Weekend Trip to Horseley Hills

Staying back at home during a weekend in this wonderful season gives me creeps. Makes me uncomfortable ! Fortunately we came across another enchanting destination, just 150 Kms from Bangalore, but this time in Andhra Pradesh. Ashok and I decided to head towards Horsely Hills, a sleepy hill station (sleepy cause some hill stations are not, for example Ooty, Mahabaleshwar !!) on his bike, Pulsar 150 ! Special mention for his bike cause it did not breakdown even once, not even when we were motoring on the top of a rugged hill.

Day 1: 11th Sept 2004

Taking NH4, we headed towards Hosakote and then to Chintamani in Kolar District. The road was smooth...no potholes, no bumps unlike my previous somnathpur trip (reminds me that I have to still write about that trip !). On the way we came across beautiful scenic landscapes, many captured through our digicams.

We came across a hill with an abandoned shiv temple on top. The hill's name : Malai Gonda ! We deviated from our main route and headed towards this new destiantion. Cutting through small fields, the road slowly started to deteriorate. Village folk, gazing at us in silent curiosity, showed us the way to the top. The temple was closed but that did not stop the villagers from lighting up the temple interiors. It felt great looking beneath. The landscape comprised of small hills of various shapes and sizes. We enjoyed the solitude and kept gazing at the picterusque view.

Getting down and back on the road, we headed towards Madanapalli and finally Angallu. Taking left from Angallu comes Horseley Hills. HH is one of the two hill stations in A.P. That explains its popularity among Andhra folk who travel far and wide to escape into the pristine environs of this place. HH is devoid of any activity !! The ride to the top was amazing giving us many photo opportuities.
HH has a few hotels/resorts. The main being, APTDC's Punami Resort. It has a variety of rooms/cottages. A swimming pool (functional), a gym (dont expect much) and a restaurant/bar. There are a couple of view points and a sparsely populated zoo....and....thatz it !! So if you want to relax (literally), make up with your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend then this is the ideal place. There are no sights and sounds of modern day hill stations that will bug you.

Fortunately, India v/s Kenya was playing on T.V. We headed towards the bar and enjoyed the match over a couple of drinks. Met a few more families from Banglore and Hyderabad.
Day 2

For me gettign up at 6 am has become a ritual since I have come to Bangalore. I dont know why ! At a hill station meant only to sleep, I could not help but get up early, yet again !! So frustrating....but nevertheless, optimistic me, went for a morning stroll. And what a sight...misty HH, fog fog everywhere. Came back to our room by 7 to find Ashok awake !! He gets up early on weekends !! :)

We had a heavy breakfast...read the newspaper and decided to go for a swim. The pool was nice and clean. The water was not as chilly as we had expected it to be. Another hour spent there and it was checkout time. On our way back we were told to visit the GurramGonda hill where Razi Khan, Tipu's newphew had built a small fort. This time we took a U-Turn at Angallu and 20 kms from it was GurramGonda. Folks at the base warned us of the fatigue ....It took us just half and hour to reach the top and 15 minutes to come down. Not much of an adventure though...The ruins of the fort were all that we could savour...And yes my obsession to hold/see a snake. At the top, we could hear a rattle noise...and as per my knowledge (from a lot of Discovery TV ) it sounded like a rattle snake's defence mechanism. The noise continued for some time and finally abated !

Getting down, we started our return journey.....Angalu----Madanapalli ----Chintamani---Hoskote. Took a lot of snaps...On the whole a relaxing trip...


Room Tariff at Punami : 500 rs (min), 735, 840 (cottages)

Swimming Pool Charges: 25 / head

Beer : 70 Rs/ Bottle

Distance: 150 Kms from Bangalore