Girl with curly hair (Kuntala)

[bblost]

Kuntala falls, Andhra Pradesh.
weekend getaway from Hyderabad on NH 7.
Its roughly half way between Nagpur and Hyderabad.


My Story
My wife's friend was visting us from Pune and using this oppurtunity, I was trying to get myself out on a long ride.

Friday was a holiday at work thanks to Diwali.
Took my bike to the cleaners.
Power washed her up and then gave her a nice clean shine.
All set to take off on Saturday, riding alone and take in some road.

But, fate had different things in store.
Drove out instead with wifey and her friend in my Wagon R.
The destination Kuntala falls.
Kuntala falls lies in Adilabad district of AP.
The falls are about 45meters, making them the tallest in AP.

The route: NH 7
Took off from home at 8 AM.
drove on for till about 9:20 AM, stopped for breakfast.
idly, dosa and upma later on our way to Nirmal.
Stopped at a Reliance bunk about 32 kms before Nirmal and topped with 500/- worth of fuel.
Was told of an A1 plaze about 10 kms after Nirmal.

Entered Nirmal, slowed down, trying to spot the Arts and Crafts center, mentioned on some web sites.
Did not find it, and did not bother tooo much.

10 kms after Nirmal came to the A1 plaze. the time is 12:10 AM.
lunch completed, asked for directions to Kuntala Falls.
Problem, guy gives directions, but they would have been correct if I was coming from Adilabad.

Hit some really really bad roads.
The ghat section has started and wide roads (thankfully) but with craters all over.

I miss my Tata Safari and mostly my Grand Vitara. The reason I am not driving them is, I don't own them, yet.
anyways, 30 kms later, men wondering why men dont ask for directions, may ask women for details.

Took a U Turn, and then come to this board on the right hand side with Pochara Falls 4 kms on it.
Also a board with welcome to Kuntala on it.
Pocahara falls is like a 5 meter, dash by water.
feeling rather fizzled, ask the parking attendent the directions for Kuntala.

we reach Kuntala after about 18 kms or so.
they are a sight to behold.

the time is 4:00 PM.
we stay there till 5 and then start our drive back home.
stop at the A1 plaze for tea.
Tell the guy his directions were great and would have really helped us if we were coming in the opposite direction.

for those who wish to use my post for directions, in a nut shell
Drive on NH 7.
about 12 kms after Nirmal starts the ghat section.
after you cross this section or about 25 kms from Nirmal, there is a tar road on the right.
small board showing Kuntala falls 12 kms facing the opposite side.
If you see a board reading Pochera Falls 4 kms on the left, you have missed the Kuntala cut off.
If you reach Adilabad, then you have missed the Pochera falls cutoff by a long distance

Left from A1 as darkness starts.
No halts in the return lap, I drove about 280 kms in a lil over 3.5 hours.


Car stuff:
A 2004 Wagon R Vxi with about 27k on the odo.
Car had had a full tank of IO ordinary petrol the previous day .
At start of trip the tripmeter A was on 48 kms.
Tripmeter B was reset to zero and at the time of parking in the night read 599.7
Put in 9.46 l of Reliance petrol en route.
The next day, put in 26 l of petrol at Shell.
Over all milage was a lil under 18kmpl.
The AC was on for most part of the trip.
Driving was easy with speeds generally about 100 kmph.

The really really bad roads were for about 40 kms. (20 kms one way).
The car suspension is now a lil creaky on rough surfaces, service is anyways due.

Felt a serious lack of power in the 80 to 120 climb with AC on for overtaking.
I guess its more to do with my perception rather than anything else.
Accelerating from 80 to 120 is ok.
The problem is only when you want to overtake.

This was also my first long haul in the night with this car.
I would have appreciated a softer dip dim switch.
Found it irritating when I want to go from Hi beam into flashing mode.

But for all this, the car felt really good on good roads.

Pics can be picked here
Flickr: Photos from bblost

[simply_sunny001]

no mention of any gal with curly hair

wats with the title ?

do u call Wagon R a gal?

i'm confused.

[benbsb29]

Whats with the title?!

[bblost]

Kuntala means girl with curly hair.

[simply_sunny001]

my ist thot was that you while going for a trip encountered a gal with curly hair and she hitched a ride

a very likely and interesting scenario

isnt it, but "khoda pahad nikli chuhiya"

just kidding

[WhiteKnight]

Masterstroke......

IMO, pics inserted in the post would make it better

[RishiSuri]

Probably he is talking of the roads as the long curly hair

[gbpscars]

eh!!! do you work for Mid-Day or Mumbai Mirror kind of newspapers?

what's with the title???!!!

[bblost]

The word Kuntala means girl with curly hair.
PHEW, do I make myself clear.

[snaronikar]

By reading your post....I felt you were not interested in doing this driving or visiting Kundala falls...just kidding

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by bblost

Pics can be picked here
Flickr: Photos from bblost

The picture titled "falls" is one of the most interesting looking "waterfalls" i have seen!

cya
R

[sushrutha]

By reading at the title , I thought it's an intro for a new girlie to the group...
Opppppssssss
:-)

[vnabhi]

Clever title indeed. Almost every guy will fall for it and read the travelogue.
Anyways, congrats on your first long trip. 18kmpl is good mileage, I never got more than 16.7 on my WagonR on long trips.

[finneyp]

Nice way to grab the attention of the guys to read a travelogue

A mini waterfall compared to the big ones in Karnataka (Shivanasamudram & Jog).

[Cyberdoctorind]

It may be small but very dangerous. Lot of people lose their lifes on these falls every year and AP government does turn a blind eye on this