The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway

Tripoto
1st Mar 2019

The Magnificent Canyon

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The Grand Canyon of India as people like to call it had been on our list for quite a while. Since we were on a spree of striking things off the list we decided to strike this one as well. Being employed individuals, we took off with our backpacks on Friday night. Our train, Chennai Express, was scheduled to leave Dadar station at 8:30 PM. Since we had a confusing experience while heading to Gokarna, we ensured that this time we were standing in front of the right coach, i.e., the right general coach whose tickets costed us Rs. 250. This time we had secured ourselves a place to sit which was much more comfortable than standing.

Day 2

Last Stop in Telangana

Photo of Krishna Station Road, Hindupur, Telangana, India by Offbeat Voyagers

The next morning when we woke up, we found ourselves at Krishna station which is located off the banks of the river Krishna which also happens to be the border between Karnataka and Telangana. As the journey progressed, wind farms started adorning the landscape till we finally arrived at Tadipatri at 12:30 PM.

Just another man passing by

Photo of Tadipatri Railway Station, Railway Station Road, Nandala Padu, Tadipatri, Andhra Pradesh, India by Offbeat Voyagers

After getting off, we headed to the auto rickshaw stand which is right outside the station and took one to the bus stand which costed us Rs. 80. The bus stand unfortunately has everything written in Telugu which posed a problem for us but to our luck we were pointed to the right bus when we mentioned "Belum Caves". Bandiveligandla is the destination of the bus that will take you to the caves and costs Rs. 25. The views outside the window are full of stones with wind mills dotted around.

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The journey took us around an hour which we utilized for a power nap. Once we were close enough to the cave compound, we could see the name "Belum Caves" written on the hill just beside the caves. After we got off the bus and started walking towards the caves we realized how sunny it was but on the plus side the wind blows just right to neutralize the feeling of the heat. On the way to the caves stands a statue of Buddha meditating with the hill in the backdrop.

The Meditating Buddha

Photo of Belum Caves, Kolimigundla, Andhra Pradesh, India by Offbeat Voyagers

As we continued down the road, we got to the ticket counter and bought ourselves the tickets worth Rs. 65 each. Post that we made our way to the caves whose entrance starts with a staircase and leads to a massive hall with an opening at the top that lets sunlight in which illuminates the hall. The caves themselves are pretty spread out, ventilated and take about an hour to explore.

The stairway to the cave

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The stairs lead deeper into the caves

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

Some paths are pretty tight

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The caves are well lit

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers
Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers
Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The entrance to the cave

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

After we finished exploring the caves we headed to the main road to catch a bus but none arrived for half an hour. Luckily an auto that was passing by stopped so we got in and were dropped off at Kolimungudla for Rs. 5. We headed to the bus stand to catch the next bus to Jammalamadagu. While waiting, we stumbled upon the local juice stalls that you'll find in a lot of places which serve great fruit juices and milkshakes for Rs. 10. The last bus to Jammalamadagu arrived at 6:20 PM and took an hour and half to get there(Rs. 30).

Since we had no bookings, we started looking for places to stay the night and found a place called Sagar Lodge that charged us Rs.500 for the night. We dropped our bags off and wandered around to find a restaurant for dinner and came across Abhiruchi Family Restaurant which was pretty decent and reasonable as we ended up spending Rs. 450.

Day 3

The next morning we picked up our bags and began looking for transportation to get us to Gandikota. Soon enough we found an auto rickshaw that was ready to drop us off for Rs. 200. The journey took us around 35 minutes. Finally, we had arrived to the destination that was on the list. We stopped for some breakfast outside the fort and then made our way towards the canyon. On the way we came across a mosque located next to a temple which reminded us of the secularism that existed back in the day.

Juma Masjid

Photo of Gandikota Fort, Gandikota, Andhra Pradesh, India by Offbeat Voyagers

We finally headed to the canyon and the moment it came into view, we were blown away. That view made the whole journey absolutely worth each minute. The river Penna carved it into those rocks over centuries to make it what it is.

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

Life off the edge

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers
Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The glorious river Penna

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

The gates

Photo of The Indigenous Canyon - Gandikota #offbeatgetaway by Offbeat Voyagers

After having our fill of the beauty, we embarked on our journey back and got a bus to Jammalamadagu at 10:15 AM for Rs. 15 which dropped us off at 10:55 AM. We quickly switched buses and were headed to Tadipatri that costed us Rs. 50 and arrived at 12:43 PM post which we rushed into an auto that dropped us off at Tadipatri station at about 1 PM. Fortunately, our train that was supposed to reach at 12:49 PM arrived at 1:13 PM which enabled us to board it.

Related to this article
Places to Stay in Canyon,Things to Do in Canyon,Canyon Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Canyon,Places to Visit in Canyon,Places to Stay in Gandikota,Weekend Getaways from Gandikota,Places to Visit in Gandikota,Things to Do in Gandikota,Gandikota Travel Guide,Places to Visit in Andhra pradesh,Places to Stay in Andhra pradesh,Things to Do in Andhra pradesh,Andhra pradesh Travel Guide,Things to Do in India,Places to Stay in India,Places to Visit in India,India Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Grand canyon,Places to Stay in Grand canyon,Places to Visit in Grand canyon,Things to Do in Grand canyon,Grand canyon Travel Guide,Places to Visit in Telangana,Things to Do in Telangana,Telangana Travel Guide,Things to Do in India,Places to Stay in India,Places to Visit in India,India Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Tadipatri,Tadipatri Travel Guide,Places to Visit in Tadipatri,Things to Do in Tadipatri,Places to Visit in Andhra pradesh,Places to Stay in Andhra pradesh,Things to Do in Andhra pradesh,Andhra pradesh Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Kolimigundla,Places to Visit in Kolimigundla,Things to Do in Kolimigundla,Kolimigundla Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Kurnool,Places to Visit in Kurnool,Places to Stay in Kurnool,Things to Do in Kurnool,Kurnool Travel Guide,Weekend Getaways from Kadapa,Places to Visit in Kadapa,Places to Stay in Kadapa,Things to Do in Kadapa,Kadapa Travel Guide,Places to Stay in Gandikota,Weekend Getaways from Gandikota,Places to Visit in Gandikota,Things to Do in Gandikota,Gandikota Travel Guide,