way there except that I was aware of lots on new building sites and road works. Took a tuk tuk in the morning to see the surrounding area. I knew the city was big as it's the cyber capital of India, but was in for a big shock. I could not believe the amount of people and traffic about, I have never seen anything like it, not even in Kathmandu! it was like something out of the wacky races. I am sure there are rules of the road but no-one seems to follow them. Five and six lanes of traffic all jostling to get ahead of each other, beeping horns,the noise was deafening and after an hour I was finding it hard to breathe because of the fumes. I got the driver to take me to Lumbini Park to see the famous Buddha statue which sits out in the lake. This little gem of a park, not very big but peaceful and quiet and away from the noise and fumes. You are searched before you enter the park as you are not allowed to take in any plastic bottles or paper to keep the area litter free. It has a couple of small rides for children but its really a peaceful green space for people to escape the city. At night they have a laser fountain show. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the statue because the park sits behind the statue which faces out towards the town, which I thought a bit odd. Visited a couple of the shopping malls but stuck out like a sore thumb, even more so because I am on my own. I don't feel anxious or threatened just aware that I'm being stared at and I haven't seen any other westerners.

Spent most of the day trying to arrange my ticket for the overnight train to Puttaparthi ! a distance of 463 Km away, a twelve hour train journey. The train station was extremely busy and I found it quite daunting, threading my way through thousands of people trying to find the correct ticket booth. After numerous attempts at different windows and the language obviously a barrier I gave up and went back to the hotel. I though about arranging a private hire and getting someone to drive me there but soon found out that there was a huge reluctance because it was a drop off and not a return journey. Anyway decide to sleep on it and make a decision in the morning.

Wednesday already. Two more attempts at the train station, one in the morning where I found out I had to go to the reservation building to book a ticket easy! - not ! It looked like the whole city was there too. After an hour of queuing that wasn't getting any smaller, I got so frustrated I gave up and went back to the hotel. My booking at the hotel was only until 6pm but it didn't look as though I was going to make the train tonight so maybe third time lucky, back to the train station in the afternoon which I may add is about a 30 minute fume filled drive from the hotel on the other side of the city! It was a bit quieter when I got there, discovered that everyone was filling in forms which I duly completed and after an hour wait, a 20 minute conversation, passport check, form check, I was finally issued with a ticket for Thursday night bliss! stress levels finally back to normal. All I had to do was book another night at the hotel and late checkout for Thursday. So had a couple of days enforced rest and felt the better of it, looking forward to the train journey and soooo! glad to be getting out of the city! I checked my lonely planet guide book and discovered that the population of the city is 84.7 million, no it's not a mistake 84.7 million! Yes I can believe it ! Puttaparthi here I come.

Advertisement



8th May 2014

India
Well I guess it wouldn't be an adventure if you didn't have times like this. How character forming May! I remember being in India and what you describe sounds like Delhi a bit - just worse. Lots of women travel alone in India but I remember thinking I would find it tricky. Like you - not because of a feeling of threat - just because of difficulty. You are on your way - good luck with the next part. Can't wait to hear the next bit of your journeyxx
8th May 2014

I would have a total panic attack with all those people. I cannot bear crowds, I don't know how they stand it.
16th July 2014

NICE INFORMATION http://www.tirupatibooking.com/

Tot: 0.119s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 12; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0523s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb