The first couple of kilometers of the ride were the same as the ride to Golkonda, so it took me almost 10 minutes to get lost this time. But my sense of direction in this place is improving a bit, so I just pointed the bike in the general direction I needed to go and hoped for the best. The Charminar is in town, the heart of the oldest section of town, actually, so unlike the trip to Golkonda, there was no single correct road.
As usual, the white guy on a bike never fails to be the center of attention. I'm not sure if it's the white guy factor, the somewhat strange looking bike, or merely the existence of a westerner out in the streets on a conveyance that is surely viewed as only suitable for children or peasants who use them for work. I'd like to go out on a normal looking bike and see who the reactions change.
It doesn't help that my bike is exactly the same shade of orange as very autocab in town, I suppose. Every photo taken on this ride ws shot from a moving bicycle, so you'll have to forgive the focus issues that arise on occasion.
The autocabs, incidentally, are the single worst cause of pollution in this town. That much is apparent without much of a survey. They run 2-stroke engines, meaning they burn oil with every combustion event and the smoke coming from the exhaust varies from a slightly visible black smoke to vast clouds of choking grey pollution. When an example of the latter drives by, the only real choice is to stop pedaling and breathe shallow until the air clears. If stuck in traffic behind one, I turn around and create some space.
I eventually asked a passing motorcyclist if I was heading in the right direction and he told me he was riding right past the Charminar and would be happy to take me. That's him, above. He was kind enough to continue to stop and wait for me even after he got me to the correct street. A good thing, as I failed to recognize the thing (I was expecting something more grand, I guess) and rode right on past. He caught up with me a few hundred meters later and turned me around.
This part of the city is incredibly densely populated, both by people and vehicles. There is almost no advantage to be head by being on 2-wheels, though I suppose the wider vehicles were a smidge slower than the rest of us. Every available space was filled by a motorcycle, bicycle, rickshaw, autocab, or pedestrian. Let your attention lapse for even a moment and someone will take your space before you can blink. Those are the towers of the Charminar off in the distance, but there i an arch blocking the view of the structure.
Here's the Charminar coming into view as I ride through the arch. The proximity between the two is what caused me to think the Charminar was just another, more ornate, arch, though traffic does not run through it, but around it. You can see that there's a fairly dense crowd of people lining the walkway over the road if you click on the image to view the larger version.
This building came into view after I was turned around by my 'guide.' I've got no idea what it was. Stopping and dealing with the people who would inevitably crowd me if I locked up the bike was more than I wanted to deal with. I think I'll be confining my rides to destinations out of town, in future.
Here's a shot of the Charminar as I approahc from the other side. I'm reasonably certain it is identical on all sides. I probably should have climbed up inside the thing, but didn't want to deal with it for something that had left me a litle underwhelmed. The ride was fun, though.
In my ongoing quest to document the largest number of people on a motorcycle at one time, here's a family of 4. All my shots so far seem to be of Muslim families, but the muslims have no monopoly on motorcycle crowding.
One last shot of the crazy street scene and a momentary break in traffic. My employees commute upwards of an hour each way in traffic like this. They live 20km or less from the office, but commute for 2.5 hours every day. Ugh!
My camera somehow lost at least half of the photos I shot on this trip. On my way home, I got thoroughly lost and well off the beaten track. Far enough off of it that I was genuinely a little nervous. I could have been made to disappear very easily and the attentions I was getting weren't nearly as good natured. That said, I never saw evidence of overt danger. I'm sure the bicycle would constitute a significant percentage of a year's wages in some of the neighbourhoods I wandered through, though, so it seems unlikely the thought didn't occur to some as I rode through. Fortunately, my faith in human nature was rewarded and after asking only a single person or directions, I found my way back to a road I recognized.
I wish I hadn't lost the photos of the neighbourhoods I wandered through, though, as I have no intention of going back there intentionally.
I had one unpleasant experience on the way to the Charminar, though. A beggar approached me while stopped in traffic. A not uncommon event. This guy was missing both arms at the elbow and his face was disfigured, too. My assumption was leprosy, though I have nowhere near enough knowledge to be certain of that. The fact that when I shook my head no, he made an effort to rub his stumps on me makes me think I was correct. It also gives me quite the heebie jeebies. Fortunately, I managed to step back out of the way. His stump brushed my arm but mostly contacted my sleeve. My physician sister will read this and inform me of just how bothered I should be by this, so until then, I'm not going to fret about it.
It was definitely an experience I wasn't expecting to have in India and hope not to repeat.
The ride home was uneventful Went out to a late dinner with Pawan and his wife and had the best indian food I've had in my life. Had the leftovers for lunch on Monday and they were every bit as good the second time.
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