Monday, December 4 Hyderabad

I woke up and an hour later the train pulled into platform 10 of Secunderabad Station in Andhra Pradesh, actually on time. The station was brand-new and spotless. The weather was really pleasant, 70 degrees, with gentle sunlight. I took a rickshaw to the tourist office, where I booked a city sightseeing tour with Andhra Pradesh Tourism. Andhra Pradesh is a huge state in south west India. It's very rural and backward, with many tribal groups, except for the progressive capital, Hyderabad, located on the vast Deccan Plateau. It was the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, and the Qutb Muslims inhabited the area before their fall to Aurangzeb, the last Mughal. Then, in 1724, the area became independent under the Muslim Nizam. The surrounding rural areas and Hyderabad became an independent state, and a center for Islamic culture. The Nizam wanted Hyderabad to join Pakistan, but geopolitical contiguity made it unviable. Today, Hyderabad, the city of pearls, is India's sixth largest city and vying with Bangalore for the title of India's IT capital. Hyderabad is packed with massive modern office buildings in the west, which is why it's nicknamed 'Cyberbad'. Secunderabad is another new area, with broad avenues and many signs in English, many in Telugu (a bubbly cartoonish Dravidian Script ), some in Hindi, and few in Urdu. The first stop was the Birla Temple, a white marble complex on a hill overlooking the downtown area. It also looks out over Hussain Sagar, a big lake separating Hyderabad and Secunderabad with a huge Buddha statue in the middle. South of the clean, modern boxy downtown area was the old part of town, which is where the sizeable population of Muslims work and live, in the tiny dusty street making up the bazaar, with shops packed closely together. All the signs were in Urdu or English, none in Telugu or Hindi. Most of the men wore beards and white kofia and kurta, contrasting against the totally black burqas completely shrouding the women, except for their mysterious eyes. The English signs all said, Ali, Khan, Latifah, Habib & Nizam. The bus circled Charminar, the landmark of the city, with 4 minarets in each of the cardinal directions. We got out at the Salarjung Museum, which was a collection of only one man. It was pretty cool, with paintings, photos, furniture, books amazing ivory and a cuckoo clock that hundreds of people waited to hear, and clapped when the bird popped out. One of the 60-year old Indian tourists (they always are on these state-run city tours) had a camera, like the one I lost in a cab in Chicago with an Indian driver. It's a one-in-a-billion chance, but I can’t help but entertain the idea that that camera was, at one point, mine. The next stop was the Nizam Jubilee Pavilion, basically a huge Maharaja’s palace, turned Muslim. It housed tons of treasures, like ruby, emerald & diamond-encrusted silverware, canes, and sculptures. Silver and gold awards, gifts & city plans were everywhere. The highlight was the Nizam’s 250-foot long wardrobe with beautiful clothes, and tons of changing rooms. Next was a similar stop, the Chowmohalla Palace, a grand estate with beautiful fountains, a clock tower, a chandeliered marble throne room, and lots of weapons & clothing. These Nizams literally lived like kings. We went to the fun, whacky funny Sudha Car Museum, which had handmade cars that looked like railroad cars, London red buses, PCs, cameras, sports balls, toilets, hamburgers, and condoms. But it was anything but funny, since the curators were Nazis who shut everyone up so they could tell in Hindi now much horsepower and seating capacity each one had, and who yelled when posing too close for a picture. We had amazing South Indian buffet (I went back 5 times, and they cleared my plates because they thought I was done). The last stop was Golconda Fort, built in the 16th century on a granite hill that survived Mughal siege for 8 months. Now it's largely in ruins, but the views at the top, of Hyderabad were spectacular. Hyderabad is interesting; its land-locked but cosmopolitan, Muslim out also English-Speaking, alcohol abounds but drinking is often shunned, in a very poor & backward state but clean & modernized & affluent. It looked like a modern city in Japan, with clean new high-rise apartments and multistory white boxy buildings as far as the eye could see. I took a rickshaw to Hyderabad Station, and on the way saw a beef shop (which looked like a shady operation; door closed, deserted, and a huge drapery pulled over the front). It's like an illicit underground trade here, but people must patronize them. I am strictly going vegetarian until leave, every time I have meat, I feel sick afterwards (Including at the Goldman's catered thanks giving, and at the Taj Hotel, the nicest Five-Star Hotel in Delhi). I caught my 5:30 train. I am back to ghetto sleeper class, which is fine, it costs 1/10 of the price of First AC, and my 12-hour ride to Hospet cost a mere $5. I liked Hyderabad, with cutting-edge facilities and old sights, friendly people, and great weather.