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Hyderabad to Hamsaladeevi Beach - A hidden Paradise After a long wait for the December trip, we kick started our vacation to the most beautiful Hamsaladeevi beach located in the Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. Usually many of them skip this place due to lack of accommodation, but you will find a decent stay in Vijayawada which is around 80 kms approximately from Hamsaladeevi. It is definitely worth travelling so far to see the beauty of this Sagara Sangamam, where river Krishna meets the Bay of Bengal. We started at an early hour from Hyderabad and reached Vijayawada by 10 AM and checked into the OYO hotel. There are no food joints available at Hamsaladeevi beach so we packed the lunch from the hotel and headed out. Vijayawada to Hamsaladeevi drive took us 3 hours with some breaks. Hamsaladeevi village is 24 kms away from Avanigadda and we reached Hamsaladeevi by 3 PM. After a long drive from Hyderabad, there was an adrenaline rush gushing out to see this most beautiful place and couldn't wait to snap the sandy beach and the 'river-beach' meeting point. This point is 2 km away from the beach (From Hamsaladeevi village, beach is 4 kms) and we drove our car on the beach side shore to the port to see the confluence. Distance : 376 km Ride: Honda City Fuel : Petrol Mileage : 15 kmpl Hotel : OYO rooms (2000/- per night) Best Route 2016 Hyderabad --> Suryapet --> Vijayawada -->Pedapulipaka --> Madduru --> Thotlavalluru --> Nimmagadda --> Avanigadda --> Nagayalanka --> Chodavaram --> Hamsaladeevi Beach Note: Don't take any diversions from the mentioned route else you might end up between bad conditioned roads and longer distances as you pass

'Hyderabad to Mahabaleshwar , Panchgani' - Monsoon Drive Meetup - October 8th and 11th 2016 Start point - Gachibowli (ORR) End point - Panchgani hill top (Accommodation) Start time - 4 :15 a.m. Total Distance - ~610 kms Objective - A monsoon drive meet to Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani during a long festive weekend. Participants: 1) Maruthi Suzuki Swift 2) Volks Wagen Polo 3) Hyundai Creta (Red) 4) Hyundai Creta (White) Route Taken: Option 1 Hyderabad (Gachibowli) --> Pargi --> Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) --> Baramati (Via Akkalkot) --> Solapur --> Indrapur --> Panchgani (Via Wai) --> Mahabaleshwar Single lane road till Solapur, but some sections are super good and some are average, no potholes. Option 2 Hyderabad (Gachibowli) --> Zaheerabad --> Solapur --> Indapur--> Panchgani (Via Wai) --> Mahabaleshwar Last 100 kilometers before Solapur is pathetic, road is filled with potholes. Option 3 Hyderabad (Gachibowli) --> Zaheerabad -->Humnabad --> Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) --> Baramati (Via Akkalkot) --> Solapur --> Indapur --> Panchgani (Via Wai) --> Mahabaleshwar Smoothest and longest of all. While you are coming back, would suggest you to take following route, so that you can cover KAS, valley of flowers. Mahabaleshwar --> KAS --> Satara --> Pandharpur --> Solapur --> Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) --> Humnabad --> Zaheerabad --> Hyderabad (Gachibowli) Cover Pic: Places to visit in Panchgani: Panchgani is a pseudo head quarter for the parasailing which is conducted through out the year except during the monsoons. 1) Table Land 2) Parsi Point 3) Sydney Point 4) Devil's Kitchen 5) Mahabaleshwar Places to visit in Mahabaleshwar: There are as many as 30 viewpoints in Mahabaleshwar. Few of the major places are, 1) Elephant's head point 2) Arthur's seat 3) Kate's point 4) Kaas Plateau (Valley of flowers) 5) Venna Lake 6) Panchganga Temple 7) Mapro garden 8) Lingmala waterfalls 9) Pratapgad fort 10) Elphinstone point

Hyderabad to Singur dam Road condition: Average, Single roads with decent condition. First 30 kilometers on ORR the and the next 50 kilometers on a single lane road. Drive: You will enjoy driving through the remote villages of Telangana. Distance: 80 kilometers from Gachibowli, Via ORR. Hyderabad to Singur dam route: Gachibowli (ORR) ---> Patancheru (Mumbai highway exit) ---> Sadashivpet ---> Atmakur ---> Singur Dam There are multi routes available via Sanga reddy, If you want to explore the interiors of villages. Place to visit in Singur dam: Singur dam (No restriction are permissions are required. You can explore the place without any issue) Manjeera river Singur project park (average) Circular well (Don't miss this place) Harita lake view resort Google maps: Singur Dam : https://goo.gl/maps/5vejQeyWHgQ2 Manjeera river : https://goo.gl/maps/CskbP4aPD8C2 Circular well : https://goo.gl/maps/ryKQPciEjDm Harita resort : https://goo.gl/maps/AN3fVey5gvj Important points: Carry water and snacks No proper washrooms available Food options: Haritha resort and Parmy resort. Circular well view point is a little isolated, going in a group would be preferable. No proper fuel options Singur project: Irrigation Hydro electric generation Water project It is a drinking water source for Hyderabad. According to some reports, It has a lot of crocodiles but, we couldn't spot any.

