Deccan Trekkers

The train that we took from Hyderabad reached Guntur as early as 4:30 AM in the morning. We took an auto-rickshaw to reach Guntur bus stand. After freshening up a bit there, we had a heavy breakfast in a hotel and boarded a local bus to a nearby village called Narsaraopet. From there we took a mini-bus to Phirangipuram, a small yet serene village at the base of Kondaveedu ranges. This 30 minutes bus journey is totally though the countryside and sure to charm you with its unique flavor.

By the time we reached Phirangipuram it was already 7:00 AM in the morning and from the base we could see a nice silhouette of a watchtower at the top of the hill, with the rising sun sneaking behind it. As we started climbing up, we split ourselves into 2 teams and the goal was to meet at the watchtower, which we could see from the base. One team would follow an easy or already set path to reach the watchtower and another team would explore its way to the top through rocks and bushes. I took charge of the team that would explore the route and reach the watchtower.




Next 2 hours saw a really tough knee-breaking climb. We had to crouch, crawl and climb through the rocks and ruins of the fort. Initially a ruined entrance beneath a demolished fort wall greeted us. We started tracing the path along the fort wall assuming it would lead us to the watchtower. But it wasn’t an easy climb, as it seemed to be. Some places were really too tough to climb. At times we had to blindly rely on the strength of the wild bushes to push ourselves up. After some slipping, holding, screaming, guiding, sweat, push and pull, we finally managed to reach our first goal point!! – The same watchtower that we saw from the base of the hill. I think it was around 10:30 AM then.

As always any tough action should be rewarded. So the tough climb was rewarded by a brief photography session at the top, near the watchtower to celebrate the sense of achievement. Not to forget, the beautiful faraway fields and hillocks in the background. A small ‘fruit and juice’ break followed it. Did I miss to mention? We all carried 4 water bottles each for this trek! Well yes. By the time we reached the watchtower, one water bottle was over and the second one was already in use.

Our second goal was to trek through the ruins and bushes to our next destination – “The Kondaveedu Fort”. The fort is located little deep into the forest. To reach there, we had to quickly descend from the watchtower on the other side and hike a couple of kilometers deep into the forest. But it wasn’t an easy task as it just sounded to be. We had to crawl at times and walk on top of sharp stones with the fear of it toppling and twisting our foot any time. Also sun had placed itself in a most comfortable location to give us additional trouble. But after all the hurdles and hardships, we managed to reach the fort around 11:30 AM in the morning!!

Kondaveedu Fort is yet another ruin at this point of time. As such there is nothing interesting to do there apart from swinging from the roots of an old banyan tree. Also the fort wasn’t the final destination in our itinerary. Our plan was to trek across the range and reach a village called Gopanpalli on the other side of the hill ranges. So after a brief rest and customary photography session, the trek continued into the ruins of Kondaveedu…

Next 30 minutes walk was comparatively easy. Less or almost no rocks to hip hop, more plain lands. All the way ruins, ruins and more ruins. At the end of this short trek, we spotted a huge rock formation (which we later came to know is 1200 ft high). Some of us were curious to climb that rock and get a bird’s eye view of the entire path we just traced. As we were getting late for lunch, we decided to do it after the lunch session. Another 5 minutes walk from that rock formation, we reached a small pristine lake in the middle of nowhere.With stomach already sending signals for food, the lake seemed to be “the perfect place” for having lunch. Packed roti’s were unpacked. Pickles and jams for touch and taste. After half a day of strenuous walking, the rotis with pickles and jams never tasted better ever before!! 15 minutes nap along the lakeside and we were ready to walk the remaining challenge ahead. Adios 2 bottles of water.

Well, at that point some of us wanted to go back and climb the rock formation while some decided to stay back near the lake. Climbing that rock wasn’t easy at all. Everything has a price to pay in this world. To get a nice bird’s eye view of the place, we had to undergo a really tough climb. We had to grab the crevices in the rock to push ourselves up and move ahead. After certain elevation, surprisingly there was a paved pathway that led us to the top. Though it was a hard climb, every second and effort spent on it was worth it! The view from the top was absolutely stunning and breathtaking. We could actually spot the way we traced from the watchtower to the lake. This was one stunning moment. We climbed further up to reach a flat place and took a group snap there to celebrate the proud moment.

Only when we reached the top of the rock that we came to know, the other group that stayed back near the lake luckily caught hold of a villager who could make path for us across the range to the other side. So the group left the place, hiked a mile from the lake and was waiting for us to join there. Thanks to the invention of mobile phones, we could effectively communicate even in the middle of the jungle and spot their location from the top.

