My Half Solo Trip To The Land Of Nizam's

Some journeys are meant to be covered alone and I had one such at the very beginning of my travel life.

Initially after returning from Chennai me and a friend of mine planned to travel Hyderabad. One of the reason was obviously because I wanted to keep this habit of mine which I was following whole heartedly and also because most of our college friends have moved to Hyderabad to start their professional career and also because I have a friend whom I met in Chennai, now lives in Hyderabad.

We finally managed some leaves from our office and it was the month of May when we decided to visit Hyderabad. Now May being the peak of the summer season, Hyderabad was boiling during that time of the year. We initially booked our flights and also our return tickets but after an interval of one month my friend cancelled his ticket and also asked me to cancel mine. He was worried about the weather and it was not really a great idea to roam around in that scorching May sun. My parents wanted me to cancel my plan as my friend was not coming and also because cyclone Fani was entering Odisha on the day of my departure.

But I was determined that I will go no matter what. For me it was like if I stop myself this time maybe I will find an excuse every time.

So it was 3rd of May, a Friday when I took a 6:40 am flight and although there was some turbulence while flying over Odisha I landed safely on the land of Nizam's.

I was staying there for three days and I had an itinerary of my own. There was a lot to explore and could also be completed if executed impeccably.

My friends being in IT jobs were staying in Gachibowly. I freshened up, had an early lunch and was ready by 1 PM. As it was my first day and half of the day was already over my plan was to see the Chilkur Balaji Temple and Golconda Fort. What fascinated me about the Balaji Temple was that if you take 10 circumambulations of the inner shrine and make a wish, your wish gets fulfilled. I had to go alone as my friends were having office. As it was in the outskirt I took an ola Auto.

It was 2 when I reached there and my umbrella came in handy. Photography was prohibited and I had to walk bare foot from the shop where I kept my sandals to reach the temple and it felt like I was walking over burning coal. Inside the temple it was quiet and peaceful. It took me sometime to understand that the crowd that was gathered was waiting to take the 10 circumambulations. The fun fact was I couldn't keep a proper count of the number of circles I took and thus ended up taking a few more. I made my wish, keeping in mind that I have to return and take 100 circumambulations if they come true.

From there I headed for Golconda Fort.

Even at 4:30 PM there was not much difference in the weather and I had to constantly satisfy my thirst. For entering the Golconda Fort I bought a ticket. They charge very less from Indians Rs 15 and Rs 200 from foreigners.

I also took a guide as I felt it would be useless to just see the old pillars and ruins of the fort without knowing the story behind them. The guide asked for Rs 1200 for the whole tour of the fort. After several bargains finally the guide offered to give a full tour of the fort only for Rs 400.

I slowly realized that it was the right decision to hire the guide once he started telling the stories and history of the fort. The clapping portico, the artillery area, Rani Mahal and so on. And also the story about how Aurangzeb finally captured Golconda after several failures.

After hearing all the beautiful stories now it was time for the real challenge. I had to climb 365 steps to reach the top of Golconda. The guide was not willing to go to the top so I paid and let him go and continued to climb alone. The stairs were very steep and at one point I was so tired, I felt I will fall. But finally I reached the top. And it was mesmerizing. I could see the whole of Hyderabad.

It was a Saturday and I had two of my friends to accompany me. And I also met my friend from Chennai. It felt good to see her after five long months since my transfer back to my home town. We had an early breakfast and went to Salar Jung museum.

It was situated in old Hyderabad and holds the collection of the Salar Jung family. It consists of sculptures, paintings, textiles, manuscripts, artifacts, weapons and so on.

To be honest I was impressed by the collection. It was one of the best museum of India.

After that we visited Chowmahalla Palace, the palace of the Nizam's.

It is well maintained by the heir of Nizam's. And still boast about its architectural beauty. From the vintage cars to its weaponries. The good thing was that my friends were also visiting this places for the first time. So they weren't bored at all.

Charminar was very crowded because of its market area and we also got a glimpse of the Mecca Masjid. It's a great place in Hyderabad for budget shopping. The reason why I chose to visit all this places on the same day as they were very close from each other. All located in old Hyderabad and requires a 1o-15 minutes auto ride to reach. I also tried the famous tea of Nimra Cafe which to be honest I found very ordinary.

