Tuesday July 6th = Tourism

A closeup of some building structures.

A view from the top of the Golconda fort near Hyderabad.
Some of the architecture. (I'm in the picture too!)

Christen, Anupa, Claire, and I.

Tonight after work we went to the Golconda fort near Hyderabad. I left right away after work and then we waited in the guesthouse for our friend, the professor at a college in Cambridge and the ICRISAT driver. It was so kind of him to invite us along to the fort, which is 7 kilometers around, so we, of course, only saw some of it. Christen and I hiked up these huge stairs which were just big rock paths (a little jagged) to the top of the fort. The acoustics are magnificently designed so when you are at the very entrance of this place, if you clap, wwwayyy up at the top of the fort it can be heard. It was crazy. We also bought tickets to go to a lightshow at the fort, which began at 7:00 and went to about 7:55. The show was just more touristy stuff, it told some ancient tales about the history of the fort. (I was happy to have my electronic bible along - thanks Mom and Dad! That comes in handy when you want a quick read.)

It was so nice to arrive back at ICRISAT tonight. I think today was my first and last touristy adventure. I have decided I can maybe be a traveler, but I cannot be a tourist. Particularly in a nation like India. It is just too upsetting for me to be doing some tourist activity when so many are in such horrible conditions. To drive past someone peddling in traffic, only to go spend money at some flashy tourist place doesn't have the best effect on me. However, my friends were nice about my quietness at the ruins. So, I think I will do some more staying on campus, researching, and writing from now on. This is a nice place to be.

It is getting late tonight, so I am thinking I better get cleaned up and then head to bed. I will fill you in more tomorrow on all the latest happenings with my research and life!

Oh yeah, by the way, remember the banana picture? They are all gone now! I got a little help and polished off the last ones tonight, which means fresh bananas here I come! In a while anyway :)

Also, today I thought happy thoughts about Mom and Dad. Mom, I thought about shopping at the Health Market and Dad, I thought about playing euchre. (I have some companions interested in playing also, so we may have a euchre night sometime!) So, anyway, sending warm wishes back to the states, and Park Hollow :)