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Published: June 10th 2008
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Warangal
1000 Pillared Temple, without a 1000 pillars Well not much as some rascal decided to relieve me of my wallet and my mobile phone while I was getting on the bus at Badami!
It was one of those situations where you have to fight with another hundred people to try to get onboard the local bus... Lots of pushing and shoving and squeezing to get through the bus door and then you notice that something is missing! And I noticed straight away, but who to blame... There are a hundred people who could have done it, all looking perfectly innocent and most of them of course are... I told the bus driver and conductor straight away and there was a commotion on the bus and lots of tut tutting that somebody would do such a thing... They recommended I go to the police, but I didn't see the use of it, a lot of hassle and I doubt that I would see my stuff miraculously turn up again, I also had a train to catch...
Anyway it wasn't that bad, I never carry any important stuff in my travel wallet and only enough money to last a day... In this case they got about the equivalent
Hyderabad
Golconda Fort
of 7 US dollars, some keys for a few locks on my backpack and my train ticket to Tirupati for that evening... Of course the phone was a little more annoying, I don't care about the phone itself, it was a cheap gadget, but I lost the numbers of my friends and I also lost my only way of knowing the time!
So I will have to buy a cheap alarm clock or watch and I will have to find somebody to break open one of the locks which is currently keeping the lower compartment of my backpack tightly locked!
Of course when something like this happens suddenly only good things happen to you afterwards... It brings out the best in the other people... I got a lot of sympathy from my fellow passengers, a seat was made clear, and they dropped me off at the train station even though it wasn't on the route... On the train to Tirupati (I got myself a duplicate ticket for the one that was stolen...) people were feeding me as if I was a poor man now and then in Tirupati a very nice chap who I was sitting next to
Hyderabad
Fort Entrance
on the bus to Chennai bought the bus tickets for me and some food and water too! I don't see that happening to me if the same would happen at home... People would sympathize, but that would be it... You gotta love India!
The reason for going to Tirupati was to visit the Venkateshwara Temple, which is seemingly the most visited temple in the world as far as pilgrims is concerned, more than either Rome or Mecca... Venkateshwara is an avatar of Vishnu who is said to grant a wish to anybody who makes it before his idol... But after the incident I didn't feel like being around a big crowd, which this would have been and just wanted to go somewhere to chill out for a while... So I ended up taking the bus to Mahabalipuram instead... This is the second time I miss going to the Venkateshwara Temple, last time it was due to lack of time (had a plane to catch) and now this... Maybe Lord Venkatesheware is trying to tell me something... Don't come unless you actually believe in me!
Before all this happened I went to some jewels in Northern Karnataka... Bidar is
Hyderabad
Inside Golconda really my favorite, it has an incredible fort (one of the best I have been to), some fantastic tombs, a great old walled city with a crumbling Medressa and very friendly folk... And all the sights are for free!
Bijapur was nice as well, another walled city, full of Islamic monuments, of which a few cost money to enter, but most are free... It has some great parks to wander around and the city wall has some beautiful views!
Lastly Badami, where I was pick pocketed... Apart from the picking and pocketing it was a relaxed little village with a nice water tank, beautiful temples and impressive cave temples. And on market day it is buzzing!
Oh and I almost forgot I also took in a few places in Andra Pradesh, Hyderabad being one of them and Warangal another...
Warangal has a 1000 pillared temple, which doesn't have a 1000 pillars but more like 20 or so... Which means 980 have mysteriously disappeared... Actually I met an Indian from England who came from Warangal who was over for holidays and he said the temple was much bigger 10 years ago, when he last visited it... He
Hyderabad
Some views from the fort
wasn't quite sure what had happened to the rest of it... Perhaps somebody pick pocketed the other pillars!
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JimR
non-member comment
You gotta love India!
"You gotta love India!" Indeed...your little tale captures the little pains and pleasures of the Indian experience so well. Hassles sometimes: Yes, Hospitality: Almost always!