Durgam Cheruvu & Rock Garden

What is with people and their fascination for rocks? A lot, says a little voice somewhere in the cavernous depths of my empty mind. This park has rocks, and lots of 'em. It could turn a sober mountain into a rockaholic.

A steep climb down to the bottom, and you will find the boats, and a dock cut into half due to the growing cost of fake land over lakes. You have various boats of varying types - the Pedal boat, the Putty boat, the Shikara boat and the mechanized boat. The rates for these vary from Rs. 25 to Rs. 100 for adults and Rs. 10 to Rs. 100 for children. The angling charges for five hours is a hundred bucks.

On the climb up or down, depending on how you are aligned with the earth, there is a small cafeteria with the designer snacks and cold drinks. And on the other side of the lake you have a bar and restaurant, called Something Fishy. We should give them some crab points for originality and some pincers tossed in for good measure.

The rock garden also has an Amphi Theater in the beginning of the climb down to the boats. Next to the theater you have a terrace garden with a rather spectacular view of the surroundings. You can see the Golconda Fort and the Hi-Tech City series.

And it's the Golconda Fort that earned Secret Lake its name. This shaded reservoir provided water to the Fort during the Qutb Shahi reign. The lake had to be hidden, or poisoned arrows would have found it. Royalty has a tendency to attract poisoned arrows, as you'd have found out from your history lessons or if you've been royalty yourself.

On the whole, a place with the sights not to say anything of the sounds. And tumbling down those long stone steps can create some real bitchin tunes.