Day 3-(26/12/2006)
We got ready by 7.30 am for the city tour and reached the pick up point of the bus by 7.45am. But the bus arrived only at 9.15am and we were almost frustrated by the long wait. Finally we 
started our city tour. The bus moved at a snail’s pace through the busy roads of Hyderabad. Finally around 10.45 am we reached our first destination-The Salarjung Museum. There was heavy rush at the entrance of the museum and there were no proper signages as to where the tickets to be purchased. Finally we got the ticket and entered the museum admist heavy security. The museum had items and things used during the Nizam’s period, including the photos and paintings of old kings. Cameras are not allowed in this museum.
Next, the bus took us through the narrow streets of Old Hyderabad to the famous Charminar. Charminar was only a drive along spot as parking was not allowed near to this place and also there was no place of a bus to park as the streets were very much narrow. The old Hyderabad had a large number of Muslim population which was evident by the number of Mosques present and many of them had the beauty of building of the Nizam’s time. The “Old” Hyderabad had one more thing which was noticable, many of the buildings were very very old and many of them in a dilapilated condition.
Next we stopped at the Chowmohalla Palace which was also in Old Hyderabad. This was again a palace during the Nizam’s period. The entry ticket was 25 per head and camera 50/-.
It was already 1.45pm and the guide told us that next stop would be for lunch. We took lunch at a decent hotel and also purchased few jewellery made of pearls.
After lunch we started our tour agaian and the next destination was Nehru zoological park. We had just 45 min of time to cover the entire zoo which was impossible. So we only covered a part of the zoo. There was also a safari available at the zoo. We were back in the bus by 4.30pm and the guide told urs that the next destination would be the famous Golconda fort.
Golconda Fort was situated on the outskirts of the city. It has eight entry points to the 7km long wall and only 4 of them were opened now. Ourr bus entered through one of the narrow doors and finally reached the fort. Here we had one hour time to visit the fort. We climbed upto the top of the fort and Hyderabad city was completly visible from here. 
The fort had 3 main sections- the Rama Das Bhandi Khana, Amber Khana-Build around 1642 AD and Qutub Shahi Mosque build by Sultan Ibrahim Qutub shah who rukled during the period 1550-1580 AD. We started from Golconda fort by around 6.30pm.
Next the bus took us to NTR gardens adjacent to Hussain Sagar lake. This lake is supposed to seperate Hyderabad from Secunderabad. The lake was pretty huge one and a Buddha statue stood at the center of the lake. The statue is 3tonnes in weight and had sunk into the lake while installation long back. The NTR gardens was a well maintained park inside the city with lot of entertainments for kids. The Imax theatre was adjacent to the gardens.
The importance of IT in Hyderabad was pretty much evident by the usage of digital swipe in tickets for almost all the places. The major roads were pretty good ones and maintained well although there are a few bottlenecks in some roads. Another thing which I noticed in Hyderabad was the public t
oilets installed at most of the places with proper signages. The city looked very much neat and tidy unlike other metros.
Next we moved to the final spot of our tour-The Birla Temple. Birla temple was a beautifull structure in the heart of the city and one had to climb the hill to reach the temple. Cameras are not allowed in the temple. We returned to bus by around 8.30pm and completed our tour of Hyderabad city. We returned home by around 10.00pm.
