It was a long weekend, it was my birthday, it was too hot in Hyderabad, it had been too long since we had an outing, it was a bit boring at house, there were many reasons. And then again we do not need any reason to get away from the routine and monotony. So with that in mind, Friday morning we started driving, after breakfast, without a plan in mind.
Mantralayam was the first thing that came to my mind. Have heard a lot about it and had seen a board on our trip to Ahobilam. A quick Google search revealed Belum caves and Mahanandi in the vicinity. With Kurnool as base all three could be covered in a two-day trip. So, chalo Kurnool, we decided.
But, since I was navigating, things were bound to go south. So we ended up at Kurnool, some three hours later, only to realise it would have been easier if we had gone directly to Mantralayam, night halt at Kurnool and Mahanandi and Belum caves the next day. Well, change of plans. We were already in Kurnool, so had lunch and continued onto Belum caves. Caves were awesome. Stalactite and stalagmite formations with lighting and indefinite paths to explore. I was expecting the caves to be cooler, thought they were cool the humidity made things bad. But on the whole a super experience.By then it was getting too late, so we ditched Mahanandi and returned to Kurnool and checked into a hotel. A word of caution to those trying to visit Kurnool, avoid local cuisine. It was spicy, raw chilli powder, understood the meaning of "goddu karaam".
Saturday morning started around 9am towards Mantralayam. It is the house of Sri Raghavendra Swamy and I was reminded of Dharmastala. Similar layout and atmosphere. From there we went to Bichale, which is supposed to be on the river banks of Tungabhadra. But alas, there was no water in Tungabhadra. Hard to believe that in 2009, floods destroyed the entire village.....might be if we had visited during monsoon then it would have been better. We returned to Hyderabad by evening.Though the trip was not planned it was fun. The highway (NH7) was great, smooth and beautifully laid out. And then there were these inner roads from Kurnool to Belum Caves, Kurnool to Mantralayam; the GPS and Google Maps led us to the destination without having to ask for directions. Even for the place to stay and eat were with the help of our friendly Google.
So this trip is dedicated to Google.........
