Hyderabad - Post Report Question and Answers
What have been the highlights of your time in this country? Best trips or experiences?
Kerala. Kerala. Kerala. Mostly for “relax and enjoy” type vacations. The caves at Aurangabad are another huge highlight. India has so much stuff. Sit down and plan your trips. We made 14 trips in two years with the pandemic, but it took sitting down, mapping it out, and then actually booking things. - Jan 2023
Watching fruit bats and thunderstorms from our balcony; Hyderabadi biryani and most other local food; Mangoes; Spotting peacocks and chameleons in KBR Park; Hearing Hindu temple bells and drums, and the Muslim azaan, daily; Kerala's beaches and backwaters; Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu; Goa's beaches; Meghalaya and the living root bridges there; - Dec 2020
The only silver lining to this post (in non-COVID times) is travel opportunities. You will want to leave the city as much as possible, and there are connections all over SE Asia. - Jul 2020
We wanted India for the travel. Hyderabad was never on our radar, but I'm glad we ended up here because the airport was easy to get to (usually a $10 cab ride) and usually efficient. They have a special door for domestic carry-on-only passengers who checked in online - you're through security and at your gate in no more than 10 minutes! We took more than 2 dozen domestic trips and over a dozen international trips in two years. Super cheap and serves as a psuedo-hub for lots of major discount airlines, including Jet, AirAsia, Go, and Vistara, but particularly INDIGO which was always the most affordable, great service, on time, and had a very reasonable food program. We used them a ton. Best domestic trips: so many... Holi in Mathura, the Ellora and Ajanta caves, the Chola temples in the south, Durga Puja festival in Kolkata, our 10-day tour of Rajasthan, our Golden Triangle tour, visits to the Portuguese towns on the west... Best international trips: Sri Lanka is a dream, Maldives were a dream, Nepal was a dream, Thailand we went four times, UAE is only 4 hours away, as are Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and those are direct flights overnight. Wake up and start your day! Also, as a vegetarian, every menu is clearly delineated with vegetarian and meat options, with most having a majority-vegetarian menu. Many places are vegetarian-only. Fast food places even have multiple vegetarian sandwiches - with McDonalds and Subway, for instance, each having 5-6 different sandwich options! - Jul 2019
Travel is amazing in India, easy quality of life and access to goods. - Jan 2019
The local staff at the US consulate are AMAZING! Morale with the current staff is high. When we leave, we'll miss the friends we've made here most of all. Highlights: International School of Hyderabad (ISH), inexpensive regional travel, most things are cheaper here, the people. - Nov 2017
Saving money, buying furniture and carpets, cheap domestic help. The city is not a tourist spot, there is very little to discover. It is big, dirty, crowded and polluted. The triangle - New Delhi-Agra-Jaipur is of course a neat experience, so are Goa and Kerala. - Sep 2016
Traveling, honestly. Both in India and outside of it. It's REALLY cheap to get to the Maldives and Andaman Islands from here - some places that only the super wealthy can ever go to. Take advantage of that. There's so many places in India to see, with all kinds of things for whatever you like. I really liked Pondicherry, and I'm really looking forward to going to the Maldives in April, going on a tiger safari in May, and hiking the Himalayas next March. - Mar 2015
There are interesting historical/cultural sites to visit in Hyderabad -- Charminar and its surrounding markets, Chowmahala Palace, Falaknuma Palace/Hotel, Golcanda Fort, Salar Jung Museum, Birla Temple, Qutb Shahi Tombs. Since Hyderabad is so centrally located in India, it's very easy and cheap to fly to other parts of India. - Jan 2015
Sampling Indian cuisines and a lot of travel. India offers an unlimited variety of travel opportunities and when you've had enough of India (which will happen), it's a short flight to Dubai or Bangkok. - Nov 2014
Travel across India. We love this country as tourists. Much to see and so much diversity. We don't like the day-to-day life here. We've hit many of the highlights: Rajasthan, Delhi, the Himalayas, Kochin, Kerala backwaters, Goa, Andaman Islands. The travel has been wonderful. Hyderabad itself has a few interesting sites, but these can be covered in a weekend (Golkonda Fort, Falaknuma Palace, Old City, Chowmahallah). - Jul 2014
Traveling around India and around southeast Asia. - Mar 2012
The food. Hyderabad is known for its biryani. - Feb 2012
Traveling around India and getting to know the locals at work. - Jan 2011
