Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital of south-central India’s Telangana state. It is largest and most-populous city in the region and is the major urban center for the technology industry for all south-central interior India. Do not get discouraged to explore the two sides of the city by truly appalling traffic conditions. First side is steeped in history, filled with people and revel with commerce – the Old City of Hyderabad with one of India’s most provocative ancient quarters. Although, most of the old city impressive Islamic architecture is under repair, staying here or just wandering through its chai shops, spice markets, cookie shops or busy streets will give you quite clear impression on the customs of locals. The other side includes districts such as Hi-Tech City or like others call it “Cyberabad”, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills situated in the western part of the center. Here you will find places like glittering malls, clubs, pubs and many restaurants – a very different part of the city.
Most visitors concentrate their time on the Old City of Hyderabad and spend a lot of time near locations like Charminar, a 16th century mosque whose 4 arches support towering minarets. Even though it is the old city landmark situated near Laad Bazaar, we believe that Golconda Fort should not be missed either. It is a historic site which was a former diamond trading center that was once the Qutb Shahi dynastic capital. The territory it occupied previously is just insane. Nowadays, most of it belongs to the military and they are guarding the premises, when on top of the Golconda Fort you can clearly see which areas are controlled by military – we were told that wherever you see the cluster of green trees around the city, there is the military territory and they do not allow constructions which is inevitable in always expanding city.
When here be sure to try the most famous Biryani in the world. Apparently, Biryani dish is originated from Hyderabad. We got to know from our host that Hyderabad’s Biryani is famous all over the world and they even export Biryani made here to other countries through planes on special occasions – just insane!
Helpful tips
Restaurants. After traveling through India, we gathered experience and tips from locals which we want to share with everyone who will be reading this. If you come to India for a short period of time it is good to know that here certain bacteria are in almost every food, water and even air which can put you to bed for couple days if you have too much of it. To adapt to it, your body needs time and small amounts of the bacteria.
First, it is better to avoid eating too much of street food as it contains quite a lot of bacteria even though it is so cheap. We do not say that you should not eat street food at all, just keep it small quantities at a time. If you cannot wait to try and eat all sorts of street food just try it little by little and not everything on one go.
Second, when choosing a place where to eat, pay attention to other travelers’ reviews of the place. It is very important how the people from abroad felt about the food rather than locals.
Third, if there are any doubts regarding the hygiene of the place, we encourage to eat vegetables and avoid meat dishes.
We are well aware that everyone is different, and you feel your body the best. So, do what you want to do and keep in mind that these recommendations worked for us, we did not get sick while in India even for a day.
Markets. Prices in grocery shops are the same as through whole India, prices are printed on the packages, thus, you never need to wonder whether someone is taking advantage of you.
We would advise against drinking tap water in whole India, especially if you come just for a short time (couple weeks) as your body needs time to adjust to certain bacteria which is everywhere and taking too much of it at the same time can put you bed for couple days. Even though in some sources you could find that water is safe to drink, or that filtered water is alright we suggest to double check with your host or locals before you do that. We did not risk it too much, especially in the beginning of the trip, however, we did drink quite a lot of filtered water which was kind of alright just had a bad taste in most places.
Transportation. To get to Hyderabad you can use plane, train, bus, bike or car. As it is a large city it has great accessibility, on top of that you can use any other transport you feel like using.
In the city it is common to use public transportation such as buses, taxies or Tuk Tuk’s which are the fastest way to get around the city. Tuk Tuk’s are a quick and cheap option where you must bargain though or use Ola which is amazing by the way and almost twice cheaper than Uber. Most of the time we used Tuk Tuk’s for big trips from one end to another and walked as it helped to get to know the city and see not only the touristic places and we recommend you do the same if you have a chance.
Best of luck planning your holidays in India!
Is there anything else you would like to visit while in India?
If you have anything in mind, please let us know and let’s discuss it.
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