This was mid of January. These two places were on our list for quite some time but never got prioritized earlier. This time, the cancellation of a beach destination made the backup plan a final one. The trip went much beyond our expectations. Both places are amazingly beautiful in their own ways, and we felt they are yet to get the name and fame they deserve.
Route
We went to Belum Cave first and then to Gandikota. We took the route to Bangalore airport and then started going toward Hyderabad. At Anantapur, took the exit from the highway towards Tadipatri and further to Belum Cave. Google Maps is perfect for most routes, including this one. So, let me cover the part Google Maps doesn’t.
Until you reach the place’s exact entrance, it is tough to understand the cave’s existence, as no signboard or anything related to the same is there. Also, food options are very few after Lepakshi. So, plan your breakfast accordingly. The road is super on the Bangalore – Hyderabad highway. The road after that is also in decent condition. Some parts of the road go through villages and have speed breakers without proper marking, so be aware of the same.
The road to Gandikota from Belum cave is in decent condition, with some exceptions. The last part of the road is picture-perfect. It felt as if someone drew those with black markers on the off-white dry grass field. I loved driving through the road. In the whole stretch, traffic was less. A part of the road goes through the ghat area and industrial area. You will also be able to see many windmills throughout the stretch.
The road from Gandikota to Bangalore is different. Ultimately it merges with the Hyderabad-Bangalore highway, but the road condition is not good till there. This stretch also has limited to no food options. However, the scenery is fantastic at places.
You can also include Lepakshi in this trip, but as we already visited that, we excluded that from this trip.
Stay
We stayed at Haritha resort by AP tourism at Gandikota. It was just a couple of hundred meters from the fort. It is like individual rooms scattered in a big area. They have maintained the room and the area nicely. The rates are low compared to the condition of the room and the resort. The service was also decent. We booked it online through the AP Tourism site.
Belum Cave
The cave is superb. I have visited lime cave in Andaman and Bora Cave in Vigaz, and this one is at par with those. It might be a kilometre+ walk inside. In some places, it is very narrow, and we had to bend down to pass. But it is worth the effort. The wow moment for us was the Patal Ganga, where we continued to climb down and suddenly realized the next step would be into the water. Due to the lighting or something else, the place felt magical for us.
In places, one might feel suffocating, but the authority has maintained air circulation from the surface very well at different places in the cave. Neither our 5yr old daughter nor my 60+ yr old mother felt any issue covering the whole stretch. There was a gorgeous white Budh statue outside the cave for a 5 minutes photoshoot.
Gandikota
This place is called the grand canyon of India. I have not seen the one in the US, but this one is indeed something grand. We visited the place multiple times as we were staying nearby. In my opinion, it looks most amazing during sunset. The whole magnificent range lights up in the golden lights of the settings Sun. At times it felt like a giant heritage wall made with old bricks and partially destroyed due to age.
To reach the actual viewpoint, you need to go through the fort to the old mosque with two minars. There is a decent car parking place. You have to walk close to half a kilometer from there, passing the mosque, another old building, and a temple to the main viewpoint. This part is regular walking. Then there are a hundred meters of slope and steps walking through the rocks. From this place, you can see an excellent view, if not the best. Anyone with standard walking capacity can reach here. Beyond this point, be your own guide and take your own risk. With our 5 yr old daughter, we were able to climb to the end cliff from where both sides of the river stream were visible. The view was spell bounding and worth the climbing.
There was an option of speed boating through the canyon. To reach the point, you have to take the right turn before the fort. The place to park the car is a couple of hundred meters away. From there, you need to climb down for half a kilometer to the point of boating. We were interested in boating, but it was impossible to climb down and up one kilometer for us due to the diversity of the age group we were traveling with.
While the mosque, another old building, and a temple on the way to the viewpoint are insignificant compared to the canyon, we still clicked some pics, so here they are.
Food
At Belum Cave, we had lunch at the Haritha restaurant at the cave campus. Minimal options were available, but the food was tasty. At Gandikota, we had most of our food at the resort. Food was a challenge for us there, as the resort’s restaurant served only Andhra food. The staffs at the restaurant were also very reluctant to serve. There were other food options outside, but we have not explored them.
Trip Writer 