From Aurangabad to Hyderabad
20 & 21 January 2008
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In the morning we checked out of the Nandavan Hotel but asked them to hold our bags until
our train departure for Hyderabad/Secunderabad that evening.
For dinner we walked to a tandoori restaurant on East Station Road but arrived there a few
minutes before it opened for dinner. At the door of the restaurant we had the pleasure of
meeting a fellow-American traveling independently in Asia. After chatting in front of the
restaurant while waiting for it to open we agreed to have dinner together, We had a very
enjoyable conversation and an excellent chicken tandoori dinner. Our dinner companion,
whose name I unfortunately do not recall, is a very interesting widely traveled university
instructor, lecturer, writer, tour organizer and tour leader with whom we shared experiences
We very seldom meet fellow-Americans in India once we are off the standard tour route
(Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Khajuraho, and Varansi).
After dinner Virginia and I took a motorickshaw taxi to the Nandavan Hotel, picked up the
bags they had been holding for us, and continued to the railway station. Our train was No.
1405 Kalinda Express, Departing at 8:55pm, which arrived at Secunderabad (Hyderabad's
twin city) at about 9:30 the following morning. The train fare for us two totaled Rs.705
(US$19), Sharing our Class 2A bay was an elderly apparently very religious Indian couple
who seemed to know not a word of English and we knew no Marathi; they got off our train
an hour or two before us.
Upon arrival at the Secunderabad railway station we took a autorickshaw for a 30-minute
ride to the Hotel Rajmata (Phone 66665555) on Garden Road, opposite the Nampally
railway station. The hotel's location is on an extremely busy road with practically no
pauses for a pedestrian trying to cross it. The hotel fortunately fronts a courtyard set
back from the road, thus reducing road noise. We paid 790 rupees (US$21) per night.
From the Hotel Rajmata we bought tickets for a tour the next day to Ramoji Film City, a
main reason for including Hyderabad on our trip itinerary. The bus trip to Ramoji Film
City cost Rs. 150 (US$4) each plus an entry fee of Rs. 300 (US$8),
Surprisingly we failed to find a satisfactory restaurant near our hotel, despite its location
on a busy road across from the railway station.