The month of January passed by, and BoP Bangalore hadn't yet started riding. Satish and I had separately ridden to Tirupati, but it wasn't a BoP ride. I decided February had to be the ride month and chose a location I chanced upon while searching for something else - Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh.
Few people know of it so all the more reason for BoP to go there. There is a fort overlooking an awesome gorge over the Penna river, the pics looked damn cool and we could also cover Belum caves. I really wanted to ride in the starting of Feb to avoid the beastly heat of the Rayalseema region of A.P. Fate had something else in store for us and we were forced to postpone it to the end of February.
Dates: 28 Feb-2 March, 2015
Place(s) covered: Gandikota, Belum Caves, Yaganti
Route taken:
Bangalore-Chikkaballapur-Gorantla-Kadiri-Jammalamadugu-Gandikota-Belum caves-Yaganti (while going)
Yaganti-Peapully-Gooty-Anantpur-Chikkballapur-Bangalore (on the way back)
Riders:
1. Satish Palleti: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350
2. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark
Total distance traversed: 817 kms
DAY 1
Navigator of the ride was Satish; I had barely looked at the route myself. He informed me that it is 340 kms to Gandikota, another 60 odd kms to Belum Caves from there and then 380 kms back to Bangalore. He even wanted to cover a place called Yaganti. I was mentally prepared for a longish ride to and from the destination.
We started at around 6.15 AM. We had to take the same route that we took for the Hampi Humpers ride, skipping a left towards Lepakshi and taking a right further ahead for Gandikota. On the way, we came across a bunch of bikers, all on the new Thunderbirds. We stopped for breakfast at the Kamat-that-resembles-an-A2B and the Thunderbird group met us here. They were a bunch of middle-aged men, new to Bullets and riding, going towards Lepakshi. We introduced each other and invited them to join BoP for future rides; they seemed enthusiastic, but Satish and I had our doubts on their capacity and tolerance for bakchodi. Later in the ride, Satish pointed out that they would likely get offended if they hear me, Nishant Jha and a lot of other BoPians speak (thanks to our penchant for attaching an expletive to every phrase).
We finished our breakfast, bade farewell to the bikers and hit the highway again. After taking a right at Gorantla, the road narrows to 2 lanes. We were now riding in the Rayalseema region. The landscape is primarily arid, brown in colour, with rocky, solitary hills. It was getting hotter too, so we took less breaks. The road would narrow down to a single lane sometimes, completely covered by a truck. Unlike what I experienced in Kerala, most truck drivers here would actually go off-road to let bikers pass (there were a few exceptions though).
After crossing a turning into the town of Jammalamadugu, we had to ride up a small hill to reach the Haritha guesthouse (APSTDC's string of guesthouses all across tourist destinations in AP). The Gandikota Fort is just a short distance away from the guesthouse, so we decided to have lunch, rest for a bit and then go to the fort. The place is quite big, spread over a lot of land with multiple buildings, each of which had a couple of rooms. Unfortunately, the manager informed us that there were no rooms available. Online booking was started 15 days ago and there was no on-the-spot booking available. We talked to him for a bit and were told that there is a 8-bed dormitory room booked by 5 guys, we could talk to them. Turned out they were a bunch of North Indians who had rented a car from Bangalore and were OK with us sharing the room with them. So we had some average lunch at the guesthouse, moved in our luggage and took a short nap.
By the time we got up at 4, the weather had completely changed. We could hear thunder rumbling in the distance, with dark clouds bearing down towards us. We immediately rode the short distance to the fort and started exploring. In sharp contrast to Hampi, the entire fort was in shambles. It is not maintained at all. Thorny bushes and rocks created impromptu dead-ends everywhere, so we had to rely on our virtually non-existent trekking skills.
While the fort itself isn't any great, what is spectacular is the view of the gorge. Gandikota is known as the Grand Canyon of India and justifiably so. The Penna river cuts through the rocky mountain to open up into a huge lake, all of which can be viewed from various points. The light drizzle made the views even better and I was having the time of my life. Our roommates had found an awesome point, but I was unable to find a path towards the same. Satish had a near-fall into a deep hole as he slipped while trying to climb and decided to call it a day. I monkeyed around for a while before turning back. It was getting dark and the next order of the day was beer. We did witness an amazing sunset though.
