seattle vashon ferry Vizag s train station is on the western edge of town, near the port. Visakhapatnam Junction station

If you re travelling around Andhra Pradesh during Ramadan (known locally as Ramzan), look out for the clay ovens called seattle vashon ferry bhattis. You ll probably hear them before you see them. Men gather around, taking turns to vigorously pound haleem inside purpose-built structures. Come nightfall, seattle vashon ferry the serious business of eating begins. The taste is worth the wait. In September 2010, this love of the dish was taken a step further, being patented as Hyderabadi seattle vashon ferry haleem ; prohibited seattle vashon ferry to be served seattle vashon ferry under that name unless it meets the strict quality guidelines.

Vizag s train station is on the western edge of town, near the port. Visakhapatnam Junction station is on the Kolkata-Chennai line. The overnight Coromandel Express (sleeper/3AC/2AC 333/881/1199, 13 hours) is the fastest of the five daily trains running to Kolkata. Heading south, it goes to Chennai (sleeper/3AC/2AC 310/817/1112, 14 hours). Frequent trains head to Vijayawada including 2717, the Ratnachalam Express (2nd-class/chair 108/477).

Hyderabad, City of Pearls, is like an elderly, impeccably dressed princess whose time has past. Once the seat of the powerful and wealthy Qutb Shahi and Asaf Jahi dynasties, the city has seen centuries of great prosperity and innovation. Today, the Old City is full of centuries-old Islamic monuments and even older charms. In fact, the whole city is laced with architectural gems: ornate tombs, mosques, palaces and homes from the past are tucked away, faded and enchanting, in corners all over town. Keep your eyes open.

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, seattle vashon ferry monasteries, caves and other sites have been excavated, turning up rare relics of the Buddha seattle vashon ferry (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 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 seattle vashon ferry near these was thought to help progress on the path to enlightenment.) Succeeding Ashoka, the Satavahanas and then Ikshvakus seattle vashon ferry were also supportive. At their capital at Amaravathi, the Satavahanas adorned Ashoka s modest stupa with elegant decoration. seattle vashon ferry 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 seattle vashon ferry and meditator, and he wrote several ground-breaking works that shaped contemporary Buddhist thought. Other important monk-philosophers seattle vashon ferry would emerge seattle vashon ferry from the area in the following centuries, making Andhradesa a sort of Buddhist seattle vashon ferry motherland of the South. seattle vashon ferry