My Trip to Hyderabad - Tour and Car

[surendar]

After my completion of MBBS,couple of my friends,who came back to Chennai after their studies/work from Jaipur and Singapore,we planned for a trip to any place which would be a new place to us.They decided on Hyderabad and we planned our trip by car.Since I had some certificate issues in Chennai,i had to be in Chennai for my degree registration and got it done in a day.
I got a surprise from one of my friend that his parents aren't letting him to travel by car,so he insisted that he will join us by flight the day after,it was not a problem for me or my friend,so,we started our trip on September 1 at 9.30am from T.Nagar,Chennai.I will describe the journey by each day as I can post pictures along with the description.
Day 1,September 1st.

At 7 AM,I started my car from Mahabalipuram,after 12 kms,my odometer clocked 50,000 kms,and i went to Mount road to pick my first friend and then to T-Nagar to my second friend's(Omar) house.Then came the surprise that my second friend has some problem with his family members and he said he will join us by the next day.
At 9.30 AM,me and my friend(Balaji) started out trip,he doesn't know to drie a car that much and i don't know about the roads and routes.So,it was a good tag team work,as he worked at Hyderabad for 3 months and was familiar with the road and places,whereas I am good in driving for long hours together.
The road to Hyderabad was a four-way lane highway from a place in the outskirts of Chennai,a few kms from RedHills.After crossing RedHills by 10.15 Am,we saw a huge billboard with the places mentioned as Nellore around 140 kms,and we reached Nellore by 12.30 PM.I didn't drive it too fast,i averaged only 100 kmph as it is always safe and cautious to drive slowly in an unknown road.It was a four-way lane with lorries filling up the lanes and it was quite difficult at times when lorries come in the opposite direction on the wrong way.The next station was Vijayawada,around 380 kms from Nellore.
At around 1 PM,we halted at a petrol bunk and filled for 500 Rs,as we thought this bunk had an ATM,but it didn't,so we filled for 500 Rs and headed to Vijayawada.After about half-an-hour,we crossed by a huge petrol bunk,which i would call as a perfect highway resting area,as it had 4 lanes of petrol and diesel station and it also had a restaurant called "GHAR DHABA",where we had our lunch,the nett bill was just over 300 Rs.
At around 2.15 PM,we started again,and found a stranded Swift Dzire parked over the centre divider with damaged left rear end,and we moved on towards Vijayawada.Then I started to speed up a little as the road was perfectly clear,i averaged 120 kmph and after nearly one and a half hour,we got stuck in a traffic jam,then realised it to be an accident,I have attached the photo of the Qualis which met with a strange accident.We got cleared easily as we were second in the line waiting for the lorries to clear up.
Then we found another good bunk,and we filled for 1000 Rs and went towards Vijayawada.We reached Vijayawada by 6.10 PM,and we saw a board as Hyderabad 275 kms,and we had tough time getting through the traffic in Vijayawada,and then we found the way out of it,and the road wasn't that much impressive,it was as usual bumps and damages.
It took about 4 hours to get into Hyderabad,as it started raining and the lorry traffic was hiking up.Once we entered Hyderabad,my second friend,Omar had booked a room for us at Hotel Minerva,Hyderabad.
We were misdirected by a couple of people and we were made to take a mini tour in Hyderabad for about 15 minutes.Then Omar helped us through phne regarding the route and we reached our hotel by 11 PM,we checked in at 11.10 PM,and we slept off that night till next day morning 10 AM,nice climate and nice room.
We didn't take much/any photos on Day 1,as we were enjoying the drive,the pictures started on Day 2 only.
Day 2,September 2...kinly hold on for more pictures and descriptions.

 

[350Z]

Let me be the first to post a comment of appreciation to this well-written travelogue. I’m waiting for other parts to be posted, and you must add some more pictures, Also probably update your Verna ownership thread too, for its terrific reliability. I have been to Hyderabad recently a few years ago, but unfortunately, couldn’t visit Ramoji Film City. (Only if I spelled that correctly). Have heard it's one of the great place of attraction for tourists.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[mukeshus]

Waiting for more pics!!!.
Surendar pl try to post the pics of the travel rather than these accidents.