The errand boy at the guesthouse had earlier asked for my bike to get the beer from Jammalamadugu (10 kms away). I prefer not to give my bike to people I don't know, so I decided to get it myself. Satish wanted to rest for a bit, so off I went. The rain had cooled down the weather considerably and I enjoyed the short, solitary ride on a dark and empty road to Jammalamadugu and back. Back at the guesthouse, we had a short BBB session with the 'child bear' and 'snakes'. We spotted a trio of riders from IBR who stuck to Thums-Up and professional conversations. Soon, a big group of riders roared in on their Bullets. We would learn later that they were from the Hyderabad Royals. It reminded us of the need to expand the Bangalore BoP chapter furthermore.
DAY 2
We started off towards Belum Caves at 6.30 in the morning. It was still cloudy, but there was no rain. We had to ride just 60 kms, so we took it easy this time. On the way, we stopped at a small stall for a breakfast of poori-baji. We weren't sure of the accommodation arrangements in Belum Caves, but we were told that a Haritha dormitory existed there.
We reached Belum Caves at 9 AM. Just like in Gandikota, the guesthouse is very close to the spot. However, the dormitory was already occupied and we were informed that there was no power or water supply, so we had to make other arrangements. The caves opened at 10.30, so we decided to ride to Yaganti afterwards. While Satish took a nap on the bike, I buried myself into a book until opening time.
Belum Caves are a set of underground caves, apparently the second largest in India. They are maintained excellently, and even though free guides are available, you either need to have a big group or wait for a group to build up for the guide to tag along. We didn't have the patience to wait, so decided to explore on our own. The caves are lit up with halogen lamps and there are 'blow-holes' for ventilation. Since they are underground, you start sweating within minutes. We leisurely walked through various alleys and gullies. Around 3.5 kms of the caves are explored, but only 1.5 kms are open to public. The stalactites and stalagmites in one chamber are known as "Kotilingalu" (1 crore Shiv lingas). Personally, I don't care much for religion and I was wondering why simple, natural formations cannot be appreciated for what they are without any religious connotations. But then, probably calling them "Shiv lingas" was the reason why people didn't damage them, so who am I to argue. Call it a "stalagmite", people will try to break it; call it a "Shiva linga" and people won't even touch it!
We had a little scare deep in the caves when the power went off. It made me appreciate the challenges of spelunking. You need guts to go so deep into a cave, not really knowing how to make it back. The power came back on though, and we started making our way back. We again bumped into our roommates from Gandikota here. Fancy meeting them all the way inside a cave!
We cooled off for a bit in the breeze outside with some soft drinks, before making our way out towards Yaganti. It was mostly a smooth ride, except for a village crossing where a large group of women had blocked the road with tree branches and were demanding money. Satish reached the spot before me and when I saw the crowd around him, I thought it was an accident. But as soon as I reached, one bunch of ladies surrounded me, wailing, singing and coaxing me to pay them. I twisted, turned and got out of it, while Satish had to cough up Rs 20.
We reached Yaganti just in time for lunch. Accommodation was easy to find, but food wasn't. The village is at the dead end of a road, blocked by a rocky hill. So there is one very unappealing hotel and one place where they give free food to everyone. The other option is to ride back 10-15 kms to the nearest town. We were in no mood to ride in the afternoon heat, so we settled down in the free-food place. The 'pappu' (dal) was quite good and we donated Rs 100 in lieu of the lunch. We again came across the Hyderabad Royals here.
After a short nap, we set off to explore Yaganti. There is one little temple here, along with 2 sets of small caves. Once again, they forced religion into the place by installing Shiva lingas and planting a bunch of sadhus and priests here. Altogether, an average place with not a lot to do. We then rode towards a little 'fort' like structure we had passed by earlier. Known as the Nawab's Palace, it looks newly constructed and a superhit Telugu movie called 'Arundathi' was shot here. All the inner chambers and rooms are shuttered, so there wasn't anything to do here either. We decided to go back to the room and then ride to the nearest town for dinner.
Few people know of it so all the more reason for BoP to go there. There is a fort overlooking an awesome gorge over the Penna river, the pics looked damn cool and we could also cover Belum caves. I really wanted to ride in the starting of Feb to avoid the beastly heat of the Rayalseema region of A.P. Fate had something else in store for us and we were forced to postpone it to the end of February.
