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Old 4th February 2025, 12:20   #1
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Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort




Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota26.jpg


I love solo wanderings where I can practice my hobby of photography to my heart's content. Just me, my car and my camera, and a good location. I love walking around for hours, searching for landscapes and exploring different angles and lights for photography.

This is what I did recently at Gandikota Fort in Andhra Pradesh, some 6 hours drive away from Bangalore. Gandikota Fort and the nearby Belum Caves were on my to-visit list for a long time. Finally managed to visit both these places in a quick weekend trip.

Gandikota Fort is a popular tourist destination and is usually crowded with tourists. The fort has plenty of, but all very basic accommodation options ranging from basic lodges to tents, including one resort from the AP tourism department. Unfortunately, none of these options looked too appealing from the online reviews - most of these are not very clean. In fact, the entire areas has no good hotel to stay at. Finally, based on online reviews, booked one hotel called "Royal Palace Residency" in a small town some 15km away from the fort. This place is very basic too - just a roadside lodge with zero amenities or luxuries. However, the room was clean and comfortable, with spotless white sheets and towels, a good working AC (very important in that hot climate there) and again a basic but clean bathroom. That was enough for a solo one night stay for me. The hotel manager and staff there are extremely friendly and welcoming, and their hospitality was top class and worth mentioning here. Overall a good place to stay for a short visit to Gandikota. I was glad I found this place instead of staying on the fort itself (those accommodations did not look good at all when I saw them after reaching there).

Of course, although I keep calling this a solo trip, my companion was my trusted "Dusty", my Thar 4x4. The small and basic hotel had no parking place as such, and Dusty was parked on the side of a small lane that the hotel is located on. Dusty makes no fuss about parking places and that small roadside spot was OK for a night's stay.

I drove to Belum Caves first, before reaching Gandikota later that day. Belum Caves are large underground natural caves, with a nicely developed underground walking path through the caves that spans about 3km. I enjoyed walking underground and seeing the caves. However, the lighting in the caves was too bright and colorful for my liking, and it made the caves look artificial - sort of like a movie set or an amusement park setting - instead of getting the feel of seeing real natural wonder (which the caves really are). I was a bit of put off by these colorful lighting and did not care to do any photography as such in the caves. Just sharing a couple of photos below to show what I mean.

The nice underground walking path in Belum Caves:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota35.jpg


However, such colorful lighting makes the caves look artificial:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota34.jpg


Too colorful and bright for my liking:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota36.jpg

Keeping aside the colorful lighting part, the caves are indeed nice and quite big. The natural underground formations of various sizes and shapes are nice to see. There are lot of walking paths underground, some big and some small and narrow where one has to bend down and walk with very limited headroom.

From the caves, I drove to the hotel. After a quick check-in and a lunch at a nearby restaurant in the town, I drove straight to Gandikota Fort for the evening photography session. My plan was to spend two sessions walking around on the fort. The evening session that day (around 4pm to 7pm) chasing the sunset, and then the next morning session (6am to 8am) chasing the sunrise. The weather is very hot there, and the whole area is open to the sun with no shade whatsoever, and therefore, only the morning and evening times are the right times to venture out there.

The fort is quite big, and there are plenty of locations and viewpoints to walk around. There is a large parking lot outside the fort (where mostly the buses parked), but one can even drive through the fort and park at another parking lot inside the fort too (where most of the cars drove to and parked). I parked in the inside parking lot and wandered around the fort with my camera in my hand.

Dusty in Gandikota Fort:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota48.jpg

It was quite hot there, and walking around to various locations within the large fort was a good exercise. After checking out an ancient temple and an ancient mosque, all within the fort premises, I walked to the main attraction, the canyon view point. This fort is famous for the views of a canyon formed by Penna River cutting through the rocky landscapes.

External walls of the fort, overlooking the canyon:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota43.jpg

The fort offers breathtaking views all around, especially during sunset and sunrise, and has a lot of historical monuments too. However, unfortunately, it is in a very bad mess due to heavy tourism and crowds. There is trash and garbage (including broken glasses and bottles) everywhere, and it was really sad to see this mess. Car parking was also unregulated and poorly managed. Many cars were parked in haphazard manner causing problems to other cars moving around. This fort would be an amazing place if kept clean and if the tourist and vehicle movements are regulated and controlled.

