Hyderabad
22 and 23 January 2008
We took a full day Hyderabad City Tour mainly so we could see the main sights in
Hyderabad yet not stay in the city longer than necessary.   The heavy chaotic traffic,
constant noise, and the impossibility of taking city walks were getting to be too unpleasant.  
Below are a couple of traffic scenes.  Not finding a pleasant restaurant was another
problem.
Our first stop on the all-day bus tour was at Birla Mandir, a beautiful  Hindu temple on a
hill in central Hyderabad offering panoramic view of the city.
A few miles from Hyderabad we visited the massive Golconda fortress, built on a steep hill
about 1500AD to serve as the capital of the local Indian kingdom but abandoned 80 years
later because of inadequate water supply.  A story similar to that of the Daulatabad fort we
visited a few days earlier while we were in Aurangabad.  In both cases there was a
tremendous waste of resources because of not first learning about the shortage of water.
After visiting a couple of minor museums we stopped at the Chow Mohalla Palace, an
extensive  complex of still used by the Nizam of Hyderabad on formal occasions.
The final tour stop was at the Nehru Zoological Park, where we spent about half an hour.  
OK if you have never been to a zoo before.
On the left, a
partial view of
the Golconda
fortress.
To the right,
another part of
the Golconda
fortress.
A hall within the Golconda fortress.
A group of visitors to the Golconda fortress.  In
areas like Hyderabad, where foreign tourists
are a novelty,  Indians often asked us to pose
for photos.  Above we also asked them to pose
for us.
Chow Mohalla Palace main building.
Palace buildings.
Palace Gate.
Main ballroom.
Tiger pen at the Nehru
Zoological Park,
Hyderabad.
Above and to the left,
Hyderabad street
scenes.