Second weekend of crashing fellows apartment in Banjara Hills. The bus ride was another adventure because this time I got dropped off in the middle of the road at Hitech city and had to figure out what the next bus was to take me to Banjara hills. Selfie on the bus and views of the types of buses I took.Got on the second bus and soon realized the bus was not going to take me to city center. I did get dropped off on road 1 but had no idea which direction city center was in. So after standing at the intersection for a moment to gather my bearings. I asked an auto driver and the chemist for directions. Both were able to point me in the right direction. This time the journey took 2 hours thanks to Hyderabadi traffic.

Friday night we went to a nice rooftop restaurant that had a great vibe and live music. The food was good and they had decent drink specials, granted I stuck to water. We tried looking for bars but at 11pm everything around was closed. Yesterday we explored Golkonda Fort and Charminar. Golkonda fort was quiet the long auto ride from Banjara Hills. We climbed to the top and explored every part of it without a tour guide. We missed out on the history but got some great pictures. Locals kept asking to take pictures with us and one fellow got 100 rupees for being photographed. It was quiet cool until the sun would come out and make the day hotter. We went to the temple inside the fort which was cool because it's built into boulders. We grabbed some samosas which were yummy and a plate to share. The plate had rice, bread, lentils and some type of chili looking sauce and some pickled vegetable. Then we were off to Charminar. Charminar is very crowded and I got overwhelmed by the number of people and all the activity. We climbed atop Charminar which was a steep climb narrow winding stairs. You can't stop once you start ascending or descending the steps. A security guard gave us a mini tour while we were up there showing us some of the sites. It is an incredible view. Some wanted to go to the nearby mosque but I was weary of going in jeans and a tight tshirt. So we all headed back to Banjara Hills and got ripped off by the rickshaw driver. At Charminar I learned I got ripped off buying postcards at Golkonda were I paid 50 rupees for 20 small ones and they had nicer ones for 20 rupees that are bigger. The flat rate turned out to be a better deal than the meter which usually runs fast. Some fellows tried to argue the price but the driver didn't speak English.  The driver was getting upset that he is just a poor man with a family to feed so the cost is something we can pay. We stayed in and cooked after the flat mates went out in search of a place to get their key copied. They did get their key copied but the copies didn't work.  I ended up working a bit yesterday when my boss called for updates and explained why i couldn't go to Delhi on Friday for the mbillionth presentation for finalists. I will be starting my kitchen garden soon that he will be ordering for me and I will continue to be the central point coordinating kitchen garden website. A new designer is coming on board tomorrow. Now it is Sunday morning and I need to journey back to Chandanagar at some point hopefully after going to church with one of the fellows.