[nitinbhag]

Have done this trip a few times..
Ya.. night driving is not a good idea.. I have seen many wrecked vehicles on this stretch..
Watch out for the sunflower fields on the way.. Some places they stretch for miles on both sides of the road.. amazing sight, one side they face you and other side they face away..
For breakfast, there is a decent darshini much after Devannahalli.. good idli, dosa.. called Garden Inn or something like that..
Hampi in the summer is a bad idea.. its very very hot. Its stone ruins and you will be jumping from one shady spot to other and miss all the grandeur of the ruins. Go when its cloudy/cooler..

[zulfikar]

Well
its Best when you are driving in the Morning,
there is almost NO Traffice in the morning that is after 10AM..
till 10AM you will get Volvos...
after that you will be the King of the Road...

i always started at 6-7AM and reached Between 3-5PM...
Normal Driving...

once i started from Bangalore at 5:45AM and reached Hyd at 1:30PM
the Road is good Road is even BETTER moment AP starts...
i am also coming to Hyd this weekend but this time i am taking Volvo...

[nosfreak]

hey, sure would like too meet u when ur down in Hyd.
N also the road is good from b'lore to hyd, expect as cnu said, potholes r few, aint much to worry bout.

N yh least try not driving in the night. its a lil dangerous. u leave by 6 a.m in the morning ull reach by 6 to 7 p.m. Also bout the biryani, will join n give ya some company.

@tsk :- thats a good thing u did bro. I too had small experience, quiet yrs ago ,. Was travelling to Kerala by M1000(brand new at that time). it was in the afternoon. these buggers were blasting rocks n bad enough huge wind was blowing @ that time. The dust was so much couldnt see the road properly, stopped aside for nearly 15 min. Got clear by then , went upfront, a accident already happ, tata sumo head on with a lorry. For luck the injuries werent much as the ppl sitting in front sustained more injuries. But everyone was alive, car n lorry both were badly damaged.

[speedsatya]

had been on the nh7 bangalore-hyderabad road on sunday ...lots of diversions and rash buses .....you really have to be carfeul on the diversions ...as they come up without any warnings ....there was atleast one vehicle which had crashed at each of the diversions...almost ended up under a APSTRC B7r which was overtaking from the shoulder on the wrong side

[amitoj]

Ok guys, can anyone tell me how to get to:
beleveredere Gardens
Phase II
Padmarao Nagar
Secundarabad

when coming from Bangalore?? Its supposed to be close to railway station.

Thanks
Amitoj

[satish_appasani]

The easiest way is, ask directions for RTC cross roads. It's very close by from there. It's also close to Secundrabad station, but you may get confused as there are few one way roads around the station.

This place is quite far off from the point you enter city and expect lots of crowded roads. I will try to put turn by turn directions.

BTW, the place you are visting is very close to Bawarchi, the best place for biriyani.

[satish_appasani]

After you enter city, ask directions to Nampalli station. Once you reach the station, continue straight. You would come across AP Assembly. Continue going straight.

Straight ahead of you you would see a building called Ravindra Bharathi. It immediately catches your attention. There is a 10 floors old building next to it. Here take a right turn. For confirmation once you are there, ask somebody whether that road leads to Tank bund.

Go straight and after about half a kilometer, you'll come across a flyover. The land mark at this point is Secreteriat building. Take the flyover. You would see Hussein sagar lake from above this flyover. After you exit the flyover, you will immediately reach a signal. This place is called lower tankbund.

At this signal take right and go straight for about two kms. You will come across two signals. The second is very small. I don't remember if there is a signal light there or only manned by a cop. It's after a very small bridge. After this you will come to a major junction. This is called RTC cross roads. It is very crowded. Take a left there and travel for around 2 KMS. You would come to another signal. Take right and that is Padma rao nagar.

Be careful when driving to Nampalli station. You have to travel through old city and roads are confusing and crowded. Most of them are one way.

Hope I am clear. Hyd guys correct me.