Planning: It was October 2016 when we started planning for a long road trip. It was my wife's idea of visiting a cold place (if possible, snow fall) in winter, and subsequently we ended up talking about Manali (obvious choice of transport being, ROAD ). Idea was shot down by colleagues and friends, saying 2200KM drive one-side is no joke. Having experience of driving 17 hours a day couple of times, I knew that 3-day drive to Manali was pretty much possible. When started planning, things started to look easy - one of the key aspect of this journey was choice of stops. Upon deciding stops, stay, and places to visit, there was no stopping. In general, I would love to have best possible weather when I hit the road (my usual search query on Google being "where is it raining in India?"). In this case, we knew that fresh snowfall would happen at most 4-5 times in entire season, and we finalized dates trusting Accuweather data. Places planned to visit: Manali, Shimla, and Auli (tentative). THE reason to travel: To witness snowfall (Yes, we did!) Dates: 20/01/2017 to 01/02/2017 (Based on weather prediction three months before) Drive: Ford Ecosport 1.5TDCi Number of people: 3 (Driver: Only Me! ) Preparation: Being very particular about vehicle maintenance, I got everything checked (also, 2nd service was due around the same time) a week before our drive. One major problem we previously faced was light throw from headlights (OSRAMs) - I finally decided to replace with with Philips X-treme Vision Plus H4 (+130%), and they are amazing! Protective clothing: 2 layered snow-proof jacket, thermals, multi-position headband, two layers of gloves (much needed at sub-zero temperatures). Medicines: Few strips each for headache, cough/cold, fever, indigestion, and vomiting. Food: Figured out that there won't be many restaurants (especially in MP and UP). Hence, carried home-made protein bars, instant-noodle packs, juices, etc. Other things carried: Mini air compressor, 2 umbrellas, hiking pole, whistle, and 25L jerry can (and funnel). Route and Itinerary (NH44 all the way, from Telangana till Punjab) 20 Jan: Hyderabad to Sagar (MP) 21 Jan: Sagar (MP) to Greater Noida 22 Jan: Greater Noida to Manali 22 - 26 Jan: Places around Manali 27 Jan: Manali to Shimla 28 - 29 Jan: Shimla 30 Jan: Shimla to Agra 31 Jan: Agra to Nagpur 1 Feb: Nagpur to Hyderabad Day-1: (Hyderabad to Sagar - 884KM) State: Telangana It was a key decision that we had to make about 1st stop, and the choice was between Chhindwara and Sagar (considering good places to stay). We were all super-excited the night before; woke up at 4am, and hit road by 4.30am. Roads were flawless till Adilabad, and roads turned ugly (not even bad) the moment we crossed Telangana border - it was stark difference, and a badly shaped bridge welcomed us in Maharashtra. State: Maharashtra Road construction was happening on NH44 (for betterment, I'd guess), and it was not so pleasant (at the same time, not eventful) driving in MH. We crossed Nagpur 1.15pm and stopped for lunch as soon as we entered MP. State: Madhya Pradesh Tarmac turned super smooth the moment we entered MP - driving on SH 547 was pleasant experience (we passed some hills in between). No wonder MP has some of the cleanest cities in the country - one could judge the same by looking at their roads. We crossed Chhindwara around 4.30PM, and reached destination (Sagar) by 7.45PM. We could already feel the cold that night (not so much, though); had dinner and called it a day. It was a great day overall (not eventful). It was relatively long day for us in the car (~900KM), and we intentionally front-loaded much of distance on day-1.