 

[cooldhaya]

Aah so this was the reason you went to Hyderabad! Good start-up to the thread bro , continue with more pictures.

BTW what was the average FE of Verna? I think you must have got around 16-18kmpl.

 

[cooldhaya]

Aah so this was the reason you went to Hyderabad! Good start-up to the thread bro , continue with more pictures.

BTW what was the average FE of Verna? I think you must have got around 16-18kmpl.

 

[Marun]

Nice thread dude. Waiting for the updates.
BTW, before reading i just scrolled for pictures and got scared about Qualis.

 

[AMG]

Congratulations on completing your MBBS.

Now you have become a Doctor Sahib.

Waiting for more pics.

 

[surendar]

Aah so this was the reason you went to Hyderabad! Good start-up to the thread bro , continue with more pictures.

BTW what was the average FE of Verna? I think you must have got around 16-18kmpl.

The average FE came around 18,as i didn't spped up the car over 120,while on the return,i crossed 160 on few occasions and averaged at 120.
Right now,i am in my dad's native place,a village nearly 270 kms from Pondicherry.
I will be back in Pondy by sunday,and will post the rest of my trip details and pictures,sorry guys.

 

[surendar]

Sorry for delayed update.

Now,I am back in town,but,still wondering as my friends have planned for another trip to Bangalore this weekend.
Back to the Hyderabad trip,day 2.
Day 2,at Hotel Minerva,at Himayath Nagar.
9.00 AM,after a nice sleep,i was the first one to get up and get ready and my friend got ready by 10 AM,he had some office work for 30 minutes,so we went to his office and i waited in my car until he returns,that was the time when i saw the ML 320,around 7 Q7s,6 BMW X5s,three Volvo S 80s,and many more cars.
He got his work completed in 30 minutes and we decided to have lunch,and it started raining from drizzles to heavy rain showers.I saw the next building with the bill boards as "Mainland China,Sigree and many more names".I decided to have our lunch at Mainland China,as we both like Chinese cuisine.It was a valet parking by them,and on the way to the lift,we were given a warm welcome by the people of Sigree,a restaurant belonging to the group of Hotels at Kolkata,it had a photo of Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar posing with the hotel name.We had a final minute change to Sigree and it had good dishes on the list,buffet for Rs 295.
At 2 PM,we got a call from the third guy that he is boarding the flight at 3 PM,and so we finished our lunch and started to move towards Airport,while turning towards the signal,my friend said "What's that car?,it has R on it and nothing else?".I checked it and said that as the Rolls-Royce,and we followed it for a few minutes and saw it entering into a building.We checked on the time when my friend reaches here and we entered into the building and saw the RR Ghost parked with the Chauffeur next to it and managed a couple of snaps and we headed towards Airport.
After some tough city driving,we saw a billboard stating "AIRPORT=12 Kms ahead" and "only 4-wheelers,no two/three wheelers".
I can't believe it as i have never seen such board so far,and it was a direct fly-over to Airport(12 Kms fly-over).While travelling,my friend snapped a few pictures of the background,we found that most buildings and houses were constructed on mountains.
At 4.30 PM,we entered into Airport Arrival lane,which had nice garden on both sides of the lanes with route markers,and again rain showers started and we halted at a nice place and waited for our friend to come out of the arrival section.That was when we saw a Volvo XC 90,an unregistered Black BMW X6 passing us,I couldn't take picture as it was raining heavily.
We got a call from my friend and we entered into the arrival section and it had some police vehicles as some VIP was also expected in the next flight.We got him into my car,while moving towards the exit,it was slight drizzles and nice weather,so we wanted some photographs to be taken and next we took some snaps.
After that we went to our Hotel room at 6 PM,and we planned for a visit to Char Minar,as my third friend is a Muslim,who wanted to open his fasting by visiting the Char Minar.My second friend,who has worked in Hyderabad for a few months said that it will be a narrow lane as it was at the time of "RAMZAAN",so we went by an auto-rickshaw.
You wouldn't believe me that the auto ride was the most rash drive by an auto driver.While moving in it,the driver hit on a two-wheeler's handle bar deliberately after a small verbal quarrel and the auto's right rear wheel went over a man who was trying to cross the road.Somehow,we managed our way to Char Minar and we took a lot of photos,and we walked into a street called "BANGLE STREET",where we saw around 200 to 300 shops from both extremities(small scale shops to big scale shops),we didn't go inside it as it was dinner time(8.30 PM).
We walked out of the pathway leading to the main road,and got into another auto,who was also rash but not that much as the previous one.The second auto brushed on a two-wheeler,damaging it's already broken hanging indicator and anther verbal quarrel and our driver started to drive fast through the narrow lanes.
At 10.00 PM,after having ice creams and some shopping visits,we went to a good restaurant,which was near our hotel and got our foods packed and went back to hotel to have our dinner.The food quantity was large,sorry,LARGE for my friends and they managed to eat only a portion of it,ans I was as usual filling my stomach with loads.
We slept off after discussing few things that we missed during our college days,as we were all school mates.We dozed off at around 12 AM,and our plan on the next day was Film City,shopping mall and our return trip back to Chennai.
Stay tuned for Day 3....

