Anantagiri Hills -A calm and beautiful place

One cannot believe this it took one year for us to go to a place which is hardly 100Km from hyderabad. We were planning to go to this place since last year finally we could make it on 12/01/2008.

We ( 5 people)started early in the morning 6:30Am with enough snacks and drinks.When we planned this trip i read few blogs which said no dhabas are available on the way so please have enough food along with you but i was surprised to see many dhabas on the way. If any one is planning a trip to this place my suggestion is not to overload oneself with unnecessary things.

Coming to our journey

we crossed city outskirts by 8:30AM and reached vikarabad around 10:00AM. I was the navigator sitting beside my friend Vara ( F1 Driver) .I heaved a sigh of relief when we reached vikarabad because the way was confusing once we crossed chevala.After a short power break we started to our destination which is just 10 Km from vikarabad, everyone was eagerly waiting even hari who was sleeping for most of the time was peeping through window in search of forest :) .

From what we heard and read about the place we thought it was in a forest but except for few places with dense tress,a TB hospital and few view points from the top of the hill there is no forest.

Finally we arrived at the place at 11:00 AM believe me air was refreshing as if we are in some hill station. We went to the temple ( Ananthapadmanabha swamy temple) had a small chat with priest to know about the history.

He told us this idol is a swayambhu and if one takes bath in the Gundam ( in telugu) or water tank it is as good as taking bath in Ganga. We went around temple and were surprised to see very old structers around the temple.Few cave like structures made in huge rocks , rooms built ( very old) for piligrims were present suggesting this place is very old and was frequented by people.We started walking down towards the water tank , this place has two tanks one for bathing and another for drinking water.I remember reading in one of the blog about river musi and its link to this place , i did nt find any of that here.

I would be doing injustice to this place if i dont talk about its ambience. This place( around temple) is a beauty with trees, small bushes, mango, tamarind trees. One can have a look at different birds on the tree tops and listen to the music show of the birds.Once we crossed the watertank we found lots of teak trees and a narrow road going down the hill.

Now its was time for another power break so had some food and recharged overselves for the rest of the journey.

We enquired about the places nearby and go to know about the view points on the hill. we started for the view point but realised later that we had crossed the place which is hardly 500M from temple. Now my navigation and vara's driving skills were put to test believe me we were trying to take a U turn on a blind turn we couldnt succeed and after a khati mitti dialogues with one bus driver we went down the hill to take u turn. View point is just the place where given a chance one would like to spend whole day with their dear ones.

This place if developed properly then it has the potential to become an good eco tourism place.

Finally our trip came to an end we started back at around 2:30Pm and reached home by 5:00PM.

This trip has really invigorated everyone and it was a welcome break from the chaotic life in the city.

Daman- A beautiful place near Vapi

Daman , when i heard the place name i couldnt make head or tail out of it but when i finally visited that place then the first word which came to my mind is BEAUTIFUL. This is a wonderful place with beatiful beach( Arabian Sea) wonderful food and beautiful girls. Daman was an portugese colony and it got independence along with Goa after 1970. There are two places Moti Daman and Nani Daman which are separated by a small water body. This place is about 30 Kms from nearest railway station Vapi. Being a union territory it is well organised with beautiful old buildings , a fort and a big light house.Lots of textile industries, Breweries and few pharma industries are present in this place.During weekends there is a heavy inflow of tourists from mumbai and nearby places.This place is full of migrant workers who come to work in the factories at vapi & dadra nagar haveli. To reach daman from mumbai one needs to catch a train going via Vapi at Central or borivali or Bandra, it is roughly 130 kms from mumbai.For accomdation my suggestion is stay at vapi , this place has restaurants, shopping malls and good hospitals.Lots more but i suggest one should enjoy those rather than reading......

Bhongir Fort- Just 50Km from hyderabad

We started from F1 driver ( with a life jacket) Vara's home at about 9:00AM. Arvind who joined us for the first time has learnt many new words during this trip courtesy Vara and few have become his favourites.It was a lovely day with cool weather but unfortunaltely we got struck in the traffic jam at Ghatkesar.It was not a long journey so everyone of us were ready to trek the rock and rock the place.

Bhongir fort ,a beautiful fort on a imposing and huge rock. Front view of the fort is enough to appreciate its beauty.It is 60 KM from Hyd hardly 1.5 hours journey.

This fort is in the middle of the town without a proper care.It is easy to climb initially but once you cross the first rock one needs to be careful as the fencing near the steps is not proper. Wonderful place with lots of similarities to Medak fort. One should carry enough water as it is very tiring to trek.


Finally when we reached the fort on the hill our engineering brains started questioning things.This is natural considering the things on which everone works. After some still photography by everyone we went around to catch a birds eye view from top of the hill.

View from the top of the fort is wonderful we can get a glimplse of yadagirigutta temple and the beautiful green fields around the town.


It hardly takes half a day for this wonderful trip to Bhongir Fort.

Places around Medak Church

Medak is a wonderful place just 90Kms from hyderabad. One should go to the beautiful church in the town famous for its long sphire.

If interested in trekking then a small fort is waiting for u in the town , this fort is visible from church.

Not a big trekking but sufficient enough to give that feeling, carry enough water and eatables as nothing is availble near the fort.

Still energy is left then one can relax by going to Nizam sagar dam which is roughly 20- 30 kms from medak town.There is a sanctuary near the dam. This entire trip will not take more than 10 hours, so planning for a short trip which will re juvinate u then medak should be on top of ur list.