mr. bo...BANGLES!

A few weekends ago Selin and I stuck around in Hyderabad, and went to Charminar on a Saturday morning. (in fact, that was THE ONLY Saturday morning in almost 2 months that I havent been on a plane, train, or somewhere away from home...travellin' man!) Charminar is an old monument/gateway thing in Secunderabad, which is the "old city": the original Hyderabad I guess. (Why do they call it Secunderabad then? I don't know.) (update: Selin informs me she thinks Charminar is not in Secunderabad, rather it is in Old City Hyderabad, as I stated. That would make sense I suppose, as there would be no reason "old Hyderabad" would actually be Secunderabad.) Where Google is and where we all live and work is really actually not Hyderabad at all, it's technically called a different city name, which I'm blanking on right now...Hi Tech City is one thing I've heard it called, but there are other names as well. On that note, one thing I haven't learned very well, in all my time here, is the city of Hyderabad itself. It's a little confusing, as it is one sprawling mess of a place, and I haven't ever really seen a map. Plus since we're driven around everywhere, I really don't ever learn where anything is or what anything is called -- the drivers take care of those details. Anyways the entire Hi Tech City area is all really new, it's pretty much sprawled out of the ground all within the last 5 years or so. In talking with one of our drivers Niranjan (who drives us everywhere, super friendly guy) he said that what is now Hi Tech City was just a small village on the outskirts of Hyderabad just 5-10 years ago, nothing at all like it is now. It's just recently w/ the boom in economy and tech jobs that the area has exploded...to what it is now, which is buildings everywhere, roads everywhere, traffic everywhere, and more buildings sprouting up everwhere else. I asked Niranjan what he prefers, whether he liked the village or the town as it is now, he said that the town now brings jobs and money and so it's better, even though traffic is a nightmare.

But I'm supposed to be talking about Charminar! Let's get to the point here. I'll include some pictures below and give more details. Charminar is obviously famous for the monument Charminar itself, but it is also very well known for the market shopping area surrounding it: best place in town to pick up bangles, which are traditional Hindi jewelry: little sparkly bracelet things that Selin (and all girls in general) enjoys. Also, if you're brave and know a lot about pearls, it's also apparently a good place to get those too...but you better really know your pearls or you're gonna get swindled. From what I'm told, for every reputable pearl place...there are 3 or 4 others selling fakes. My advice: stick to bangles.

Need to know Charminar information.

The view of Charminar from down one of the side streets, lined with bangle shop after bangle shop. Notice the Muslim dress -- Old Hyderabad is the predominantly Muslim part of the city, so you definitely notice that a lot more than other places in town, which are predominantly Hindi.

This one is interesting. The ticket counter to get into Charminar. Guess what our entrance fee was? Haha, not 5 rupees. :) All the monuments have hugely inflated prices for non-Indian residents (20x in this case). It's not a big deal, as entrance is still cheap, just thought it was worth posting.

Here is the view from the base of Charminar. One of the pillars has a narrow winding staircase you walk up to get to the top.
And here's the view once you're up there! This is looking down the side street lined with bangle shops. That sort of madness is normal here, people everywhere...apparently, if you think that looks hectic, you should see Charminar on a Sunday -- there are 3 times as many people!!

Selin posing in front of one of the many bangle shops, jammed full of sparkling bangles...and haggling bangle buyers.


Bangle Salesman.



















Future bangle salesman. While Selin was busy seeing how many bangles she could fit on her wrist, I hung out w/ this guy. Like most kids, he loved the camera.












And he loved it even more once I gave it to him and let him start taking some pics. Here's one he took of Selin and me. :)


This guy outside was selling some sort of nut thing. Not as sparkly as bangles, but they taste a lot better...pretty good actually. (side note: notice the store in the background called 'Decent Collection.' Haha, let's go buy some clothes! They're decent!!! Yeah!!)

Alright, that sums up the Charminar and bangle experience. If anybody back home really wants some bangles, let me know and I'll pick some up for you. We know a good place. :)