Weekend Trip to Srisailam (17th March)

kiranpashtakar · 20th March 2007, 14:44

After 1 year in Hyderabad we finally materialized our long pending trip to srisailam.

It was just me and my wife for the trip.
Total Dist : 432KMS with some sightseeing around Srisailam
Fuel Consumed : 30 Litres
Time Taken : 4 Hours for one way trip.

17th March: 4 AM alarm goes off and I get up with a grumpy mood on being woken so early. And it took me a couple of minutes to realise why I was up so early, the thought had a profound effect on mood. I was all excited to make the trip since I was looking forward to do this for a long time.
We had a quick bath and my wife was insistent on cooking something for breakfast before we headed out much against my views of having it outside.
When you are married for more than 3 years you are quick to realise when you are on the losing end of the argument and you just conceed and move on with life.
On another note this was a very wise decision since there was only one decent place where you could stop over to grab a bite.
Any one making this trip.. please be aware of this.

[FONT=Helv][SIZE=2]5: 30AM we are set to go. The car was cleant the previous night and cursory checks completed for the travel.
So afer a small prayer (another practice imbibed to keep the boss happy) we were ready to roll

We hit the Kondapur - Mehdipatnam - NH7 ring road and moved straight from the NH7 junction towards the srisailam highway.
The roads were almost choked with the truck traffic could'nt figure out the reason because this was not normal, anyways we had a pretty speedy trip till the SH to srisailam

The srisailam highway is pretty narrow at the onset but once the city is behind you, the roads widen marginally.
Kept the speeds at about 80 - 100 though the roads were empty, but narrow and specially there were lot of rural junta commuting with bullock carts, tractors and two wheelers and no sir you cant mess with them. God forbid if you happen to bang one of them though not your fault, it could just be a slight that the other partly was completely at fault, but the Junta has to teach the city slickers a lesson "never to travel on rural roads".
On contrast individually they are a nice, jolly bunch and ever helpfull and most of the times not for the moolah.
So I was just being safe and minding my own business with all the safety factored into my driving.
It was very pleasant and nice till 7:30 when we took a small break to grab a bite just about 100KMS from hyd.
Post this the sun was up and the AC had to be switched on but the pleasure with my Baleno is you can never make out the difference even in the hills.

We passed two forest checkposts, where they were surprised to know I was from hyderabad and driving a karnataka registered vehicle. At the second checkpost I had some trouble with the guards on this issue and they insisted on my papers, rc book etc. I settled their curiosity and all their attention to work with a 20 buck note.
Not that I did not have any documents, I had everything but I know from my earlier experiences that "Lakshmi" is insistent to leave me during such instances or you end showing your PUC, RC Book, Insurance, passport copy for Id , licence and the field where it is marked that you are licensed to drive a car etc etc.. the list will go on, till you say "NO" to one of their questions and depending on the gravity of what you do not have you settle for a price.
Any ways this was just to caution people who are intending to make this trip.

Between the two checkposts, there is this nice forest stretch which was amazing,
We got the first glimpse of the srisalam dam when were about 30 KMS away from srisailam.

Once you reach the dam area there is a shortcut by going on top of the dam for which the cops demanded 200 Bucks, My principles prohibited me from bribing and took the longer route which everyone was taking. The RTC buses are horrible menance on the ghat stretches there was this blind curve that I was climbing and a RTC bus climbing down almost pushed me into the wall. Whatever happned to the right of way lies with the person ascending.

We reached Srisailam at about 9:30 where you need a pay to enter the town. At this toll gate the temple authorities frisk people, I don't know what's this for but it must be something, that family with kids would not carry since I saw many sumo's and cars with families and kids moving without being checked. But boy were they thorough at their job, they went through a fine comb from the bonnet to the stephney in the boot. I contemplated on the "money" angle but dismissed the thought and let the guys do their job since they were from the temple , I need to hand it to them they did this throughly and professionally no pranks or such.
I had booked a room at Punnami group of APTDC, 1200 bucks for a double AC room with breakfast.

We rushed to have a darshan after unpacking and having a quick shower since my wife has CCD (Compusive cleaning Disorder)

This was my second shower in a six hour span.

