Andhra Pradesh - South India and Kerala - page 505

All buses stop running between 11pm and 3am.
Taxi
The prepaid taxi booth is inside the terminal; cabs to Abids and Banjara Hills cost ?500.
Meru ( 44224422) and Sky Cabs ( 49494949) 'radio taxis' queue up outside arrivals and
charge ?18 per kilometre, ?22.50 at night. The fare for Abids or Banjara Hills shouldn't
exceed ?700.
AUTORICKSHAW
Flag fall is ?16 for the first kilometre, ?9 for each additional kilometre. Between 10pm
and 5am a 50% surcharge applies. Meters are often broken or uncalibrated and lots of
drivers will not use them: so be prepared to negotiate.
BUS
Many local buses originate at Koti bus stand MAP GOOGLE MAP (Turrebaz Khan Rd) , so if you
come here you might get a seat. The 'travel as you like' ticket (?60), available from con-
ductors, permits unlimited travel anywhere within the city on the day of purchase. City
Bus Route Guide (?20) is available at bookshops around Koti.
CAR
Arrange car hire through your hotel or with Links Travels ( 9348770007) . At research time,
the going rate for a non-aircon car and driver for sightseeing (eight hours/80km maxim-
um) was ?950.
TRAIN
MMTS trains ( www.mmtstraintimings.in ; ?2-10) are convenient, particularly for the three main sta-
tions, but infrequent (every half-hour). There are two main lines: Hyderabad (Nampally)
to Lingampalli (northwest of Banjara Hills) stops at Necklace Rd, Begumpet and Hitec
City; the Falaknuma (south of Old City) to Begumpet line passes by Kacheguda and
Secunderabad stations and joins the Hyderabad-Lingampalli line at Begumpet. Trains are
labelled with start and end points, eg HF for Hyderabad-Falaknuma.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Nagarjunakonda
The Hill of Nagarjuna, 150km southeast of Hyderabad, is a peaceful island peppered with
ancient Buddhist structures. From the 3rd century BC until the 4th century AD, the