1. Golconda fort. This is an old fort on the edge of the city, built on a hill and surrounded by its village which is still populated. You spend a great day here. You can take a guide inside the fort court, for few hundred rupees (depends onyour bargain) they will tell you entertining stories about the place. If you stay for the sound and light show at 7pm, carry mosquito repellent liquid! 2. Seven Thombs. This is the burial place of the ruler dinasty, located near the Golconda fort. In a quite well maintained large garden where you can find several thombs.It's a unique place and even if the old rules rest here it is not depressing, rather relaxing. 3. Hi Tech city. Also called Cyberabad. It's about half an hour drive from the city (one hour from Old City). If you are interested witnessing the developing face of the city, it's worth a tour. You can have a yummy dinner at Ginger Court restaurant. 4. Old City. This is the timeless part of town. Besides the Charminar, the famous land mark of Hyderabad, you can find many other mosques and old buildings. Unfortunately the buildings are not well kept, but you can get an impression how it was before they placed those advertisement boards on them. Many many little shops are also open till late night selling pearls, jewellery and great leather shoes and chappals (slippers).Friday night is the main prayer day for muslims, so the area can be even more crowded than usually. 5. Night out. If you would like to spend a rocking night out, go to the Banjara Hills area. Bars are open only till midnight (strictly) so be on time. Try Touch (Road no.2) or Liquids (Road no.1).10 Downing street also called '10D'is also a good choice at Begumpet area in Lifestyle building. Taj Krishna *****hotel also has a good discoteque, I forgot its new name, they renovated recently, but you can find easily in the hotel garden. Treasure island is a resort on the ourskirt of the city, which keeps open longer on Saturday nights. It takes 45min from Banjara Hills to reach, but you can have good open air bamboo hut fun here!Wear long trousers and shoes (not slippers). Kinds of dress code is requested. 6. Chowmohalla palace at Kilwat. One of the old palaces which can be visited. I have not been there, so can not say details yet, but looks like an interesting place. Call 00 91 040 24522032 if you have problem to find. 7. Shopping. Depends on what you are looking for but few good shopping malls for cloths and contemporary fashion Lifestyle, City Center, Central, Shopper's stop. Ethnic stuff at Shilparamam which is and open air bazar with small stalls. Good bargain, good products. Pearl and jewellery at Old City. This may require attention for quality if you are planning to spend larger amount. Banjara Hills and Begumpet area are full of reliable jewellery shops. 8. Movies. Worth the time to sit into a cinema and watch a telugu (local production, Tollywood) movie! Different from the better known Bollywood style. Even if you don't understand, you can still enjoy the action, romance, costumes and of course the music. Try the cinema at Prasad's Theatre(can be over booked) or PVR theatre in Central shopping mall. If you don't get ticket, then just go ahead and try any of the other cinemas (cheaper, but less clean). Have a good time!

It confused us to start with how places called "Hotel" in India were often just restaurants. This was one such place. It was handily located just across the road from the hotel in which we were staying, which was part of the reason why we went there five times in five days, but the main reason was the excellent food. We were shown upstairs to the family room; the downstairs was a men only area. The restaurant was always a quiet haven away from the city, and the service was excellent. One of the waiters seemed to have something of a spoon fetish; he would bring us more and more until on one occasion we ended up with about eight!

We managed to experience a interesting mix of activities and attractions in Hyderabad. I don't think that it's one of the more touristed of Indian cities, and it had a good feel to it.

One of the reasons we stayed five days was that we needed to book ourselves a flight up to the north of India, which we did online from an Internet cafe in Hyderabad. We booked a flight with Air Deccan, one of the many Indian budget airlines. They were so much cheaper than Indian Airlines that there wasn't a decision to be made.

Finding a hotel when we arrived off the train proved to be interesting. We arrived at the station in the morning, having got a 16 hour overnight train from Bijapur. We were in second class sleeper, and it wasn't too bad: slightly more basic than the sleepers we'd taken in China, but generally OK. On leaving the station we were immediately hounded by a hotel tout, who took some persuading to get rid of, but we eventually managed. However, after that we struggled a bit to find a hotel; two places we went into initially said that they had rooms, but then changed their minds when we inquired further. I don't know if it's because we'd annoyed the tout. We did find a place in the end. We had to pay a bit extra for the more expensive room on the inner courtyard, because we didn't fancy the really nosiy room overlooking the main road junction outside the station. Having said that, we managed to get a bloke in the room next door who'd put his TV on full volume at 6am, and the staff weren't particularly quiet either.

One day we did a trip to Golconda fort, which is a little bit out from the centre of the city. We tried to get a bus there, because the auto-rickshaws were asking stupid money, but we came up against the usual thing: everyone we asked would tell us a different bus number, and as a result we couldn't trust anyone. In the end we got an auto-rickshaw for what seemed like an OK price. The fort was quite impressive, although we hadn't been to Rajasthan yet, where the forts were more impressive still.

