google earth street map Boats depart every month-ish for Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. Bookings for the 56hour journey

Hotel Shadab INDIAN $$ (Map p900; High Court Rd, Patthargatti; mains 60250; hnoon-midnight) One meal at Shadab and you ll be forever google earth street map under its spell. The hopping restaurant is the place to get biryani ( 95 to 200) and, during Ramzan (Ramadan), haleem. It has even mastered veg biryani (!) and hundreds of other veg and non-veg delights (if you try the chocolate

AP State Museum MUSEUM (Map p898; Public Gardens Rd, Nampally; admission 10, camera/video 100/500; h10.30am5pm Sat-Thu) The continually renovated State Museum hosts a rather dusty collection of important archaeological finds from the area, as well as a Buddhist sculpture gallery, with some relics of the Buddha and an exhibit on Andhra s Buddhist history. There are also Jain and bronze sculpture galleries, a decorative-arts gallery and a 4500-year-old Egyptian mummy. The museum, like the gorgeous Legislative Assembly building (Map p 898 ) down the road (both commissioned by the seventh nizam), is floodlit at night.

Boats depart every month-ish for Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. Bookings for the 56hour journey (from 1960) can be made at the Shipping Office (%2565597, 9866073407; Av Bhanoji Row; h9am-5pm Mon-Sat) in the port complex. google earth street map Bring your passport.

When he was 14, Sai Baba declared himself to be the reincarnation of another Sai Baba, a saintly figure who died in 1918 (p 764 ). His millions of devotees regarded him as a true avatar and believed he performed miracles. Coming for the program of darshan (here that meant seeing Baba though since poor health in 2005 his appearances were increasingly sporadic), they packed the ashram twice-daily for chanting and prayer. The sight of clean, well-paved streets lined with internet cafes might come as a surprise here, as will the prevalence of robed foreign devotees.