Golconda Fort in Hyderabad
Train trip from Hyderabad to Hampi
Hampi
1 reviews
Hola Amigos and happy new year!
This is part 4 of my India Trip.
Parts 1,2 and 3 are available here:
A short recap:
I was in India for a couple of weeks, as I was going for a wedding. I wanted to go places both South and North of the country.
Our previous episode had left us in Hyderabad, where I had missed my train to Hampi due to a technical delay that the AI 747 (my trip was strongly conditioned by this flight as I didn't want to miss the 747). I ended up spending an unexpected day in Hyderabad (it was cool, but not worth going out of your way), and then I managed to ride the night train down to Hampi (I basically slept a lot. I will have to repeat the experience) and then spent a couple of days over there.
Now the return meant going back to Hyderabad to grab the return flight to Mumbai. But how to go there without spending 10 hours on a train? Luckily there is a small airport nearby: Vijaynagar Airport, just besides one of the worlds largest steelworks, Jindal.
Only TruJet operated from there back then (it has since gone belly up), and I was weary about flying on obscure airlines…but hey what's an adventure without some dips into the unknown?
I had hired a local tuktuk to take me around Hampi the previous days. He also made a reasonable offer to take me to the airport, so I had a picturesque 90 minute ride to the airport on the tuk tuk. So much fun!
When we arrived to Bellary we were welcomed by this sign:
Which I considered utterly ironic as all around the predominant colour was ochre:
The airport grounds were well kept, and guarded (I felt like entering a country club)…It reminded me of the private airports that serve large mines in Colombia
Check in was pretty much hassleless. But they did advice that the flight was quite delayed. I hoped my 6 hour transit at HYD gave me enough buffer time not to miss my next flight. And while I expected to spend most of my time at HYD's lounge, now it seemed I would have to figure out where to spend my delay time as security was shut and the airport was smaller than a studio apartment in central Paris.
This was basically it:
But I discovered a pseudo-lounge at the second floor. It was empty, it had AC, and a whole sofa all for myself.
The only decoration to this "lounge was the airport's map
After a couple of hours doing nothing (I didn't feel like sleeping with my stuff prone to be stolen)…we were called to the boarding gate.
From there we had some nice views of the gardens that suround the terminal and the Steel Plant in the background.
But no plane was coming….and the time came and went…even the security guard was bored.
The sun went down…and the steel plant lighted the place anyways…
Finally, our plane made it and we were called to board. This meant walking to the plane, which still sported Jet Airways' livery:
In I went and I was greeted by what seemed a (too young) and uniterested crew. The insides looked dated and battered…it did include some pet insects for companionship.
I expected to enjoy the beautiful views over the country…but alas, once again I was on a night flight. I only managed to take a few shots of the JSW plant, this was the only decent one:
The cabin was dimmed to dark
I took some pictures of TruJet's Inflight Magazine and other contents of the seatpocket.
as told, the views outside were nil
So I slept most of the flight pretty much until we made it to HYD.
We landed and were then bussed over to the terminal. I waited for my bag, which took some time to make it to the belt…and then I was off to check in to my flight to Mumbai.
TruJet was meh. Just what I needed to get to Hyderabad from Hampi.
VDY was a cute small airport. Basically like a corporate airport. But not a fun spot to spend more than 30 mins waiting for your flight.
HYD was more than enough for the moment, but I'll give my full assessment on my next FR.
Thanks for reading, saludos!
6 Comments
Never heard of it before and certainly won’t hear about it again^^
Very interesting airport outside with the manicured gardens, don’t think I have seen such a garden like ambiance at and airport before.
I’m a little disappointed you didn’t try those “nachos”
Thank you for the bonus, it appears you succeeded to avoid the crowds at a deserted Hampi.
The only other airport that looks like that that I've seen is the one at El Cerrejon coal mine in Colombia; must be a thing with "private" airports...
Bummer...I bet my belly still appreciates it 😌
Thanks for passing by!
As far as Trujet is concerned, it was probably the last of the original crop of Indian regional airlines — the others being Air Costa, Air Carnival, Air Pegasus and the briefly-resurrected Air Deccan — and I was shocked that it had shut down and, despite talks of a comeback, never did. It sure did have a lovely inflight magazine judging from your pictures above, and I will miss its colourful livery. Now we have Star Air, which also serves smaller airports in South and West India, but not VDY. There are also Flybig Airlines, which is concentrated in the Northeast with its base in GAU (Guwahati) and operates ex-Trujet ATRs, and the state-owned Alliance Air, the only Government-owned airline left after Air India (Express) was acquired by the Tata Group.
I really do find it interesting that you, as a Colombian, would be touring remote parts of my country. Our airlines may not be very impressive on narrowbody aircraft, except Vistara’s A321neo — the only Indian narrowbodies to have seatback IFE — but given all the bad press that your flag carrier, Avianca, has been receiving lately from all quarters of the media, I suppose we are not doing so badly after all. Then again, neither AV/LA nor AI/6E can compare to East Asian or Middle Eastern airlines.
Hope to publish more reports in the coming months, including from HYD!
HYD is a pretty good airport. It must be even better now with its expansion.
It's a shame Trujet went bust...well that's the sad life of airlines.
India has become more popular in Colombia ( cheaper flights and less visa restrictions) its a lovely country. Airline-wise Colombia has become pretty much like India with a ton of LCCs competing. At least India keeps Vistara, and AI must be as crappy as AV on international flights.
There's one more FR on HYD, I then moved North...
Saludos!
Awww... duct tape. Me hace recordar mi viaje en la fallecida Andes Líneas Aéreas, en Argentina. Creo que el mundo es un lugar más higiénico sin ellos! Y TruJet anda por ahí también. jajaj Seguro que es TruJet y no Tru-ly Filthy? lol
Pobre guardia del aeropuerto. Súper aburrido! Menos mal que al menos le tienen una sillita. XD
Gracias por compartir y mostrarnos este rincón hasta ahora absolutamente desconocido para mí. Que estés bien!
Gracias por pasar!
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