Trek Dates: 16-DEC-2006
Preparation:
Immediately after the Kondaveedu trek, the wanderers wanted to trek across those Mountain/Hill ranges and touching the river as well. The Google search immediately flashed a beautiful area in Guntur / Nalgonda and Krishna districts borders where the new Pochampalli Project is being constructed. Here river Krishna took a U turn. Sridhar came up with the idea of trekking over the weekend. Discussing with Ravi and after a little bit of exploring Google Earth, District Maps of Andhra Pradesh (http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/andhrapradesh/districts/guntur.htm) & Live on Internet (http://mapmyindia.com/) a brief outline sketch of the trek route was envisaged. In the meantime Anand, Kumar also expressed their views and are ready to take up the challenge. The next day (15 Dec 2006) the trek route was finalized:
Starting from Hyderabad towards Guntur.
Alight at Sattenpalle.
Move towards Achampet via Krosuru.
Get down at Achampet and then choose one of the following Options.
a. Take a bus across to Venkatayyapalem and from their move towards Kolluru. Get down somewhere between and trek the highest hill in the Mountain range (approx 1500ft) cross the First Hill range and again trek across another mountain, reach Tallacheruvu. From here reach the main road towards Achampet.
b. After reaching the base of the mountain (if the hilltop is not trek able) move along the Mountain range with Krishna River along. Reach Madipadu Agraharam and come back to Achampet.
c. Another option was – Going to Amaravathi, along the river Krishna
The challenges actually started as the route itself is challenging with the little information available. Finally Anand, Kumar, Sridhar and Ravi decided to do even if it would take 2 days.
Leaving Hyderabad:
Sridhar was busy with a birthday party after reserving the Bus tickets to Sattenpalle. As the party was delayed he found himself at 21:45 hrs at his residence. He tried reaching Ravi but Ravi did not pickup the mobile. Thinking that Ravi could be travelling, immediately rang up Anand (who was about to leave to MGBS) and informed him the Seat Nos and told him that he will reach just in time. Anand started off and as Sridhar started there was a huge traffic jam near Maitrivanam and Ameerpet. And at 22:30 hrs he was still at Ameerpet only. At the same time, Ravi was on his mobile talking to his friend at MGBS. His mobile indicated that Anand was trying to call him. After disconnecting the call, Ravi asked Anand to reach Platform No 13 and resumed the important call with his friend. As Anand came in to view, Kumar sighted him and called him up where they were sitting. After exchanging pleasantries all the three started waiting for Sridhar. In the mean time Anand had indicated that Seats No 22,23,24 & 25 were booked till Sattenpalle on the last bus to Guntur leaving at 23:00 hrs. Sridhar would reach the bus station with Tickets. Soon Anand spotted the Guntur bus and all the three boarded the bus waiting for Sridhar. 2255 Hrs still there was no sign of Sridhar; Anand got down from the Bus and was looking for Sridhar. In the meantime Kumar sitting next to the Window, saw Sridhar and just before the bus started to leave for Guntur all the four were comfortably seated. After informing that the bus would be at our destination by 0515 – 0530 all of them went in to their own world.
As the bus (Audio special) sped away towards Guntur, little did anyone knew the audio speciality. The bus windows started making noise and the cool breeze reminded us the temparature is going to be low this night. Ravi went to deep sleep, opening his eyes only when the Bus Driver was forced to apply break – and that happened on very few occasions. Thanks to the driving Skills of APSRTC bus drivers, Kumar and Ravi were able to sleep peacefully.
In the seat No 22,23 a different story was being enacted. Anand was unable to get sleep all through the Journey. He fidgeted, adjusted, moved tried in vain to get some sleep so that he would be active the next day morning, but could not. Sridhar was waking up almost every hour to find out the time and how far the destination is. As the bus was approaching Sattenpalle, sridhar woke up and alerted the rest of the team to prepare for the alightment. We reached Sattenpalle at 0530 hrs in the morning. All the four alighted from the bus and decided to act as discussed the day before.
