Subway First - Sightseeing Second

Yum - Jason won't like that I'm blogging about SUBWAY.

Can you believe that a city as big as Kochi doesn't have a Subway?  There is talk that a new mall will have one, and who knows..we might still be here when they open it.  Doubtful though.  On the drive back to Hyderabad from the clinic, we passed one and I knew that's where I was going to go.  We got back to the hotel and I was going to rest, but instead went straight to Subway for a delicious turkey sandwich.  It's amazing the little things you miss when you can't have them.

Along the way back, I stopped at Lumbini Park to check out the famous Buddha statue.  This Buddha is "one of the world's largest" at 17.5m high and sank while being ferried to it's place.  It was underwater for 2 years before it was raised, undamaged, in 1992 and now sits in the middle of the lake.  I only walked one side of the park so I didn't get a front view of it, but we've all seen Buddha statues before....

The famous Buddha statue.

Lumbini Park was pleasantly clean.  I guess this is their scare tactic.

Later that afternoon, I went to the tombs of the Qutub Shahi Kings.  Most of the mausoleums were built in the 1500's and once had elaborate carpets and chandeliers decorating them before they were neglected shortly after Qutub Shahi reign.  In the 19th Century, they were restored.  I could have easily spent all day wandering around, but after awhile, they all started to look the same.  Normally people come up and ask to guide visitors around and then ask for money.  Since I was by myself, I was constantly being bugged so I didn't stay too long.   

This was the first one I saw and where a guide wouldn't stop stalking me - therefore making me forget everything he said about it. 

These are replicas of the tombs that lie beneath and are all hand carved.

They wanted my picture...so I took theirs.  Fair is fair right?  They didn't mind.

Around the corner from the Qutub Shai tombs is the Golkonda Fort, a 16th century fortress that was built by the 4th Qutub King and was the ancient capital city of the Kingdom of Golkonda.  The beginnings of the fort date to 1143 when the Hindu Kakatiya dynasty ruled.  The fort is built on a granite hill 120m high that provides nice views of the entire city. 

Golkonda Fort

A view of the Qutub Tombs from the Golkonda Fort

The wall surrounding the fort

The only cannon I saw in the entire fort.  It was probably strategically placed at the entrance, no?

I know this post is long..but I kept the typing to a minimum.  You can look up all the info you want on the internet  - I'm just trying to get caught up on blogging.  One thing a time, right?