There is a walking path to the end of the fort from where you see the canyon views. That viewpoint is essentially a small hill full of big rocks, and one can climb on the rocks to get various vantage points to see the canyon. Depending on one's fitness level and enthusiasm, one can climb to various heights to get a good view. With camera in my hand, I walked up and down the big rocks multiple times to get good views and angles of the canyon. It became a good workout session for me that day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Views of the canyon:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota04.jpg

Last rays of the evening on the tip of the rocks:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota05.jpg

I wanted to see the views of the canyon at the dusk, and there was still some time for that. So I climbed down from those rocks and started exploring other parts of the fort in the meantime. The sunset would be in the other direction (the above view is the eastern view), and I thought I should check out sunset on the western side of the fort.

While walking around, a large ancient temple in the middle of the fort looked amazing with the sun setting behind it. There was a group of tourists on top of that temple, and that setting formed a nice subject for some silhouette photography experiments.

Silhouettes of the crowd watching sunset behind the temple:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota06.jpg


The sun setting behind the temple and a distant hill:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota15.jpg

Taking a cue from those tourists, I found a way to climb to the top of that viewpoint, and found magnificent views on the other side from there.

Sunset on the west side of the fort:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota11.jpg

I came back to the canyon view point right at the time when sun went down the horizon, to check out the twilight glow there, and I was not disappointed by those views.

The canyon at dusk:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota16.jpg

The twilight time just after sunset was magical. The sky was lit up beautifully in blue and orange shades, and the ancient structures in the fort looked great against the backdrop of that sky.

The mosque in the colourful twilight:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota40.jpg

A beautiful structure called "Charminar in Gandikota Fort", under that lovely evening sky:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota17.jpg


A beautiful temple in the fort looked amazing under the evening sky:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota18.jpg

After all the sunset and twilight hour wandering around, it was time to go back to the hotel. Dusty was parked in an open parking lot which was essentially just a vast open grassland. When I reached the parking spot at the end of the day, with that evening glow still lingering around in the sky, and headlights of other cars around giving a nice lighting effect, it gave me an idea to click this below photograph there.

Time to pack up and call it a day:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota41.jpg

My hotel was about 15km away from the fort, and the night drive to the hotel after that sunset session was very peaceful and serene. The road from Gandikota to that hotel is very nice. It is a nice two-lane road with good lane markings and reflectors, across the vast open desert lands and hills, with zero development on either side. In the night, it was pitch dark all around, zero light pollution, the sky was clear and lit up with a thousand stars, the reflectors in the lane markings looked fantastic under the headlights, and with zero traffic all around, it was a fantastic drive back! Most of the tourists on the fort stayed in one of those lodges or tents on the fort, and there was hardly anyone driving in and out of the fort at that time.

The next morning, I started from the hotel at about 5:45am, and again had that beautiful drive back to the fort, still under pitch dark conditions, and with those reflectors looking lovely under the headlights. Absolutely loved those peaceful and quiet night drives across the desert lands, to and from my hotel to the fort.

I parked the car and walked straight to the canyon view point for sunrise. It was still good 20 minutes before sunrise when I was walking to that point. I love this morning walks to see the sunrise. The anticipation of seeing the sunrise is as exciting as the sunrise itself. I walked briskly, climbed the rocks, found a good spot with clear views, and waited in anticipation to see the sun rising from straight behind the canyons. And in the next few minutes, I saw an absolutely breathtaking sunrise there which was the highlight of my trip.

Sunrise above the canyon:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota22.jpg

The magic of the morning light:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota27.jpg

Another view of the beautifully backlit rocks:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota28.jpg

After seeing the sunrise I waled back to my car and drove to another point nearby for another view.

While walking back, saw that ancient temple on the fort now bathing in the morning light:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota51.jpg

Dusty on the fort:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota33.jpg

Morning views of the canyon and the water from another point:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota42.jpg


Finally, a parting shot of Dusty on that vast and open land surrounding the fort and the canyon:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-gandhikota49.jpg

The return drive to Bangalore was a brisk and uneventful drive. Overall it was a memorable short trip. The fort was beautiful, and the views from the fort, especially the sunrise views were absolutely breathtaking. I will surely remember that sunrise for a long long time.

Well, that is all from this simple and short weekend drive. Thank you very much for reading!

