Guest Post
Author: Meghana C R
It was a few months ago when a friend showed me a pic of a place and said it's called "The Grand Canyon of India", somewhere in Andhra Pradesh. Impressed by the pics, I decided to plan a trip to this place called Gandikota. I failed. My friends planned and they failed too.
Finally, another good friend "Mahi" came up with an idea to the same place but with a different plan. A road trip on bikes with the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club! At that moment, all I knew was that I am going, no matter what!!!
So, on a cold December morning, we gathered at Hebbal junction at 5.30am for a brief introduction and instructions by the lead rider as there were both regular bikers & first timers too in the group. By 6am, the bikes started to roar and our epic journey began. This was my first trip with BJYMC and I was neither a rider nor a pillion! I was part of the 'backup' crew in the car.
We had some hiccups on the way, but we managed to overcome challenges quickly. Looks like the rides are well accustomed to their bikes and issues that tend to crop up. After breakfast at the border of Andhra, we stopped at a town called Kadiri for a short break around 10.30am. Soon enough, these roaring bikes attracted a huge crowd. People looked at us as if we were some celebrities, or aliens or even daciots I guess because all of us were in black riding jackets!
The day started getting hotter, but the roads were a real bliss. The curves and turns just delighted the roaring lions. We passed through lush paddy and sunflower fields before reaching the fort town of Gandikota. It is around 285 kms from Bangalore via NH 7 & SH 28. It is a small village of Kadapa district and has a history of several Kings. Like any other place, this village too had temples, mosques, ponds, lakes, most of which are now in dilapidated state. We reached the Govt run Harita resort at lunch time and enjoyed the typical andhra meals. After taking a short break, we headed to the grand canyon which next to the Gandikota fort & the temple for sunset.
The fort is around 300 years old and is pretty well maintained by the AP tourism board. It depicts ancient structures and languages, paintings, kings names and so on. There is an old cannon too in the premises. The aura of the sun setting down by the fort and the valley can be captured only by the human eye. We walked further up on the rocks to see the breathe taking view of Pennar/ Penna river alongside huge red stones. Completely amazed and lost in thoughts, one can only wonder the number of years taken for this beautiful natural formation. The red blocks of stones next to this reservoir looked just amazing.
We spent enough time sitting there, enjoying the view, clicking pics, selfies and then took a short off roading ride to Madhavaraya temple and back to the home stay before we called it a day. For the rest of the night we had goodies being distributed, music, dance, laughter, booze, food and full on masti with the awesome company of 28 people. What more can one ask for?
The next day, we checked out after breakfast and road 40 odd kilometers to another historic location called Belum Caves. This is a 1.5km long cave network with natural mineral formations is one of the longest caves in the country. The AP government offers free guided tours of the cave which is definitely worth a visit.
My special thanks to the BJYMC riders for making this a memorable trip!
If anyone wants to treat their eyes, just ask them to visit The Grand Canyon of India!!!
- Meghana can be contacted via email
Author: Meghana C R
Finally, another good friend "Mahi" came up with an idea to the same place but with a different plan. A road trip on bikes with the Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Motorcycle Club! At that moment, all I knew was that I am going, no matter what!!!
So, on a cold December morning, we gathered at Hebbal junction at 5.30am for a brief introduction and instructions by the lead rider as there were both regular bikers & first timers too in the group. By 6am, the bikes started to roar and our epic journey began. This was my first trip with BJYMC and I was neither a rider nor a pillion! I was part of the 'backup' crew in the car.
We had some hiccups on the way, but we managed to overcome challenges quickly. Looks like the rides are well accustomed to their bikes and issues that tend to crop up. After breakfast at the border of Andhra, we stopped at a town called Kadiri for a short break around 10.30am. Soon enough, these roaring bikes attracted a huge crowd. People looked at us as if we were some celebrities, or aliens or even daciots I guess because all of us were in black riding jackets!
 |
| Sunflower fields on the way to Gandikota |
The fort is around 300 years old and is pretty well maintained by the AP tourism board. It depicts ancient structures and languages, paintings, kings names and so on. There is an old cannon too in the premises. The aura of the sun setting down by the fort and the valley can be captured only by the human eye. We walked further up on the rocks to see the breathe taking view of Pennar/ Penna river alongside huge red stones. Completely amazed and lost in thoughts, one can only wonder the number of years taken for this beautiful natural formation. The red blocks of stones next to this reservoir looked just amazing.
 |
| Panoramic view of the Pennar River and the canyon |
We spent enough time sitting there, enjoying the view, clicking pics, selfies and then took a short off roading ride to Madhavaraya temple and back to the home stay before we called it a day. For the rest of the night we had goodies being distributed, music, dance, laughter, booze, food and full on masti with the awesome company of 28 people. What more can one ask for?
The next day, we checked out after breakfast and road 40 odd kilometers to another historic location called Belum Caves. This is a 1.5km long cave network with natural mineral formations is one of the longest caves in the country. The AP government offers free guided tours of the cave which is definitely worth a visit.
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| Entrance to Belum Caves |
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| Passage inside the cave |
If anyone wants to treat their eyes, just ask them to visit The Grand Canyon of India!!!
- Meghana can be contacted via email
