It was only last year that I first heard about a “Grand Canyon” in India. What’s more, I learnt that it was only about 200 kms or thereabouts from the city of Bengaluru. It immediately made it into our list of places to visit. The opportunity arose early this year and we made a trip over a weekend to Gandikota in Andhra Pradesh. The weather was fine and we set off early in the morning, heading for Belum caves first. The Belum caves, the second largest system of caves in the Indian subcontinent and the largest in India, are one of a kind. They have been formed over millions of years and are a Monument of National Importance. Surprisingly, it is no where near as popular a tourist spot as perhaps it deserves to be. We reached there in time for lunch, at around 12:30 p.m. We immediately understood why the Caves were not as crowded as other tourist spots. Although opened to much fanfare more than 20 years ago as a tourist destination, the area surrounding the caves had, sadly, fallen into neglect. The sole canteen in the compound welcoming visitors to the caves had a limited menu and had definitely seen better days. It reminded me of some of those restaurants adjoining petrol bunks that are run by the company operating the petrol station. Thankfully, the food was not bad.
From the food joint, the caves themselves are about a km or so further along the road. It was evident that the place was designed for hosting a large number of tourists and when it was first opened to the public, it must have been quite a nice place to visit. There was a children’s play area, a shack that housed a foot massage using tiny fishes, a separate shack for snacks, a ticket house, etc. The children’s play area was nice, but had broken swings and suffered from a lack of upkeep. The massage place was closed and looked like it had not been functional for years. Anyway, once we were past all of these, the caves themselves were fantastic. The entrance to the caves was a climb down a series of stairs in fair condition. We hired a guide to help us in our journey through the caves and he was good without being intrusive.
The caves were well lit with different colour lighting in various spots. There were steel stairs in a few places leading to more exotic rock formations and even an underwater stream of water! We spent a couple of hours walking around and wondering at the various natural formations and a few man-made inscriptions as well. As we walked deeper into the caves, there were large steel ducts pumping in air to keep the ventilation going. All of this was maintained well which was a credit to the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). One of the sights that remains etched in memory is a natural rock formation that looks like a banyan tree. The guide called it the Bodh Gaya Tree formation. Indeed, it is said that Buddhists and Jains once lived in the area. There was a statue of the Gautama Buddha on the outside as well. We enjoyed the walk around and staring at the stalactites and stalagmites at various sites inside the caves. It did get a little claustrophobic and hot at places, but the air being pumped in did help. Once we exited the caves, it was time for some refreshments and onwards we went to Gandikota, aka the Grand Canyon of India, which was about an hour’s drive from the caves.
The drive was pleasant, the roads were good and when we got there, we almost missed the place! There were no signboards at all to indicate the gorge! The trick was to look for the Gandikota fort wall and take a very small road just before the entrance to the fort. There were a few small shops at the turn which formed an indicator of sorts. The sight of the canyon itself was pleasing to the eye. However, there seemed to be little by way of policing at the campsite. Tents were put up all along the rocky outlay right next to the small road, with a view of the canyon. The canyon was not huge and grand, but nonetheless, there it was, a canyon clearly visible all along the road, which itself lasted for only about 200 metres. There were a few rented tents/ cottages towards the end of the road, which is where we were headed.
A note about the booking and the accommodation itself – I looked around on the Internet for a suitable place for 2 families and found a number that I contacted. The pricing for the accommodation was on par with the Jungle Lodges and Resorts in Karnataka and I had to take a leap of faith to make the reservation. There was no “official” confirmation of the booking. The person taking the reservation was a lady in Hyderabad and she gave me a number to contact the different person at the location itself. The “cottage” accommodation was not the cleanest we have been to and the best thing I can say about the bathrooms is that they were functional. The dinner was served out of two large cans of food, in semi-darkness, near the entrance to the line of cottages. Getting any kind of assistance with the cottages meant calling the person on the phone a few times for gentle reminders. Breakfast the next morning was at the Haritha resorts, back on the main road, about 2 kms from the cottages. Haritha resorts are run by the APTDC and like so many Government institutions, are big on space and short on skilled, loyal and dedicated manpower. This was no exception and the food was ordinary.
Gandikota has beautiful spots for taking photographs and we did that in the morning. I trekked up a little peak and managed to get a few clean shots of the canyon. The water was serene and from the distance, appeared clean. There was a spot for various adventure sports such as zip-lining across the canyon, rappelling and a small obstacle course. The path to the zip lining spot was through the rocky terrain and needed a short trek of about 100 metres or so. The trek was rather lonely and a ticket booth en route was also empty. While the others in the group decided to zip line, I did the obstacle course using the rope harness. The cool and perhaps a little scary fact was that there was no one to bother or watch over me once I was hooked up to the ropes. I wonder what they would do in case of an emergency. It really was a one of a kind wilderness experience.
It was possible to trek down to the riverfront for a boat ride. I got lucky when one of the fellow tourists warned me that there was a long wait for a turn at the boat. There was a single 8-seater boat that would take travellers around the river for about 20 minutes and the person told me that he had spent about 3 hours waiting for his turn. He had headed down at 7:00 a.m and we were only getting started to trek down at around 10:30 a.m. Advice heeded and I did an about turn with my Little One, letting the others carry onwards. They, too, soon saw the folly in going down all the way to the river front and returned within 20-30 minutes. By then, it was almost 11:00 a.m and it was getting quite hot.
We went over to the fort and saw a couple of monuments that have stood the test of time. One was a jailhouse and the other was a temple that strangely did not have a sanctum or an idol. Nonetheless, the architecture was similar to that seen in the rest of South India from a 1000 years ago. We got ourselves a few nice photos and soon started on our way back from Gandikota. The journey back was unremarkable save for the fact that there was no decent restaurant for us to lunch at. We had to wait until we returned to the outskirts of Bengaluru before we were able to help ourselves to an evening snack. We had to make-do with biscuits and chocolates for the intervening 3-4 hours.
A few tips if you plan to go to Gandikota –
- Carry your own food. The only restaurant in the vicinity of the campsite is the Haritha resort. It leaves a lot to be desired as far as cleanliness and service is concerned. Take your own tent and make it a camping expedition.
- Make it a camping adventure by carrying your own tent and sleeping bag. You won’t miss much by choosing to stay on your own. From what I could tell, there was little by way of policing the tents in that place.
- Be prepared for anything. The mobile signal is weak in that location and with little to no security or police presence, anything is possible. I saw signs of broken beer bottles and cigarette packets strewn over the rocks at various spots.
- Avoid the summer months. Situated in the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh, it can get scorchingly hot in the summer with very little shade available anywhere. It is best to visit during the winter months.
All in all, Bellum caves and Gandikota is a weekend trip that you can make from Bengaluru. There are enough things to do there to keep one busy for the entire duration and definitely enough to fill your memories with.
Mithun's Musings 