harbor tunnel toll Touch BAR (Map p902; %23542422; Trendset Towers, Rd No 2, Banjara Hills); h7pm-midnight Wed, Sat & S

Society To Save Rocks WALKING (%23552923; www.saverocks.org; 1236 Rd No 60, Jubilee Hills) harbor tunnel toll This NGO organises monthly walks through the Andhran landscape and its surreal-looking boulders. Check website for details.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated harbor tunnel toll way, Andhra Pradesh doesn t make much of its vast archaeological and karmic wealth. But the state is packed with impressive ruins of its rich Buddhist history. Only a few of Andhra s 150 stupas, monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, turning up rare relics of the Buddha (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist harbor tunnel toll complexes, and near Visakhapatnam were the incredibly peaceful sites of Thotlakonda, and Bavikonda and Sankaram, looking across seascapes and lush countryside. They speak of a time when Andhra Pradesh or Andhradesa was a hotbed of Buddhist activity, when monks came from around the world to learn from some of the tradition s most renowned teachers. Andhradesa s Buddhist culture, in which sangha (community of monks and nuns), harbor tunnel toll laity and statespeople all took part, lasted around 1500 years from the 6th century harbor tunnel toll BC. There s no historical evidence for it, but some even say that the Buddha himself visited the area. Andhradesa s first practitioners were likely harbor tunnel toll disciples of Bavari, an ascetic who lived on the banks of the Godavari River and sent his followers north to bring back the Buddha s teachings. But the dharma really took off in the 3rd century BC under Ashoka, who dispatched monks across his empire to teach and construct stupas enshrined with relics of the Buddha. (Being near these was thought to help progress on the path to enlightenment.) Succeeding Ashoka, the Satavahanas and then Ikshvakus were also supportive. At their capital at Amaravathi, harbor tunnel toll the Satavahanas harbor tunnel toll adorned Ashoka s modest stupa with elegant decoration. They built monasteries across the Krishna harbor tunnel toll Valley and exported the dharma through their sophisticated maritime network. It was also during the Satavahana reign that Nagarjuna lived. Considered harbor tunnel toll by many to be the progenitor of Mahayana Buddhism, the monk was equal parts logician, philosopher and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers would emerge from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist motherland harbor tunnel toll of the South.

TAXI For prepaid taxis, pay at the counter inside harbor tunnel toll the terminal, then get your cab at the PTC. Meru (%44224422) and Easy (%43434343) radio taxis queue up outside arrivals and charge 15 per kilometre, 18.75 at night. The trip to Abids or Banjara Hills shouldn t exceed 450. Going to the airport, try Yellow Taxi (%44004400).

Touch BAR (Map p902; %23542422; Trendset Towers, Rd No 2, Banjara Hills); h7pm-midnight Wed, Sat & Sun) Touch is all about image. It s a stylish, harbor tunnel toll comfy place to watch the beautiful people. Also has an ice bar with temperatures set at -23.