The que was serpentine and was not sure if the temple would be open till the time we could get our turn, though I hated it I went looking for a special darshan, the attender there gave a ticket of 50 bucks a head, which circumvented the long line and were permitted to enter the temple but there was long line here as well before we entered the temple sanctum(garbha gruha), apparently there was another drashan called shregraha darshan for 100 bucks a head which took one straight to the temle where we just walk in for the darshan, I was now regretting for not asking at the counter of the various options but then recounciled thinking that God has a way of punishing its only that we need to understand how he is doing it and learn from it.
Now that the darshan was over after waiting for 2 hours we headed back to the hotel for our lunch and my much needed sleep.
The lunch was mediocre and the accomadation was the most comfortable one in srisailam.
Evening we did the rope way to see the "pathala gange" and the aptdc organised boat ride on the backwaters of the dam.
A little bit if sight seeing around and a bit of shopping for "BANGLES" (god ... wonder why there are so many bangle stores here at the temple town). My wife drove me nuts selecting 12 sets of bangles which took care of the rest of the evening I indulged in a bit of spiritual books CD's, and the likes.
Altogether a nice evening,
18th March : Awoke early to find my better half in distress because of two large lizards the size of chameleons occupying our bathroom. Had to call the house keeping to help bid farewell to our guests.
We did another quick darshan this time there was no long line since we were up pretty early. Had breakfast and did another round of the places around srisailam like the highest point where there is : "Nandi" installed overlooking the temple and the guide there promised that we would be sent to heaven if we saw the shiva linga from between the ears of the Nandi. No offence meant but it was very hard for me to digest this and explained to my wife that if we may be sent heaven in the process of being able to go to heaven. ( If we fall off the cliff trying to see the shiva linga throught the nandi's ears)
Back to hotel and packed and checked out 12 Noon and we were on our way back to Hyderabad. As mentioned earlier there is no decent place where we could risk having food so we headed straight for home and reached by 4: 30 PM counting in 30 mins break since I was very drowsy and and to pull over for a quick shut eye.
Over all a good drive and worrth the visit.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

suren181 · 20th March 2007, 16:49

Hmmmmm.... have been here in Hyderabad for about 6 years now but need to say that you just motivated me to go to Srisailam something that I havent done all these years. Will plan a trip soon and trouble you for the finer details in the bargain...

Need to mention that it was a neat and crisp narration of a trip well made.

rkg · 20th March 2007, 21:56

srisailam and rameswramare the only jyotirlinga in south. cops check u bec it is in nallamala forest area which is the stronghold naxalites. eversince the attempt on the life of naidu at tirupati hills they check every where esp hill temples.

envyravi · 10th May 2007, 22:22

Hi all of you. I became a member recently, though been a regular browser for the last 6 months. I am also planning to drive to Srisailam this month on my Wagonr Lxi. We are three-wife and 13 year old daughter. I want advice from other members on:

1. Is it safe? Driving Wagonron ghat roads with lots of steep curves.
2. Can I return on the same day without stopping for the night?

Thanks in advance

mobike008 · 10th May 2007, 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by envyravi

Hi all of you. I became a member recently, though been a regular browser for the last 6 months. I am also planning to drive to Srisailam this month on my Wagonr Lxi. We are three-wife and 13 year old daughter. I want advice from other members on:

1. Is it safe? Driving Wagonron ghat roads with lots of steep curves.
2. Can I return on the same day without stopping for the night?

Thanks in advance

I have done Srisailam several times in my earlier car ( santro) and even the present one and also been to this piligrimage center on bikes. So going in a WagonR is absolutely no problem, though the ghat section will be terribly lonely ( about 30-40kms), so do check ur spare tyres and do try to travel during day time. For e.g if you leave like Kiran left early morning u will reach by 10am and after darshan even if u start by 3pm you will reach back hyderabad by 7pm or latest 8pm.

Cheers and have a nice time!

envyravi · 11th May 2007, 18:51

Thank you mobike008. I am planning to go there this Sunday. Iwill share my experiences after the trip.

ravi@64bhp · 26th May 2007, 12:34

It seems many from Hyderabad are planning to go to Srisailam, including me on my Wagon-R. How about going together all

?

