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After breakfast I stopped at the travel desk where I was introduced to my driver, Mohmmed. He was a neatly dressed man of medium build in his early forties.
India 2002 - Part Four: Bujapur, Gulbarga & Bidar
Dougburnett2003-11-24 12:16:16
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Bijapur, Thursday, February 14
After breakfast I stopped at the travel desk where I was introduced to my driver, Mohmmed. He was a neatly dressed man of medium build in his early forties. He was polite and relaxed and I felt comfortable around him. That was good because we were going to be spending the next four days together.
We left Hyderabad at exactly 8:00 in - you guessed it - a little, white Ambassador. I was excited: I was on my way to see some of the great Islamic monuments that dot the Deccan plateau, a large, dry area in central India. Today's destination was Bujapur, sometimes called "the Agra of the south" because of its many beautiful mosques and tombs.
It was a beautiful, sunny morning and was already starting to warm up. The streets were full of people and shops were just opening their doors. Buses, cars, bikes and cows all were competing for space on the road.
Outside of Hyderabad the road was still full of traffic, but there was also more greenery. Women in bright saris walked along the road, as did kids in blue school uniforms. Men pushed bikes loaded with plastic pots or piles of firewood and trucks whizzed by in both directions.
Farther along, I saw my first accident - a crumpled truck on the shoulder. It offered a reminder that travel on Indian roads can be dangerous. For a while, I unconsciously counted the wrecks until I realized I had seen three in rapid succession - then I decide it wasn't such a good idea. I already had a tendency to worry about my safety on the road. This was doing nothing to help.
The road we were traveling was wide and smooth. I could see by the concrete mile markers that it was National Highway 9. Mohmmed called it the Bombay Highway, so presumably it went all the way to Bombay. Traffic moved along at a good pace.
For those who have never traveled on
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See photographs from:
India Gallery
