It takes an hour to get to the other side of the HiTech(!) Railway Station underpass – no, there’s nothing hitech about the underpass – it’s just the name!

Thankfully, I don’t drive to work – watching the cab make it’s way through is like a thriller movie -will that guy sneaking up on you get ahead of you…. without bumping into you, the car ahead of you, or the one on the right…

The earth seems to move so much – there are gaping holes all over the place! And, I used to think Hyd has fantastic roads… duh!

We reached Bhongir and tried to find the entrance to the fort. If you reach a spot that doesn’t have the tell-tale fort walls, you’ve reached the entrance! We crossed the road, and started climbing this huge, single rock in front of us. After a distance, you’d find the steps! My friend was already cursing me for suggesting this place. Here and there, we’d find a shady spot – a welcome relief from the sun – and we’d sit down for a while to rest there. Once you’re up there, you can see the entire town – the bus stand, the railway station, the surrounding fields, and hills to the distance. It was quite a beautiful day – I’ve always loved watching the shadows of the moving clouds and that day was a treat for me.

While we rested half way up, we began to wonder if we should even go further. There was nothing up there – at least, nothing to indicate the presence of a huge fort – and, in front of us, was this huge hill (rock?) to climb! Yes, set your expectations right – this is no big fort. Especially, if you’re an outsider (like me) and you’ve been to Golconda, don’t imagine a similar fort. This one is more like a little outpost! We finally decided to climb the hill.

A few feet away, the rock had flattened out and there were these little structures here and there. We also found a cannon – and took a few pictures there. Further up, you’d find steps carved into the rock – makes walking a li’l bit easier. However, there are places where there are no steps and you are on your own. Finally, we reached the top – and, well, there wasn’t anything impressive. Other than a tower, a few remaining walls, and a newly built building, there isn’t much out there. So, after walking around for a while, we decided to get back.

On our way down, we stopped for a while near those walls – one of those walls was high enough to block out the sun – seated there shaded from the sun, watching the clouds go by, and watching a few other people who had come to visit this place…I got all those pretty blue sky pictures.

There is “Danger” written in quite small letters (in my opinion, not at all attention grabbing). If you are not careful, you could walk over a patch of grass to find yourself standing at the edge of the rock – with nothing to stop your fall. Though, you’d have to go out of your way to stand at the edge

After relaxing there for a while, we got back. An hour later, we were back in Hyd

Finally… Be prepared to climb this huge rock – without steps at places
Carry enough food and water
And you’ll find nothing but a view from up above.
A great place to get away and relax – nothing more, nothing less.

How to reach (Google Map): It is about an hour from Uppal X Road, Hyderabad. As you ride along the Warangal High Road, you can’t miss the fort. Of course, the town is named Bhongir (also known as Bhuvanagiri)

From Bhongir

In the next few minutes, we had zeroed on Srisailam – pending our ‘illustrious’ Imtiaz Bhai’s confirmation… After that, I scourged through the net for all that I can find on Srisailam and ran home…. I had plans …but dozed off…. until I heard ‘your 20 minutes start now’ ….well, it was Llewellyn’s call….all I could manage was ‘make it 30 minutes’ and rushed to get ready…

Half an hour later, at 11:15pm, we were on our way and reached Mannanur at 2.40 am….. we had to wait till 6am – coz vehicles aren’t allowed in the night…. So, we parked and went to sleep….

I got up around 5:40….the place was filled with vehicles of all sizes….small carriers, lorries and trucks, cars and so on…not the quiet place we had reached earlier that night. And people were pretty casual….only until they heard the vehicle at the beginning of the line start – a lorry –…. At the sound of that engine everyone hurried to their own vehicle and started…and soon that place was like a starting line of a race…. Everyone testing their engine ….and raring to go….

The moment the gate was opened, it was a free for all…blaring horns, noisy engines, and flying dust replaced the quiet and serene environ…wish I had a video of that few mins…the change from the calm and quiet morning to the blaring horns….

We let everyone go by,….and started off at the end of the line….as we went by, we found peacocks grazing…we stopped by the road to watch the sun rise below the sizzling power lines….after a few more stops, we reached the first view point…went through the bridge and then up to Srisailam….