Ravi@ I have recently gone to Tirupathi in my WagonR Lxi (same as yours

). It is absolutely fine to do ghats with this tallboy. The only thing is you need to be very careful at deep curves and should be very slow.

envyravi · 26th May 2007, 21:47

I went there on 13th this month. It was real fun. Started at 6-30 am and reached the place at 11.30 with -4 halts (1 hr). Had break fast at Dindi in HP plaza. The best part was on the ghat road and the forest. After darshan and seeing a few places including the dam and river bed reached DRDL at 7 pm. however it took me 2 hrs from there to my house in Maredpally due to traffic jam at no. of places. In fact there were a lot of traffic jams in the city that eek due to no. of VIP marriages.
I realised that long distanc on WagonR is very comfortable. The drive is fantastic at speed of 80 km. You feel like you are sailing on water. Throughout a maintained sped betwen 60 to 80. Many times i touched 110, but i sincerely advise not to go beyond 100. This trip ia 4th in a series of long sunday travels in April/May. It all started with the visit to vargal about 50 ms from Secunderabad, followed by Basar (200 Kms) nagarjun sagar (150 kms) and then Srisailam. Next I am planning visits to Vemulawada near Karimnagar, Alampur (Mahaboob Nagar), Ramappa temple and Warangal fort, Mantralayam, Chennai, Mumbai and Hampi. Now after reading your post I am tempted to go to Tirumala. Suggestions on any other interesting places are welcome.

romyeo4u · 28th May 2007, 03:07

infact i'm also planning to do the trip.

wanted few good places to see around Hyd which are less than 500k for weekends.

any suggestions?

all i can think of are temples ........

Srisailam,Badrachalam,Basar,Warangal,N.sagar any other places ??

suggestions are welcome

PVS · 30th November 2007, 18:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by romyeo4u

Srisailam,Badrachalam,Basar,Warangal,N.sagar any other places ??
suggestions are welcome

You can try Tadoba Wildlife sanctuary near Chandrapur in MH. Drive to Karimnagar and beyond will be good. I have not visited this place myself, but have so far got good feedback on the Karimnagar Highway and the Tadoba sanctuary.

On a Lazy Sunday, you might even drive down to Zaheerabad (2 hours either way) and enjoy the tasty Telangana food, at Cafe Ethnic. You have a board on the main road (NH 9) giving directions to Cafe Ethnic.

mobike008 · 1st December 2007, 11:26

Wow, you dug out a 6 month old post

PVS · 1st December 2007, 14:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008

Wow, you dug out a 6 month old post

Trying to increase my posts!! Had nothing much to do yesterday; and Travelogues happens to be one of my favourite sections on T-BHP!

TrueDreamer · 1st December 2007, 19:14

Nice one. Digging up post up like this would do more good than harm in my opinion

mobike008 · 3rd December 2007, 13:25

Nice to see some activity from Hyderabad folks.

Keep it up guys and do watch out the tbhp meet section for next Hyderabad drive-cum-meet and do join up

)

vnabhi · 3rd December 2007, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008

Nice to see some activity from Hyderabad folks.

Keep it up guys and do watch out the tbhp meet section for next Hyderabad drive-cum-meet and do join up

)

When are where is that?

