Last weekend a few of us ventured out to visit old city again.  CIEE had taken us around to some of the tourist spots in the are, but we wanted to explore a bit more.  We started off by climbing Charminar…

The name Charminar comes from Farsi and Arabic, and it means four minarets. Each the structures pilars contains a winding staircase.  The stairwell is probably about 3.5ft wide, and most of the steps are almost a foot high.  The view from atop Charminar is simply amazing.  One of the most interesting things about India in general is the juxtapostion of historal landmarks and modern life.

The entire area surrounding Charminar is filled with autos and street vendors.  You can find just about anything on the streets surrounding the structure.  We saw one vender with a pile of, at least, fifty used remote controls on his blanket.  Charminar is at the center of a 4-way intersection, but the majority of the shops and vendors are all on one road that leads away from the center of the city through a pair of gates. The main road is home to a wide variety of shops, but each of the side steets is dedicated to one specific type of vendor; fabric, shoes/sandals, jewelry, etc.  We wondered down one of the side streets where the food and produce vendors were concentrated.  After walking down the road for a few minutes we came upon a small farmers market in the middle of the city.  There were fresh vegetables, grains, spices, goats, and chickens.  Hyderabad has the largest Muslim population in the south of India, and meat is fairly prevalent in the city.  It was one of the first times that we felt as though we were seeing the ‘real’ India.

One of the best things about wondering around the city is that it’s virtually impossible to get lost.  As long as you’re in a well populated area (which is all of Hyderabad) there’s always an auto around the corner ready to pick you up and take you where you need to go.  Exploring the area much less stressful when you don’t need to look at a map to ensure you’ll make it back home.