Hyderabad to Belum caves and Gandikota camping

[mit1682]

#One Baleno#6 Souls#One destination#tones of memories#Bucket list tick#Gandikota Belum caves

Trip planning started 6 months before and it kept on changing. Finally accommodation booked and trip scheduled on 24.Jan.2020.

Thanks to Ksk (Sathish) and Dishari for continuous guidance on route and stay.

Car: Baleno ZETA CVT

Members: 4 Adults and 2 kids

Places visited: Gandikota & Belum caves. One can visit places like Owk reservoir, Yaganti temple, Orvakal

               rock garden based on time availability.

Route taken: Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyal-Gandikota-Belum caves-Banaganapali-Betamcherla-Kurnool-Hyd

Road conditions:

            - Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyal: Roads are good

            -   Nandyal-Gandikota: Roads are good. 50 km before Gandikota roads are average to bad and

               passes through villages.

-  Gandikota-Belum caves-Banaganapali-Betamcherla-Kurnool : Roads are average and passes

through villages. Once you touch NH40 then roads are good.

- Kurnool-Hyd: Roads are good.

- Route map provided for ref.

Distance traveled: ~ 800 KM

Toll charges (Fastag): Rs. 650

Petrol expanse: Rs. 3700

Difficulties:

• Trip was awesome, except Aarav (my son) fall sick on day of trip with viral fever. But throughout trip he supported us with his smile. The complete success of trip goes to him.

• At Gandikota you need to wear good shoes to walk on rocks along with comfortable cloths.

• Avoid it during summer & heavy rains.

• People with breathing and BP related issues should avoid Belum caves.

Stay option at Gandikota:

Option 1: Non AC tents

• Cost is Rs. 1000 per person with food on twin sharing basis.

• The only problem is during rainy season this will not be good. Also for common washroom, you need to travel 500 m.

Option 2: AC tents

• Very costly around Rs. 3000 per person with food on twin sharing basis. Sometime even they charge Rs 3500. Tents without food charges will be Rs. 3000 on twin sharing basis.

• Need online booking via freakout.

• Washroom is attached to tent.

Opion 3: AC rooms at Hariths resorts

• We found this good and reasonable. Per room cost is Rs 1600 from Mon-Wed and on Thur-Sun it will be Rs. 2000 (taxes extra).

• Rooms are good and 500 m away from site.

• Rooms being limited we need to book online via AP tourism website.

Food options at Gandikota

• Only food option is Haritha resort (if you have not booked tents). We found food is average and can be manageable. We have carried electric cooker and prepared food by our self.

Food options at Belum caves

• There is a small hotel available near to booking window. They serve cold drink, water and snacks.  We found food is average and can be manageable.

     

  You can enjoy this trips in 2 days. I advise you to make it on weekdays as there will be less rush. For us it took 3 days as we are travelling with kids and we don’t want to drive in night and early mornings.

Disclaimer: Not all of the photos are taken by me. Few are from my friends mobile.

Photographic device:

• Poco f1

• Oneplus 7T

• Canon 1300D

• Xiomi note 6 pro

Beauty of place you can derived from photos.

 

[Gowtham]

Fantastic report very helpful information.
Thank you for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shiva]

On 2/1/2020 at 9:50 AM, mit1682 said:

Beauty of place you can derived from photos.

 

Wow pictures came out very beautiful. Perfect family getaway around Hyderabad. 

After Feb it will be difficult to visit the place as temperatures rise. Right time to visit. 

 

On 2/1/2020 at 9:50 AM, mit1682 said:

Road conditions:

 

Useful information. 

[Johney]

I hope you had a wonderful trip.

 

Could you kindly share any pics relating to camping

Edited February 3, 2020 by Johney
Did not read the full article

[sagar]

Excellent report @mit1682. Great pictures and very informative post.

I just hope the tourists take responsibility in keep the place clean unlike breaking the beer bottles to the rocks all around the place. I've always experienced a lot of littering all around this place.

[mit1682]

1 hour ago, sagar said:

Excellent report @mit1682. Great pictures and very informative post.

I just hope the tourists take responsibility in keep the place clean unlike breaking the beer bottles to the rocks all around the place. I've always experienced a lot of littering all around this place.

True @sagar. We found lots of garbage and alcohol bottles around the camping site. Local people and camping agents should start imposing fines for such people. 

[mit1682]

1 hour ago, Johney said:

I hope you had a wonderful trip.

 

Could you kindly share any pics relating to camping

Hi @Johney, camping site photo is there in one of the photograph.

[uday]

Thanks for the information.
 

Is it possible to pitch our own tents?

[mit1682]

51 minutes ago, uday said:

Thanks for the information.
 

Is it possible to pitch our own tents?

@uday we can pitch our tents. For food and washroom we have to depends on others.

[Gowtham]

21 hours ago, uday said:

Is it possible to pitch our own tents?

 

It is better to go with package which includes food and stay.
Don't forget to carry water bottles. 

[mit1682]

1 hour ago, Ranger said:

 

It is better to go with package which includes food and stay.
Don't forget to carry water bottles. 