Reaching the Starting Point for Trek:
Armed with the printouts of Google map, District map of Andhra Pradesh, all the four were thinking of going further. Luckily for them they were able to find the “Road map” of the busses run by Sattenpalle Depot (this was not to scale). We added this valuable information also into our maps list for further reference during the trek. Checking the road map, Bus routes, discussing with the kind hearted APSRTC Depot employees it was decided that the trek route would be modified slightly. Instead of reaching Achampet from Venkatayyapalem, it was decided to start from Achampet and reach Venkatayyapalem. The drivers also warned about the naxalite activity in the area that is calm now-a-days, thanks to the combing done by the Government in view of the Pochampalli Project. The first bus torwards Madipadu Agraharam is at 0630 hrs. A cup of Coffee in the morning energized all of them as they waited for the bus. As the bus made way between the Cotton, Jowar and Chilli fields along the dusty pot-holed roads, the Journey towards Achampet had begun. As the bus moved towards Madipadu Agraharm in the morning, chill was felt. It was really cold. As all the four started to appreciate the surroundings, their spirits got dampened when the Bus Conductor informed that the area was exposed to Naxalite activities – although it was very less. 2 kms after Achampet, we got down at so called “Venkatayyapalem Road” and started the trek with the view of the Hill range at 8:15.
The trek:
As the journey continued by foot towards the base of the hill, Chilli and Cotton fields still kept pace with them. The chirping of the birds made us stop here and there playing hide and seek with us to spot them. A different experience we faced here, as there were bushes and fields all around us, it was difficult for us to spot the birds. As we leaned over the barricaded bushes (preventing the members from entering the fields) the birds flew away. At 0830 hrs a huge tree with a Hand Pump located at the foothill invited us with open arms for the breakfast. The Idli’s brought by Anand (thanks to his idea of covering the idli with “karam podi”) are very delicious and gave a good energy for the team to move ahead. The team was cautious only to leave the footprints in the trek, the trash was packed back into backpacks. They decided to stick to the well-trodden path of rivulets. Although there was no water flowing, they were able to quickly conclude that this was the route that people use to reach Venkatayyapalem and decided to stick to this route. This route is very different from the rest of the treks taken so far as the path is filled up with stones of all sizes through out the route. It was hard to find soil for long stretches. As they continued along the foot trail, they once in a while halted to take snaps. By the time they reached the top of this hill, it was 0930 hrs exactly 1 hr from the foothill. The ascent was steep and a bit tiring. At this point there was a discussion on the way to proceed further. On their left the foot trail was still there going down this hill, but they felt this might not be exciting. They could see another hilltop on to their right. The challenge was accepted and after 15-20 minutes of moving ahead, found out that this route is going to be hard. The voice of the team echoed to go back to the hilltop and go downhill. As they trekked down the hill the chirping of the birds was more frequent and had a few stops to have a glimpse. This is not a bad place to do some bird watching!! There were no birds during the ascent. This indicated that the temperature is going to be hot as the day proceeds. As the footsteps started picking up speed, a good view of the other side of the hill was available. Quickly a vantage point was found and everybody started analyzing the remaining trek from here. From the vantage point, On to their front were crops; on to their Right at a far distance was the Hill point (They were able to correctly identify that this was the point which they had originally planned to trek – refer option a). The team decided to take some rest and pondered over which route to take – with each one suggesting left, straight and the right direction. There was even confusion about the direction East as we did not have the compass. Even the sun shadow did not help us much as the sun is now touching “Tropic of Capricorn”. Having some oranges and Appy juice, got them energized and all of them decided to stick to the crop fields path expecting the Venkatayyapalem in the nearby vicinity. As the team reached the plains, they were able to see crops. Soon it was confirmed when they met a village local while crossing the fields. Reaching Venkatayyapalem, talking to the villagers there, found that the bus to Venkatayyapalem, from Sattenpalle did not reach in the morning and not sure if any bus will come for the rest of the day. The team had the following options:
Wait for the bus till 14:30 hrs
Walk up to ManneSultanPalem (11 Kms)
Walk up to Kolluru (8 Kms), cross Krishna River, and reach the nearest town of Kodhada.