We descended the huge rock slowly and steadily. Without taking much break, we started walking towards the place where the other group has stationed. Finally after 30 minutes of walking through a tough trail covered with dense bushes, we reached the place where the other group was waiting for us to continue with the rest of the journey. It was around 2:00 PM at that time.With the villager leading the way, cutting the trees and making path for us, the next 3 hours of trekking through the forest and descent was as easy as removing the word “Easy” or any of its variants from the dictionary. In the beginning the word “Tough” slowly transformed to “Tougher” and to “Toughest” in no time. A fruit break some where in the middle of the jungle and adieu to 3rd bottle of water as well. Tough and steep descend ahead and with the necessity of water management, everyone’s face read only one thing – “Is there an option to time travel and reach the city?” But everybody knew the obvious. Trees, more trees, big trees, stones and rocks of various sizes, after a while the smell of raw greens becomes totally daunting.

Suddenly shining asbestos at a distance caught our attention and some factories were spotted. Immediately shutters opened, “few smiles” and a sigh of relief at last. Some motivation refueled our journey ahead. Another tough hour of descent, we had actually hit the base on the other side. Hurray! Now the smiles slowly transformed to laughter for the few jokes cracked. 2 km walk from the base of the hills through a bamboo forest took us to our final destination – “Gopanpalli Village”, a very primitive civilization. But “civilization” is all that mattered at that time. We could get some “drinking water” and “lime soda”!! Life sometimes hit the very basics and it’s quiet interesting to deal with it in such situations.

It was already late in the evening then. A quick piggyback ride on a local luggage carrier auto brought us to a nearby town, Boyapalem. From there a local bus to Guntur brought us to the smell of real civilization and marked an end to a memorable trekking trip that took us into the slice of history.

Fact file – Kondaveedu

Kondaveedu fort was built during the reign of the Reddy kings in 14th century A.D. There are 21 structures in the fort. The ruins of the fort located on the hilltop offer unraveled mysteries. It is an ideal place for beginner level exploratory trekking. It is not necessary to trek the entire range. One can trek up to the fort and retrace the path back to Phirangipuram. The huge rock formations also aid in practicing rappelling.

How to reach there?

Kondaveedu is approximately 25 km from Guntur and is easily accessible via road. Lots of local buses run from Guntur bus stand (platform number 17) to Narsaraopet. From there one can take a private auto or a mini-bus to reach Phirangipuram (base).

Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) itself is well connected by Bus and Railroad from different parts of the country. It is approximately 260 km from Hyderabad and 390 km from Chennai. Express trains like Hyderabad-Chennai express stops at Guntur. Guntur railway station has a decent cloakroom and retiring room facility. Commuting inside Guntur is pretty cheap. Shared autos are available between the railway station and bus stand at just Rs.6 per head.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Trek dates: 2 Sep 2007

After an unsuccessful attempt to cross the hill range at Thadakalpudi on 19th August 2007 by Sridhar and Ravi (weather not permitting), we decided to cross the hill range.  Having the knowledge about the location and the transportation details, the enthusiasts included Kumar, the experienced; and Lakshman the core developer for the thadakalpudi trek.  As the planning started on Friday, the team decided to have a 1 day trek on Sunday.  The starting point, Thadakalpudi is known place to Ravi and Sridhar.  As Ravi took care of booking the transport and planning the route, Sridhar/Kumar took care of the food and Lakshman assisting Ravi.

On Saturday, the bus was starting from BHEL and Ravi, Kumar and Lakshman decided to borad the bus at KPHB where as Sridhar decided to board the same at SR Nagar.  The scheduled deparature of the bus from KPHB is at 20:05 hrs and 20:30 from SR Nagar.  Ravi, Lakshman and Kumar had dinner together and ready to board the Auto to KPHB only to realise that last minute shopping needs to be done by Ravi for the fruits.  As Ravi and Lakshman grabbed the fruits all three took a speed Auto to KPHB.  In the mean time, Sridhar reached SR Nagar by 20:05 and trying to contact Kumar for the status of the bus.  Kumar responded that they just reached KPHB and the bus is yet to arrive.  Sridhar made couple of friends in SR Nagar trying to find the return journey details.  The best alternative is to reach Kothagudem and then try for a bus back to Hyderabad: alternatively if the team is near Yellandu, reach Warangal and then to Hyderabad.

Finally the long awatited Super Luxury bus to Bhadrachalam (via Kothagudem) reached at 20:45 hrs much to the relief of the team waiting at KPHB.  As soon as the bus strolled out of KPHB bus stand, Kumar communicated to Sridhar who was delighted by the call.  As the team enquired, they came to know that there was a huge traffic jam at JNTU which resulted in the delay of all the long distance busses.  As the bus left Hyderabad at 23:00 hrs, the team was more than happy as the scheduled time of arrival at Kothagudem will be 5:00 AM which is ideal to catch the ongoing train to Thadakalpudi at 5:45.  Ravi, as usually quickly went into a deep sleep setting up the alarm for 4:30 AM hoping to wake up the team and Kumar quickly ecliminitised to the new weather.  Sridhar found the same music on his main road side apartment in the team sitting right behind Lakshman, but Lakshman had little tough time in getting a deserved sleep as the music was different and new to him.

