I may be geeking out a little hard here, but I think my brother Chris will understand. Don’t the first pictures of Golkonda Fort remind you exactly of the Legend of Zelda and Link? I asked M whether he thought of that Super Nintendo video game when he saw the fort walls and he looked at me like he had no idea what I was talking about. I know, for a fact, he played Zelda too. Don’t lie. Golkonda Fort is where the royals lived. Apparently impregnable, and I would believe this just by looking at the huge, thick, imposing doors, it’s a marvel of acoustical engineering and design. A hand clap at the entrance resounds in the ceiling of the portico and can be heard a kilometer away to warn the royals. 

There are approximately 380 steps according to Aakanshi to get to the top and M was determined to step on all of them. It’s actually pretty temperate in India right now because  it’s the start of the monsoon season, but M and I were literally dripping sweat by the time we got up to the top. It’s a steam basin in there. However, again another genius feat of architecture, the top of the Fort is designed somehow to make use of passing winds and is very breezy and refreshingly cool. Something we both noticed. 1) There really weren’t any guards or authorities to rope you off from areas. M and I were galloping through the bushes and climbing up the mountainsides like deer (M’s idea of fun, not mine). A drastic departure from touring the monuments in Egypt where we were cordoned and shuttled into specific areas. 2) Trash. Everywhere.

I was a little confused as to why an obviously 400+-year-old historical treasure would be so treated, but M brought up the fact that more than 75% of India is basically Hindu now. And this is a Muslim fort. Maybe it’s just not as precious to the Indians.

We go to Charminar tomorrow.

xoxo,

Jenn

P.S. M fed a stray kitty ice cream while at the fort. (I’ll hyperlink when I get that post up.)