@Ranger package cost is very expensive. Non AC tent is Rs 1000 per person (twin sharing) and AC tent is Rs 3000 per person (twin sharing). Best option is to book Haritha which is Rs 2000 + around 600 (per room). Food provided by tent agent is average.

[sagar]

48 minutes ago, mit1682 said:

AC tent is Rs 3000 per person (twin sharing).

 

This is super expensive! 6000 per tent.. :O And if that includes food for dinner and breakfast, It would have been atleast sounded decent..

[mit1682]

21 hours ago, sagar said:

 

This is super expensive! 6000 per tent.. :O And if that includes food for dinner and breakfast, It would have been atleast sounded decent..

@sagar 3000 is including food. But food is average.

[Johney]

On 2/3/2020 at 4:09 PM, mit1682 said:

Hi @Johney, camping site photo is there in one of the photograph.

Hi @mit1682 by bad Tents are beautiful and the view is breathtaking

[Guest Chaitanya Kale]

Trip details are well written and to the point, keep exploring with families. 

[kvm]

On 2/5/2020 at 1:32 PM, mit1682 said:

@Ranger package cost is very expensive. Non AC tent is Rs 1000 per person (twin sharing) and AC tent is Rs 3000 per person (twin sharing). Best option is to book Haritha which is Rs 2000 + around 600 (per room). Food provided by tent agent is average.

Very nice log and superb pics! thanks.

How far would Haritha be from the view points?

[mit1682]

On ‎2‎/‎8‎/‎2020 at 6:39 PM, kvm said:

Very nice log and superb pics! thanks.

How far would Haritha be from the view points?

@kvm it is very near, hardly 500 m from view point.

[Gowtham]

How far would Haritha be from the view points?

 

View points are walk-able from Harita, It will be around 2 kilometres, entire walk. (to-fro)

I would suggest you to camp instead of staying at Harita resort. 

Camping area is directly located at the view point. 

 

[kvm]

Thanks @Ranger and @mit1682 for the replies. Agree, camping is best, but it seems quite expensive - 3k for AC pp but non-AC at 1k pp seems reasonable. Need to check out

 

[Guest Rohit S P]

On 2/1/2020 at 9:50 AM, mit1682 said:

#One Baleno#6 Souls#One destination#tones of memories#Bucket list tick#Gandikota Belum caves

Trip planning started 6 months before and it kept on changing. Finally accommodation booked and trip scheduled on 24.Jan.2020.

Thanks to Ksk (Sathish) and Dishari for continuous guidance on route and stay.

Car: Baleno ZETA CVT

Members: 4 Adults and 2 kids

Places visited: Gandikota & Belum caves. One can visit places like Owk reservoir, Yaganti temple, Orvakal

               rock garden based on time availability.

Route taken: Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyal-Gandikota-Belum caves-Banaganapali-Betamcherla-Kurnool-Hyd

Road conditions:

            - Hyd-Kurnool-Nandyal: Roads are good

            -   Nandyal-Gandikota: Roads are good. 50 km before Gandikota roads are average to bad and

               passes through villages.

-  Gandikota-Belum caves-Banaganapali-Betamcherla-Kurnool : Roads are average and passes

through villages. Once you touch NH40 then roads are good.

- Kurnool-Hyd: Roads are good.

- Route map provided for ref.

Distance traveled: ~ 800 KM

Toll charges (Fastag): Rs. 650

Petrol expanse: Rs. 3700

Difficulties:

• Trip was awesome, except Aarav (my son) fall sick on day of trip with viral fever. But throughout trip he supported us with his smile. The complete success of trip goes to him.

• At Gandikota you need to wear good shoes to walk on rocks along with comfortable cloths.

• Avoid it during summer & heavy rains.

• People with breathing and BP related issues should avoid Belum caves.

Stay option at Gandikota:

Option 1: Non AC tents

• Cost is Rs. 1000 per person with food on twin sharing basis.

• The only problem is during rainy season this will not be good. Also for common washroom, you need to travel 500 m.

Option 2: AC tents

• Very costly around Rs. 3000 per person with food on twin sharing basis. Sometime even they charge Rs 3500. Tents without food charges will be Rs. 3000 on twin sharing basis.

• Need online booking via freakout.

• Washroom is attached to tent.

Opion 3: AC rooms at Hariths resorts

• We found this good and reasonable. Per room cost is Rs 1600 from Mon-Wed and on Thur-Sun it will be Rs. 2000 (taxes extra).

• Rooms are good and 500 m away from site.

• Rooms being limited we need to book online via AP tourism website.

Food options at Gandikota

• Only food option is Haritha resort (if you have not booked tents). We found food is average and can be manageable. We have carried electric cooker and prepared food by our self.

Food options at Belum caves

• There is a small hotel available near to booking window. They serve cold drink, water and snacks.  We found food is average and can be manageable.

     

  You can enjoy this trips in 2 days. I advise you to make it on weekdays as there will be less rush. For us it took 3 days as we are travelling with kids and we don’t want to drive in night and early mornings.

Disclaimer: Not all of the photos are taken by me. Few are from my friends mobile.

Photographic device:

• Poco f1

• Oneplus 7T

• Canon 1300D

• Xiomi note 6 pro

Beauty of place you can derived from photos.

 

Super Trip and Super photography Liked the blog very much