Charminar in Old City Hyderabad was my least favorite place so far in India. It was crowded and smoggy and very noisy. We were warned by Amy and Sean and their driver Narsaiah to be very careful in this area as there have been general anti-foreigner sentiments in the mostly Muslim (the green flags seen in the photos are the Pakastani flag) community (they recently burned a bus that still had people on it). We were also cautioned against letting people see us getting out of Amy and Sean's car because they have consulate plates. They suggested that we get out a little bit further away from Charminar and catch an auto-rickshaw to get a closer look. Amy's advised us to "walk like you had a purpose and don't look lost." Apparently, the folks in that area have a somewhat villagey, mob type mentality. Sean said that if we got into a fender bender in there,
do not get out of the car as we would probably be mobbed. They also suggested that we don't bring our heavy camera gear there on foot as it would draw attention to us.
Um...ok. So what do me and Kevin do? We walk on foot all around Charminar and snap away LOL! We don't take direction too well. I felt somewhat relieved that they all thought we were Japanese and not American. Depending on what the person asking looked like, sometimes I was from communist China too and spoke no English - that stopped them from pestering us. :)
The traffic and noise here in Old City is 10 times more than what it is like in the area where Amy and Sean live. Props to their driver Narsaiah for navigating in this chaotic mess. NY'ers ain't seen traffic until you see India traffic.
Need Chinese take out? Try Chinese Hut!! LOL!
Earlier that morning, before we wandered over to Charminar, we first visited Chowmahalla Palace. It was quiet and peaceful. The calm before the storm. :)
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