Saving the Best for Last...
This morning was an early one given our departure from Chennai and arrival to Hyderabad - our last stop on the journey before heading home. Our bags had to be ready for pick up at 6:30am and we were off to the Chennai Airport by 7:30am. Because the train was only allowed to travel as far as Chennai, and the drive would be far too long, we were making this trip by plane.
It’s a pretty fascinating thing watching 80 people all traveling together make their way through a crowded airport, through security and to the gate. Lots of room for error, yet, everyone successfully made it. At the Chennai Airport, they have gates….but no jetways. Too many people getting on too many airplanes and not enough room for them all. So they piled us all on shuttle buses and literally dumped us in the middle of the tarmac where our airplane was waiting for us. They rolled a portable set of stairs up to the airplane and that is how we boarded. Another “travel first” for us all.
After just a quick one hour flight, we landed safely in Hyderabad. We will spend the final two days here before heading home to all the people that we love…and have been missing very much.
Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana State in Southern India, and sits on the Deccan Plateau on the banks of the Musi River. This feels very much like a big City, with its traffic and congestion not unlike Mumbai. It is said that Hyderabad is considered to be where old and new India “meet and mingle”. They have a very large ancient urban area called The Old City that is filled with old palaces, forts, mosques and temples. It is, however, also noted for it rapid construction and strong IT presence here in India…commonly referred to as “Cyberabad”.
We were driving through a very busy and bustling market and I couldn’t imagine where our next stop could even be, given our surroundings. But a short time later, we pulled up to a gated entrance and to - hands down - the most spectacular Hotel I have ever seen….and probably will ever see….in my lifetime. After our bus cleared the security checkpoint we drove up to a landing where we were asked to exit. A few steps into the property, we noticed several horse drawn carriages waiting to take us up to the Hotel Lobby. It was one of those moments where our group of 30 (who had opted out of the City Tour) just kind of stood open mouthed and speechless. The sheer size of this place….the incredible beauty….and the idea of being brought up by a carriage was almost too much to process. We have had a lot of very cool experiences on this trip…but I knew very quickly that this Palace experience would hit the top of the list.
The Falakanuma Palace, overlooking the entire City of Hyderabad, sits on a footprint of over 1,000,000 square feet and is shaped like a scorpion. Built in 1894, it served as the Palace of the Nizam of Hyderabad, considered to be the richest man in the world. It has hosted many stately and very important guests in its quarters including: King George V, Queen Mary, Nicholas II Czar of Russia, King Edward VIII and the first President of Independent India in the 1950’s. The Palace was closed to visitors for quite some time until it was leased and restored by the Taj Hotel Group. The restoration, which began in 2000, took ten years to restore but is now an architectural masterpiece.
Its construction is made up mostly of Italian marble, beautiful Tudor style stained glass windows and intricately carved walnut walls and ceilings. Almost every ceiling is adorned with hand painted frescoes and the Palace is filled with collections of the Nizam’s artifacts including paintings, statues, furniture, manuscripts, books, an extensive jade collection and stunning Venetian chandeliers.
I’m not even sure there is enough time in this day…or even this week…to talk about the flowers and the landscaping here. Oh lord. It is beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. Outside of the gigantic team that serves the Hotel, they have an entirely separate team of close to 200 individuals whose only task is to ensure that the landscaping is impeccable - and it is. As I was walking around the property, I noticed no less than 10 women each with a pair of hand shears trimming the grass between the stepping stones around the pool. The attention to detail here is evident around everywhere you turn.
After roaming around and fully appreciating our palace living for the next two days (a phrase I realize I will probably never have the privilege of using again), we decided to have some lunch and hit the pool. My Dad was looking forward - after an early morning with lots of travel - to just relaxing and reading his book. PJ was looking forward to being in the pool. I was looking forward to a cocktail and a nap - which I got - but also marked another first for me on this trip: my first Indian sunburn. Yikes. I guess I should have figured, being closer to the Equator, that the sun would be really damn hot….but I guess I just didn’t think about it at the time. Lesson learned.
Given our early wake up this morning, a pretty busy day of travel and our late lunch…PJ had asked if we could “maybe skip the group dinner and stay in the room”. PJ loves room service and loves pizza - so the fact that both options were available here - my Dad and I thought it sounded like the perfect break and the perfect way to spend the evening. So that’s exactly what we did. PJ crushed the “robe life”, caught up on some school work, caught up with his friends and had a little “taste of home” for the first time since we arrived here.
PJ also asked if he could take another night off from the blog so - while I hate to disappoint everyone - that wish was granted too. When your’e staying in a Palace, wishes must be granted. But…he will return tomorrow.
Until then…
