HYDERABAD
Built on the banks of the river Musi, and surrounded by huge prehistoric rock formations, the city of Hyderabad gives travellers fascinating glimpses of past splendours and new age India. Hyderabad is one of the fast developing cities in the country and a hub of information and bio-technology. The city is well known as The City of Nizams after the title of last seven rulers of the region. The Old City of Hyderabad is everything you might dream an Indian old city to be – narrow lanes thronged with markets, chai shops, wandering animals, autorickshaws, a whirl of noise, colour, languages and religions dotted with stately old architecture in varying states of repair. Hyderabad's other pole is far younger – its Hi-Tech City, or 'Cyberabad', out west, which since the 1990s has propelled the city into the modern world with its accoutrements of glittery malls, multiplexes, clubs, pubs and sleek restaurants to sit alongside the traditional biryani joints and teahouses.