[brownkaiser]

Prologue:

Hyderabad has a lot to offer for anyone shifting here. Great food, wide roads (ORR), easy access to all major cities (Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, etc.), a lot of exotic cars on the road, decent weather albeit with a harsh summer, booming IT services, and economical prices. However, what Hyderabad doesn’t have is a lot of good spots for a nice weekend drive.

I grew up along the coast and after shifting to Hyderabad, I always look at my friends in other cities with a lot of jealousy. Bangalore has numerous weekend drives, Chennai is along a coast, Kerala is a tourist spot on its own, and Pune/Mumbai has a coast and a few great places to visit on weekends.

It has been a few years since I settled here, and I’m writing this, a rather amateur attempt, to bring out a few hidden gems in Hyderabad, that will quench the weekend-drive thirst of many fellow BHPians. These travelogues will act as a guide for fellow travelers and won't have the finesse you find in others.

Trip Specifics:

• The Car: Mahindra XUV 5OO W11 (O) AT
• Team: Myself & spouse
• Trip: 220 kms (approx.)
• Time: One day (8 AM – 6 PM)
• Date: June 2022
• Locations:
  o Medak Church
  o Medak Fort
  o Pocharam Reservoir Lake
  o Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary

Few pictures:

Note: Pictures were taken via my smartphone.







Since this was a quick drive, we did not plan or do something specific before the trip. Carried the usual things like water, a few snacks, & tire inflator. Had a good breakfast and started by around 8-8:30 AM. Limped through the chaotic Hyderabad traffic and reached our first spot for the day, by around 10 AM, covering 90 kms approx.

For people West of Hyderabad, the best route will be to reach Gundlapochampally via ORR and pass through Narsapur to reach Medak. The roads are in good condition and there is a toll booth in between. You will find a lot of monkeys on the roadside, near Narsapur.

[brownkaiser]

Medak Church

This is one of the largest churches in India and also is 98 years old. Built in a Gothic Revival style architecture, it can accommodate 5,000 people at a time. Imported mosaic tiles from Britain were used by skilled Italian masons to construct the church. The biggest attraction is the stained glass depicting the life of Jesus Christ. However, us being us, overlooked a simple fact. That it is Sunday and there will be mass at the church. I could see the entire 5,000 people there, but thankfully, they had an even bigger parking facility.

We did not go inside due to the rush and the fact that religious activity was happening. However, could walk around and see everything from the outside. The church is indeed huge and is definitely a one-time visit.


Front elevation view.


Few pointers:

• The church is opposite to Medak bus stand and has a blue-color arch entry on the main road. So, tough to miss.
• There is ample parking. A huge open ground and was only partially full, on a busy Sunday.
• Could not find any washrooms outside (or might have missed it due to the rush).
• There are disinfection tunnels, but they were not in working condition.
• Please carry a mask and be mindful of the rush.

[brownkaiser]

Medak Fort

Since we wrapped up the Church visit sooner than expected, we headed out to Medak Fort. As always, followed Google Maps but it started taking us through narrow routes. We ended up somewhere but when we looked up, we saw a part of the fort on top of a hill we were adjacent to. Asked the locals there about the way to the Fort, and they said that they haven’t heard of such a Fort

Took a reverse and came out and was frustrated enough to return to our next location, but my wife was insisting on going ahead in another route and we traveled through some non-existent narrow roads to finally see a board ‘Haritha Heritage’. For those who don’t know, Haritha is a group of hotel chains that belongs to the Telangana Government. We knew that the hotel was along with the fort, so we went up the narrow road, taking 4 ‘hair-pin’ bends to reach the hotel.

The hotel has 2 or more rooms, overlooking the small district and has an average restaurant. The owner was a good guy and told us that the fort will take 40 minutes to cover. We had some cool drinks from there and ordered lunch. He agreed to keep it ready by the time we were back.

The fort was constructed by the Kakatiya King Rudra Deva, somewhere in the 12th century and later a mosque was built by Qutub Shahis in the 17th century. The fort has 3 entrances and we could see various emblems and carvings of lions & elephants on these entry arches. There were hardly any people there and we took our own sweet time exploring.

I’ll let pictures do the talking:


One of the entrance arch where you can see the carvings of elephants on both sides.




A small pond on top of the fort.




The view from the top of the fort.


We took about an hour and came down to have food. Once the owner saw us, he brought out our order in another 5-10 minutes, giving us time to use the washroom and freshen up. We ordered vegetarian since we did not want to take risks, and the food was good. We had multiple cool drinks, fried rice, paneer curry and etc, and the bill was INR 425.

Few pointers:

• Search for Haritha Heritage hotel in case it is difficult to find the fort. They have kept a sign board for the hotel near one of the narrow roads.
• The way up is tight for a huge car, and also for a medium car if another car comes the opposite way.
• Parking is limited and has a capacity of 6-7 cars.
• Washrooms are strictly average however, there are monkeys roaming around. So be careful with items in hand and also, they might be inside the washrooms as well.
• The fort is not a cakewalk as there is a lot to climb/ walk and it was extremely sunny that day. A suggestion is to take it slow.

