[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Syed_Munazzir

Cons - I wonder why the resorts at Gandikota have no online booking. They work on a first come first serve basis.

Agree with Iceman, here's the link for the booking

Resorts in Kurnool - Haritha Resorts

Originally Posted by iceman07

They have a online booking now, The booking is possible through APTDC website.

+1.

[Syed_Munazzir]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Agree with Iceman, here's the link for the booking

Resorts in Kurnool - Haritha Resorts



+1.

Great! When I had researched a couple of years back, they did not have. Or might be they had and I did not research well enough. I had also checked at the reception, I got this information from them couple of years back.

Moderators, How do I move that point from a Con to a Pro ?

[mpksuhas]

Online booking was not available when I travelled in 2014, however it has been possible since a while. May be around 2 years.

Issue is, many times it shows as room not available. One of my friend and also by brother faced this. Finally, my brother went ahead and tented near the property. However, later he came to know that rooms were available.

So I guess it's issue with software.

[cool_dube]

Anyone been to Gandikota of late? Which would be the best possible route from Bengaluru?

Thanks in advance...

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Anyone been to Gandikota of late? Which would be the best possible route from Bengaluru?

Thanks in advance...

Would strongly suggest to go via kadri. The scenery is pretty good with a combination of unusual rocky structures along the roads and vast plain fields of sunflowers. Had gone 2 months back and the roads, though a bit bad here and there, made the trip enjoyable! Visit gandikota first followed by bellum caves.
You can try the Hyderabad highway on your return journey to save time.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

You can try the Hyderabad highway on your return journey to save time.

Thanks, Abhi! I intend to do a day trip i.e. visit G'kota and be back in Bangalore the same day (rather night). What would be the optimal route, if I am not doing Belum?

[2500cc]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Thanks, Abhi! I intend to do a day trip i.e. visit G'kota and be back in Bangalore the same day (rather night). What would be the optimal route, if I am not doing Belum?

Hebbal to Gandikota via Gorantla, Kadiri, Pulivendula is about 296kms, roads are good for the most part, except in town and village limits. Early morning (~4AM ) start should help you return on the same day, also please be informed that it is has gotten too hot.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by 2500cc

Hebbal to Gandikota via Gorantla, Kadiri, Pulivendula is about 296km

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Would strongly suggest to go via kadri

Thanks for all the tips, guys! Eventually decided to make it a 2-day trip so as to do justice to the place and what it has to offer - and I am glad I did

Here is a low-down on the routes taken:

Onward route: Bangalore - Gorantla - Kadiri- Pulivendula - Muddanur - Gandikota. Road conditions vary from excellent to okay-ish. While the countryside is lovely, passing through the towns en-route slows you down, except Pulivendula, which surprised me with an excellent bypass!!

Return route: I try and take a different return route for most of my trips, if at all possible and this was no exception. Return route was Gandikota - Muddanur - Tadipatiri - Anantpur - Chikkaballapura - Bangalore. While longer by almost 70 km, overall road conditions were much better than the onward route, and as a result, took me just about 45 minutes more than the onward route. Muddanur - Tadipatri highway is a lovely, butter-smooth stretch of tarmac except for a bad patch of about 3 km near Tadipatri where road work is still in progress, albeit in full swing and should be completed soon. From there on till Anantpur, you get a wonderful 4-lane highway! Have provided a pic from the Muddanur-Tadipatri stretch for reference.

As for Gandikota, there is not much for me to add to the wonderful log by OP. Few quick bites:

• Stayed at APTDC Haritha. Good that I booked in advance (online) as the place was full on my night of stay, probably being a Saturday. I was surprised since this does not qualify to be a summer destination for sure.
• Daytime temperatures were REALLY high - it touched 43 deg C in the afternoon and there is not much that you can do in the 12-4 window except take a nice nap in the A/C room, which is exactly what I did
• APTDC Haritha is just about okay, with maintenance levels at par with what you'd expect from a govt. run place. Rooms are basic but fairly clean. The other option is a place called "Freak Out Zone" which is a tented accommodation setup, in tie-up with APTDC. They provide a/c Swiss tents at Rs. 2,500 per night and basic/regular tents at Rs. 1,500 per night. They do NOT provide meals, however, and one has to rely on Haritha for the same, since other options in town are very basic.
• A drive up to the windmills area is a must-do, for the awesome views of the fort it provides
• The hike to the view point at the edge of the gorge is quite demanding and risky to an extent, not advised to be done with younger kids. One has to cross over hundreds of rocks, which is fun in dry weather but could be quite treacherous during/after rains when the rocks are wet.

I will be happy to help with any questions anyone has regarding the route or the place.