Distance : ~190 kilometers Drive time: 4 hours including breaks Mileage : 16 KMPL (Best mileage we have ever achieved, never crossed 120 km/hr) Total trip cost : 2600/- (Including fuel for 2 persons) Road condition 2017: Quick update Hyderabad to Nagarjunasagar road condition: Road condition has improved a lot compared to last year. First 50 kilometers has a beautiful single lane road(similar to srisailam road) Last 100 kilometers is a good single road. Places to visit at Nagarjunasagar: 1. Nagarjunakonda Island a) Visit APDC launch station.(around 10 kilometers from Dam) b) Park your vehicle at the paid parking. c) Take a boat to the Island. d) Total trip takes around 3 hours (approximately) Timings:9:30,11:30 and 1:30 Price : 120/- per Adult and 100/- per Kid 2. Nagarjunasagar dam 3. A.P tourism hotel (excellent view, no entry charges and food is good ) 4. Ethipothala Water Falls. Food option on Hyderabad to Nagarjuna sagar highway. Vegetarians: Sai Annapurna hotels , Google maps : https://goo.gl/maps/qK64agvUpqm Non-Vegetarians: Naga lakshmi Kaveri Family dhaba, Google maps : https://goo.gl/maps/nQPLuhBck5A2 Food options at Nagarjuna Sagar Hotel Siddartha , Google maps : https://goo.gl/maps/HiCqkP1TVDU2 TSDC tourism Vijay vihar, Google maps : https://goo.gl/maps/fEpVvnMfVkk Stay options: A.P tourism is the only best option available at Nagarjunasagar. There are few private hotels but most of them are not maintained properly.

A quick drive to Hidden Castle. Place is located around 100 kilometers from Hyderabad. Road condition: 4-lane with very few diversions. Once you hit the highway, You will reach the destination in an hour. Food options on highway: Enroute you can find Haritha food court.

Last weekend me and Saran decided to explore a new place called Gottamgutta. We started searching online for routes and other information. Even after spending an hour, I couldn't find anything related to routes and places to visit. We decided to start early in the morning and explore this place. Distance : Hyderabad to Gottamgutta : 120 kilometers Route : There are two routes to reach this place. One is a regular route through the village called Chandrampalli (dam). Other route is through few small villages and a forest. We obviously took the forest route. Hyderabad > Sangareddy > Zaheerabad > Govindapur > Mogudampalli > Chincholi wild life scantuary > Gottam Gutta Red marked path is not present in Google maps. Places to visit 1. Chincholi Wild life scantuary 2. Gottamgutta (trek) 3. Chandrampalli dam

This was in August 2014 after a very boring and hardworking week which meant we had to get away on a drive to chill out. So after browsing for places nearest to Hyderabad, we narrowed down on Gandikota, popularly known as the Grand Canyon of India. Gandikota is located in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and got its fame due to the gorge formation caused by the river Penna. Planning: When: August. 1 Drive: Ford Fiesta Fuel Type: Petrol Route: Hyderabad - Kurnool - Gandikota Distance: ~400 kms Local Tour Distance: ~100 kms Time: 9 p.m. (August 1st) - 1 a.m. (August 2nd) {4 hours including breaks} Mileage: Avg. 16 kmpl (with AC) Places: Orvakal (Natural rock formations) Belum Caves Gandikota - The Grand Canyon of India Route: Hyderabad ---> Kurnool ---> Orvakal ---> Belum Caves ---> Gandikota ---> Gooty ---> Hyderabad. Execution: Our initial plan was to start in the wee hours of Saturday and reach Gandikota by evening but changed our plan and left on Friday night. The journey began at 9:00 p.m. from Manikonda and got onto the brilliant ORR and Bangalore highway. After a seamless drive till Jadcherla, stopped for dinner at our favorite restaurant called 'Drive-In' which is on the highway after crossing the toll at Jadcherla. After a sumptuous dinner, we continued our journey and reached Kurnool town at around 12:30 a.m. Not having made any prior reservations, we went in search for a hotel to crash for the night. Based on suggestions in Google, we zeroed in on DVR Mansion near SBI circle. It was a pretty decent deluxe AC room. With lot of driving to be done the next day, we dozed off and got up fresh at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. After some nice complimentary breakfast and coffee, we checked out and started our journey to Orvakal Rock Garden, our first destination of the day. Orvakal is a place situated about 30 kms from Kurnool on NH-18 which is the Kurnool-Ongole route. It is famous for its natural igneous rock formations. Although the AP Tourism website claims to have boating and rock museum, we couldn't find either and there was construction work going on. After a slight drive up-hill, we had a decent view from the top with the rocks in the background. We started to get some clicks with our new Nikon D3200. Next on the list was Belum Caves. Glimpses of the rock garden Beautiful natural igneous rock formations Our drive up the picturesque landscape And our principal photography began Orvakal rock gardens is a mix of sandstone & limestone all over We got involved in some 'Rock Climbing' activities We stopped at a longer crack, probably about 20-25 ft high Belum caves, supposedly the longest caves in India after Borra, is about 80 kms from Orvakal. The route is decent not the 4-lane highway so took us about 2hrs to reach the place with breaks. There was an entry fee of about Rs. 50 and we went exploring deep inside the caves. People with breathing problems have to be careful as the caves are quite deep with not many air vents. After taking several pictures of the beautiful caves, we were completely exhausted by the time we finished our exploration. Few pictures of our journey down to the Belum Caves Entrance to the caves, Tunnels inside the caves and broken stalactites. And our underground rocks tour begun The second largest cave and one of the longest caves of the Indian Subcontinent Sculpted by nature, Belum caves have spacious chambers, passages, all creations of the water flow Main Sections of the Belum Caves A stone pillar inside the Belum Caves Carves formed by the flow of underground water One of the small caverns The lighted up narrow pathway Caves photo-walk Muted lighting adds to the mystery and beauty of these caves

