the andhra pradesh express

so hyderabad was next on my list. it had posed a bit of a problem for me when i was making my initial plans as i really wanted to go there but it is kind of in the middle of nowhere and would have meant a massive detour wherever i approached it from. i was headed back to where i had left karen and jaclyn to go see kim and hannah, which meant going to mysore. hyderabad seemed a good jumping off point as i could then go to bengaluru and catch a local bus to mysore. the journey to hyderabad on the andhra pradesh express was scheduled to take 26 hours (and actually took 28) which scared me a little. what would i do? i had just bought a book but that would be devoured in no time, and i had booked an upper berth so during the day i wouldn't have a window seat. it turned out to be a really liberating experience despite my fears. there's nothing like travelling huge distances on the indian railway. there is a constant supply of chai, samosas, crisps, all kinds of snacky-type foods. and the scenery is amazing. i spent the majority of the waking portion of the trip (around 15 or 16 hours) sat in an open doorway smoking cigarettes, drinking chai and watching india slip past while chatting to the many chai and samosa sellers on their breaks. after the frustration, annoyance, homesickness and general feeling of not-fun i had experienced recently it was the perfect tonic.

as i sat and we passed through nameless villages, small towns and stopping occasionally at random stations i had a lot of time to think and to put the events of the last few weeks in perspective. i had seen some things that people only dream of - the taj mahal, pushkar, the golden temple and the mehrangarh fort in jodhpur. i had seen some things that people hope they never see - heartbreaking poverty, open sewers, filth, grime and hassle. it is all india, and the sooner i accepted that the better i would feel about my trip and the sooner i'd start having fun again. i really can't describe how awesome that day was, the indian countryside is stunning. i saw mountains, forests, great big dusty plains, dried river beds, rice paddies, farm labourers toiling with oxen and wooden ploughs, sari-clad women gracefully walking from the local water source with huge steel containers balanced precariously on their heads. as we passed through the towns and villages the kids would come running and waving, covered in big smiles and cheering us on our way. i was going to be ok. i just need to work out how to deal with india's dark side. i am turning into a fairweather traveller and that isn't the person i am or want to be. once i accepted that i felt more positive about the trip and knew that i had made the right decision to come south again.

as i arrived in hyderabad i was mildy excited to say the least. hyderabad is bengaluru's partner in the new information technology boom that is hitting india. often called "cyberabad" there is internet access a-go-go, and more importantly internet cafes with my game installed. i got off the train and jumped into the first rikshaw i could get, the driver then promptly ran someone over. after he nearly broke my neck by driving over a pothole at warp speed i yelled at him to "chill out!! you're driving like an idiot!" and he laughed and said "you've never been to hyderabad before uh?" and sped us away, narrowly missing buses, trucks and shiny mercs.

there's been a lot of advertising recently promoting india's new formula 1 team - team india. if the drivers learnt to drive in hyderabad they will win hands down. the traffic is mental here, i showed a few of you a youtube video before i came away of a chap crossing a road? that was in hyderabad and it's just as bad, if not worse than the video depicts. the drivers here must have awesome reactions as the amount of split-second braking and turning and swerving that goes on beggars belief. i checked into my room, grabbed a shower (finally!) and shaved off my beard. 3 weeks of growth had yielded varying results.... week one was looking good. every photo taken of me had jaclyn and karen gasping (with a little too much amazement for my liking...) at how hot i was looking. week two was also fairly good, the warmth it offered in the north was good and in shimla i looked the real deal - a travelling man. but when i got to hyderabad and managed to cleanse myself properly for the first time in 10 days i was alarmed to see that my beard had red, white, yellow, ginger, brown and black patches. it was time to shave...