So finally I got my Hyderabad layover!
It was almost a 5 hour flight here. We arrived around midnight..
We stayed at the Marriott hotel.The hotel was awesome! Staffs were very warm and welcoming.
This fountain of potpourri flowers caught my eye! Isn't it pretty?
After checking in, first thing was to RUNNNNN to my room!Here's a little peek at my room.
So I had a good shut eye and woke up for the free breakfast! Not all the hotels we stayed in offers us breakfast in the morning.. so we get really excited when we have free breakfast! Haha I know it sounds really silly but yeah, #lifeofacabincrew
I had eggs Benedict and also ate other stuffs on the buffet table..A really hearty feast before we started our day!
The food was okay but I prefer the breakfast in Bombay!
After breakfast, we took the complimentary shuttle to explore Hyderabad! YAY! We had a few ideas in mind on where we would like to explore. One of it was Golconda Fort, Charminar and Qutub Shahi. We payed the driver a little bit more so he could bring us a little further ;) So we headed to Charminar first as our driver told us it was the nearest place from our hotel. There were many street stalls, a bazaar, you may call it. So many pretty shoes and sari's for sale! Sari's here are so cheap! But I didn't manage to get one. No time for shopping because we had a long drive to the other places! Maybe I'll get one on my next trip!
Here's a picture of the Charminar known as the city of pearls!
Unfortunately on the day I was there, half of the iconic structure was under renovation. That was why my picture was only taken from the side!
Next stop, the driver took us to Golconda fort which is an hour drive away from our hotel..so we were rushing over cause time was running out! Traffic in India was really bad as well. On the way there, a building caught our eye from a distance. So the driver took us there to have a look..and guess what? It was a hospital!
It looks damn nice for a hospital! I love their building structures in Hyderabad! Every one of them are so unique and ancient. Who'd knew such a building is a hospital! We all thought it was some sort of museum!
After the photos we continued our 1 hour journey to the famous Golconda fort!
The view from down below seems small. But Nope..it's massive!
Unfortunately in the end we didn't go in...it was too crowded and we needed to pay like a 100rupees to go in..not much but all of us did not exchange a lot money for that trip. Bummer, but I will definitely go in during my next trip!
Then we proceeded to the nearby attraction called the Qutub Shahi!
It's the tomb for the King, queens and their families..
It is like another Taj Mahal but it is in Hyderabad. :)
We payed 10rupees for the entrance fee and 20rupees for the car to be parked in the compound. A little tip just in case anyone of you are going to visit this place.
Here's a clearer view of the tombs I took from the internet. Forgive my photo skills!
This was the prince's tomb.
And below is the soldiers tomb.
Oh ya..another tip, once you enter the entrance there's a guy who follows you to show you around..it's as tho the ticket comes with the free explanation. Sounds good? Not really. At the end he made us pay him 200rupees even when we didn't ask for a tour guide. He just started following us and telling us the history of the place. So to the solo travellers, if you are on a budget, take note! We weren't being stingy but we were really short of cash that day so the 200 rupees was a lot to us. So now we know...don't accept offers if we didn't ask for it! It was as though he was cheating us in a way cause we didn't know we had to pay for his explanation! x( boo! That was what we were mad about, not mainly because of the money.
Some dark dusty path which leads to I don't know where..rather spooky!
Below are pictures of the artistic interiors...these tombs are here decades ago! Super ancient!
And this was the Kings tomb! All white and beautiful!
Almost similar to Taj Mahal right?
After sight seeing, we all were super hungry cause we skipped lunch! So we ordered take aways at Bahars Briyani!
It was nicely packed..comes with yogurt n curry sauce!
Yummy! The portion was humongous ! 4 of us ladies bought 2packets one lamb and one chicken.Yet we didn't even finish half of both packets..it's seriously too big of a portion for us. It's amazing how people there eat such a big portion n yet remain so skinny!! (The men there) The price of a packet of Briyani was around 25rupees each! So cheap!
We had a blast eating the Briyani's together in one of the girls' room. I enjoy times like this especially when you are away from your family. Makes me feel warm when all the crews hang out together. Like a 2nd family. After dinner, we took a nap before getting ready for our flight back to Malaysia.
Oh yeah...I forgot to mention I was here on New Year's Eve !
So we didn't get to countdown in Malaysia and in Hyderabad there wasn't really much happening..
While it was 12am in Hyderabad we were stuck at the airport because our aircraft was delayed. We were there for 2hours straight! So FYI cabin crews have to wait as well when the aircrafts get delayed. Plus we have to stay up all night to work so passengers please don't complain ok? Be good! You'll get to sleep on board!
Luckily as we were waiting, we were invited to chill at the Plaza Lounge. We had some drinks and guess what? There was a little celebration by the airport staff there and they gathered everyone at the lounge to have some cake :) better then nothing right?
At least I had cake and bonded with some passengers that joined the little celebration...
Sweet n simple new year!
Thank you for reading! Your comments, resteem and upvotes are my motivation to post more stories!
P/S: This post was a delayed post! That explains the 'New Years ' part!