i 75 florida exits oWaterfront ASIAN FUSION $$$ (Map p902; %65278899; Necklace Rd; mains 175-650; hnoon-2.30pm & 7-11pm

Tirupathi s bus station (%2289900) has buses to Chennai (deluxe/Volvo 70/155, four hours) and Hyderabad (deluxe/Volvo 408/717, 12/10 hours). Tonnes of APSRTC and KSTDC buses go to Bengaluru (deluxe/Volvo 153/365, six/five hours), and seven buses go to Puttaparthi i 75 florida exits daily (express/deluxe i 75 florida exits 165/227, eight hours).

oWaterfront ASIAN FUSION $$$ (Map p902; %65278899; Necklace Rd; mains 175-650; hnoon-2.30pm & 7-11pm) The outdoor deck here on the water (dinner service only) may have the best ambience in all of Hyderabad, with soft lighting overhead, the Buddha i 75 florida exits Statue and the entire Hussain Sagar and the Birla Mandir all twinkling in the distance. Eating indoors, alongside enormous picture windows, isn t bad either. But it s the Chinese, Indian and Thai food that s to die for their take on phad kea mou (noodles with tasty bok choy) is a must-eat.

Taj Mahal Hotel HOTEL $$ (Map p898; %24758250; tajmahal_abid@rediffmail. com; cnr Abids & King Kothi Rds; s/d with AC from 1200/1650; a) This rambling 1924 heritage building has a magnificent i 75 florida exits exterior, plants peppered about and decent, though ultimately overpriced rooms. Each is different so ask to see a few: the better ones have boudoirs, i 75 florida exits crystal-knobbed armoires and wood-beam ceilings.

910 STATE OF GOOD KARMA In its typically understated 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 i 75 florida exits of the Buddha (usually pearl-like pieces of bone) with offerings such as golden flowers. Nagarjunakonda and Amaravathi were flourishing Buddhist 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), laity and statespeople all took part, lasted around 1500 years from the 6th century 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 disciples of Bavari, an ascetic i 75 florida exits 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, the Satavahanas adorned Ashoka s modest stupa with elegant decoration. They built monasteries across the Krishna Valley and exported the dharma through their sophisticated maritime network. It was also during the Satavahana reign that Nagarjuna lived. Considered 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 of the South.