Weekend drive through Nallamala forest - Telangana

Tired of forts and city life of Hyderabad?? Then this is the place you should head to. When it comes to landscapes, Hyderabad always disappointed me. Nothing ever satisfied my eye receptors, except the forts and historic monuments here. I spent my 23 years of life in a place which is blessed with rain, beaches, rivers, mountains.. Yeah! Am talking about Kerala. It was not so easy to get adjusted with Hyderabad. 

     

But this trip to Srisailam was unforeseen. Never ever expected this kind of landscapes in Telangana. Srisailam is around 220 km from Hyderabad which is situated in the hills of Nallamala forest. We planned a two-day trip.

So on a Saturday morning, we started our ride to the divine landscapes of Srisailam. Have you ever heard about a gamer holiday which is celebrated as Mario Day??  Interesting it sounds, Right?. When I was checking the routes, this popped out on google maps and came to know March 10 is Mario Day, because of the way the date appears(MAR.10). If you were grown up in 1990's you are sure to know about Mario.

So we headed the airport road via outer ring road in Mario style . There are two toll booths on the way to Srisailam from Hyderabad. One is at Kadthal plaza and another one at Konetipuram toll. The Hyderabad-Srisailam National Highway is straight as a straight line, and vehicles were also very less on the day we went. 
 

We passed through many small villages all along the drive. There will be freely moving herd of cattle on the roads, so be in control of vehicle speed. See the cattle from a nearby village giving us a fashion parade on the road.

After a drive of 2 hours, we reached Dindi reservoir, didn't spend much time there as we were eager to see the pleasing beauty of the hills of Srisailam. Going further we will reach Munnanur check post. Take a break here, munching some snacks or tea, as we are about to enter the forest. You will not find shops or basic amenities inside the forest, until the exit of checkpost. Keep in mind that any wild animal can come right in front of you at any time. For your own safety and for animals safety, there are strict entry timings. No vehicle is allowed inside the forest from 9 PM to 6 AM.

I apologize for the not so good photos, most of them are taken inside the moving car. And I was travelling in a group, so some compromises have to be made.

     

Being a cat lover, thought of going through the tiger reserve and spotting the big wild cats delighted me.  But seeing a tiger here is very difficult, as they are a very few in number in this forest.

We drove very slowly, to find any wild animal moving nearby but being a hot and dry sunny day, around 11.30 AM, not much we found. We couldn't find any other animals other than monkeys, a herd of deer, peacock and a langur monkey. But as soon as they heard our vehicle slowing sound, being so attentive, they went into the forest other than the brave monkeys. 

    

You can see monkeys sitting even on the middle of road, munching food thrown by people. Despite there is notice displaying not to feed monkeys and other animals, people still do it. There are chances of getting these hurt if someone is driving careless. Try not to feed them with the modern junk pesticided food of ours, which can harm their lives. And do not throw wastes such as plastic which harms the natural home of these animals. 

 

By the word 'Nalla', means black in Telugu language. These hills got its name because the forest is very thicker and even sunlight cant fall on the ground. But the time we went, trees were getting dried up and shedding leaves, as its the beginning of summer. So I suggest, to visit the place, just after the monsoon, in September or October, as the place will be in green lush or in the winter season, from November to February, as the weather will be very pleasant.





Riding further we reached Amrabad Tiger reserve. Here is the Farhabad view point which you can have a glimpse of thick green forest. Here they will take you to the view point in the forest department vehicle, of a maximum of 10 people, by charging a fee of Rs.1200. As it was hot outside and the fee was little higher we dropped the plan to go inside. Came to know this place was attacked by Naxalites some years back. The thick nallamala forests was once a favourite hideout place for the naxals.





      Riding further we reached Octopus view point. Here they charge a nominal fee of Rs.10 per head and Rs.50 for big vehicles. We can take vehicle up to the view point which is around 1 km nearly. 

 

     The view was all hazy. This point offers a view to the backwaters of Krishna River and the adjoining hills. Its named as octopus view point, as it resembles like the tentacles of an octopus. Did you feel so??
We spent some 15-20 minutes viewing the beauty.



     And driving further taking the exit of the checkpost, we started spotting the dam amidst the hills. For reaching to Srisailam we have to descend the hill first which is in Telangana state, and after crossing the bridge, we have to ascend through the hill which is in Andhra Pradesh(AP).



     Nallamala forests which is part of eastern ghats is spread over Telangana and AP. The rocks in this area are oldest in the world, of Proterozoic age which is formed due to the large scale volcanic activity hundreds of millions of years ago.
 


 

     This dam is in the border of AP and Telangana after the bifurcation of the state of AP in 2014. Most of the areas, river Krishna is cutting through the hills, separating Telangana and AP. The only connection here between the states is the bridge on the downstream side of the dam. Bridge runs parallel to the dam. We will get views of dam from different places, but no one is allowed in the dam unless you know someone working there. The water level was very less at the time we went.



     Our drive from Hyderabad to Srisailam, through the ghat roads and amidst forests took around 5 hours, as we were going very slow enjoying the beauty and trying to spot animals. We have pre-booked a room in Srisailam which costs around 800 for an ac room near the temple. There are plenty of choultries for accomodation in Srisailam town which is cheap targeting pilgrims. If you plan to stay for a day or so, I suggest you to book room in advance, as the place gets really crowded during weekends. 

Want to know must visiting places in Srisailam?????


     Have you been here before?? Did I miss out any places? 
     
     If so let us know, so that next time we can go, probably during monsoon time when the forest will be filled with greenery.. 


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 Sailing through the boundaries-A coracle ride in Srisailam 

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Must visiting places in Srisailam