[abhi7013]

Glad you decided to extend by a day rather than hurry through. Just a quick question: were the sunflowers in full bloom on the way to gandikota? Its acres and acres of flat land and i failed to note down the village names nearby that location. Just wondering if you happened to notice it!

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

were the sunflowers in full bloom on the way to gandikota? Its acres and acres of flat land and i failed to note down the village names nearby that location. Just wondering if you happened to notice it!

Nope - not one! Probably this is not the season.

Taking the liberty to add some more pics:

Awesome view of the fort from "windmills road"


Main attraction - the "gandi" on which the "kota" is built, shot around sunset


Same location shot at sunrise


Lovely piece of architecture inside the fort


These are the Swiss tents I was referring to


My room at APTDC Hatitha. Note the stairs leading up to the terrace - nice touch, albeit not safe for kids

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Here is a low-down on the routes taken:

How about an even longer route? Bangalore - HYD highway - Gooty - Jammalamadugu - Gandikota? Any idea about the current condition of this route? I am considering this route since that could give me a chance to view the Gooty Fort (I am wondering whether it is worth a visit with family). Also planning to take the same route on my way back and visit Belum Caves.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

How about an even longer route? Bangalore - HYD highway - Gooty - Jammalamadugu - Gandikota? Any idea about the current condition of this route? I am considering this route since that could give me a chance to view the

...

Also planning to take the same route on my way back and visit Belum Caves.

Gooty may be a long one. Anantpur-Belum is easy. You can do that and visit the caves and drive to Gandi via Jammalamadugu.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

How about an even longer route? Bangalore - HYD highway - Gooty - Jammalamadugu - Gandikota?

Originally Posted by ampere

Gooty may be a long one. Anantpur-Belum is easy. You can do that and visit the caves and drive to Gandi via Jammalamadugu.

Would agree with Amp here. No point going via Gooty unless you necessarily want to visit Gooty fort.

[mpksuhas]

Though distance is bit more, Gooty may make sense if you are planning on doing the trip in one day. You would be able to cover more distance that way.

Added advantage, Gooty BP COCO.

[SAMUDRA]

Did a day ride to Belum & Gandikota on 20 Dec 2019.

Route
Bangalore (Hebbal) - Bagepalli - Anantpur (out skirts) - Tadipatri - belum
Distance ~ 300 Kms
Ride Time : 6 hrs (includes Breakfast break & 3 tea breaks
Road Condition : Very Good 4 Lane till Tadipatri. Good condition (though broken at few places) 2 lane from Tadipatri to belum

Stoppage
Belum Caves - Jammalamadugu - Gandikota
Distance ~ 65 Kms
Road Condition : Average condition 2 lane road
Ride Time : 1 hr 15 mins


Return
Gandikota - Pulivendula - Kadiri - Gorantla - Bagepalli - Bangalore (hebbal)
Distance ~ 275 Kms
Road Condition : Good 2 Lane till Gorantla. and 4 lane from Gorantla to Bangalore
Ride Time : 5 hrs (includes 3 tea breaks)

Ride :
Though I own 3 mile munchers at home (XUV 500, TB Avl, CBR250R). When It comes to travelling solo, my TB Avl is my trusted partner in crime. with over a lakh Kms of togetherness I still prefer her for doing my solo runs. unlike my CBR who can cruise all day at 110+ Kmph. She gently cruises at 80-90 Kmph and still gives me 35+ Kmpl on highway runs.

Trivia : I found my TB on T-BHP classifieds 10 years back. with just over 1K in 1 year. she was just waiting to be set free (currently she has done more than 110K Kms)


Coming to the Ride. I had decided to leave home early at 5 AM so that I could be back home by midnight 12. so the previous evening before every ride the following is my check list
1. Helmet & Bluetooth head set
2. Riding Jacket & Knee guard
3. Woodland Shoes ( believe me this reduces the foot peg vibration creeping into your body by over 80%)
4. My trusted bag with the following items in it

1. Repair kit & Medical Kit
2. Spare Tube
3. Documents (RC, Insurence, License & Pollution certificate)
4. Rain coat
5. Powerbank & Clip-ons for my prescription glasss
6. spare key for the bike
7. Spare Engine oil (after all it's a bullet)
8. Chain spray
9. backup cash & 1 debit card with limited amt
10. 1 spare T-Shirt & 1 pair of socks (as it was a day trip)
11. Tissues to wipe helmet Visor (if you do ride during twilight you'll notice the swarm of flies on your helmet)

so after ticking through the list. went to sleep early with Alarm set to 4 & 4:30 AM.

Next morning woke up sharp at 4:30AM got ready by 5:00AM. started the bike and was on my way by 5:10AM. by the time I reached KIAL it was 5:30 AM with some shops open. grabbed a cup of tea, 2 bananas & a water bottle and was again on my way.