Another day we did a trip out to Ramoji Film City, which is a film-based theme park outside Hyderabad. I'd hoped that we'd get some kitsched-up Bollywood stuff (is that possible?) but in the end the dance show we went to see consisted of a small group of people who couldn't dance! There are lots of film sets that you can walk around, and a range of shows to go to, plus overpriced food to be bought. It was quite an interesting day because we were on holiday with the Indians; we didn't see any other westerners there, just the Indian middle class on a day out. Loads of people wanted to have their photos taken with us!

One evening there was a big book fayre in one of the parks, and we went along because we needed a Lonely Planet guide for Bangladesh, where we were going next. We'd looked in the bookshops, and they'd directed us to this place. We thought that it was a bit of a long shot, but we found a copy on a stand representing a Delhi bookseller.

We also took the opportunity to get printed the photos which we'd taken of some of the locals in Badami, and went to the post office to post them off. The Indian post office was a new experience for us, complete with the separate pot of glue for glueing the stamps on, and the man who franks your stamps in front of your eyes, to ensure that no-one peels them off your letter to use on their own!

There was a great restaurant across the road from our hotel; we must have eaten there about five times in as many days. The waiters there were friendly, and seemed to have a fetish for giving us spoons to eat our meal with; on one visit we got about eight to find uses for! We also discovered a nice coffee and cake place, which we visited on a couple of occasions; this was a weakness of ours in a lot of cities we visited!

I was there with Teen Mania. I went with a bunch of teenagers from all over the US. I was apart of a drama that spread the gospel to those who were wiling to listen. i fortunately went with my sister, just knowing she was there was comforting, knowing i wasnt alone in a country literally 10,000 miles away ( or so it seems ). i ate peanut jelly and butter sandwiches almost every lunch had MRE's ( Made Ready to Eat ) meals. i was in the greedy part of the drama, i was 2 show the crowd that being greedy doesnt always work in life. some teens choose 2 stay 2 months some just choose 1. i was there for the 4th and it was interesting cuz it was the 1st time ( and still only ) where i really knew what it meant to be free, that day i realized what a privaledge it is 2 have such simple things as a toliet, over there if u had 2 go # 2 u had 2 squat over a hole ( let alone u dare not let the paper go down the hole, there plumbing system couldnt take it ). I made some pretty cool friends and am to this day ( 11 years later ) still looking for. i have memories that i will keep forever bc of the different situations i was in. there is a lot more i can say but will update more later right now its 2 am and im getting tired... SMILE!

Indias currency is cheaper then USA's so you wont need as much as you might think ( after the plane ticket ) Thumbs up is our Dr. Pepper there food does taste different but still good, i came back a month later with whitter teeth :) The sites are amazing, if i new what it was called i would tell u but there is a castle just outside of town that is a must see. They believe it or not had a baskins robins there. The general behavior is people over there is a little more sneaky then those here, they are much more aware of what you leave unlocked and open. They always wanna help and take a picture with you. If you ever meet Noma ( thats what we called him ) give him a few bucks for me i o him at least that much after all he did for me, not to mentio the countless nights he snuck out and got pizza for us at 12 am. The traffic there is worse over there, they prolly dont even have the yellow and white lines on the road. They really do let cows roam the roads in some areas of the country There is usually at least 1 person in a group over there who does know how to speak English.

Hyderabad, fifth largest metropolis in India, is the melting pot of south and north India. The city is 400 years old and is noted for its beauty, mosques, bazaars, hills and lakes.There is a huge manmade lake which surrounded by beautiful parks. City is rich in history and culture, a rich and varied heritage in arts, crafts and dance. It has lot to offer for tourists. It is called City of Nizams since kings who ruled Hyderabad were called Nizams. At the same time modernity is sweeping across hyderabad which is being reflected in the skylines. Historical Attractions of Hyderabad are: Charminar, Golconda Fort, and Falaknuma palace. Charminar is the symbol of Hyderabad and was built in 1591. Charminar means four pillars. Golconda Fort: The Golconda Fort provides a majestic backdrop to Bhagyanagar, as Hyderabad was called once. It is said that the Hope Diamond, the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, the Orloff Diamond, etc. originated from this place. Koh-i-Noor diamond is the costliest diamond in the world to date. The Baradari atop the hill offers a clear view of the city. Falaknuma Palace: Built by one of the Paigh nobles Sir Vicar ul Umra, and later bought by the Nizam, the Falaknuma Palace (meaning "Mirror in the Sky") is 5km south of the Charminar. This palace was designed by an Italian architect and houses some rare treasures collected by the Nizam. I will continue to write about other attractions very soon.