October 31st - Hyderabad (rest day)

We are staying at the Taj Krishna Hotel in the centre of Hyderabad. The weather has changed and we are having a mix of drizzle and then heavy showers. We are on the fringe of a cyclone that is affecting the Bay of Bengal and large parts of southern India. We have been reading about the terrible flooding and large loss of life that has occurred just a few hundred kilometres south of us. We just have to hope that as we travel south to Hospet (the southernmost point of our trip) that we don't hit flooding and blocked roads.

Our day has consisted of touring a part of this very large city of over 6 million inhabitants, and then shopping. Hyderabad is famous for its bazaars and multitude of small shops selling clothes and jewellery. It is also famous for its pearls. The city was is one of India's six largest metropolitan areas. The grid pattern of its roads was laid out by the Muslim ruler, the Nizam of Hyderabad in the 16th century.

We took our taxi to see the the famous Charminar Monument that was built in 1591 to celebrate the eradication of the plague.

The monument is surrounded by bazaars in a myriad of crowded streets. The traffic in the city is simply horrendous and everywhere you go there are thousands of cars, bikes, motor bikes and pedestrians all trying to push their way through the jams. It is a free for all, and I cannot get to grips with the fact that there never seem to be any accidents. We must have driven for about two hours and at no time did we see any incidents - quite amazing. We then went to one of Hyderabad's many clothing shops to buy clothes. Wendy wanted something for this evening's dinner organised by HERO where Indian dress is required.

As we returned to the hotel the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour. I hope the weather improves for this evening's drive to our restaurant and then for tomorrow's drive to the city of Hospet.

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