Hyderabad - Day 14 - Fort
Today we travelled across Hyderabad to Golconda Fort.
This was definately the most amazing fort i have seen!! We decided to pay a little extra and have our own guided tour of the fort. Im really glad we did because the guide told us a lot of really amazing info!! Just the history of this fort made me gasp! It was built in the early 13th century and i was amazed at how sofisticated they were back then. They had a very interesting way of communicating using accoustics. What they did was have these great ceilings that were covered in small diamonds. (i took a photo so you can see soon). When you stand directly under the centre of the ceiling and clap, on top of the hill you can hear it clearly. There was also 7 Gates around the fort with these ceilings. As soon as the enemy was spotted, they would clap and the whole fort would be closed up within a few seconds. And this fort is HUGE so that is an amazing thing. The length of the outer wall is 7 km's!! Another thing that amazed me was there water system. They had no water at the fort so they had to collect the water from a lake, which was MILES away and on top of a hill!! So they made an underground clay pipe and pumped water to these huge pools. If the king or Queen wanted hot or cold water, all she did was send a messenger to the top of the hill and through a series of pipes leading down the bottom of the hill to the main palace the water would be pumped. How cool is that!!
To be able to get into the army you had to pass a test. And that test was a test of strength!! The only way they would get in would be to lift 250kg, yep 250KG!!! with ONE ARM!!! ONE ARM!!! How big were they in those days!!! They must have been monsters!! Kinda like Luke, no, Shane, no, hang on, i forget his name but he was a cyclops in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" but even bigger!! So being me, i wanted to see if i could get into this army and tried to lift the weight. I must say, and i will be honest, i almost moved the block with one arm, Almost. But with 2 arms i managed to get 3 corners off the ground so i left it at that. Next time i go back, my aim will be to lift that sucker off the ground with my little finger! Then i will join that army and become a warrior! ahaha!
After climbing the fort 2 times, it was actually quit tough when you've been eating so much and not exercising over the last 3 weeks. And becoming a national monument (as Armpit calls it) because SO many people wanted photos of me because i was so amazingly good looking, ahaha!! Na, i think it was my hair :( And poor Armpit must have been roasting because he was wearing jeans and a denim jacket! We left and travelled to Hyderabad markets. Almost got hit by an Auto Rickshaw, supposedly Armpit saved my life! Looked around the markets. We then went and met MG (Armpits uncle) and had dinner and now i am here typing (NERD!).
Oh and i almost forgot to mention a couple of things. This morning, i had a shower!!! O man it felt sooo good!!! Its amazing the things i take for granted when i am living at home. Even tho there was no hot water, just the feeling of drops hitting your head and shoulders hmmmmm. It was almost like slow motion when i was in there. Kind of like a pantene pro v advert. God it was good!! Another thing was we went past a stall today that was selling Goats heads!! There were about 20 heads all lined up staring at ya. I was saying to Armpit that i should try and bring one back to NZ. Maybe if ripped the head off a teddy bear and stuck a goats head on it then customs would'nt notice :) Actually thats just sick so i probably would'nt. And last night for new years, the fireworks were pretty cool!! It was almost like we were being bombed. The sounds were incredible!!! So it was a cool, but very quiet and not so quiet new years for me.
So overall it was a great day, even tho the scene from yesturday is haunting me quite a bit. Hopfully i will sleep better tonight because we have an early start. Our flight to Hydrobutt is at 5.50am so we are getting up at 4.
Anyway, better head off and kick Armpits butt in pool. Plus i have one beer from last night to finish off before bed.
Lance
This was definately the most amazing fort i have seen!! We decided to pay a little extra and have our own guided tour of the fort. Im really glad we did because the guide told us a lot of really amazing info!! Just the history of this fort made me gasp! It was built in the early 13th century and i was amazed at how sofisticated they were back then. They had a very interesting way of communicating using accoustics. What they did was have these great ceilings that were covered in small diamonds. (i took a photo so you can see soon). When you stand directly under the centre of the ceiling and clap, on top of the hill you can hear it clearly. There was also 7 Gates around the fort with these ceilings. As soon as the enemy was spotted, they would clap and the whole fort would be closed up within a few seconds. And this fort is HUGE so that is an amazing thing. The length of the outer wall is 7 km's!! Another thing that amazed me was there water system. They had no water at the fort so they had to collect the water from a lake, which was MILES away and on top of a hill!! So they made an underground clay pipe and pumped water to these huge pools. If the king or Queen wanted hot or cold water, all she did was send a messenger to the top of the hill and through a series of pipes leading down the bottom of the hill to the main palace the water would be pumped. How cool is that!!
To be able to get into the army you had to pass a test. And that test was a test of strength!! The only way they would get in would be to lift 250kg, yep 250KG!!! with ONE ARM!!! ONE ARM!!! How big were they in those days!!! They must have been monsters!! Kinda like Luke, no, Shane, no, hang on, i forget his name but he was a cyclops in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" but even bigger!! So being me, i wanted to see if i could get into this army and tried to lift the weight. I must say, and i will be honest, i almost moved the block with one arm, Almost. But with 2 arms i managed to get 3 corners off the ground so i left it at that. Next time i go back, my aim will be to lift that sucker off the ground with my little finger! Then i will join that army and become a warrior! ahaha!
After climbing the fort 2 times, it was actually quit tough when you've been eating so much and not exercising over the last 3 weeks. And becoming a national monument (as Armpit calls it) because SO many people wanted photos of me because i was so amazingly good looking, ahaha!! Na, i think it was my hair :( And poor Armpit must have been roasting because he was wearing jeans and a denim jacket! We left and travelled to Hyderabad markets. Almost got hit by an Auto Rickshaw, supposedly Armpit saved my life! Looked around the markets. We then went and met MG (Armpits uncle) and had dinner and now i am here typing (NERD!).
Oh and i almost forgot to mention a couple of things. This morning, i had a shower!!! O man it felt sooo good!!! Its amazing the things i take for granted when i am living at home. Even tho there was no hot water, just the feeling of drops hitting your head and shoulders hmmmmm. It was almost like slow motion when i was in there. Kind of like a pantene pro v advert. God it was good!! Another thing was we went past a stall today that was selling Goats heads!! There were about 20 heads all lined up staring at ya. I was saying to Armpit that i should try and bring one back to NZ. Maybe if ripped the head off a teddy bear and stuck a goats head on it then customs would'nt notice :) Actually thats just sick so i probably would'nt. And last night for new years, the fireworks were pretty cool!! It was almost like we were being bombed. The sounds were incredible!!! So it was a cool, but very quiet and not so quiet new years for me.
So overall it was a great day, even tho the scene from yesturday is haunting me quite a bit. Hopfully i will sleep better tonight because we have an early start. Our flight to Hydrobutt is at 5.50am so we are getting up at 4.
Anyway, better head off and kick Armpits butt in pool. Plus i have one beer from last night to finish off before bed.
Lance
posted by Lance Wordsworth @ 5:09 AM
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