Last edited by Rudra Sen : 5th February 2025 at 13:17. Reason: Space added between picture and captions
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Old 4th February 2025, 19:18   #2
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!
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Old 5th February 2025, 08:08   #3
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Hi AD, fantastic pictures and top notch narration, as usual! Thanks for sharing.

Just curious about what's your usual predominant routine in solo drives, once past daylight and drive time, and you're back at the hotel. Do you read a book, interact with other travellers maybe during dinner time, be on the phone, just sit observing the night, etc?

Since solo travel in India, especially with cars, is still not very common, do you have people (guests/hotel staff) approaching and asking you questions? Thanks!

Last edited by PearlJam : 5th February 2025 at 08:15.
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Old 5th February 2025, 10:52   #4
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Originally Posted by Dr.AD View Post

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort




The return drive to Bangalore was a brisk and uneventful drive. Overall it was a memorable short trip. The fort was beautiful, and the views from the fort, especially the sunrise views were absolutely breathtaking. I will surely remember that sunrise for a long long time.
Loved your photolog. Would you mind sharing your stay option and is it recommended for a Family ? I have tried planning many times but the APSTDC place seems to be always booked and not many other options nearby.
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Old 5th February 2025, 10:52   #5
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Awesome Pictures!

We recently visited Gandikota after a pilgrimage to Mantralayam, the approach road to this place was in bad condition and the fort premises as you said was in a bad mess! The government and local authorities should indeed prioritize preservation and maintenance of such wonders which will help in enhancing the tourism experience.

I sometimes wonder how many such sites are destroyed or in dire condition because of irresponsible tourists and authorities.

Forgive me for my rant, the views are breathtaking and you narration is just as captivating!

Good day!
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Old 5th February 2025, 11:00   #6
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Thanks for sharing Dr AD. lovely captures. The place has been on my bucket list for so long and havn't been able to do it mainly due to lack of good places to stay around it with family. Solo trip might be the option.
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Old 5th February 2025, 11:12   #7
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Originally Posted by PearlJam View Post
Hi AD, fantastic pictures and top notch narration, as usual! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a lot @PearlJam! I am glad you liked the photos and the narration.

Quote:
Just curious about what's your usual predominant routine in solo drives, once past daylight and drive time, and you're back at the hotel. Do you read a book, interact with other travellers maybe during dinner time, be on the phone, just sit observing the night, etc?
Very good question and it actually made me think. I think the only predominant routine that is common in all my drives is that I like to start early at say 4AM or 5AM, and head out of Bangalore quickly. But after that, the routine is totally dynamic and changes from drive to drive.

Getting a bit philosophical, the main point of solo drives is that those are totally liberating. And that means there is no routine at all. A solo drive liberates me from all set notions of travel and the activities. I just do things as I love. And this is exactly what is not possible when you have a companion - be it friend or a family or anyone else. You may have with you your best friend or your family that you love, and that is a great feeling in itself. But that immediately changes your travel patterns and you have to follow the set notions to make your companion feel "all OK" too. You tend to follow stereotyped notions of travel - leisurely breakfast, nice activity, lunch, rest or nap, another activity, tea time, evening activity, dinner, and post-dinner chitchat" when you are with anyone else. A solo drive eliminates this entire notion from its very roots.

A solo drives liberates one from all of this, and suddenly, there is no difference between free time and activities. The entire time is one continuous block of free time to you.

Allow me to quote one of my most favorite quotes on solo travel:

It seemed an advantage to be traveling alone. Our responses to the world are crucially moulded by the company we keep, for we temper our curiosity to fit in with the expectations of others...Being closely observed by a companion can also inhibit our observation of others; then, too, we may become caught up in adjusting ourselves to the companion's questions and remarks, or feel the need to make ourselves seem more normal than is good for our curiosity.
― Alain de Botton, The Art of Travel

So in my solo drives, I let my curiosity take over and supersede the other notions of time and activities . Many times I skip lunch or dinner because I have more interesting things calling out for me at that time, and like some magic, food suddenly seems to be the last priority that time. Many times I check out of the hotels at 5am, skipping the breakfast that is included, and just head out to explore some random roads at sunrise because Google maps shows me some view point facing east on a lonely road and I suspect I would get great sunrise views from there.

So yes, early morning starts every day is my typical predominant routine in solo drives, and everything else is dynamic. I avoid late night drives unless I know the road for sure (e.g. Mysore-Bangalore or Chitradurga-Bangalore sections which I know so well and I do not mind driving those at midnight too).

