Hyderabad Famjam during Durga Puja 2023
Wife: What about Hyderabad?
Me: Hyderabad as a paid vacation? are you kidding? there are no places to go in and around.
Wife: But Golconda, Ramoji fil….. Me: [Before she even finished] I am talking about vacation not a weekend trip
Wife: You have been to Goa several times, we got only 4 days and you are anyway there in HYD, why don’t you show your Amazon office where you spend 75% of your day (BTW, the percentage is not that high, she was venting off her frustration) and rest of the places which can be visited over the weekends, we could also attend Durga Puja in Hyderabad..
Me: [As always my wife again suggested a pocket friendly option, which I tend to defy most of the time but this time, luckily I did not] Sounds good but I can change my mind and go to Goa once you guys will reach HYD !
This is how the Hyderabad plan took shape and thanks to God, my ever fidgeting mind could not unsettle this plan and we had a wonderful family vacation, icing on the cake my cousin sister joined us in this famjam, making it even more special.
Day 1
My wife and son arrived HYD airport on Friday Afternoon. I told my wife to play a trick on my son, informing him that I couldn’t pick them up from the airport and they should take a rented cab to our apartment. Quite obvious, this message did not go well with my son. I was waiting in the waiting area of Arrival zone of the airport and saw my son with all his effort pulling the trolley with a grim face, expression exactly as I had anticipated. In a while, he along with his mom made their way to the exit gate, where he spotted someone holding a placard with his name. It didn’t take long for him to realise it was me, and he understood this was yet another dad’s attempts to surprise him. After our heartfelt reunion, he received the best food of his life, a decent sized dairy milk chocolate.
My wife was longing to see Amazon office ever since she saw my first picture inside it hence it became our first stop. Besides the grand office premise, my wife enjoyed the Rs 41 fruit bowl which obviously hated by my son however he enjoyed the play arena particularly the table tennis board and fuss ball.
Day 2
The next day, Saturday was kept for Golconda, Although it was hot outside, the weather wasn’t overly humid, providing a reasonably comfortable experience for an open-sky day tour. Golconda situation in theHyderabad city itself and offers outstanding view of the city from various vantage points. The fort is architecturally beautiful with numerous picturesque spots throughout. Depending on your preference, you can either trek all the way to the top or explore only the grounds, which also feature a well-maintained garden. However, if possible, I strongly recommend making the climb to the summit for a panoramic view of Hyderabad city en route. There is car parking close to the Fort but try to reach early to get a space. In general 2–3 hours is sufficient to complete the tour.
It was almost 3 PM when we completed the tour and reached the parking, we decided to have lunch in Fisherman’s Wharf, the famous fish restaurant in HYD and being a bong, became a obvious choice for us. The Ambience of the place a pretty good, aiming to create a beachside shack experience with outdoor and indoor sitting arrangements. The food was good if not exceptional.
Day 3
The Next day i.e. Sunday we set off for Ramoji Film city. We did not intent to cover all as it takes at least 2 full days to see most of attractions inside Ramoji. The Road from HYD to Ramoji is just awesome, reminded me of driving in USA, 4–5 lanes in majority of the stretch with speed limit of 120KM. The car was gliding through, we reached Ramoji around 12 PM. The Parking and the Entry Gate where visitors have to purchase the entry ticket, is little far from the main park. They have internal bus service which takes visitors to the main city from the entry gate. We got down in the Movie and Magic park, the most popular park in Ramoji. This has many attractions and some decent food joints. Nothing to worry if you are not carrying food or water, there are plenty of options inside and the price is pretty reasonable. We covered 4–5 attractions and wandered around Movie and magic park, a very well maintained and nicely decorated place exudes a feel good vibe. The stunt show and the dance show (forgot the name) are highly recommended.
The last attraction was most coveted, Bahubali movie set, it was a nice experience to see how a comparatively smaller set was portrayed with such grandeur in the movie.
In the evening, the entire park was illuminated with various colourful lights adding to it’s beauty. We finished the tour around 6:45 PM and headed towards Hyderabad.
One obvious question may cross your mind — it’s a short tour of hyderabad, I get it but why does the heading mention Durga Puja ? Well, The Bengali Community in Hyderabad rented a Telangana Govt facility to celebrate Durga Puja for 4 days. Except for one day, we visited the place everyday and it was exhilarating to see the food stalls with authentic bengali cuisines. On Day 4 of our stay in HYD, Chandrabindoo, a famous bengali musical group visited The Durga Puja to perform a musical concert. It was another wonderful evening listening to Chardrabindoo accompanied with Biriyani and Sweets.
Hope to write another travel or Tech blog soon. Till next time, Cheers !