20th March 2007, 14:44	#1
kiranpashtakar BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bangalore/Hyderabad Posts: 257 Thanked: 7 Times	Weekend Trip to Srisailam (17th March) After 1 year in Hyderabad we finally materialized our long pending trip to srisailam. It was just me and my wife for the trip. Total Dist : 432KMS with some sightseeing around Srisailam Fuel Consumed : 30 Litres Time Taken : 4 Hours for one way trip. 17th March: 4 AM alarm goes off and I get up with a grumpy mood on being woken so early. And it took me a couple of minutes to realise why I was up so early, the thought had a profound effect on mood. I was all excited to make the trip since I was looking forward to do this for a long time. We had a quick bath and my wife was insistent on cooking something for breakfast before we headed out much against my views of having it outside. When you are married for more than 3 years you are quick to realise when you are on the losing end of the argument and you just conceed and move on with life. On another note this was a very wise decision since there was only one decent place where you could stop over to grab a bite. Any one making this trip.. please be aware of this. [FONT=Helv][SIZE=2]5: 30AM we are set to go. The car was cleant the previous night and cursory checks completed for the travel. So afer a small prayer (another practice imbibed to keep the boss happy) we were ready to roll We hit the Kondapur - Mehdipatnam - NH7 ring road and moved straight from the NH7 junction towards the srisailam highway. The roads were almost choked with the truck traffic could'nt figure out the reason because this was not normal, anyways we had a pretty speedy trip till the SH to srisailam The srisailam highway is pretty narrow at the onset but once the city is behind you, the roads widen marginally. Kept the speeds at about 80 - 100 though the roads were empty, but narrow and specially there were lot of rural junta commuting with bullock carts, tractors and two wheelers and no sir you cant mess with them. God forbid if you happen to bang one of them though not your fault, it could just be a slight that the other partly was completely at fault, but the Junta has to teach the city slickers a lesson "never to travel on rural roads". On contrast individually they are a nice, jolly bunch and ever helpfull and most of the times not for the moolah. So I was just being safe and minding my own business with all the safety factored into my driving. It was very pleasant and nice till 7:30 when we took a small break to grab a bite just about 100KMS from hyd. Post this the sun was up and the AC had to be switched on but the pleasure with my Baleno is you can never make out the difference even in the hills. We passed two forest checkposts, where they were surprised to know I was from hyderabad and driving a karnataka registered vehicle. At the second checkpost I had some trouble with the guards on this issue and they insisted on my papers, rc book etc. I settled their curiosity and all their attention to work with a 20 buck note. Not that I did not have any documents, I had everything but I know from my earlier experiences that "Lakshmi" is insistent to leave me during such instances or you end showing your PUC, RC Book, Insurance, passport copy for Id , licence and the field where it is marked that you are licensed to drive a car etc etc.. the list will go on, till you say "NO" to one of their questions and depending on the gravity of what you do not have you settle for a price. Any ways this was just to caution people who are intending to make this trip. Between the two checkposts, there is this nice forest stretch which was amazing, We got the first glimpse of the srisalam dam when were about 30 KMS away from srisailam. Once you reach the dam area there is a shortcut by going on top of the dam for which the cops demanded 200 Bucks, My principles prohibited me from bribing and took the longer route which everyone was taking. The RTC buses are horrible menance on the ghat stretches there was this blind curve that I was climbing and a RTC bus climbing down almost pushed me into the wall. Whatever happned to the right of way lies with the person ascending. We reached Srisailam at about 9:30 where you need a pay to enter the town. At this toll gate the temple authorities frisk people, I don't know what's this for but it must be something, that family with kids would not carry since I saw many sumo's and cars with families and kids moving without being checked. But boy were they thorough at their job, they went through a fine comb from the bonnet to the stephney in the boot. I contemplated on the "money" angle but dismissed the thought and let the guys do their job since they were from the temple , I need to hand it to them they did this throughly and professionally no pranks or such. I had booked a room at Punnami group of APTDC, 1200 bucks for a double AC room with breakfast. We rushed to have a darshan after unpacking and having a quick shower since my wife has CCD (Compusive cleaning Disorder) This was my second shower in a six hour span. The que was serpentine and was not sure if the temple would be open till the time we could get our turn, though I hated it I went looking for a special darshan, the attender there gave a ticket of 50 bucks a head, which circumvented the long line and were permitted to enter the temple but there was long line here as well before we entered the temple sanctum(garbha gruha), apparently there was another drashan called shregraha darshan for 100 bucks a head which took one straight to the temle where we just walk in for the darshan, I was now regretting for not asking at the counter of the various options but then recounciled thinking that God has a way of punishing its only that we need to understand how he is doing it and learn from it. Now that the darshan was over after waiting for 2 hours we headed back to the hotel for our lunch and my much needed sleep. The lunch was mediocre and the accomadation was the most comfortable one in srisailam. Evening we did the rope way to see the "pathala gange" and the aptdc organised boat ride on the backwaters of the dam. A little bit if sight seeing around and a bit of shopping for "BANGLES" (god ... wonder why there are so many bangle stores here at the temple town). My wife drove me nuts selecting 12 sets of bangles which took care of the rest of the evening I indulged in a bit of spiritual books CD's, and the likes. Altogether a nice evening, 18th March : Awoke early to find my better half in distress because of two large lizards the size of chameleons occupying our bathroom. Had to call the house keeping to help bid farewell to our guests. We did another quick darshan this time there was no long line since we were up pretty early. Had breakfast and did another round of the places around srisailam like the highest point where there is : "Nandi" installed overlooking the temple and the guide there promised that we would be sent to heaven if we saw the shiva linga from between the ears of the Nandi. No offence meant but it was very hard for me to digest this and explained to my wife that if we may be sent heaven in the process of being able to go to heaven. ( If we fall off the cliff trying to see the shiva linga throught the nandi's ears) Back to hotel and packed and checked out 12 Noon and we were on our way back to Hyderabad. As mentioned earlier there is no decent place where we could risk having food so we headed straight for home and reached by 4: 30 PM counting in 30 mins break since I was very drowsy and and to pull over for a quick shut eye. Over all a good drive and worrth the visit. [/SIZE][/FONT]
	(1) Thanks