As the bus was about to stroll into Kothagudem, Sridhar woke up and requested the team to get ready for alightment.  Quickly the team ran to Bhadrachalam Road (Rly station of Kothagudem) which is @0.75 km away and quickly took the tickets to Thadakalpudi.  As the train is yet to be bearthed (the train starts from Bhadrachalam Road), the train from Hyderabad had just arrived and yet to be taken off the platform before our train can be bearthed.  Lakshman quickly took a cup of Tea and Ravi joined him for the same.  As Sridhar spotted the train on the sleeping platform, the team ran quickly to take the seats for the 20 minute journey.  Kumar and Lakshman completed the freshup even before the train reached the platform.  The train started its stride at 6:00 AM from Bhadrachalam Road.

After reaching Thadakalpudi by 6:30, Sridhar and Ravi quickly completed the formalities and within 10 minutes they were on the mainroad of Thadakalpudi walking towards the hill range.  The team talked to the villagers to find out the route for the planned trek.  The guidance from the villagers was “just follow this path”, the team started walking.  The route is full of greenary and after walking a few meters, there were deviations; decisions were made to move left and right.  Sridhar in his usual style asked the memebers which way to move and got them say that they must move in the direction of the nearby hill.  Rains over the last two days made the route muddy and slurry.  After 1.5 hrs of walk, the team were looking at a hill, which they need to cross to start the trek.  Looking at the weather and terrain, they decided to climb this hill and return back.  The stomach cried for breakfast at 8:30 and we had breakfast here.  We also created xxx crains so that we can trace back the path.  After the breakfast, and taking a closer look at the terrain, it was decided to abandon climbing the hill.  The planned starting point cannot be reached as it was over the hill ahead of us.  The thought of walking around the hill was also abandoned as it was very muddy and we need to make a long path.  The impression was that we could end up reaching the starting point only.  So we decided to start climb from a different point.  Being innovative, we started walking in the direction of the path along the fields (trying to avoid the retracing).  After walking a few steps through the field, the shoes were tested to the limit as the black soil was sticking.  We started walking slowly and by the time, we crossed the first field, we were very tired and frustated.  As we realised that we took too many turns towards the hill and one of the paths will be in sight quickly.  The fields were fenced and then we realised that we were in a maze.  We started walking through the fields in the direction of another hill (towards west).  The maze was never ending and we were getting tired.  suddenly we found an old man in the fields.  The prior knoledge of Sridhar and Ravi prompted us to ask the old man the direction for the WaterFall, a known local spot for villagers.  The old man has shown us a rock formation on the hill and asked us to move in the direction.

The old man was kind enough to direct us towards a “Machan” where another person was sitting and he will guide us towards the water fall.  As we could see the “Machan”, we started walking with little more confidence and enthusiasm.  The old man was thanked (with a tip).  As we reached the “Machan”, we met “Trailer Ramadasu” who showed us a jungle track to move ahead.  We spent a few minutes here enjoying the view from the “Machan”.  This machan was erected as this being the last field of the village and being close to the hill, the monkeys, come here to pluck/eat the cotton seeds.  Thanking Ramadasu, we walked through the bushes.  Though the villagers were confident about the route, we were checking our way at each cross paths.  We kept cairns and walked towards the hill by making way through the shruby bamboo grass.  Couple of approaches towards the hill were unsuccessful and we had to traceback and walk along the hill side till we reached a small stream.  Now we had a little break and quickly started walking up the stream.  The terrain was just rocks and the water flowing fluently.  We hopped over the rocks only to find Kumar and Lakshman were getting tired quickly.  At 13:00 hrs, we decided to have our lunch but the sight of the top of the hill, motivated Ravi and Sridhar to jump a few more rocks to reach the top.  As Sridhar and Ravi travelled for @15 mins, the path seemed to be never ending and they returned back to have lunch with the team.

After a well deserved bath, we had lunch and started walking down.  The pace was very good and we reached the entry point to the stream within 1 hr.  Surprisingly, it took us more than 2 1/2 hrs to climb this part.  We retraced the path and reached back the “Machan” and talked to Ramadasu to find the way back.  As we were talking to Ramadasu, he has mentioned that walking in the field is not acceptable and it will be difficult when the manuring of the fields is done.  He almost warned us and suggested to walk away from the fields.  We took his help in finding the route and walked away from the fields.  Now, to reach Thadakalpudi from here just took 1/2 an hour.  But the onward journey to reach the Machan took us nearly 3 hrs (including the break for breakfast).  As we reached Thadakalpudi, we found out that the train is 1 hr away from reaching us.  As Ravi, Kumar and Lakshman took some deserved rest, Sridhar was exploiting the terrain for the next trek.  As the train reached Thadakalpudi by 17:45 hrs (15 mts behind schedule), we reached Kothagudem, followed the tradition of watching a movie; Yamadonga this time and started by 22:30 to reach back Hyderabad.

Popularity: 4% [?]

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”

Popularity: 3% [?]