Dates: 28 Feb-2 March, 2015
Place(s) covered: Gandikota, Belum Caves, Yaganti
Route taken:
Bangalore-Chikkaballapur-Gorantla-Kadiri-Jammalamadugu-Gandikota-Belum caves-Yaganti (while going)
Yaganti-Peapully-Gooty-Anantpur-Chikkballapur-Bangalore (on the way back)
Riders:
1. Satish Palleti: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 350
2. Krishnatreya Brindavanam: Royal Enfield Electra Twinspark
Total distance traversed: 817 kms
DAY 1
Navigator of the ride was Satish; I had barely looked at the route myself. He informed me that it is 340 kms to Gandikota, another 60 odd kms to Belum Caves from there and then 380 kms back to Bangalore. He even wanted to cover a place called Yaganti. I was mentally prepared for a longish ride to and from the destination.
We started at around 6.15 AM. We had to take the same route that we took for the Hampi Humpers ride, skipping a left towards Lepakshi and taking a right further ahead for Gandikota. On the way, we came across a bunch of bikers, all on the new Thunderbirds. We stopped for breakfast at the Kamat-that-resembles-an-A2B and the Thunderbird group met us here. They were a bunch of middle-aged men, new to Bullets and riding, going towards Lepakshi. We introduced each other and invited them to join BoP for future rides; they seemed enthusiastic, but Satish and I had our doubts on their capacity and tolerance for bakchodi. Later in the ride, Satish pointed out that they would likely get offended if they hear me, Nishant Jha and a lot of other BoPians speak (thanks to our penchant for attaching an expletive to every phrase).
We finished our breakfast, bade farewell to the bikers and hit the highway again. After taking a right at Gorantla, the road narrows to 2 lanes. We were now riding in the Rayalseema region. The landscape is primarily arid, brown in colour, with rocky, solitary hills. It was getting hotter too, so we took less breaks. The road would narrow down to a single lane sometimes, completely covered by a truck. Unlike what I experienced in Kerala, most truck drivers here would actually go off-road to let bikers pass (there were a few exceptions though).
After crossing a turning into the town of Jammalamadugu, we had to ride up a small hill to reach the Haritha guesthouse (APSTDC's string of guesthouses all across tourist destinations in AP). The Gandikota Fort is just a short distance away from the guesthouse, so we decided to have lunch, rest for a bit and then go to the fort. The place is quite big, spread over a lot of land with multiple buildings, each of which had a couple of rooms. Unfortunately, the manager informed us that there were no rooms available. Online booking was started 15 days ago and there was no on-the-spot booking available. We talked to him for a bit and were told that there is a 8-bed dormitory room booked by 5 guys, we could talk to them. Turned out they were a bunch of North Indians who had rented a car from Bangalore and were OK with us sharing the room with them. So we had some average lunch at the guesthouse, moved in our luggage and took a short nap.
DAY 2
We started off towards Belum Caves at 6.30 in the morning. It was still cloudy, but there was no rain. We had to ride just 60 kms, so we took it easy this time. On the way, we stopped at a small stall for a breakfast of poori-baji. We weren't sure of the accommodation arrangements in Belum Caves, but we were told that a Haritha dormitory existed there.
We reached Belum Caves at 9 AM. Just like in Gandikota, the guesthouse is very close to the spot. However, the dormitory was already occupied and we were informed that there was no power or water supply, so we had to make other arrangements. The caves opened at 10.30, so we decided to ride to Yaganti afterwards. While Satish took a nap on the bike, I buried myself into a book until opening time.Belum Caves are a set of underground caves, apparently the second largest in India. They are maintained excellently, and even though free guides are available, you either need to have a big group or wait for a group to build up for the guide to tag along. We didn't have the patience to wait, so decided to explore on our own. The caves are lit up with halogen lamps and there are 'blow-holes' for ventilation. Since they are underground, you start sweating within minutes. We leisurely walked through various alleys and gullies. Around 3.5 kms of the caves are explored, but only 1.5 kms are open to public. The stalactites and stalagmites in one chamber are known as "Kotilingalu" (1 crore Shiv lingas). Personally, I don't care much for religion and I was wondering why simple, natural formations cannot be appreciated for what they are without any religious connotations. But then, probably calling them "Shiv lingas" was the reason why people didn't damage them, so who am I to argue. Call it a "stalagmite", people will try to break it; call it a "Shiva linga" and people won't even touch it!
