It’s a long way from Mirik to Hyderabad! (1/6)

In 2024, I went through a bit of a slump in my life- maybe that’s what they call midlife crisis?

And just like that, quite randomly, I had this thought of wanting to visit the ancient temples that we had studied in our History class in school. Most of them were in South India, and I had always been fascinated reading particularly about their architecture, which is so different from the Northern style of temple architecture that I am used to seeing back home. Life seemed hard and confusing, so I thought perhaps I’d find a bit of faith in religion, and travelling away far for a while would break the monotony, that I guessed I was experiencing.

So I decided, just as the cold Winter would descend in our hills, I’d leave for down South. My sister planned to join me for a part of the trip, so we did our tickets to coincide with the Bryan Adams Concert (a dream come true!).

When I looked at the map from Mirik to Hyderabad, it finally occurred to me how far we would actually be going- it’s a long way from Mirik! For context, I come from a small tea-estate town two hours away from Darjeeling in India, called Mirik. I run a homestay with my parents here. Life is good; it’s scenic, peaceful, the air is clean but it can get monotonous and a bit ‘cave-ish’ sometimes 😄 The nearest airport is also two hours away, so the excitement really builds when I decide to travel far!

The plan was to tick off as many places I planned to visit as possible, right till the tip of the country, Kanyakumari, watch the sunrise there and come up to Delhi to see my college friend. Delhi would still be cold, but South India was already getting warm, so I spent two days planning really hard, packing just one backpack of clothes. Two pairs of everything each- that’s what I did, but it was still a bit of a load with this and that. I realised that packing for long-term backpacking is a skill I still need to learn.

My first visit to Hyderabad, and I was travelling after a long time. I had mixed feelings- Would I be fine with managing travel and money? Would I feel too old for backpacking? Would I be fine with eating local food (now that I’d spent years having home food)?

But Hyderabad had its rich, interesting history, the OG Hyderabadi Biryani, my best friend, Bryan Adams Concert, and most of all, a silent wish I had made some years ago. But more on that on the next one.

I was meeting my friend after a long time, so we spent some weeks here trying all the dishes recommended, and visiting the historical monuments and sites, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I’m going to share my stories from Hyderabad in my upcoming posts, but overall, here’s what I feel about Hyderabad:

• As a women traveller, it is by far one of the most safest cities in India. Super safe!
• Locals are genuinely unbothered but also kind enough to be polite
• Nobody stared at me even the slightest bit, so no racist vibes even in the gully markets near Char Minar
• Food is gorgeous but bloody spicy!
• Man, people take shopping here very seriously- I’ll never forget the palace looking saree and jewellery shops!
• Hussain Sagar Lake smells like poop but the story behind the statue is epic
• Hyderabadi biryani is the OG of Biryanis, now I testify 😀
• People are rich, but they don’t show off and value money- says a lot about their humble attitude, and the city evokes that vibe
• They have the best IKEA in India!

Hyderabad, thanks to Mr Naidu, is today a beautiful cross between Secunderabad, the old city with its history and past, and the Hi-Tech area at the other end, which looks so foreign that you’d wonder if you’re still in India at times. And I hope the city maintains this blend and doesn’t strive too hard to erase everything old. Because we can have skyscrapers anywhere in the world, but some nostalgia and history is good for the soul, no?

How did you feel being in Hyderabad the first time?