After breakfast at the Punnani restaurant, we were hoping to get on the ropeway and the go to the dam…unfortunately, ropeway wasn’t working ….quite a disappointment…so we walked down to the dam – the 650 steps, at least that is what they said – went boating and by the time we got back, we were quite tired…. And since Imtiaz Bhai had refused to come with us…we told him there were a max of 350 steps….to which he asked ‘one way or both together’!!!!!
I got to say it was quite a sunny day….not a day where you can stand out in the sun for long…in spite of all the water around, the place was dry and hot….so, we started on our way back…. A lot slower because of the umpteen stops….
At one place, we went beyond a gate at the viewpoint…and got some wonderful pics of rocks and the dam…all the close-up shots of those rocks and trees growing from them are from this place…
Then we stopped along the bridge….and again it was a good place for some pictures…and ya, some of these pictures show you vast land – the kind of vastness you don’t expect to find all that often…
Another great place was this dam on our way back…it was post-lunch…after a lunch where I couldn’t help laugh at some of Imtiaz Bhai’s gyan to that hotelier….and the way he did it…
After we got out, we came across this kinda dam we had crossed in the middle of the night when we were going to Srisailam…while the two of us wanted to go up and check the dam on the other side, Imtiaz Bhai wasn’t all that enthusiastic…. I don’t knw why….but he refused to do any climbing or walking that day….
So, he stopped and asked an old man who said there is no water at all….but then, we found steps leading to the top,….insisted he stop and went up….and was it beautiful…it was wonderful…and I wont forget the way this guy got on a plank and went all the way, paddling with his hands….it was amazing…time and again, makes me wonder, how big is man? Often, we tend to forget that man is like a small speck on the face of earth…. So let me end that gyan now….
From there it was a series of stops and we reached Hyd after 6….by the time we came to the other end to our homes, it was close to 9…. And that was the end of yet another traveling weekend…

In the next few minutes, we had zeroed on Srisailam – pending our ‘illustrious’ Imtiaz Bhai’s confirmation… After that, I scourged through the net for all that I can find on Srisailam and ran home…. I had plans …but dozed off…. until I heard ‘your 20 minutes start now’ ….well, it was Llewellyn’s call….all I could manage was ‘make it 30 minutes’ and rushed to get ready…
Half an hour later, I was at the KPHB main road…I was 11.15 pm and we set off towards Golconda where Imtiaz Bhai joined us…we were on our way and reached Mannanur at 2.40 am….. we had to wait till 6am – coz vehicles aren’t allowed in the night…. So, we parked and went to sleep….not without joking about Imtiaz Bhai’s polyphonic snoring (a lil later I got to know what that meant!) ….
I got up around 5:40….the place was filled with vehicles of all sizes….small carriers, lorries and trucks, cars and so on…. And people were pretty casual….only until they heard the vehicle at the beginning of the line start – a lorry –…. At the sound of that engine everyone hurried to their own vehicle and started…and soon that place was like a starting line of a race…. Everyone testing their engine ….and raring to go….
The moment the gate was opened, it was a free for all…blaring horns, noisy engines, and flying dust replaced the quiet and serene environ…wish I had a video of that few mins…the change from the calm and quiet morning to the blaring horns….

We let everyone go by,….and started off at the end of the line….as we went by, we found peacocks grazing…we stopped by the road to watch the sun rise below the sizzling power lines….after a few more stops, we reached the first view point…went through the bridge and then up to Srisailam….
After breakfast at the Punnani restaurant, we were hoping to get on the ropeway and the go to the dam…unfortunately, ropeway wasn’t working ….quite a disappointment…so we walked down to the dam – the 650 steps, at least that is what they said – went boating and by the time we got back, we were quite tired…. And since Imtiaz Bhai had refused to come with us…we told him there were a max of 350 steps….to which he asked ‘one way or both together’!!!!!
I got to say it was quite a sunny day….not a day where you can stand out in the sun for long…in spite of all the water around, the place was dry and hot….so, we started on our way back…. A lot slower because of the umpteen stops….
At one place, we went beyond a gate at the viewpoint…and got some wonderful pics of rocks and the dam…all the close-up shots of those rocks and trees growing from them are from this place…
Then we stopped along the bridge….and again it was a good place for some pictures…and ya, some of these pictures show you vast land – the kind of vastness you don’t expect to find all that often…
Another great place was this dam on our way back…it was post-lunch…after a lunch where I couldn’t help laugh at some of Imtiaz Bhai’s gyan to that hotelier….and the way he did it…
After we got out, we came across this kinda dam we had crossed in the middle of the night when we were going to Srisailam…while the two of us wanted to go up and check the dam on the other side, Imtiaz Bhai wasn’t all that enthusiastic…. I don’t knw why….but he refused to do any climbing or walking that day….
So, he stopped and asked an old man who said there is no water at all….but then, we found steps leading to the top,….insisted he stop and went up….and was it beautiful…it was wonderful…and I wont forget the way this guy got on a plank and went all the way, paddling with his hands….it was amazing…time and again, makes me wonder, how big is man? Often, we tend to forget that man is like a small speck on the face of earth…. So let me end that gyan now….
From there it was a series of stops and we reached Hyd after 6….by the time we came to the other end to our homes, it was close to 9…. And that was the end of yet another traveling weekend…

