Hyderabad – City of Pearls

                            Hey! Hi Namaste this is Tulip Roy. I recently visited Hyderabad and before going I was actually surfing about it and realized, there is nothing good enough on the internet and not anything that can actually help you to travel Hyderabad, but trust me this will n its all straight and no misinformation.

                                     Hyderabad generally know as the City of Nizams, is popularly called City of Pearls. This city with the fusion of new and old custom and different religion and is an exciting place to be in. To follow history and controversy about her, Hyderabad was first ruled by the Qutub Shahi dynasty, after freedom - a princely state, not annexed in India but the Nawabs, this happened to stay for a long time, first Hyderabad was the capital of Andhra Pradesh, now a shared capital of both AP and Telengana. I would say don’t get into the mess of knowing about all this.

                                   Now in general, you can divide Hyderabad in 2, old and new, look at it like this, from the main station of Hyderabad called Hyderabad Deccan (Nampally), from there right is the old Hyderabad and left formally known as Secunderabad, is the new part.

                                 To be clear, it’s always hot in Hyderabad, be winter or be summer, don’t go in the time of May because you will fry up, try around in the winter months of November to February, this will be the best time to go.         

                         I would say, to see the whole of Hyderabad stay in between i.e. Nampally which is the area out of the station of Hyderabad Deccan, but do decided on your own about that later when you read the whole article. Now these are a few places that you should visit if you are in Hyderabad, I would say that if you want to go see ALL the  historical places, the major tourist attractions are :-

1. Golconda Fort – Historic places and ruins

2. Charminar – The City’s major landmark

3. Nehru Zoological Park – One of the biggest zoo’s in India which houses all exotic species.

4. Mecca Moque – Major worship centre

5. Paradise [ eatery ] – World famous Biriyani

6. Banjara Hills – Posh and hap can be easily Hyderabad’s Manhattan

7. Hussain Sagar – Beautiful lake that house a gigantic monolithic statue of Buddha

But if you wanna go cheap and practical, which is visiting the place that you actually should see, read ahead….

Charminar

                          From Nampally, you can get a tuk-tuk to Charminar in about Rs 50/-, you can also get a bus from around almost anywhere to Charminar look down, I say go in the evening around the time of 5-6 pm, this is the best time, it won’t be too hot or cold and the sun would be still up. In general you can go up in the Minar, its beautiful and worth to look at but the thing to look for here is the wonderful and AMAZING bazaar. You can get many different things. In shopping what is to look for is

1. Jewelry : Be pearl or artificial you will get amazing jewelry here and these are amazingly cheap, do not go inside the shops and buy from the streets, you will get a lot of pearls here but think twice before entering the shops for real pearls, there is whole lane of bangles here, beautiful but not cheap. I bought this, it’s like a decoration for hair, if you like it look out for it.

2. Etar: These are the small bottle of perfume which have a strong everlasting fragrance and looks like this

If you go to Hyderabad you have to buy this, you cannot not buy this. It will cost you Rs.25 to around Rs.60 depending on the quality and fragrance, trust me it’s worth and it smell’s great.

3. Food: There is all kind of food around. I sincerely believed that the sugarcane juice in Bombay (where I live) is the best and I was right till a few places but damn! Sugarcane juice is too good here and try pani puri and all, it has a different and good taste.

4.Footwear and other: I didn’t buy any footwear but you can if you like it, the cost is cheap. You can buy surmadani (sur-me-da-ni), it is where you keep kajal and its really gorgeous and looks like this

Nehru Zoological Park – The Zoo

                      Seven kms away from Nampally Railway Station , situated at Bahadurpurak, Nehru Zoological park is the one place you cannot miss to if you come to Hyderabad. It’s green, spacious and because all animals are sponsored by people the animals here are surprisingly (cause of the temperature) in a wonderful situation. You cannot come to Hyderabad and not go to this Zoo.

                                   You can take a city bus to the Zoo which will cost you Rs.13 and normally it’s the last stop. The bus number would be 49z and the bus will let you back too. If you are taking a tuk-tuk it should cost you Rs.100 to max. Conductor will let you know when it comes. The info. you need to know is below, I really enjoyed and made a natural tiara, which looked gorgeous and stupid!

