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On the itinerary:
Nehru Zoological Park, Sudha Car Museum and Snow World. (Hyderabad)
The crew- two roommates, a boy they have never met before, a driver who has the gall to flick the Nikon D 60.
Our first stop was The Zoo cum sanctuary situated next to Mir Alam Tank.It was a long ride from Tarnaka which we fruitfully used to get ourselves acquainted with one another.
We were excited by the fact that they had White Tigers. The only good thing Arvind Adiga did by writing the book was to divert attention to save the white tiger campaign and probably also some funds. And he got the Man Booker prize. *sigh*
Walking around in the summer sun was not so bad after some ice-cream and good conversation. The entry is Rs 10 for adults and they have a train ride that takes you to a part of the zoo, which is another ten bucks. We ooh-ed and ah-ed at deers, leopards, elephants and pointed with squeaks at the giraffe. Aren't they just adorable? Finally our eyes rest of the White Tiger, it was magnificent, striped, looking at us fiercely and thats when we went-
Woohoo!
We took the Lion Safari and saw a Lion lying in the shade too lazy to bother looking at us. It was old and too damn comfortable sprawled in the shade of a large tree. We were lucky to spot a lioness but no tigers on our safari but I had already seen the white tiger on a cliff like structure surrounded by a water body that had fishes and turtles lounging in it. On the way out a little kid in the van points at an antelope and screams - "Look, camel!"
Post the safari we were back with our driver who looked grumpy as he had realised that the hidden camera was back with its rightful owner. He took us to our next stop - the car museum in Bahadapur. We were impressed by what we had read about it online. Only hand made car museum in the world. Guinness award for world's largest tricycle. There were cars in weird avatars. Burger, bed, cup, football...a tweety car! I don't think any of us wanted to be seen
riding any of those cars. But the tricycle was worth a glance.
After walking around in the heat for the entire day we were more than looking forward to the next stop. Snow World.
Snow for some reason is usually employed in Literature to portray gloom. For me it means sparkling, white and pure joy. I was tempted to slip some into my mouth. There are a number of reasons why I love snow. The cool breath on my skin, hands numbed due to the snowballs flying at each other after running a few steps. And you never sweat!
Snow World is located next to Tank Band (a place you must try driving by if you get the chance) at Hyderabad. Its 250 bucks for an hour which is pretty decent considering the amount I would have to spend if I had to take a trip to say the Himalayas. But Himachal is on the 'must visit places before I die list'.
Snow World has been well maintained and they have add-ons packages and eateries outside while you have to wait for your alloted time. For entertainment you could coax one of your friends to take the rodeo ride, while you relish liqueur chocolates bought from one of the little shops outside.
Before stepping in you have to deposit your mobile phones. Although you take a bag with you. They give you gloves, a jacket, gumboots and socks to put on. Be a smarty pants and take your own pair of socks, like the way I did. I kind of liked the whole look. Once the grand doors opened we all scampered in. Soon after began the snow flinging session.
For some reason instead of a snow man they had a man gorilla with man boobs. We covered him up with snow where we felt necessary.There was a snow ride which we went for next. There was a snow hotel serving coffee and tea in ice-cups for an extra charge of course. We settled for regular coffee and sneakily spiked it with some vodka we had in our resourceful bags. There were snowflakes in the air all of a sudden with the sound of a chimney. It was fun and we were freezing but the coffee vodka was helping. If you ever think of trying it, coffee-vodka actually tasted pretty darn good. The snow storm dissipated and suddenly there were disco lights and music blaring in the polar bear corner. We preferred dancing while we tried playing snow-football away from the herd.
On the whole we were glad we saw all three places. It was a day well spent, by the end of which three of us parted like we were childhood buddies.
April 19, 2010 at 4:36 PM
not bad at all..now i feel like visiting Snow Worls asap..but the hyd heat is killing me.. looking forward to more fun posts.
April 20, 2010 at 6:03 AM
really?? the guy tried to steal ur camera!!?
April 20, 2010 at 12:19 PM
Not mine, but the cousin's friend I have mentioned.
April 20, 2010 at 12:52 PM
Naice!!! I wanna go to snow world!!! And i wudnt actually mind driving a car that looked different!!! :D