4 weeks, 6 trips: Pearls around Hyderabad

[gauravtalan]

I spent my entire last month attending a training programme in University of Hyderabad. Due to the hectic schedule of the course, we only had the Sundays free to travel around. With only four weekends in hand, I decided to rent a motorcycle and venture out of the city on day trips not too far from the city. After some research on the web, I zeroed in on Bhuvanagiri, Medak, Nagarjuna Sagar, Ananthagiri Hills, Chilkur Balaji temple and a city tour in whatever time I could squeeze out of the busy schedule. Thankfully, I was able to cover all these destinations during my stay.

As soon as I arrived in Hyderabad (from Delhi) on 20th June 2018, I straight away headed to a motorcycle renting agency (Onnbikes) and picked up an NS 200 for the first three weeks.

This blog gives a brief account of my rides to these locations.

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 1; Bhuvanagiri: The class ended at around 5 PM on Saturday. I decided to leave the same day for Bhuvanagiri which is famous for its fort on a big “Uluru type” rock and nearby Yadagirigutta temple. I quickly booked a guest house through Goibibo near Yadagirigutta. Even though the total distance to be travelled that day was a tad below 100 kms, it took me more than 3 hours to reach the hotel as the entire city needed to be crossed in the rush hour before I hit the highway. The hotel was an isolated property some 8 kms further away from the town. By the time I reached, it started to rain. Apparently, I was the only person staying there that night and heck it was full of all sorts of insects. Nevertheless, the sun was shining in the morning and I decided to head straight to the fort.

Road to Bhuvanagiri (Bhongir) fort

It is at least an hour long climb to the top of the fort. The stairs carved out in the rock.

Half way up

Bhuvanagiri town from the top of the fort.

Descending down

The Hyderabad - Warangal highway from the top of the fort.

Bhuvanagiri fort sitting on the top of the rock.

I reached back to the city at around 3 PM in the afternoon. Decided to park my motorcycle and take a walk around the Hussain Sagar lake in the evening.

Hussain Sagar Lake

Sunset from the Tank Bund road

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 2; Medak: This weekend I could cover more destinations as we got free after lunch on Saturday. I kicked off for Medak at around 2 PM and reached the town well before 5 PM covering around 100 kms. The entire road was single but well tarred with less traffic. I booked the “Haritha Heritage Hotel” in advance which is situated right inside the Medak fort. I decided to put my luggage in the room and explore the fort for rest of the evening. The fort is in ruins and lacks maintenance. It was a short climb till the top of the fort which offers a panoramic view of the area. Medak city on one side and vast grasslands and fields on the other. Perfect place to witness a sunset. I didn’t miss it too.

A simple farmer plowing his field near Narsapur.

Road to Medak

Medak Cathedral visible from Haritha Heritage Hotel

From the top of the fort

Green pastures visible from the fort

Sunset from Medak fort

Medak fort

After an early morning breakfast, I decided to spend the morning at Pocharam Lake (some 20 kms from the town).

Pocharam dam

Pocharam lake

A tree tunnel on the way back

A quick visit to Edupayala Vana Durga Bhavani temple on the way back to Hyderabad.

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 3; Nagarjuna Sagar: This week, I did not ride alone. Pankaj, a fellow participant in the programme lives in the campus and owns a Thunderbird 350. He said that his friend, Brijesh was visiting from Delhi that weekend and they wanted to go for a ride as well. So, we three decided to ride together to Nagarjuna Sagar and Ethipothala waterfalls. There are two ways to reach the dam, one is a straight road (190 kms) which is mostly single and another one goes via Nalgonda which is slightly longer (205 kms) but double for more than half of the journey. We decided to go via Nalgonda and come back via straight route. We started the journey at around 2 PM on Saturday. We thought we would reach at around 6:30 PM (that’s what the google maps lady told us). She was wrong. It took us more that 2 and a half hours to cross the city and we reached at around 8:00 PM. Since, Nagarjuna Sagar lake forms the border between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, hotels are also situated on both the sides. I wanted to stay on the Andhra side, but Pankaj and Brijesh convinced me to stay on the Telangana side so that we can cross the river in the morning and click some pictures there. We decided to stay in the Telangana Govt. hotel. Only after check in we found out that it was in a horrid condition. Dirty blankets to snail pace service, all bad things in one place. A little after ride celebration party saved the night. We woke up early in the morning and rode towards the Krishna bridge.

