Heading over in 4 weeks

Hi
I am from Ireland and I am travelling to India in 4 weeks time. I will be working there for 12-18 months and I am really looking forward to it. I will be staying in Hyderabad for the first month or two and then I might be travelling on to Bangalore. Or I might be staying in Hyderabad for the entire 12 months. (well I plan to travel when I can of course). Has anyone here been to Hyderabad? What is it like? I've heard that it is like a mix of the old India and the new?

mcrors

Wow 4 weeks time...getting close!

I've been to Hyderabad and was pleasantly surprised with the distinct harmony of hindu and muslim architecture in so many of the historic buildings. You are right that there's a good mix of the old and the new. I liked the wide streets close to the IT park and also the whole area surrounding Hussein Sagar Lake. Went to the Mecca Masjid, but wasn't allowed inside the prayer area (religious restrictions they said on account of the fact that am a female), but they still asked me for a donation as I was standing at the door (which I thought was rather funny). One of the persons pointed to a black stone bench in the Masjid complex and apparently legend has it that if you sit on it, one will come back to the city again. Guess I don't have to tell you what I did after hearing that

Also went to the old part of town - Char Minar and had the most awesome biriyani of all there (sorry can't remember the name of the restaurant), then looked at the jewellery stores close by. Temperatures even in December was considerably warmer than Bangalore. The urdu infused hindi spoken by most on the old part of town was simply melodic.

I don't know when I'll go back to Hyderabad, but I should be in Bangalore by June. So the 'bench theory' may come true after all.

Best of luck in Hyderabad.

thanks. It seems that when you're over there that you will meet into lots of people who are travelling around. People from all parts of the world? It sounds really cool and i hope i get a chance to travel and that i'm not just stuck working the whole time.

Hi and welcome to Hyderabad. I can say a lot about Hyderabad but that would be entirely biased .

I really enjoyed reading smida02's Journal. It was almost like going home!

The In search of the best biryani thread has some pointers on, of-course Biryani, for it's not worth going to HYD and not eating biryani.

Do post any questions you have and while I do not claim to know 'everything' about Hyderabad, I'll try to answer as best as I can.