  

   Hours

Timings of the Zoological Park:	April to June: 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM July to March: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Note: Zoo is closed on Mondays

Rates
Zoo Entry

	Adult	Child
Entrance	Rs. 20	Rs. 10
Train Ride	Rs. 15	Rs. 5
Regular Elephant Ride	Rs. 15	Rs. 5
Maharaja Elephant Ride	Rs. 50	Rs. 50
Safari Ride	Rs. 25	Rs. 10
Nocturnal Animal House	Rs. 10	Rs. 5

Brochure

Zoo Details & Map

Rs. 5 (available at the entrance)

Vehicles

Cars/Off-Road Vehicles (Max. 5 persons)	Rs. 500
Lorries/Trucks for Film Shooting	Rs. 1500
Zoo's Battery Powered Vehicle	The vehicle provides a tour of the main attractions and lasts for 45 minutes.

Guest House

Available from 9:00 AM to 5:30PM

Rs. 200 for 10 persons, Rs. 2000 for above 10 persons. Note: Guest house can be booked in advance at the Director’s Office.

Photography

Amateur Photography Camera	Rs. 20
Professional Photography Camera	Rs. 500
Amateur Video Camera	Rs. 100
Professional Video Camera	Rs. 500
Film Shooting with 'U'matic Video/Cine Camera	Rs. 8500 per location, Rs. 1500 Generator Fee

For more details you can view the website http://www.hyderabadzoo.in/  DO NOT MISS!

Paradise

                              Get ready to eat Hyderabads world known delicious Chicken Biryani, if you are a vegetarian, I am so sorry for you cause vegetarian isn’t the best at paradise.

Now basically there is a Wikipedia on this hotel and it’s the first time, that I have seen a place, so well know for a hotel in it but know what the hotel it, deserves it.

To get there any bus with 8 or 5 on it be 8c 8m etc will take you to the place from where Paradise is a 5 minutes’ walk and will return but I don’t think you  would be able to take a bus as you will be so full with good food.

           The price is good, if you go in the afternoon which is the best time you would have to wait for your order. The service is good and do try a sweet dish there called Kubani ka metha, do not miss it

Abids

               This is a kind of a shopping lane, which is almost 1.5 km from Nampally. Go in night time to see this market at its peak. You can buy hundereds of stuff from here. Abids has a mall which is pretty lame, stay outside on the street I would say. When you are entering Abids there is an Iskcon temple, if you don’t know what is an Iskcon temple you wouldn’t actually need to see it but I will tell you anyway, it is chain of Krishna conscience temple, it has branches almost everywhere in India and even abroad, the Iskcon here at Abids is beautiful and also has a guest house, it just near Manyavar.

                                   Abids is great for shopping you can buy almost everything here, from bags to electronics to shirts to furniture almost everything, it is worth one times visit but remember at night only!

Hussain Sagar

                                Hussain Sagar simplified is a lake with a beautiful and big statue of Buddha in between. Initially it is 4-5 km away from Nampally and you can get a bus or tuk-tuk.

                             I would advise you again to come here at night as it looks magnificent at night. There is a cruse the whole day back and fro to the Buddha, it must cost around Rs. 70-80 per person depending on the day you go.

                            I would say that if you are in Hyderabad do visit Hussain Sagar once!

     

Banjara Hills

                       This in fact is the best place in Hyderabad that could be as paush as it can be, Banajara Hills is the one place you wouldn’t dare to miss. It has 2 malls with 4 yards of distance called GVK1 and City Center.

                         Go to the GVK first. It’s a 5 km distance from Nampally, the tuk-tuk should cost you around Rs.70, GVK is a superb mall, with all the best brands and an amazing theater, you cant get a mall possibly better than this (in Hyderabad)

                             City center mall is small and sweet, go good for one visit and has a great food court.

           There is Hard Rock Café in GVK1, it totally rocks do visit it once for a drink. I saw movie at GVK and if you have the time, I recommend see a movie in it if you have the time, the insides’ of the theater just rock. (I saw Noah, I liked the movie it was good and if its still on I say go and see it, it has a ll the reasons for you to want to turn good or atheist!)

P.S. if you liked by blog, leave a comment. If I have any mistakes, I would love to hear the alternatives. Do tell me what you think of Hyderabad! Thanks