Nightmare at 5:45 AM
Though there was some fog near the Airport, I never thought it would scare the life out of me. After crossing the Airport toll gate the fog was becoming thicker and thicker. I noticed that my 90/100 head light was not able to penetrate the fog which resulted in poor visibility. basically I could not see more than 10 mts.
just to see if pulling up the visor made any difference, I pushed up my visor & all hell brakes loose. as soon I opened the visor the hot air from my respiration fogged my glasses and that's it, I had first hand experience of driving bike without being able to see. also during this brief moment my sons, spouse, parents, friends & well wishers passed in front of my eyes and my heart was in my mouth , I somehow managed to stop the bike on the side of the road and started to think whether I should continue the trip or not...



Moment of Enlightenment
On the side of the Road, with my mind telling me why take risk go back home & have a good sleep. my heart then tells me you dropped this ride twice before

1. When no-body from friends group agreed on the dates
2. When I had to cancel the trip just a day before to work in office during weekend

Finally with god's grace & also a mini truck's grace I started with my onward journey.
I followed the mini truck till Chikkaballapur bypass after which the fog cleared and I was on my way.

After the initial hiccups, It was 7AM and I crossed Bagepalli toll and at around 8:30 AM was near marur Toll plaza. by this time I was hungry and had idli's at a road side hotel. checked with the guys at the hotel whether Anantpur - Gooty - Tadipatri (as this was a national highway) route was good or direct Anantpur - tadipatri was good enough. they clearly told to take Anantpur - tadipatri road as it was also a 4 lane road.

At around 11AM, I arrived at belum with a temperature of around 32 degrees.
Parked Bike, bought tickets (Rs 65 for Adults)




Belum Caves (pronounced Bell-um)
Before stepping into the cave, I never had much expectation from the place. my initial thoughts were that "This place is so far away from major cities and right in the outskirts of quarry town tadipatri" so basically I thought it would be smelly, dingy & dark and sure to make me claustrophobic.

I was pleasantly surprised when I entered the cavern. It was huge, airy at the entrance and had good lightening through out. There were a few people here and there, and I started missing my Group, at-least my wife yaar.. as it's scary at some places and I was alone.

After spending more than an hour inside, I was practically wet with sweat. whenever I found a fresh air vent, I used to stand under it for a couple of mins and then move on.

here are some snaps for you guys.












Finally I was convinced that, "Yes" we still have some tourism spots which are still kept clean and maintained properly.

After a brief visit of belum caves (1 hr 30 mins to be precise). I was now hungry both mentally and physically.
to fill my physical hunger headed to a nearby hotel and had couple of chapati's. and as usual had the chapati's as the side dish for the Andra pappu. Once my 34" waist was full enough, it was time for my mental hunger to be satisfied. whether to go to Gandikota and proceed towards bangalore or directly go to bangalore from Belum and be home by 7 PM.
Finally Sense prevailed. Decided to go to gandikota and then proceed to bangalore. so at 1PM left for gandikota.

Gandikota (Grand Canyon of India)
After travelling around 65+ Kms. I entered Gandikota at 2:30PM. from a distance the fort, gorge and the view looks like a direct set from the early 60-70's American cowboy movies.
I will not be able to explain it in words the beauty of this place.





Some Bad things
One thing that I really hated about Gandikota is the fact that, people who come there have thrown away so many liquor bottles that it's become a boozers paradise. broken bottles & glass pieces are everywhere. so much so that if you are not careful with where you step you are sure to get injured.

Some Good things
You can rent a tent at the edge of the canyon. and you are sure to get a good Sunrise and Sunset view. Cost price per person for the tent stay with lunch, dinner & breakfast is a Rs 1000

I cannot tell more about the stay as I was there for only a couple of hrs. After seeing the gorge and the fort. I decided to leave the place with a heavy heart.
The next thing for me was to reach back home by max 12 midnight.

On the way back, I crossed pulivendula and on the way to kadiri, I came across this beautiful place Sri siddalingeshwara swamy temple . The temple is right under the ledge of a huge rock. and going further down the road you will find the main road cutting across a hill exposing the sides of the hill in a majestic manner.

finally reached the outskirts of Gorantla at around 6:00 PM with light fading fast and adhering to google maps advice took a wrong road towards bagepalli. after couple of kms on the road came back to kadiri - gorantla road and at around 6:30 PM reached the highway.

and 2 hours drive with a tea break at airport I was back home by 8:30 PM. with sore body and a refreshed mind. I thought I have to blog this some where, so that people like me will get to know what's out there.

Signing out for now
your's truly