Woolly says – In the attempt to avoid the dust and fumes for one journey at least, we decided to try out Zoe’s uber app for the first time in India, as if by magic she put in our location and the destination details and a car pulled up beside us, we sat in comfort as we headed through the city and towards the outskirts. Today was a day that had I really been looking forward to and just hoped that my army of men were up to the challenge….. who am I kidding of course there not! Golconda fort was once the capital of the medieval sultanate of the Qutb Shahi dynasty from 1518 until 1687, the city and fortress were built on a granite hill that is 120 metres (390 ft) high and is surrounded by massive battlements. The pictures on google had looked fabulous and I couldn’t wait, to man the ramparts, as we pulled up outside the gates I raced forwards to face the enemy.
It was too warm to race anywhere but the furry one seemed happy charging around and would hopefully wear himself out soon.
Woolly says – I tried to muster the troops but instead of making haste to protect the fortress they seemed more interested in taking pictures and admiring the architecture, I really need to get them into training. The place looked even better in real life and as we passed the first set of walls with there rounded battlements I was pretty impressed. Our first point of interest was that of the mortuary bath, I peered inside hoping that they had removed all the bodies beforehand, doomed roofs and areas where the bodies had been washed were split into sections and luckily for us there was no dead to deal with. Wandering into a cooling arched area which had once been the offices of the settlement, lots of nooks and crannies for my officers to work in and a large area that would take my desk, I sighed happily. The troops seemed to have got distracted with the formally laid out gardens and the views of the rest of the fortress high above us, shouting out my commands, which they seemed to ignore, I led the way upwards and onwards, didn’t they realise we had a battle to face!
The only battle we were facing was the selfie battle, ten minutes in and we had already refused twenty people and told two off for just taking pictures without permission, very wearing and something that was distracting us from the immense structure perched on the rock overhead.
Woolly says – As I climbed the steep stairs, battling my way through the enemy ranks, I paused to investigate what appeared to be a large cistern, green and murky with plastic bottles for decoration wasn’t the type of water my soldiers would be able to use, we needed to move quickly and take the higher ground. A further hundred or so steps and I seemed to have gained a vantage point where I could survey the fort below, it looked even better from my view point, I pushed on encouraging my men to do the same. We came to what had once been the Royal Granary and having checked inside for food supplies and found it sadly lacking I knew we had to move fast to get to the top before my garrison fell due to hunger, not to mention myself. As we climbed another hundred or so feet I could see how the walls had been built into and onto the huge rocks, an impressive job although slightly disconcerting as some of the boulders didn’t look that stable. The views got better and better and I could see the region stretching for miles and miles, known not just for it’s amazing fortress the area had also produced some of the world’s most famous gems, including the Koh-I-Noor, the Hope Diamond, Nassak Diamond and the Noor-ul-Ain, I wondered if we might have time to check for diamonds before our visit finished, I made a mental note to check with the privates.
The views were wonderful, and a lovely breeze helped with the heat, we sat for a while sipping our cold drinks and imaging what it must have been like in the sixteen hundreds to have lived and protected the area from the vantage point on which it lay.
Woolly says – We had no time to dawdle and having removed the rations from the lazy foot soldiers I urged them onwards, a beautifully carved mosque seemed to be free from enemies, with its intricate decoration I allowed my men to pause and take a quick photograph, well no one can accuse me of being to hard on them! We seemed to have reached the summit and having climbed the steep steps to the top of the citadel we peered down, the fortress walls went on for miles and miles, much of the land was covered in foliage now but the site must have been incredibly big in it’s past life. The troops were flagging, and I could sense some annoyance as more and more people kept asking for pictures and taking them regardless of us giving our blessing, we retreated and set off to take command of the lower regions. Another small mosque presented itself with what appeared to be very small shelves cut into the sides of the gates I had found a wonderful place for shelter and possibly a surprize attack. Onwards we went, finding ourselves in areas that were beautifully decorated alongside further ruins, it was difficult to know what some of there uses had once been, but they were grand none the less.
I kept looking back towards the upper areas of the fortress, each time we turned a corner another great shot presented itself….. apologies but I just had to take them!
Woolly says – On my troops plodded, under doomed roofs and through huge archways we marched, the place was a labyrinth, as we came out into the sunshine once again another green garden area lay in front of us, with another mosque to view, Jo tried desperately to take pictures of the lovely building but a group of young men kept moving into her shot, she stood waiting patiently but they started to wave and started to call us, giving up we ambled on. Finding ourselves in a newly excavated area a huge blindly white building stood out from everything, with two large yellowing domed blocks on either side it was a sharp contrast to the rest of the fortress standing high above, the men looked exhausted and knowing that rations were low I spurred them onto the end, as the exit gate came into view I knew we hadn’t conquered the whole place but had defiantly taken it by storm.