Ride to Srisailam/Mallela Theertham

As we decided to have a respite from our monotonous lives, we started searching for a tourist destination around Hyderabad, which we should be able to cover in 1-2 days during a weekend. We narrowed down(i think we have only these two ) to 2 options - Nagarjuna Sagar & Mallela Theertham/Srisailam. Initially we decided to go to Nagarjuna Sagar, but we learnt that not a single gate is open at the dam as there was no enough water. So we scrapped that idea and chose the latter. This is not the ideal time to visit Mallala Theertham but we were determined to take a break of any kind. Though it sounded crazy to myself, I told Vinod that we shall go thr on bikes. He gave an instant no and started scolding at my idea to drive such a long distance. I tried to convince him with words like different, adventure, thrill etc but finally i had to give up. I called up Harish(from Bangalore) to invite him for the trip and he said only one thing - No Bike .. No Trip. I expected something of this sort from him, given his passion for not just driving but for driving at alarming speeds. Even as I told him about my futile attempt, he started talking of all the routine stuff we do and that its time to do something different. I decided to give another shot at it and again talked to Vinod. To my surprise, i received a cool YES as if he thought over that for a long time.

Vinod, Harish, Bachi, Viswanath, Sasi, Chatur, Tinku, Hemu, Rama & Myself. This is the team roadies that set out on 19th July'08 @ 12PM from Meerpet, Hyderabad. Its perfectly correct if you feel that we started late, but we just couldnt make it . We were soon into the outskirts of the city & already started enjoying the ride. Seems to have watched all our efforts for the trip, we were blessed with perfect climate. The sun hid himself behind the thick clouds and it was the perfect weather which we see just before it rains. We were all on the brink of ecstasy as it started drizzling and going on & off. After soemtime it grew strong and we had to stop. Once it settled down, we started again and we were into 90+ kmph. As we were vrooming, Vinod(Tinku at the back) messed up at a speed breaker, almost controlled it but finally fell down. Fortunately, the injuries were minor & the bike too was fine. Tinku took over the control & We decided to go carefully from there on. Its bike driving yaar... One thing that we all are crazy about. Its very difficult to resist yourself from driving fast, that too on an inviting road like this. We were back to our 90+ and frequently touched 100. Not so often you drive at 100kmph and find someone overtaking you. This has happened so frequently during our ride. Around 2PM, we reached Dindi Dam. The view was good, we took some snaps, had fun, Opened our parcels and had some food. The ride started again and we arrived at the first ghat section. Having another couple of small breaks, We reached mallela theertham waterfalls at 4PM(around 150kms from Hyd). We have to take a left @ vatavarlapalli and drive 8km to reach thr. Enroute, we witnessed the true village atmosphere and it reminded me of the days I spent in my relatives' villages during my childhood. Aa Erra matti roadlu.. aa chetlu.. aa manushulu... I really enjoyed that ride a lot.

We badly wanted that break after such a long ride. Our bodies started paining and it was a perfect break. Though you may not comapre it with the best of water falls, it did relieve us from body pains & when we were out, we are fully recharged. The showers are back as we started from thr. When everything looked perfect for us, it was me this time who disturbed the party & fell down. I couldnt balance the bike in sand, lost control and fell down along with Bachi. Again to our luck, we sustained only minor injuries. But the bike's handle & leg guard had bends, though not so badly. I was determined to drive again, but my friends warned me and i had to sit behind Vinod and bachi sat with Tinku. We stopped at the main road, cleaned our wounds and had some snacks. By then, it was 6:30pm and we are still over 50km far from Srisailam where we planned for the night stay. We have to cross the ghat section and worst part is that we might come across wild animals as we drive through the forest. But we didnt want to give up and moved towards Srisailam. As my bike was not in a good condition, we moved with one bike at the front & another one at the back. It was already dusk and the road seemed dangerous than ever, with the thought of seeing a tiger crossing our minds. But nothing of that sort happened. We stopped for a while at srisailam dam, took some snaps and reached Srisailam around 8PM. We have a problem here. We dont have the rooms booked. We tried the APTDC, but they were already full. We negotiated with a hotel owner in Hyd & dropped as the cost told by him sounded too much. Another half-an-hour gone and we couldnt find any accommodation. Most of the accommodations in Srisailam are caste based satrams and it became difficult for us to find neutral place. Finally, we found mediators who can negotiate with the satram ppl and get the rooms for us. We got 3 rooms at a comfortable 250/room plus ofcourse, Rs 50 to the mediator. The accommodation was pretty decent. We had dinner in the nearby Ilapuram Hotel and everyone slept instantly after that. Such was the tiredness !!

Darshanam starts at 5:30AM and we wanted to at around 6:30AM. But everyone was so tired and badly wanted enough sleep. So we woke up late and by the time everyone is ready and done with breakfast, it was 8:30. I have the burden of getting the bike ready for the return journey. Harish enquired thr during the night and found a mechanic who can get it ready for us. The darshanam(both Mallikarjuna & Bhramaramba temples) completed at around 10:45.. pretty soon indeed. Immediately after that, Harish & myself went to the mechanic. He fixed the leg guard but couldn't correct the handle bend completely. Adding a twist to the tale, Hemu lost his bike key in the temple. We took the mechanic to our accommodation and he unlocked it, much to our relief. He also directed 2 ltrs of petrol into the tank from the side. With the excellent work of the mechanic, we are all set for the return journey. We couldnt visit other places around Srisailam as Harish's train to bangalore is at 7:15 PM from Hyd. We started at around 1:15 PM and had lunch in Domalapenta, which was just average. As we dont have enough time for Harish to catch the train, we decided to stop only after driving for about 100 km. Harish, undoubtedly the fastest among us(atleast in this trip) reached the spot 15 mins before the 2nd bike reached thr. This place is around 75kms from Hyd & we all were thr by 5:30PM. With the speeds we were driving, we thought we were in time. So we took a 15 min break & started again. Though Harish didnt stop for us, this break proved costly as he missed the train by 15 mins. Disappointed, he went to the central bus station from thr & luckily got seat in a Volvo. We were at the city outskirts by 6:30PM but could reach our homes only by 8:30PM. The credit goes to the traffic which was at its peak. We were completely exhausted when we reached home. But as a first adventure on bikes, it's a memorable experience for us!!