Where's the "new India"?
Trip Start
Dec 13, 2008
1
12
59
Trip End
Jun 25, 2009
Hyderabad,
Andhra Pradesh,
India
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We knew before we got here that we did not want to be in Hyderabad anymore, but we already had our train ticket and didn't know what else to do, so we came. It was much worse than I thought it would be, but to be fair we did not go to what is suppose to the be nicest part, Banjara Hills. It bills itself as the "New India" because it is the I.T. capital of India. I am not sure what is "new" about it. It is much, much more chaotic than Mumbai. Way more pollution, people, and traffic. It takes effort for us to leave our room because we know it is going to be so miserable outside
sleeper train
. I fear for my life every time I have to cross the street. The lanes of traffic are 5 across, 8 if you count all the auto-rickshaws and motorbikes. Nobody cuts you any slack, actually they charge at you. We went to see the Sala Jung Museum today, but it is closed on Fridays. So we walked around old city for a few minutes and saw the Mecca Masjid. Not very beautiful. But we did buy a great looking pomegranate that was really tasty. Also the food here is very good. We have been getting great vegetarian Thails (set lunches) everyday. Actually we have not eaten meat in over a week.
The people in Hyderabad have an interesting habit we like to call the "bobble head". They shake their head rapidly when ever we as them a question. We are not sure if they don't know the answer, don't understand our question or what. But sometimes the "bobble head" is followed with a yes or no or giving us a clear showing of understanding. So maybe it is just what they do when they are thinking. It is funny to us either way! They are sooo friendly, we know they really want to help us out.
Think twice about getting a phone here. None of the phone numbers we have callled worked. Also getting a SIM card was a pain. They require 2 passport photos, recipet from your hotel, and copies of your home address, visa and passport. And it takes 24 hours to activate, as we learned the hard way you can not activate your phone in another state. We had to wait a week until we traveled back into the state we bought the SIM. If you buy a SIM from an official shop it only takes a few mins to activate but they also require you provide the name, address and phone # of a friend in India. Yea, all this for a $4 SIM card!!