[nosfreak]

Best thing m8, Ask teh pan shop or autorickshaw guys, there r teh best in guding u properly

[RX135]

How come you guys missed it so far? Google Earth is the saviour. I suggest, you take a good and hard look at the roads. Hopefully, GoogleEarth has high resolution data available for Hyderabad.

[amitoj]

Thanks for the directions satish. Should be able to reach my destination.. with a little help from my friends... and the autowallahs!
RX135, i had to uninstall google earth from office pc as it is "unauthorized" and the comp at home is too damn slow : (

Amitoj

[airfoil]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Ok guys, can anyone tell me how to get to:
beleveredere Gardens
Phase II
Padmarao Nagar
Secundarabad
Thanks
Amitoj

Oh boy, Belvedere Gardens is like half a km from where I live. Too bad I leave for Masinagudi via B'lore on Friday morning!

Satish's directions are pretty accurate, should serve you well to get into the locality. Just one thing - you don't drive past the Nampally Rly. Station itself, you pass the left turn that leads to the station. Just stick to that main road you're already on until you hit Ravindra Bharati.

I'll attempt to pick up where Satish left off:

* Take the right from the signal into Padmarao Nagar

* The main road curves to the left - stick to the main road and ignore turnoffs. (The first turnoff is a right turn and the second is another right, this one more like a 'Y')

* The next right turn is the one you want, look for a temple (and shops) on the left and a long row of shops on the right on your way to it.

* When you pass a Irani cafe called Red Sea, the right turn will be just ahead.

* Take the right, follow this road until you come to a 'T' (~0.4 km, this stretch is miserable, since it was recently dug up all the way)

* Take a left turn at the 'T' and drive a couple of hundred meters. Belvedere Gardens is this multistorey apartment complex on your left.

*** If you pass the rear of Gandhi Hospital, you've gone too far after turning into Padmarao Nagar.

One general word of advice about Hyderabad roads - when told to go straight, that will normally mean following the main road you're already on, never mind the occassional 90 degree curve enroute .

Also, the distance from the Nampally Rly Station to your destination is about 7 km. Getting up to the Station area is OK provided you successfully stay on the main road once in the (old) city limits. Just stop & ask for directions when in doubt. You'll want to ask for Nayapul and Osmania Hospital on your way to the Nampally station landmark.

Give me a shout if you need any help: Naveen, 98851-13777.

[nitinbhag]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Thanks for the directions satish. Should be able to reach my destination.. with a little help from my friends... and the autowallahs!
Amitoj

A trick I learned from a friend:
When you enter the city, hire an auto and have him lead the way, pay the fare.. costs 50-100 bucks, saves a lot of time and stress .. pay him a minor amount upfront with promise of full fare on reaching destination..

I always got lost on entering Hyd and then learned the auto trick.. works like a dream

[tsk1979]

Best way to go. I remember when we were crossing hyd en route to nagpur. On asking the way the answers were so cryptic that we had to think twice.
Sample this. We are on a straight road and I generally ask for directions to bangalore at stall.
The guy said "Aage jake rasta woh lehna jo seedha nahin "aisa" seetdha jaata hai, while gesturing wildly with his left hand). We reached the said point, the road was going straight with an offshoot towards the left. All he could have said "At the fork take left" but no.

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Best way to go. I remember when we were crossing hyd en route to nagpur. On asking the way the answers were so cryptic that we had to think twice.
Sample this. We are on a straight road and I generally ask for directions to bangalore at stall.
The guy said "Aage jake rasta woh lehna jo seedha nahin "aisa" seetdha jaata hai, while gesturing wildly with his left hand). We reached the said point, the road was going straight with an offshoot towards the left. All he could have said "At the fork take left" but no.

what was that?!! haa haa haaaa... you definitely landed up with some nutcase fresh out of the loonybin!! haa haaaaaa

[Rudra Sen]

Should be in Hyderabad on Saturday before noon. Communication information needed for new S-Class and I'm there to get that. Couldn't make it to Pune last month..Hence Hyderabad. Taking last flight out to Bangalore on the same day.