Preface:
While I was switching from one blog to another like the mice
following the breadcrumbs, I stumbled upon this article titled "Grand
Canyon of India" with a magnificent picture of the gorge. It took me a
while to believe that this place was in India. On reading
a little more about the place, I figured that it was located in Andhra
Pradesh at a distance of around 300 KM from Bangalore (my current
location). I talked to a few biker and traveller friends about the place
and surprisingly no one had heard about it, these
guys have really travelled around the country but when asked about
'Gandikota', they were clueless. This only fueled my curiosity and
excitement and the next few days were spent researching this place. A
bike trip was long pending and I had already made up
my mind on the destination - The Grand Canyon Of India, Gandikota. The
Grand Canyon of USA had never caught my fantasy as much as the Indian
version did. I chalked out the plan,
the route and the stay in an excel sheet but unfortunately the trip kept
getting delayed. Finally I decided that I am making this trip on the
coming weekend. Initially I was planning to
go solo but two days before the trip, a friend Amit who
is an avid biker and his wife Varsha decided to join me on their Royal
Enfield Thunderbird 500. The plan was to leave on Saturday morning and be back by Sunday evening. We decided to meet
on NH7 near Bangalore Airport around 6:00 AM.
I couldn't sleep much as it always happens a night before the trip, I
reached the airport early and waited for them while having strong
espresso followed by a King sized cappuccino. I really wonder if it
helps
you stay awake, because it never works for me and I fell asleep. I was
woke up to Varsha's call that they were starting and by the time I
walked from the airport’s coffee day to the parking and loaded my bike,
they had already reached. Now that was fast but
then that’s Amit!The journey begins!
It was 7:00 AM when we started from the airport toll. The weather was pleasant and the roads were excellent. We had to ride straight for around 100 Kms till Kodur (ahead on Chickballapur ) on NH 7 before taking the right to SH 87 towards Gorantala. We rode almost non stop with minor butt breaks and stopped just before the right turn for breakfast. We realised we were already in Andhra when we ordered the Idly and the sambhar were a little extra spicy! After a tasty breakfast we moved on to the state highway which was narrower than the NH7 but in excellent condition. We rode through very small towns and stopped at few places for taking pictures. The road condition deteriorated and we feared that it would remain like this till the destination which was still around 100+ Km away, it was so bad that if a truck or a bus came from the opposite direction, we had to ride off the road.After 10 Km of really bad or no roads the smooth tarmac was back and we revved up. While we were enjoying our ride we saw a stand still jam of trucks, buses and four wheelers. We navigated our way to the front to see around 40 kids sitting on the road protesting with the parents standing on the sides. The situation looked tensed and I was for a second worried. While we stopped , a group of children surrounded both the bikes and were saying something in Telugu. Initially I thought they are asking for some money as a donation for some religious function but when I listened closely I could catch two words "Super Bandi" , I realised they were pointing at my bike and then I knew it could mean only one thing "Great bike" which made me smile and I sighed with relief. A little older kid who seemed like their leader made his way through to me and introduced himself , appreciated the bikes and then directed us through the side of the road, people made way for us and we could get past the road block. We were given special consideration while others with four wheels or more had to wait there. I guess its always easier to connect with people while you are traveling on foot or two wheeler rather than the closed vehicles. This felt good, we waved good byes to the kid who cheered for us, someone even shouted "bachelor bachelor" when I passed as I had no Pillion. We rode on and the landscape was changing drastically after every few KMs , We could see rocky terrain with hills all around which were replaced by the grasslands and a few more Km further there were lush green farms (not necessarily in same order, thanks to my memory). It was as if someone had randomly and impatiently placed these terrains one after the other. We were closing our destination and we were starving, guess we had not eaten anything after the breakfast. It was getting hotter and we realised that it was way too hot for November and our heavy riding gears were making it worse. There were very small towns on the way and we could not spot any restaurants as such. Finally we stopped at this town and we saw a lady cooking something at the roadside mess. It was a really tiny mess with concrete seating for 4-6 people. It was so narrow that two people cannot pass through it together but the food was really tasty. We ordered multiple servings of rice, sambhar and aloo sabji. With our stomachs full we started on the final leg of the journey. We had to pass through a village, an under construction road , a small but beautiful pond and a ride uphill. After not so long ride we were entering our resort, the Haritha resort maintained by aptdc.
Didn't realize we had a place similar to the Grand Canyon in India. Need to plan a visit sometime. Those 2 bikes deserve to have the tag "Royal" linked to them, no wonder those kids were awed.
ReplyDeleteIt indeed is a great place to visit and not many people know about it.I will be sharing some more pics of the place in the next blog (its been pending for quite sometime)
DeleteAbout the bikes, well.. Thanks! They are really one hell of a machine!! :)
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ReplyDeleteHey buddy, hope u remember me from yesterday's meet.
ReplyDeleteWonderful place, a must visit... Will need your help as I plan :-)
Hey Rajib. apologies for the delay in response. Had been crazy busy this year. And yes its an awesome place indeed and the ride from bangalore is breathtaking! do let me know if you already made this trip, if you need any help you could reach me on rajneeshk.1983@gmail.com
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