So while we were daunted by Golconda Fort it was totally amazing and of course beautiful. The fort had been the original power centre of Hyderabad before a drought forced the then ruler to relocate to the banks of the river near Hyderabad. FYI the Charminar and market were meant to lure people there.
For the most part the pictures of the fort speak for themselves but I will give a little background.
Initially I felt that we would just do a little quick tour of the fort and then motor back to ISB, but Scott was gung ho to go to the top. I played it by ear but the hill looked pretty high from the bottom. :P
As we made out way through the fort we went into an interior portion of the fort, you could a hundred little squeaks of bats in the darkness that would periodically catch in the light. I could never time the photo right to get an image of this unfortunately. :( I also opted to not pay the extra money to bring my video camera - which was the right cal ultimately considering the stills I got.
So the dark corridors opened up into a neat pavilion, as in a lot of places in India there was a metal detector that was totally unused here.
This was the make or break point when Scott convinced me to do the climb and we left Marcel and his ankle behind. We told our guide we weren't going to be stopping until we reached the top.
The climb wasn't too bad, but it was a little rocky. It was also REALLY dry and hot I had a parched mouth. I saw water on the way up, but it was more of a tease as I did not trust it at all:
The view on the way up was great and the one from the top was pretty spectacular, of the fort and also the city. There was also a nice breeze here which was welcomed in the heat.
The water again however was a tease:
There were also these cute little chipmunk-y things at the top - very cute and very fast.
After taking a rest at the top we went down the second set of stairs which are pretty scary. Not only are they slippery but over the years the rocks have shiften so they are tilted downwards away from you as you decend. I almost fell once and then took my time.
Once we got down we did a little more touring of the fort, I was on pretty shaky legs by then, and our guide gave us some interesting tidbits of the fort, including a portcullis that was designed to make it impossible to throw a dagger at the king while he rendered judgement.
We were all ready to go and were waiting for our cab when I saw this thing on the other side of the road. Goat? Dog?
So ends of one of the busiest and funnest days of my life. :)
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