The Saturday after Jenny and I returned to Hyderabad was basically a free day. We decided to drive out to the new Hyderabad airport to pick up our bag that Air France had lost a week earlier. Before I get into the lost bag fiasco, let me tell you that the new airport, completed about one month ago, is amazing. It's nicer than any airport I've been inside in the U.S. , and it's actually kind of embarrassing how much nicer it is than Delhi's International airport.
(If you want to skip this next paragraph, I won’t be offended. I’m ranting. Just promise yourself that you won’t ever fly Air France or Air India)
So Air France left our bag in Paris when we flew to Delhi a week and a half ago. There was plenty of room on the plane (Jenny and I each had a 5-seat row to ourselves to sleep on), and the Air France baggage claim guy in Delhi made it seem like the bag wasn’t lost, but that they just decided to leave it in Paris. He also assured me that the bag would be delivered to the address I gave him in Hyderabad, within 48 hours. Then he promised me, while looking me square in the eye, that the bag would be delivered to the address I gave him in Hyderabad, within 48 hours. So, as you can imagine, Jenny and I were pretty frustrated when, after a week, there was no bag waiting for us at Cosy Homes. So we called the Air France people in Delhi, and they said that the bag had been delivered, and that we would have to pick the bag up at the Indian Airlines baggage claim in Hyderabad (????!!!!). So we paid ($30 roundtrip) for the taxi out to the airport and discovered that there was no Indian Airlines baggage claim office. The people at the airport’s general lost baggage desk told us that they hadn’t seen our bag either. To make us even more frustrated, they told us that their phone was only for local calls, and that there was only one phone in the airport capable of reaching Delhi (????!!!!), and the woman who managed the phone was at breakfast (????!!!!). Finally we reached the Air France people in Delhi, and, after deliberating for 15 minutes, they told us that the bag was actually at the Air India (Not Indian Airlines) cargo pickup center. Frustrating. When we reached the cargo pickup center, 2 miles away, we had to pay about $10 to retrieve our bag. The neighborhood we were staying in was listed on the baggage slip, but no Cosy Homes address was listed. I could tell that, despite the baggage claim guy’s promises, there was no intention of delivering the bag to Cosy Homes. Once we had the bag, which contained all of our American goods that couldn’t be carried on the plane, I was happy again. After being insulted by Air France and Air India I am encouraging people not to fly the airlines whenever possible. So that is the end of my rant.
After the wild goose chase for the bag, Jenny and I drove to Golconda Fort, a fortress built by the Qutb Shahi Kings in the early 1500s. To give you an idea of how bad (for the older generation, “bad” in this context means intriguing, unique, and breathtaking) this fort was: spikes were welded to the front gates to deter invading Mughal war elephants, and a clap under the portico at the bottom of the fort could be heard perfectly by the king at the top of the fort, 1 kilometer up the mountain. In the 1600s the fort was eventually overtaken by the Mughals from the North (Delhi area I think), but only after an 8 month siege. Abul Hasan, the Qutb Shahi king probably wouldn’t have been defeated if not for a “treacherous insider.” Other interesting facts about the fort and the surrounding area, are: the Hope Diamond was taken from the Golconda mines nearby, and the name Golconda was associated with massive fortune and wealth in the 16th-19th centuries. When the people in the fort ran out of water, the King at the time (late 1500s) sent people to the nearby Musi River, and thus, the city of Hyderabad began.
After visiting the fort, we returned to Cosy Homes, relaxed, napped, and said goodbye to the staff at SKS. In the evening, we went out with Shailesh, our first guide in Warangal. He had come to Hyderabad for the weekend for additional training. First we went to the Charminar, which is the main site in Hyderabad. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera, so we don’t have pictures, but you can Google Image it. Finally we went to a restaurant called Paradise, which makes the best biryani in Hyderabad. Biryani is the food that Southern India is famous for, and I have to say that it was amazing. We also had chicken tikka masala, and lots of naan and pineapple juice. It was a good way to finish up our time in Hyderabad.