 

[cooldhaya]

Good photos and report Surendar. But next time can you make the report into some small paragraphs , its difficult to read bro.


Hey have you lost some weight? You look a little slim now compared to the last time we met for the meet. And i guess auto-drivers are same all over India!

 

[mukeshus]

Hyderabad is a good place.
Did you visit Ramoji film city?

 

[surendar]

@cooldhaya,thanks bro.This post will have the visit to Film City from 9 am till 5.45 PM,and my next post will have the shopping mall visit and the return trip.
I haven't lost wieght,but,I have reduced my body a little than before.
I have travelled in autos for nearly 7-8 years,and that particular guy would be the in the top of the list of rash driving.

Last ten days,i was not in town,especially after my Hyderabad trip.I had only half a day rest after my trip,then,my dad wanted me to be in his native place for Ganesha Pooja/Vinayakar Chathurthi and our new house inaugration.After that i came back home,after half a day,I was called for replacing the doctor at our hospital for two days.I nearly drove 3000 kms in the past ten days or so.
Sorry for the delayed report of Day 2.
Day 2,9.30 AM,at Hotel Minerva.
We got up and decided to visit the Film City,as it will take about half a day for it.We,that is all three guys got ready and started our journey at 11 AM,and it took about 30 minutes to reach the Film City,I parked my car at the parking lot.
At 11.45 AM,We were given a warm welcome by the staffs af the Film City,and we were given detailed descriptions about the entry packages,their limits and their costs.
Package 1= Rs 400/head for adults
Package 2=Rs 1250/head for adults
We got in through Package 1,and we were given our tickets and a green color circular sticker was stuck on our shirt,and we were boarded on a bus,nearly 35-40 people,and it was a journey about 9 kms,through hill-like areas owned by the Film City.
Then,we went inside to see the different sets made of Plaster Of Paris and sheets like metal,card board.etc.
We got ourselves pictured in almost every comic character replica statues and there were a few vintage cars also.
Instead of describing,i think the photos will do the description.

 

[cooldhaya]

Ha ha very funny poses! Good photos. I will also plan a trip to Hyderabad with my friends then.

 

[surendar]

Few more photos

These are a few more snaps at the film city.
@cooldhaya,actually,they tried a lot of poses,but these seem to be funny and nice to watch.There were many disastrous captures,the sole reason being the photographer,giving crazy commands to get a pose and the outcome was a total disaster.I am not posting those pictures here,if you guys want to see it,check in my orkut and facebook profiles.

 

[cooldhaya]

All those buildings in those pictures are looking great and aesthetically pleasing!