Hi all. I have visited this place again this week.Tried to cover some places that I have missed during the last visit. This time I covered Tigris Waterfalls(Polluru falls). One has to travel via Mothugudem to reach these falls by taking a left turn from a junction after you cross Chinturu. It is approximately 27 kms from the Y junction. Places visited: 1.Tigris Falls 2.Explored Coffee Plantation 3.Jalatharangini falls 4.Amruthadhara Falls The ride Tigris Falls Path that leads to the falls. We can drive through the path where there is enough parking space. Road to Tigris falls from Mothugudem. Road condition is very good and this is the same road that one has to take to reach Lambasingi if travelled via Bhadrachalam. Since that was a weekend, the place was fully crowded with over 200 people.Schools around brought their children for picnic mostly from a village of Chattisgarh.

Hello all this is my first travel story and I will try to keep it as minimal as possible with all the important info. Trip distance : 450 Kilometers (one way) Drive time : 9 hours (includes multiple breaks) Hyderabad to Maredumilli can be done in two different routes. Route :1 Hyderabad --> Suryapet --> Khammam --> Kothagudem --> Bhadrachalam --> Chinturu --> Maredumilli Route:2 Hyderabad --> Suryapet --> Vijayawada --> Rajahmundry --> Rampachodavaram --> Maredumilli My choice was Via Bhadrachalam. Most scenic of the both. Hyderabad to Maredumilli : Take Route 1 Maredumilli to Hyderabad : Take Route 2 Road Condition :Route 1 Hyderabad to Suryapet : 4-lane, toll road Suryapet to Bhadrachalam : 2-lane, average road Bhadrachalam to Maredumilli : 2-lane, Most scenic road Road Condition :Route 2 Hyderabad to Vijayawada : 4-lane, toll road Vijayawada to Rajahmundry : 4-lane, toll road but poorly maintained, expect some potholes Rajahmundry to Maredumilli : 2-lane, average and scenic road Hotel details We stayed in Vana Vihari cottages, our cottage name is Bison which is very decent for the price. Costed us around 1300/- per day, rooms are very neat. Don't expect any luxury. Stay is pretty decent. I see many members asking, If the place is safe for families. Yes the resort is absolutely safe. Places to visit in Maredumilli Amruthadhara waterfalls Jalatharangini waterfalls Nature Trails Mothugudem waterfalls Medicinal Plants Conservational Area Coffee Plantation Nandanavanam Tribal Culture Swarnadhara Jungle Star Nature Camp Site Madanakunj Places to visit Rampachodavaram Rampa Waterfalls Temple of Lord Shiva Bhupathipalem reservoir