More specifically, I love to spend quiet time alone in Jungle Lodges. I usually carry a book to read when I go to JLR places where I love spending time sitting in their usually isolated jungle cottages and read a book there.

And on the other hand, sometimes in places like this Gandikota Fort, where I am amazed by the landscapes and the sunrises and sunsets, I spend almost entire time outdoors, waiting endlessly for that perfect shot (which itself is very relative; what I think is my perfect shot maybe a useless amateur photograph for a pro photographer, but that is a different matter). In such places I spend minimal time in my hotel room.

Quote:
Since solo travel in India, especially with cars, is still not very common, do you have people (guests/hotel staff) approaching and asking you questions?
Oh yes! Most people still look at you like you are some crazy guy to be alone there. The most frequent question I get is from the hotel staff who always ask me "how come your family did not come"? The business hotels in the cities are used to solo travelers (the business trip guys), but the resorts or jungle lodges outside cities are not used to seeing solo travelers. They invariably ask questions about why am I alone.

Everyone else also tries to judge you as who you are and why you are alone etc. For example, when I was randomly wandering around Pulicat Lake and the ISRO center at Sriharikota, and parking my Thar and taking pictures, one group approached me assuming I am a ISRO scientist. That was a hilarious conversion.

But other than curiosity questions, I found people are mostly very nice and they mean nothing bad. Most hotel staff, especially JLR staff, actually try to be extra nice to you because they think you are alone. In another funny story, once in one JLR, I decided to skip dinner because I was not hungry (they give heavy lunch and then the evening chai and pakods too), and drove out for some sunset photography and came back late. They were actually worried about me, and were trying to knock on my room several times to invite me for dinner. JLR staff is generally the most caring staff I have seen in any hotel chain.

The other guests in resorts or hotels usually do not ask much but they do give strange looks, which I am now very much used to.

The funniest thing is that people do not get the idea that solo travel is by choice and I do solo travel because I love it and not because I do not have driving buddies. As you know very well (you and I are part of the same driving group), we do plenty of group drives, and drives with friends and families. I also do plenty of drives with my wife. In fact, most weekends are already pre-booked with so many friends and family trips. Out of that schedule, I love to steal a weekend for solo drives because I absolutely love that. But people do not get that point. I have had people messaging me asking that "next time please call if you are going out on a solo drive". Again, their intentions are nice but they fail to see the point of solo drives.

Anyways, sorry about the long and philosophical answer to your question. But your question did give me an opportunity to compose and share my thoughts on solo travel, and thanks for that!

Last edited by Dr.AD : 5th February 2025 at 11:17.
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Old 5th February 2025, 11:39   #8
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Originally Posted by Dr.AD View Post

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Breathtaking pictures Sir !

I currently live just 15kms away from Gandikota. Eventhough I’ve visited thrice already, the changing scenery always makes me go back here!

Had I known you were coming here, I would’ve surely come to meet you sir.

In recent times, I’ve been exploring the road that goes up on the left towards the Suzlon Windmill service roads (where the Fort’s entrance is there on the right side), the unexplored routes can lead to some really scenic hidden spots.

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-img_3684.jpeg

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-img_3717.jpeg

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-img_3779.jpeg

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort-img_3788.jpeg

Last edited by CEF_Beasts : 5th February 2025 at 11:42.
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:03   #9
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

Hey Dr., amazing write up as usual and even better is your "philosophical reply". I do not know about others but i think at this juncture, i am moving towards a similar mindset, especially this one....


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Getting a bit philosophical, the main point of solo drives is that those are totally liberating. And that means there is no routine at all.

Last edited by Rudra Sen : 5th February 2025 at 13:07. Reason: Broken quote tag fixed and content trimmed
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:09   #10
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Anyways, sorry about the long and philosophical answer to your question. But your question did give me an opportunity to compose and share my thoughts on solo travel, and thanks for that!
Great post and pictures as usual Dr. AD. I travel extensively with my parents, they like road trips, while my wife and kid prefer to fly in. So when on driving vacations with my parents or at intermediate points, people think I am bachelor

I have had a few people ask me this as well and were shocked to see my wife and kid join us or in pictures
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:17   #11
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Originally Posted by swarnava.ch View Post
Loved your photolog. Would you mind sharing your stay option and is it recommended for a Family ?
Thank you. I have already shared the details (including Google Maps link) of my stay option in my post. Whether that is recommended for a family or not is a very personal choice specific to each family.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vsh06 View Post
Awesome Pictures!