Krishna river, which also serves as a border of Andhra Pradesha and Telangana.

At Krishna bridge with Brijesh.

Road to Nagarjuna Sagar. Lake visible in distance.

Nagarjuna Sagar lake

An inverted "Parisal" boat serving as a rain shelter.

Birds flocking around the lake

A road to the monastery near the lake.

Idlis in making

Ethipothala waterfalls, at a distance of some 20 kms from Nagarjuna Sagar. Even though the falls were dry, lush green surrounding made it a worthy visit for us.

After this long journey, I returned the NS 200 and hired Dominar 400 for subsequent rides.

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 4; Ananthagiri Hills: All alone again, I decided to ride to the Ananthagiri hills famous for its lush green grasslands. Class got over at 5:30 PM and after a hurried packing, I left for Vikarabad, a small town just before the hillstation. It was raining all through the ride and the road was single and bumpy. An old raincoat and Dominar’s fine suspension saved the day. I checked into a small guest house near the railway station and despite being dirt cheap, it was nice and clean. Woke up early in the morning and headed towards the Anathagiri Hills view point.

Grasslands from Ananthagiri viewpoint

Road to the Naga Siva temple from Ananthagiri viewpoint

I know my fat face blocks the view. Deal with it.

Ananthagiri hills forest trek starts from the Naga Siva temple.

The trek route

From the other end of the trek

Anathagiri - Kalaburagi road

Vikarabad random valley

Fields along the Vikarabad - Hyderabad highway

Reached Hyderabad pretty early on Sunday afternoon and joined my friends from the training programme for lunch at the famous Paradise restaurant in Secunderabad.

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 4; Chilkur Balaji Temple: Since all the weekends were over, I only had some weekdays to travel around. Some of my friends (Manish aka Apna Manish, Baliram aka Ballu, Moumita, Anitha and Bhagya) expressed their interest to go to the Chilkur Balaji temple. I happily agreed. Moumita, Manish, Anitha and Bhagya hired an Uber and I rode my dominar to the temple which was some 25 kms from the campus. The temple was clean and not really as a crowded as a famous temple is supposed to be. After offering our prayers, we also went to see the Osman Sagar (Gandipet) lake which is very near to the temple but can be reached only after you negotiate with a muddy and slippery path.

L to R: Baliram, Manish, Moumita, Bhagya and Anitha

Osman Sagar (Gandipet) Lake

An evening well spent

 

[gauravtalan]

Week 4: Golconda Fort and Char Minar: This was the last day of the training. Today, before we part our ways, many of us wanted to spend some good time together. I hired an Innova this time. After our valedictory session, we decided to have our lunch near the Golconda fort. With 9 of us squeezed in the car and tripling on a couple of scooters, we headed towards the fort. Three of our friends (Abid, Vishnu and Putta) were residents of the city and showed the entire fort to us better than those guides could have ever shown.

The gang at the entrance of the Golconda fort.

For one day, we painted the fort in vivid colors.

L to R: Putta, Achlesh, Sarika, Annesha, Bhagya, Asima, Anitha, Moumita, Rakhi, Praveena, me, Ujjwal, Chanchal. PC: Abid.

From the top of the fort

Golconda fort

After the visit to the fort, it was time for some our friends to bid adieu and only me, Moumita, Anitha and Rakhi were left to visit the Charminar for some last-minute shopping. Abid (most helpful chap I have ever met) accompanied us to Char Minar.

Abid garu treating us with the delicious irani chai amidst drizzle.

Char Minar

 

[Shekar Reddy]

Nice weekends, BTW have you stayed at Harith Hotel at Nagarjuna Sagar which you said badly maintained? It is nice to see each photo is described.

 

[adsatinder]

Great Exploration !
Great Moves !
Great Places !
Great Pics !

 

[gauravtalan]

Nice weekends, BTW have you stayed at Harith Hotel at Nagarjuna Sagar which you said badly maintained? It is nice to see each photo is described.

Thank you sir. No, it was not Haritha. It was another tstdc resort 2 kms before Haritha when coming from Hyderabad side.