Hyderabad

Was in Hyderabad last week-end, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh. Since some of my trainee-friends used to work there for some time they are still in contact with the Hyderabadian trainees. Well, the latter organized a party last week-end which I took as an opportunity to join a big group of about 14 people from Bangalore to visit this not really touristic city. Hyderabad has a sizeable percentage of Muslim population which is definitely visible in the streets where a lot of women wear tchadors. The picture of the city is characterized by many mosques. Poeple there are less familiar with westerners and therefore the typical Indian 'staring' is more intense than e.g. in Bangalore. But still, poeple there seemed to me more curious than eager to rip you off or sell you everything every 5 meters which is more common at touristic places. Anyway, what astonished me most was the very intact and well-done infrastructure in the center which gave the city a hint of an 'urban' character -something I really miss in Bangalore-. All the more did the well maintained roads surprise me because my trainee friends knowing Hyderabad told me that the city is far worse than Bangalore regarding rubbish and infrastructure. But; well-built roads, no cows, hardly any rubbish bunches and street-dogs. The reason for this: Sonja Gandhi honoured the city with a short official visit about 4 months ago. Thus, the entire center was renovated, cleanded and made-up within 2 months. Wow, und das in Indien, wo doch immer alles sooooo mega langsam geht. Sie koennen, eben doch... wenn sie nur wollen:-) However, the only sight-seeing I did was visiting Hyderabad's principal landmark Charminar mosque, which we did not enter because - once again- white-skinned people were supposed to pay 100 Rupees whereas for Indians it was only 5. Poeple who visited it told me that besided a nice-looking ceiling there was nothing else to see inside anyway. Well, after lingering around in the old city we went to our guest-house where we definitely needed a nap (night-train sleep is never really recreative). In the evening the party started. Well, it was interesting to meet a few new poeple... sonst halt, wie immer trainee-parties... next day we decided to visit the Golconda Fort which was in the outskirts of the city. I was terribly tired and not in the best mood. All the more our seats for our return train-trip were not confirmed. So we were not even sure whether we would be able to sit not to mention to sleep on the way back. The fort was really huge and quite impressive with a very nice view on the entire city of Hyderabad. The wheather was extremely hot and made my condition even worse but it was nice to see the fort, still. When we arrived at the train station, suddenly our seats were confirmed which was a big relief. I even slept quite well because I was definitely almost 'delapidated' (I know, not proper English; it's an insider:-)) after this week-end. Well, I must say, it was nice to see another big city which is said to be competing with Bangalore. Cyberabad with the nice roads, no cows, street-dogs und kein abfall auf den strassen:-)
cheers.