It was decided to take the route to Kolluru through the forest.
By the time they left Venkatayyapalem to Kolluru, it was 1125 hrs. The trek was through the plains and forest. They were able to see hill range to their right stretching along the path. This route seems to be motarable but for the powerful 4 wheel drives with high ground clearance only. As the sun was beating down with high power, the walk was brisk and few stops. Kumar was struggling to walk that stretch of 3~4 kms and tired. After an hour they took a break under a tree. The team was tiring up, so, we decided to have some biscuits, Glucose and some lemon-salt. Sridhar did not have anything as he wanted to relax his body. After 15 minutes, they resumed their trek towards Kolluru. Anand was very energetic throughout this walk. After reaching the village and asking for directions to reach Krishna riverbank, they moved along. As they continued further, suddenly a cool breeze was felt in the air indicating they were very near to the riverbank. But there was no sign of the river roaring, water hitting the rocks. As they came to the bank, Krishna was in calm mood. The localites mentioned that the depth of the reiver here is @250-300ft. The river was flowing as if it did not wanted to show its existence – peace, calm, somber face of the river. The pochampalli project is being constructed @8 KM downstream from here. All of them crossed across the river on boat, reached Vellatur. Having found a small shop for quenching their thirst, Initially the shop owner refused to take minor change thinking we belong to “Squad” – the “Naxalite police/detection squad”.
Return Journey:
Looking for a place to take rest and Enquiring about the directions to take to reach Kodhada, all of them decided to have lunch. Witnessing a cricket match going on and having chapattis and Jam as lunch gave them the much needed relax. Appreciation to Kumar/Ravi for packing the chapattis so that they stay during the trek and still remain fresh. (these are not home made). All of them waited for the Auto/Bus to them to Kodhada. After a long wait, an Auto turned up which is ready to take the villagers to “Mela Cheruvu”. We quickly jumped on and the road being very dust, we had to cover our nose with handkerchief and to prevent the dust from entering the eyes, The team was tired and almost everybody took a quick nap during the 35 minute journey. As we were reaching Mela Cheruvu at 15:20 the bus towards Kodhada was leaving towards Vellatur. We knew that the bus would come back in 45 mins. Ravi and Anand continued their sleep at Mela Cheruvu bus stand. As the bus arrived from Vellatur towards Kodhada at 16:10, we got into the bus and as the bus started, Ravi & Anand went on to relaxing mode again. They closed their eyes impervious of the surroundings and slept. Some time after Kumar woke Ravi, informed him that they had reached Kodhada at 17:20 hrs.
There are quite a few busses that ply from Vijayawada towards Hyderabad but the tickets will be issued only after the bus arrives. There were already 6 members in the queue by the time we arrived. Sridhar and Anand decided to share the queue relaxing in between. Kumar and Ravi were trying alternate means of transport from the Main road. As a bus came after 45 mts, there was no room to travel to Hyderabad. And suddenly a bus came at 18:35 and there was a rush towards the bus. We all were scattered as Ravi quickly passed the two bags he had in his hand to reserve a few seats, Anand pushed his way through the crowd and went in. Sridhar, came out from the queue of taking tickets and got into the bus. As anand was returning back stating that there were no seats for all of us, Sridhar overheard the discussion of the Conductor stating that 8 seats will be vacated at “Suryapet”. As Ravi has reserved two seats, we thought we can take a risk or atleast share these two seats amongst the four of us and reach Hyderabad by night. Ravi could get the clue about the seats that will be available at Suryapet. And was able to execute the plan to perfection more to the relief of everybody. We reached Hyderabad safely at 22:30 hrs.
“This trek could not have been possible an year ago and cannot be done an year later”
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