[brownkaiser]

Pocharam Reservoir Lake

With our bodies recharged, we headed out to our next location, Pocharam Reservoir Lake. We had initially thought of going to the Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary and we did go there. But the team there said that since it was peak noon 1-1:30 pm, we would hardly see anything. Hence, we pushed off to the lake, which was very close by.

There was another group who went ahead of us from the sanctuary and we were following them. However, we missed them after a curve, and Google Maps suggested a route that we took blindly. although there was no road. The people on the road were staring at us, and once we reached a little ahead, we understood why. There was no road and on top of it, we had reached a point that looked like a mini bund where water had dried up. Mind said to take reverse but then we went ahead anyway. We could click some pics, although it was a little concerning at some point since we really did not know what was ahead. Somehow, we reached the spot where everyone had parked their cars and understood that there is a different route to reach the lake.

The lake was serene and calm. There was not much rush as expected and we could see a lot of families having a picnic. We went till the end to click some pictures and drove back since the heat was a bit too much to take. While going back, we took the same route through which we came, just to take a few more pics.


A wide-angle shot to get the perspective.



A pic to show how uneven the surface was.



Kind of love this angle.


Few pointers:

• Stick to the main road to reach the lake.
• Ample parking is available on the premises.
• A lot of areas with trees and shade if you wish to sit and have food.
• Poor upkeep. Areas are not that clean since a lot of people are throwing the waste after having food.
• Monkeys are there, so be careful with your belongings.
• The best time to visit will be the monsoon.
• We saw a lot of families playing in the water, but they were very close to the shore.

[brownkaiser]

Pocharam Wildlife Sanctuary

We returned to the sanctuary although it was only 2:30 pm. This sanctuary is spread across 130 square kilometres and was a former hunting ground of the Nizams. We enquired about the tickets and the safari ride inside the sanctuary, however, they said that the safari vehicle needs a minimum of 6 people. But they suggested that if we take a guide along with us, they will let us take the car inside.

We were not okay with someone travelling with us and just stood there discussing. Thankfully, someone else took their car and the guide went with them. Took it as a chance and followed that car to the entry gate and paid INR 200 for two tickets. Once inside, we did not bother to follow them but rather went at our own pace.

Although they call it a sanctuary, it is a deer breeding centre. We were excited since we could take our car inside and roam around, just like you see in actual safaris. They had told us that we can see different types of deer and wild boars. The overall track was somewhere around 5 kilometres and they have put mile stones for every half kilometre.

We slowly started our drive, making sure to make as much less noise as possible. We started spotting deer wherever there were man-made water ponds and would stop since the deer themselves stood like a statue the moment they saw us.


Deers near the man-made pond.



It was a sunny day but it was dark inside the sanctuary. We carried on and spotted many more peacocks. Further ahead and when it was very dark in one corner, we could see a different animal (a bit bigger) and that too between the trees, moving slowly. We could not figure out what it was but were happy to see something other than a deer finally.


The internal road.


Within the park, there is a watch tower where you can stop and get a good view of the lake. Finally, after an hour, we reached back the main gate. There we met the guide who said that it is 3:30 and you will start seeing more deer now. We gave him INR 200 more (although he did not ask for it) and went for one more round. After a few meters, we understood what he said because near a man-made pond, he had put a lot of food for the deer, and we could see 100s of them trying to have their food in peace. We turned off the engine and just sat there, staring at them. After some time, we went ahead, going at a faster pace, since we had seen what we came for.


Deer having food given by the caretakers.


In the last kilometre, where there is a curve with a lot of darkness to the corner, we saw a peacock walking towards a tree. The next second, we understood that it was not a tree, but rather the same animal that we saw earlier. It was a Nilgai. And as expected, it was a huge animal, more like a cow or a horse. We tried to click some pictures but they came out terrible due to low light and distance. We were anyway happy, so finished our round and exited.


Nilgai along with a peacock.


Few pointers:

• Recommended visit timings are before 11:30 or after 3:30.
• Try to go in the safari vehicle or take your own car.
• The guides will lie that you will get lost in the park, but that is not the case. You can go on your own.
• It is a great feeling to see animals outside a cage and roaming openly. Everyone, especially kids who are stuck in their apartments, will definitely appreciate it.

With this, our agenda was completed and so, we headed back to the city. The drive was smooth and could reach back by around 6-6:30 PM.

With that, I’ll close this travelogue. Hope this inspires some BHPian to go for a drive this weekend and add their perspective and any helpful suggestions or inputs to this thread.

Thank you for reading.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[coolmind]

Thanks for the writeup.
Any good night stay options in case we would like extend the trip to 2 days?

[nekfar]

@Brownkaiser, thanks for sharing.

We have just moved to Hyderabad a few weeks ago and were wondering what were the nearby areas to explore over a weekend.

Your travel write-up is indeed timely to decide on our next weekend location.

[brownkaiser]

Originally Posted by coolmind

Thanks for the writeup.
Any good night stay options in case we would like extend the trip to 2 days?

We never planned to stay, so not sure. This trip does not warrant for a stay since this entire trip can be completed in 10 hours comfortably. You could try some Airbnb though.