For pictures, please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/christelle1804/Srisailam

With the long weekend approaching, I was raring to go someplace….and we (Llewellyn and myself) started off with the Parade Grounds, Secundarabad. For what? Well, it was Republic Day and we went to see how it is celebrated Hyderabadi style. We walked to the grounds after parking nearby, clicked a few pictures, watched the parade, watched the crowd,… then Vishal joined us and we headed towards Shamirpet lake. By the time we reached the lake, it was mid-morning – it was a sunny day – not the best time to be walking around the lake…after a few pictures, we made a move …. It was a nice and quiet place…wish there was some shade…

We went further down the road hoping to come across some interesting place…we were out of luck…so, we turned around and returned to Hyderabad, finished our lunch at Secundarabad and went to Durgam Cheruvu – a nice lake near Hitec city with a restaurant named ‘Something Fishy.’… wonder if they catch the fish from the lake!!! It is a great place to relax – to just sit back and watch the birds, the duck colony (the Quackers family!), and the patterns on the water left by the frolicking fishes… Quite unfortunately, AP Tourism allows motor boats – which left quite a jarring note in the otherwise peaceful place…and ya, how can I forget to mention the family that turned up a little later – they either wanted the whole world to know their story or they considered each other deaf!

In spite of these, I did enjoy the afternoon there – thanks to the birds. As we were leaving, I fould a little boy fishing…and were they getting hooked!!! I didn’t have to stay long to see his catch!

That was the end of day 1 – January 26

The next day, I left around 6am and we headed towards ICRISAT, missed it, and found it on our way back. The place was beautiful…a lovely place – with mist rolling in…it was a wonderful early morning walk – feeling the warmth of the sun chase away the chillness of the morning…

After breakfast, we went towards Golconda, where Imtiaz Bhai joined us, and then we headed to Warangal. I would rather call him the ‘illustrious’ Imtiaz Bhai…oh my, I’d never forget his running commentary…thanks to the fact that he grew up Warangal, we got to know all the places en route – and also, the places you’d reach if you had turned left or right, instead of heading straight to Warangal! Even after all the stories I’d heard from Llewellyn, he didn’t fail to amuse me… in fact, by the end of the day, I was finding it hard to listen to him with a straight face. Once we reached Warangal, we got to know all the colleges, theaters, hospitals…and how can I forget the excitement in his voice when he took us by the hospital where he was born! I really wonder what would it be like…and how will I react if I go there after more than 2 decades…will I be excited and thrilled, the way he was….I don’t know….I don’t even know if I would ever get to that place again…

After a sumptuous lunch – now, if I could eat 4 pooris and rice with all the curries, curd, and sweet that came along, you got to agree …it was a good meal…. – we visited the Thousand-pillared Temple. Though I didn’t find so many pillars…with quite a few on the ground marked with numbers that seemed to fit a puzzle….’Renovation,’ said Imtiaz Bhai…

From there, we went to the Warangal Fort….a lot of ruins…and as if they weren’t ruined enough, one could see them ruined by the people. It was quite disheartening to see the lack of maintenance, to see the carvings chipped away…

By the time we left Warangal, it was 8pm… and it was past 11pm when I reached home… exhausted but excited…excited about the way I’d spent this weekend…instead of sleeping through my weekend….