That day the weather was terrible and the sun was always dancing over our heads. What kept us going was we had everything that could quench our thirst, coconut water, sugarcane juice, mango juice, lassi and bought bisleris at every stop.

My friends had already planned to take me to the best Biriyani restaurant of Hyderabad, the one that they liked the most. It was Shadab, a five minute walk from Charminar.

The inside ambience of Shadab was very pleasant. It was a pathani restaurant and was over crowded. We had to wait for sometime before we finally got our table. The aroma of Biriyani and its spices only increased our hunger.

And once the order came we didn't even allow the waiter to serve us, we just gorged on them. The Biriyani was very tasty. Before going there whichever vlog/blog I watched everyone recommended to try Biriyani from Paradise but I think people should also try from Shadab. Hyderabadi Biriyani is very spicy but Shadab is different and delicious in its own way. They also gave pudhina chutney, one spicy curry and raita along with our order. That is something which I have seen in most part of South India. If you are ordering Biriyani you get the raitas and the chutneys along with them.

After filling our tummies we finally wrapped our day by visiting the last destination as per my itinerary, Hussain Sagar Lake. It was a huge lake consisting of a statue of Buddha at its center and the lake was surrounded by a park shaped like a necklace. That place is known as Necklace road. We took an evening boat ride and went to the Buddha statue before finally heading home.

It was my final day in Hyderabad before my trip ends. Although it was a Sunday none of my friends could accompany me as they had to complete their weekend activity before they join office the next day.

So I continued my journey alone. I had my breakfast from Udipi, a really good South Indian restaurant in Gachibowli. The fun fact was I had my breakfast from here everyday. After completing breakfast I booked an Ola cab as I was going to Ramoji Film city. It was located in the outskirts of Hyderabad so there were no public transport and as I was traveling through the highway I preferred a cab over ola Auto.

The problem with visiting Ramoji is that if you are going solo, it becomes a bit expensive. It charged me Rs 800 and while returning it was Rs 1200 and more to that Ramoji's entry ticket was Rs 1250 per person. But anyway I was already aware of it and I went with the mind set that as I have come here I will see everything.

There are buses inside which takes you to the different spots of Ramoji. And there was also a guide who narrated us about those places.

I saw the set up of chor bazar where most of the Govinda films were shot. The central jail from where in many classic movies the hero or the heroin's father would come out after serving his tenure although he actually didn't commit any crime. The railway station where Sharukh boarded the train in most of his movies.

I also visited the Bahubali setup, Wild west, Indian Mythologies and many more.

Inside Ramoji there were several restaurants which provide lunch buffet. And you have to pay separately for them. I had my lunch for Rs 270.

There are also several shows, one of them was the shooting one where you get to know a bit about how sholay's chasing scenes were shot. To be honest I attended those only to rejuvenate myself inside the air conditioned rooms. Otherwise I didn't like them much. Most of the places were open and although I carried my umbrella it was impossible to ignore the heat. Luckily I had enough water, food and continuously washed my face wherever I found a wash basin.

I was more interested in the setups and another thing which I liked a lot was the bird sanctuary. It made my day.

I was back in Gachibowli by five. As I was leaving the next day I went out alone for a walk. I also visited a Mart to buy some fruits and biscuits for my 26 hrs train journey. It reminded me so much of my Chennai days which I used to follow just five months back. When you are living with your family you never worry about what you will have for breakfast or lunch but when you are in a different city all by yourself that is the first thing that comes in your mind when you wake up in the morning. 'What I will have for breakfast?'

In the evening my friends took me to Karachi bakery the famous biscuits of Hyderabad. It had a huge variety but just like the tea of Nimra Cafe I found them like any other ordinary cookies.

After that they took me to their favorite fruit juice shop where I had the best mango juice of my life and it reminded me of my favorite fruit juice shop of Chennai. That day we talked late night before hitting the sack, remembering our college days and how life has changed for all of us.

Next day I took the Faluknama express from Secunderabad railway station and headed for Kolkata.

I would recommend every person who loves history and also Biriyani should visit Hyderabad. Although it is now the growing IT hub of India after Bangalore but still it had managed to maintain its rich history.

Best time to visit:

October - January