We had a little scare deep in the caves when the power went off. It made me appreciate the challenges of spelunking. You need guts to go so deep into a cave, not really knowing how to make it back. The power came back on though, and we started making our way back. We again bumped into our roommates from Gandikota here. Fancy meeting them all the way inside a cave!
We cooled off for a bit in the breeze outside with some soft drinks, before making our way out towards Yaganti. It was mostly a smooth ride, except for a village crossing where a large group of women had blocked the road with tree branches and were demanding money. Satish reached the spot before me and when I saw the crowd around him, I thought it was an accident. But as soon as I reached, one bunch of ladies surrounded me, wailing, singing and coaxing me to pay them. I twisted, turned and got out of it, while Satish had to cough up Rs 20.
We reached Yaganti just in time for lunch. Accommodation was easy to find, but food wasn't. The village is at the dead end of a road, blocked by a rocky hill. So there is one very unappealing hotel and one place where they give free food to everyone. The other option is to ride back 10-15 kms to the nearest town. We were in no mood to ride in the afternoon heat, so we settled down in the free-food place. The 'pappu' (dal) was quite good and we donated Rs 100 in lieu of the lunch. We again came across the Hyderabad Royals here.
Dinner was at a place called 'Malabar Hotel'. The day's breakfast and lunch were mostly average fare. The last meal of the day, however, made up for it. I had an excellent egg-curry, probably the best I have tasted till date. Satish's chicken biryani was good too. Once the food-high got over, I was in no mood to drink, so we rode back to the hotel and slept off.
DAY 3
Satish's estimate of 340 kms to Gandikota from Bangalore had fallen short by around 40 kms. Now, he said it would be 380 kms back to Bangalore, but I had my doubts. We started off in the morning at 6 sharp. Winding through the narrow village roads till Jaladurgam, we then got onto the NH7 that connects Bangalore and Hyderabad.
As expected, the first signboard announced that Bangalore would be less than 380 that Satish had claimed. NH7 is a super-smooth highway, and after riding around 250 kms on narrow village roads, it was exhilarating to ride on this 6-laned slab of butter.
As soon as we entered the outskirts of Bangalore, I was greeted by a bunch of cops who challaned me Rs 300 for over-speeding; I was going at 80 in a 50-60 zone. Except for this, it was an uneventful ride back home. We didn't encounter a whole lot of the weekday traffic either, fortunately.
The first BoP ride of 2015 was thus completed. This ride, along with the Hampi Humpers ride, was to a similar dry area and I am starting to miss the beauty of the hills now. The next ride will definitely be to the hills. Also, Satish and I resolved to try and expand the Bangalore chapter, so as to get more riders.
Until next time! Cheers and Jai BoP!
DAY 3
Satish's estimate of 340 kms to Gandikota from Bangalore had fallen short by around 40 kms. Now, he said it would be 380 kms back to Bangalore, but I had my doubts. We started off in the morning at 6 sharp. Winding through the narrow village roads till Jaladurgam, we then got onto the NH7 that connects Bangalore and Hyderabad.
As expected, the first signboard announced that Bangalore would be less than 380 that Satish had claimed. NH7 is a super-smooth highway, and after riding around 250 kms on narrow village roads, it was exhilarating to ride on this 6-laned slab of butter.
As soon as we entered the outskirts of Bangalore, I was greeted by a bunch of cops who challaned me Rs 300 for over-speeding; I was going at 80 in a 50-60 zone. Except for this, it was an uneventful ride back home. We didn't encounter a whole lot of the weekday traffic either, fortunately.
The first BoP ride of 2015 was thus completed. This ride, along with the Hampi Humpers ride, was to a similar dry area and I am starting to miss the beauty of the hills now. The next ride will definitely be to the hills. Also, Satish and I resolved to try and expand the Bangalore chapter, so as to get more riders.
Until next time! Cheers and Jai BoP!
