Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Travelogue Approved

Sirjee you come out with some really awesome pics

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Wow sirjee awesome clicks!!
Subscribed and hooked!!
Let it flow!![emoji4]

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Please bring on the main course!

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

I generally dont login as I get magically logged out by the xbhp demon but damn! @dichkaun those are some good pix mate!


P.S. [MENTION=38603]The Monk[/MENTION] I got logged out 3 times before I could post this, can you pl help?

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Amazing pictures. Thumbs up & bring forth the rest, hope Ill ride there someday

Sent from my HTC Desire X using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Thanks for the approval.

Appreciate the comments folks. Here are some more pics. Hopefully I'll have the trip log later this week.

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

"Indian Grand Canyon.. somewhere nearby" That's the phrase I heard sometimes last year. Googling it up I found an opportunity for photography as well as bike ride. At 300Km one way, it had to be a 2 day ride so as to have an opportunity for sunset/sunrise pics. Longer rides came and went, still did not get a chance to make this 2 days trip. Finally last week I made the trip.
As usual, rather than take the boring NH, I looked for back roads to take me there. The route I took is below and goes thus:
Day 1: Bangalore - Hoskote - Narsapura - Chintamani - Madanpalli - Kadiri - Pulivendula - Muddanur - Gandikota (350Km)
Day 2: Gandikota - Jammamalamadugu - Belum Caves - Gooty - Anantpur - Bangalore (400Km)

So the morning went as usual. Got up at 0445 and was on the road by 0530. As I approached Hoskote, the sky started lightning up with a few clouds lingering around. Expecting a good sunrise, I decided to ride till Narsapura and then cut across to Chintamani Cross. I have had good experience with sunrise over the Narsapura lake.
While the clouds were mostly absent, the sunrise was spectacular. Few pics later, I turned towards Chintamani Cross

The stretch of road from Narsapura to Chintamani Cross is a pretty good stretch, with trees lining the road and portions of uncultivated brush. There is also an old bridge which makes for good photo opportunities.


At Chintamani Cross, I took a break for tea plus some biscuits and then rolled on.
A while back the road to Chintamani used to be an interesting one with tree lining the sides and some good photo spots. After the recent widening, the trees are all gone. The new road does make for fast travelling. Chintamani was avoided through the bypass. Now they still haven't widened the Chintamani-madanpalli road and the trees are still there. There also are occasional ponds which are mostly seasonal. These are good to stop by and take a water break. After Madanpalli, one skirts past the Horseley Hills and the rocky terrain of Andhra starts.


The road so far had been excellent and I was thanking my luck. Hunger was on my mind at Kadiri. I settled down to some excellent pongal and so-so puri.
The fun started after Kadiri. The terrain transformed into something out of old wild west movies. Stretches of straight road, flanked by dry shrubs and rocks. One surprise was the city of Pulivendula. It seemed like a small city with an expansive ring road and a large university or college.



Just before Jammalamadugu, I turned left towards Gandikota. A small ride of 10Km brought me to the Haritha Resort of AP Tourism. The resort is well build and quite spacious, though the upkeep leaves much to be desired. It is also just half a Km from the Gandikota fort.
While there were a couple of cars parked, no guest was around. The cook and the manager eyed me suspiciously. Lone guy on a bike with KA registration; doesnt speak Telagu or Kannada; hardly and luggage - god knows what mischief will he be up to. After a few rounds of cross questioning they decided to give me a room by taking double room rent as deposit.
And I settled down to a short nap in the non-AC room. There was time for the sun to set.

to be continued....

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Once again beautiful set of pictures and narration. Glued!

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Amazing photography sir!

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Thanks folks. Hopefully I will wrap this log tomorrow.

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Awesome pics sir!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

After a nap which was longer than I had planned, I set out to explore the place. At the entrance of the fort is a small village with couple of shops. I first drove past the village/fort and reached atop a small hillock. The top presented a panoramic view of the fort.


Turning back, I drove inside the fort. You can drive pretty much all the way inside the fort. There are people living inside the fort. It is like a living fort. The building were in a state of disrepair. I wish the fort was better maintained.




After exploring some of the old building, I headed towards the gorge.

As you go down the rocks from RanganathaSwamy Temple and then scramble up on the other size, you are suddenly treated to an amazing view. For a moment it would leave you awestruck, thinking how does such a place exists. And then you would think how come so few people know about this.
After my initial astonishment passed away, I started to explore the area. The river first curves right and turns around to take a U turn towards the left, and in the process cutting through the rock to make the amazing gorge. The pictures below speak a thousand words.



The sun was going over the hill as I reached back at the resort. Realizing that I hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, I asked a coffee and some onion bhaji to be delivered to my room.
The food took an hour to be delivered. By that time i had dozed off, tired of watching AAP win the exit polls in Delhi again and again. Surprisingly the bhajis were excellent. The hot coffee and snacks were a relief to the long hungry stomach.
The choice for dinner was limited and I settled for egg fried rice. 90 min later I was in the open dining area eating a very well made egg fried rice accompanied with biryani gravy. Post dinner I had a brief conversation with a group who had driven over from Bangalore.
By 2130hrs, I was ready to call it a day. The plan was to go back to the gorge for the sunrise.


The sky was just lightening up when I left the room at 0615. First I went back to the top of the hillock to have a look. It was going to be a bright golden sunrise.



I then went back to the village and had couple of tea cups. Now I was ready to climb the rocks again. The sun was just rising as I reached the gorge. There was hardly anyone at the place. Had I not been pre-occupied with taking a good picture, it would be a perfect moment to meditate. Again I will let the pictures do the talking.

After spending a couple of serene hours, I returned back to the room. Bath and breakfast later I was ready to leave.
Next stop Belum caves.

Belum caves was another surprise. As you go down a flight of stairs, a large underground caravan opens up in front of you. And as you walk down the passage it keeps going on and on. I walked around for an hour and then returned back. The place is very well maintained. Inside the caves it was speck-less clean. No plastic, food wrappers or discarded bottles. Easily one of the most well kept tourist place I have seen in India.

By the time I left Belum caves, it was quite hot. I decided to take the fastest route home - which was to join NH7 at Gooty and then drive straight home.
Now one thing I like about Andhra is how considerate they are about the road travelers. At regular distance one can find a shaded tree with a platform below to rest. Below one of those I took a short nap. I wish the NH planners has taken a cue from these and build similar rest areas on the new tolled National Highways they are building across the nation. Pretty soon I was on NH7. From there it was a straight and somewhat boring drive to home. I stopped once for lunch and later for tea.
Trip Stats
Duration: 2 days
Distance: 750Km
Expenses - Food: 550
Expenses - Fuel: 1200
Expenses - Stay: 750

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Amazing clicks.Specially the one where you were undecided about juming!!

Sent from my Xperia L.

Re: Gandikota: Solo ride to the Indian Grand Canyon

Thanks. Yes that one came out well.