We drove from Vizag to Hyderabad stopping only for lunch in Rajahmundry. Upto Rajahmundry It was a smooth National highway but later the state highway was in a bad shape and it took us a good 14hrs to reach Hyderabad and our hotel Taramati Baradari. We had passed by Ibrahim Bagh when we visited Golconda fort in the beginning of the tour. It is in the Defense neighborhood and has a strange charm even from the outside.
I was very excited to explore this APTDC hotel as it is a heritage site. Since we reached there at 1 am, we went straight to bed and woke up around 7 am. It was already quite bright outside. Our suite reflected the Nawabi theme with the semi-transparent curtain separating the bedroom from the sitting area. Old style furniture and Nawabi diwans decorated the two rooms.The curtains were glittering silk.The fabric for the diwan was the famous Pochampalli in bright yellow. I was not able to visit Pochampalli in this visit but will do it next time.
Since we had bath and were ready to go out for the day we decided that we would have breakfast at the restaurant and it would be a nice walk around the Taramati Baradari. We realized that it was the day of Rang Panchami. A huge group of people had occupied the restaurant so we were asked to wait and they promised better service. We chose to walk around. I had read that this was a Caravan station with 12 doorways and APTDC attracts tourists to stay here with the stories of Taramati the courtesan whose lilting melodious voice had captivated the Abdullah Qutb Shah, at Golconda fort which is 2kms away from here. The hotel has a nice landscaped garden and some lovely quite and green nooks.We enjoyed our 2 days here thoroughly.
This Caravan station or sarai was completed in 1880. That makes it about 131+ years old. It is really an experience to be able to stay in such places. We climbed up the hill to be able to look down upon the Hyderabad town. On the hill top is a resting shelter with simple design of arches and little coves for the travelers to keep their possessions.
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