(If you want to skip this next paragraph, I won’t be offended. I’m ranting. Just promise yourself that you won’t ever fly Air France or Air India)
So Air France left our bag in Paris when we flew to Delhi a week and a half ago. There was plenty of room on the plane (Jenny and I each had a 5-seat row to ourselves to sleep on), and the Air France baggage claim guy in Delhi made it seem like the bag wasn’t lost, but that they just decided to leave it in Paris. He also assured me that the bag would be delivered to the address I gave him in Hyderabad, within 48 hours. Then he promised me, while looking me square in the eye, that the bag would be delivered to the address I gave him in Hyderabad, within 48 hours. So, as you can imagine, Jenny and I were pretty frustrated when, after a week, there was no bag waiting for us at Cosy Homes. So we called the Air France people in Delhi, and they said that the bag had been delivered, and that we would have to pick the bag up at the Indian Airlines baggage claim in Hyderabad (????!!!!). So we paid ($30 roundtrip) for the taxi out to the airport and discovered that there was no Indian Airlines baggage claim office. The people at the airport’s general lost baggage desk told us that they hadn’t seen our bag either. To make us even more frustrated, they told us that their phone was only for local calls, and that there was only one phone in the airport capable of reaching Delhi (????!!!!), and the woman who managed the phone was at breakfast (????!!!!). Finally we reached the Air France people in Delhi, and, after deliberating for 15 minutes, they told us that the bag was actually at the Air India (Not Indian Airlines) cargo pickup center. Frustrating. When we reached the cargo pickup center, 2 miles away, we had to pay about $10 to retrieve our bag. The neighborhood we were staying in was listed on the baggage slip, but no Cosy Homes address was listed. I could tell that, despite the baggage claim guy’s promises, there was no intention of delivering the bag to Cosy Homes. Once we had the bag, which contained all of our American goods that couldn’t be carried on the plane, I was happy again. After being insulted by Air France and Air India I am encouraging people not to fly the airlines whenever possible. So that is the end of my rant.
After the wild goose chase for the bag, Jenny and I drove to Golconda Fort, a fortress built by the Qutb Shahi Kings in the early 1500s. To give you an idea of how bad (for the older generation, “bad” in this context means intriguing, unique, and breathtaking) this fort was: spikes were welded to the front gates to deter invading Mughal war elephants, and a clap under the portico at the bottom of the fort could be heard perfectly by the king at the top of the fort, 1 kilometer up the mountain. In the 1600s the fort was eventually overtaken by the Mughals from the North (Delhi area I think), but only after an 8 month siege. Abul Hasan, the Qutb Shahi king probably wouldn’t have been defeated if not for a “treacherous insider.” Other interesting facts about the fort and the surrounding area, are: the Hope Diamond was taken from the Golconda mines nearby, and the name Golconda was associated with massive fortune and wealth in the 16th-19th centuries. When the people in the fort ran out of water, the King at the time (late 1500s) sent people to the nearby Musi River, and thus, the city of Hyderabad began.
After visiting the fort, we returned to Cosy Homes, relaxed, napped, and said goodbye to the staff at SKS. In the evening, we went out with Shailesh, our first guide in Warangal. He had come to Hyderabad for the weekend for additional training. First we went to the Charminar, which is the main site in Hyderabad. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera, so we don’t have pictures, but you can Google Image it. Finally we went to a restaurant called Paradise, which makes the best biryani in Hyderabad. Biryani is the food that Southern India is famous for, and I have to say that it was amazing. We also had chicken tikka masala, and lots of naan and pineapple juice. It was a good way to finish up our time in Hyderabad.
2 comments:
Cool blog. Have fun with my peeps. The Indians are good people.
Jonny and Jenny,
I love your blog and to hear about the great "indian momments". I do remember "jonny momments" with regards to his bathroom habits as a young man. From Jonny I learned ways to use the tolit that I have as yet never tried.
Wonderful stories you too are generating from your experiences
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