20th March 2007, 16:49	#2
suren181 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 850 Thanked: 11 Times View My Garage	Good description Hmmmmm.... have been here in Hyderabad for about 6 years now but need to say that you just motivated me to go to Srisailam something that I havent done all these years. Will plan a trip soon and trouble you for the finer details in the bargain... Need to mention that it was a neat and crisp narration of a trip well made.
	() Thanks

20th March 2007, 21:56	#3
rkg Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: bangalore Posts: 1,044 Thanked: 594 Times	srisailam and rameswramare the only jyotirlinga in south. cops check u bec it is in nallamala forest area which is the stronghold naxalites. eversince the attempt on the life of naidu at tirupati hills they check every where esp hill temples.
	() Thanks

10th May 2007, 22:22	#4
envyravi BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Secunderabad Posts: 75 Thanked: 47 Times	To Srisailam on WagonR Hi all of you. I became a member recently, though been a regular browser for the last 6 months. I am also planning to drive to Srisailam this month on my Wagonr Lxi. We are three-wife and 13 year old daughter. I want advice from other members on: 1. Is it safe? Driving Wagonron ghat roads with lots of steep curves. 2. Can I return on the same day without stopping for the night? Thanks in advance
	() Thanks

11th May 2007, 18:51	#6
envyravi BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Secunderabad Posts: 75 Thanked: 47 Times	Thank you mobike008. I am planning to go there this Sunday. Iwill share my experiences after the trip.
	() Thanks

26th May 2007, 12:34	#7
ravi@64bhp BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 602 Thanked: 10 Times	It seems many from Hyderabad are planning to go to Srisailam, including me on my Wagon-R. How about going together all? Ravi@ I have recently gone to Tirupathi in my WagonR Lxi (same as yours). It is absolutely fine to do ghats with this tallboy. The only thing is you need to be very careful at deep curves and should be very slow.
	() Thanks

26th May 2007, 21:47	#8
envyravi BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Secunderabad Posts: 75 Thanked: 47 Times	I went there on 13th this month. It was real fun. Started at 6-30 am and reached the place at 11.30 with -4 halts (1 hr). Had break fast at Dindi in HP plaza. The best part was on the ghat road and the forest. After darshan and seeing a few places including the dam and river bed reached DRDL at 7 pm. however it took me 2 hrs from there to my house in Maredpally due to traffic jam at no. of places. In fact there were a lot of traffic jams in the city that eek due to no. of VIP marriages. I realised that long distanc on WagonR is very comfortable. The drive is fantastic at speed of 80 km. You feel like you are sailing on water. Throughout a maintained sped betwen 60 to 80. Many times i touched 110, but i sincerely advise not to go beyond 100. This trip ia 4th in a series of long sunday travels in April/May. It all started with the visit to vargal about 50 ms from Secunderabad, followed by Basar (200 Kms) nagarjun sagar (150 kms) and then Srisailam. Next I am planning visits to Vemulawada near Karimnagar, Alampur (Mahaboob Nagar), Ramappa temple and Warangal fort, Mantralayam, Chennai, Mumbai and Hampi. Now after reading your post I am tempted to go to Tirumala. Suggestions on any other interesting places are welcome.
	() Thanks

28th May 2007, 03:07	#9
romyeo4u BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hyderabad - Now Bangalore Posts: 299 Thanked: 13 Times	infact i'm also planning to do the trip. wanted few good places to see around Hyd which are less than 500k for weekends. any suggestions? all i can think of are temples ........ Srisailam,Badrachalam,Basar,Warangal,N.sagar any other places ?? suggestions are welcome
	() Thanks

1st December 2007, 11:26	#11
mobike008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 11,702 Thanked: 14,823 Times View My Garage	Wow, you dug out a 6 month old post
	() Thanks

1st December 2007, 19:14	#13
TrueDreamer BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 276 Thanked: 16 Times	Nice one. Digging up post up like this would do more good than harm in my opinion
	() Thanks

3rd December 2007, 13:25	#14
mobike008 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 11,702 Thanked: 14,823 Times View My Garage	Nice to see some activity from Hyderabad folks. Keep it up guys and do watch out the tbhp meet section for next Hyderabad drive-cum-meet and do join up )
	() Thanks