We recently visited Gandikota after a pilgrimage to Mantralayam, the approach road to this place was in bad condition and the fort premises as you said was in a bad mess!
Thank you! Yes the place is in bad mess. Great place for a photographer or someone who wants to explore landscape views and ready to ignore the mess and the other issues. But for those looking for a comfortable family vacation, this is not the place.

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Originally Posted by supertinu View Post
Thanks for sharing Dr AD. lovely captures. The place has been on my bucket list for so long and havn't been able to do it mainly due to lack of good places to stay around it with family. Solo trip might be the option.
Thanks, and I was in the same boat. Solo trip is the best option for such places with very basic accommodation and other facilities.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts View Post
Breathtaking pictures Sir !

I currently live just 15kms away from Gandikota. Eventhough I’ve visited thrice already, the changing scenery always makes me go back here!

Had I known you were coming here, I would’ve surely come to meet you sir.
Thank you very much. Would have loved to meet you if I had known this in advance and if we had planned. Anyways, thanks for letting us know. If I come to that area next time, will surely ping you and plan a meet.

Quote:
In recent times, I’ve been exploring the road that goes up on the left towards the Suzlon Windmill service roads (where the Fort’s entrance is there on the right side), the unexplored routes can lead to some really scenic hidden spots.
Very nice photos! Thank you for sharing these.


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Originally Posted by W.S.T.R. View Post
Hey Dr., amazing write up as usual and even better is your "philosophical reply"..
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Great post and pictures as usual Dr. AD.
Thanks a lot to both of you.
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:21   #12
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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I love solo wanderings where I can practice my hobby of photography to my heart's content. Just me, my car and my camera, and a good location. I love walking around for hours, searching for landscapes and exploring different angles and lights for photography.
Gosh, had I known this, I would've stayed back in Bangalore and tagged along with you carrying your camera gear.

It is a fantastic read with a great set of captures!
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:28   #13
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Gosh, had I known this, I would've stayed back in Bangalore and tagged along with you carrying your camera gear.

It is a fantastic read with a great set of captures!
Thank you very much Sir! You are one of the most reputed photographers on the forum and your post means a lot.

I would have loved to do a photography trip with you as well. That would be a great learning opportunity as well for me. Would surely love that.

I have done a few photography trips with my close friend @robimahanta and always learned new things in every single trip with him. Maybe we can all coordinate and do one photography trip where we just walk around with our cameras and take photos. Would be a great experience for someone like me.

Thanks a lot once again!
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Old 5th February 2025, 13:41   #14
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Keeping aside the colorful lighting part, the caves are indeed nice and quite big. The natural underground formations of various sizes and shapes are nice to see. There are lot of walking paths underground, some big and some small and narrow where one has to bend down and walk with very limited headroom.
Lovely travelogue, @Dr.AD! These two have been on my to-do list for a long time but never managed to venture due to these disco lights and lack of accommodation. Your post gives me motivation to plan this trip soon. How is the air quality inside the caves, my family has mild asthma condition?
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Old 5th February 2025, 16:22   #15
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Re: Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

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Lovely travelogue, @Dr.AD! These two have been on my to-do list for a long time but never managed to venture due to these disco lights and lack of accommodation. Your post gives me motivation to plan this trip soon.
Thanks a lot @androdev.

Quote:
How is the air quality inside the caves, my family has mild asthma condition?
I reached there Saturday around 10:45AM, and at that point it was not crowded at all. In fact, when I climbed down, I was all alone for first 100m or so of the caves, and only after 100m I saw a couple of other small groups walking around in the caves.

The air quality was OK for this small group of people (I did not notice anything unusually right or wrong about air quality). It was quite hot and humid though. They have put some ventilation in the caves, but that looked adequate just for a few people. In some Google reviews I read that when this place gets crowded, the ventilation becomes inadequate and people are scared of suffocation. I can not comment on this because luckily for me, there was hardly any crowd when I visited. So it was OK for me.

So my suggestion would be if possible go early in the day (the cave opens at 10AM), and that too on weekday if possible. Weekday 10AM would be the ideal time and you would see practically zero crowds, and it will be all smooth. On the other hand, if you go on a crowded weekend hour, you might face difficulties with air quality.

Hope this helps.
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