Total Trip Distance: 588 Kms - Home to Karimnagar: 166 kms - Karimnagar to Vemulawada: 36 kms (one way) - Karimnagar to Dharmapuri: 80 kms (one way) Vehicle: Hired a XUV 5OO from Revv Self drive cars (Couldn’t take my own car (SX4) as its tyres are not in a great condition, I don’t plan to get them changed as I am planning for a new car in the next two months – and this is the precise reason why I am not joining the drives planned in this forum. Hopeful to get my new car in the next couple of months and be a part of the India-drive motorcade J) Travelers: My family of 5 adults (3 senior citizens) and 1 child Routes taken: Onwards journey: (Rajiv rahadari – 4 lane highway with two tolls Rs 50 and Rs 51 single way) Hyderabad -> Shamirpet -> Duddeda -> Siddipet (by pass) -> Karimnagar Karimnagar to Vemulawada: Karimnagar -> Siricilla road -> Vemulawada Karimnagar to Dharmapuri : (NH563/NH63) Karimnagar -> Kondagattu -> Jagitial (by pass) -> Dharmapuri A big thanks to gowtham for suggesting this road. Return journey: (Rajiv rahadari) Karimnagar -> Siddipet (by pass) -> Duddeda -> Shamirpet -> Hyderabad Day 01: Started leisurely at 10 AM from home and it took us one hour to reach shamirpet due to moderate / heavy traffic around Jubilee Bus Station – Bolarum stretch. Got onto Rajiv rahadari and from there it was a breeze. Didn’t consciously cross 110 Kmph as my little one was playing in the car and wanted to avoid sudden breaking. Took a tea break at 11:45 AM for 20 mins. The four lane road was excellent all throughout barring some small stretches where the road expansion is in progress (nothing major though). Finally reached Hotel Swetha (thanks again to gowtham for suggesting the place) in Karimnagar around 01:15 PM. Checked in, had lunch and took an afternoon nap. Left the hotel at 5PM for Vemulawada. Took the Siricilla road and reached the temple by 6 PM. This road ranges from good to average (no major bad or worse stretches). One can easily cruise around 80-90 kmph. The only thing to watch out for is the TSRTC bus drivers trying to overtake other vehicles and local auto / tempos are always erratic on the road. Had a great darshan and started back around 7 PM. Reached Karimnagar around 8:10 PM and my family wanted to have a light dinner so we were looking for some south indian tiffins and as luck would have it we ended up in place called Sri Geetha hotel. This decision was a bad mistake – it was substandard food and sick ambience. When we started from Hotel Swetha in the evening, I missed checking out Hotel Prathima (which is like 400 m away from Hotel Swetha) due to traffic. And this costed us heavily. While returning from Sri Geetha when we saw Hotel Prathima with an hoarding highlighting 99 varieties of Dosa we all knew what we missed J. Went back to Hotel Swetha and retired for the day. Day 02: Was planning for an early start but could only manage to start around 9:15 AM from Hotel post breakfast. Took the NH563/NH63, it’s a decent two lane highway was able to do speeds of 100 – 110 kmph in some stretches. Had a scare near a village called Kalleda, I was cruzing at a speed of 90 kmph and spotted a 3 wheeler cargo auto trying to cross the highway. I honked and flashed my headlight to let him know that he should stop and let me go. He did stop for a moment and I thought he will wait and didn’t break but suddenly he decided he should cross before me. I honked again, he stopped again only to start again, left with no option I had to break hard and hoped ABS / EBD everything would work. And they did, I only had to get off the road to miss hitting him. I think there were only 5-8 inches gap between the vehicles during the crossing point, yes! it was a close shave. I first checked with my family if they were fine. Luckily my daughter was playing and hugging my wife when this happened so she didn’t get hurt. I got down absolutely furious and rushed towards the auto and what I saw completely baffled me. There were 4 people in that small auto cabin and the driver was not able to turn the handle neither break. He gave me sheepish smile and apologized profusely. I somehow controlled my anger and just reminded him that the scene now would have been completely different had he done this with a lorry or a bus. He again apologized. Finally reached Dharmapuri around 10:30 AM. Paid the ‘Panchayat entry’ toll of 50 bucks and was asked to head into a narrow lane that would lead to temple / parking. It was indeed a very narrow lane and was difficult to drive when another vehicle came in the opposite direction. To add to it there are open drains so one mistake and you can find your car wheels in the drain. Finally found a parking space for the XUV in those narrow lanes. Visited the temple had some special puja’s performed and started back around 12:00 PM for our next destination – ‘Kondagattu’ – the famous Hanuman hill shrine in Telangana. Kondagattu is around 47 kms from Dharmapuri and took me 45 mins to reach. Had a quick darshan and started back towards Karimnagar around 01:15 PM. Reached Hotel Swetha in next 40 mins and had a good lunch trying out some local (Telangana) non-veg food. Posted lunch rested for about 40 mins and started back around 4:30 PM. Reached Hyderabad around 6:45 PM and got stuck in the Bolarum – Secunderabad traffic. Finally reached home around 7:45 PM. Accommodation & Food info: - Places to stay: Hotel Swetha / Hotel Prathima - Places to eat: Hotel Swetha / Hotel Prathima / Hotel SilverOak - Food: My personal take is you get quite good non-veg food in these restaurants and vegetarians might be a little disappointed with the quality of food I couldn’t shoot many pics on this trip as my daughter was gunning for my phone as soon as I used it to click snaps. So to keep her tantrums in check decided not to use my phone a lot.

Hi Members Greetings,please advice best route traveling from hyderabad to ooty. Regards Baig