Thursday, February 20 and Friday, February 21.
Seemingly long journey of 20 hours to get from Moraira to Hyderabad. This actually only involved a little over 10 hours in the air but there were sizable connections at Istanbul and then in Mumbai. We were travelling economy and this proved fairly reasonable on Turkish airlines, although unfortunately David was sick on the second leg presumably due to something he’d eaten on it – but we both thought the food had been quite good!
The final flight was on Indigo a pleasant Indian airline, during which I slept for maybe 30 of the 45 minutes. We were met soon after getting off the plane in Hyderabad by a representative from Wild Frontiers who had gained access to the security side of the airport. So he helped us find our baggage and escorted us to a car where there was a driver and yet another guide. Seemingly that was all we were going to see of the original guide or representative. It was a very nice car and we would efficiently driven the 30 minute drive to the Falaknuma Palace hotel, originally the home of the Nizam of Hyderabad. It had been built around 1880, and by 1937 the Nazim was reputedly the richest man in the world. Certainly no expense had been spared. The Nazim dynasty ended around 1960 and the palace was converted to a six star hotel after 2000.
Click on thumbnail photo below to get larger photo
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We were given a wonderful welcome which involved a carriage ride from the outer gate up to the palace where we wre rained upon by rose petals, and then an introduction to the hotel given in our splendid room. The luggage took a little longer to arrive, but we were ready to go down to the swimming pool just before 3 pm, this being 9:30 am back in Spain. I thought I would just go straight to bed but decided by then as I was waking up again and enjoyed my swim in a wondrous pool, although this was spoiled for David by the pool man asking him to sign a disclaimer should I drown in the said pool!.
At 4 pm, we had tea in the ballroom which was quite magnificent, better than that at Balmoral I reckon. This was followed by a guided tour of the palace by a fairly knowledgeable lady, but whose English was often difficult for me to comprehend. There were about 20 people on this tour and it included a glass of sparkling wine near the end. The amount of money spent into each room was quite incredulous, see some of the photos. The tour ended with a walk through the gardens to a musical presentation given by eight men. This was good, but probably could’ve been at trifle shorter. We enjoyed a glass of watermelon juice here. After this we went back to the room and then sat on our balcony with a view out into the gardens, eating the sandwiches I had made for the journey and had not been eaten. Also in the room a great bowl of fruit and some really yummy chocolates. So a day of a total of about 36 hours.
Taj Falaknuma Palace Hotel
Retrace the steps of Nizams and European royalty by walking the walk of Kings through this palace in the sky. 2000 feet above Hyderabad, Taj Falaknuma Palace's 60 beautifully refurbished and lovingly restored rooms allow you to journey into the clouds and into the glided ages, where grandeur and excess is celebrated and savoured in equal measure. So say's the Taj's website and we agree this place is pretty special! The former residence of the Nizam of Hyderabad - who, at one stage was reputed to be the wealthiest man on earth - Falaknuma Palace has been leased by the Royal Family of Hyderabad to the Taj Group with members of the Royal Family having personally supervised part of the palace's refurbishment. The palace is now made up of 60 stunning guestrooms and suites, influenced by decades of signature luxury and excess.
Click on thumbnail photo below to get larger photo
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Saturday, February 22
A really good night sleep from 10 pm through to 7 am. I then went for a swim and we went into breakfast about 8 am. This was really nice, sitting outside and with a fantastic buffet lots of fresh fruit and roll and smoked salmon.
We were found by our new guide, Paula at 9 am. We sat in one of the libraries of the palace and listened to her brief explanation of Indian history, backed up by some good maps : this was really worthwhile. We then set out for a full day tour of the ancient city plus the modern high-tech city that have been created nearby about 15 years ago.
Click on thumbnail photo below to get larger photo
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| Old Town and Charminar | |||
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| Fort Golconda | |||
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| Qutub Shahi | |||
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| Cyber City |
Once the foremost centre of culture on the entire Indian subcontinent, Hyderabad was established by the Qutb Shahi dynasty in the latter years of the 16th century.
First stop was.Char Minar : A minuet surrounded by impressive buildings. We sidetracked down a scruffy road which was where the market for bling bracelets existed. Mind you many of the jewellery shops were not open at this early hour of the morning. We took to ride from the end of the market street and the entrance to our palace complex. A tuk tuk took us to the next part of the palace complex where there were four administrative palaces that the Nizams used and Tablo accounts of each of the seven Nizams . There was also a collection of the cars that have belonged to the seventh Nizam
We then progressed to a wondrous Fort Golconda, built by the first rulers in the 16th century and very well defended: yet eventually it was breached by treachery
Next stop was a series of muslim tombs, Qutub Shahi. whose beautifully domed granite tombs and tranquil landscaped gardens provided the final resting place for seven of the dynasty's rulers. And also some other tombs built for the favourite doctor favourite wife, children et cetera. This was a lovely peaceful place.
After this we drove out to cyber city or the new tech city which are being built around 15 years ago and was inhabited by Amazon, Apple and various other major companies. It was a complete contrast to the somewhat sleazy old city . We had a lunch there, which was a tad too spicy for my liking but it was really nice surroundings then back to the Palace by just after 4 pm.
At this stage we were informed we had to leave at 7 am the following morning for our onward flight: we managed to renegotiate this for 7:15 am so that we could have a bite of breakfast which did not start until 7 am. I then had a siesta and missed afternoon tea, but when I woke up, we went for a wander round the grounds and then found that our airline ticket for the next day was actually at 11:50 and not at 9:35 as we have been advised. This was a giant mixup by the agency and David got quite annoyed with them especially as they refused to apologise but the outcome was our ticket wasn’t in fact for the earlier flight and that we could have breakfast in peace.
I went for a twilight swim around 6:30 and after this we went to the bar and had a cocktail. We were surprised by the number of people in the hotel milling around and a giant group going up just for dinner on amazing the one hundred person dining room table. Then back to the room and some food outside on the terrace
Sunday, February 23.
We had a leisurely breakfast in the beautiful surrounds with sumptuous food at around 7:30 am and we were ready for the off by 9 am, this being considerably better than the 7 am start that they had threatened us with. We were given the carriage ride down to the gate Where our driver and guide were waiting for us. It was only 25 minutes to the airport and Mr. Efficient was there to greet us and get us checked in at a business counter in record time and escort us to security. This was very efficient and we were in the departure lounge before 10 am. We were boarded for our 11.50 Indigo flight about 11:30 am and took off about 10 to 15 minutes late
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