It was an usual sunday and I got up a little bit late. As soon as I get up realized its one piece day. After the 20 minute manga show it was all chores. Had to clean the refrigerator, oven and then comes my bike. At 11 am received a call from Shiva "Hey - what's the plan?". I said will ring him back after I get freshed up. Took the bath, had breakfast, troubleshooted some queries of Farooq and faiz. Now to the ride.
I called up Shiva and said to get prepared. I was thinking of a scenic ride towards the villages as the recent rains must have done their enchanting effect in bringing up the green lush natural blanket alive. I didnot explore the regions beyond rangapuram x roads previously, so I had no idea about the roads further. Searched google maps to find out where that road leads to. The road goes around 3 to 4 villages to meet up with the NH202 near Bibinagar. The NH202 further leads towards Bhongir and Warangal.
So the initial destination was not yet decided. I thought of talking with Shiva and finalizing the route. Checked the bike, papers and all other pre ride checkups. Took my leave from home and reached Shiva's home and he was ready as usual. Went to the nearby petrol pump and got the tyre pressure up to the mark. Shiva proposed of going to NH7 Bangalore road. I was not so excited about it because its a long and empty stretch with not much natural beauty around and it takes a lot of time and effort just to reach the outskirts of city. So no NH7. Another option in his mind was Bhongir Fort. The direct route to Bhongir is not so scenic just empty stretches of road waiting to get ripped hard. So I thought of going around through villages, reaching Bibinagar from there taking the highway to bhongir. So it was good and we rolled of our journey which was going to be a memorable one.
There was an unusual traffic till Rangapuram X roads due to Bonalu celebrations going on. As we passed rangapuram x roads, lush green farms greeted us. There was an unusual whistling sound in the air. The weather was cool and we were enjoying every bit of it. We were taking frequent picture breaks and putting the Nokia Lumia 800 to its test. The device with its 8 megapixel camera did its job very well. The condition of the roads was very good. The almost empty black narrow roads was like a silver lining to the greenery around.
We stopped at some place before Naginenipalli to click pictures. There was a flock of sheep and goats rearing the vast green open areas. After some 10-15 minutes of scrambling around we continued on the ride. After another 30 minute of cruising we joined the highway near Bibinagar. Shiva checked out the Nokia drive app on my Lumia and found out a lake nearby. Soon the lake came beside the road we were riding. There was a flyover being constructed near the lake for the national highway. We headed out towards the lake and took some pictures. There was a man trying to fish in a large crater. We anxiously waited for him to catch the fish. After 15 minutes of waiting, my patience ran out and we left from there. Angling does require a lots of patience.
The newly laid 2 lane highway roads were getting their first white marking and the black and white scenery was mesmerizing. A little afterwards the road was diverted due to diversion towards Bhongir village. As we were passing the village, we saw a huge hill with steps having mughal architecture leading to the top. I was sure that it was the Bhongir(Bhuvanagiri) Fort. We asked for directions for the entrance and headed there. The entrance was in neglect with a single man managing it. We deposited our helmet and handed a mere fee of Rs. 10/- to the man and headed top.
The steep climb of the hill was an endurance hike by itself. As told by the man near the entrance the hill rises 1000m above and housed both Kakatiya and Mughal rulers. Stairs were missing at some section of the hill. After 5 minutes of ascent we could see the whole village from above. The view was amazing in every aspect but the best was yet to come.
The walls adored the beautiful Mughal architecture. There were seperate stairs to the fort and besides the defensive outer perimeter wall guarding the fort. Though the fort was in a utter neglect it was a hotspot for moutain climbers, adventure enthusiasts, school children and photographers. There is a Microwave repeater station above the hill managed by the south central railway. I don't know how the personnel manage to get up to the station for their every day job. The rock carved stairs are parapetted in the late 1980's and they look good even now. This was the only barricade between us and the steep downfall of the hill.
to be continued...
I called up Shiva and said to get prepared. I was thinking of a scenic ride towards the villages as the recent rains must have done their enchanting effect in bringing up the green lush natural blanket alive. I didnot explore the regions beyond rangapuram x roads previously, so I had no idea about the roads further. Searched google maps to find out where that road leads to. The road goes around 3 to 4 villages to meet up with the NH202 near Bibinagar. The NH202 further leads towards Bhongir and Warangal.
So the initial destination was not yet decided. I thought of talking with Shiva and finalizing the route. Checked the bike, papers and all other pre ride checkups. Took my leave from home and reached Shiva's home and he was ready as usual. Went to the nearby petrol pump and got the tyre pressure up to the mark. Shiva proposed of going to NH7 Bangalore road. I was not so excited about it because its a long and empty stretch with not much natural beauty around and it takes a lot of time and effort just to reach the outskirts of city. So no NH7. Another option in his mind was Bhongir Fort. The direct route to Bhongir is not so scenic just empty stretches of road waiting to get ripped hard. So I thought of going around through villages, reaching Bibinagar from there taking the highway to bhongir. So it was good and we rolled of our journey which was going to be a memorable one.
There was an unusual traffic till Rangapuram X roads due to Bonalu celebrations going on. As we passed rangapuram x roads, lush green farms greeted us. There was an unusual whistling sound in the air. The weather was cool and we were enjoying every bit of it. We were taking frequent picture breaks and putting the Nokia Lumia 800 to its test. The device with its 8 megapixel camera did its job very well. The condition of the roads was very good. The almost empty black narrow roads was like a silver lining to the greenery around.
We stopped at some place before Naginenipalli to click pictures. There was a flock of sheep and goats rearing the vast green open areas. After some 10-15 minutes of scrambling around we continued on the ride. After another 30 minute of cruising we joined the highway near Bibinagar. Shiva checked out the Nokia drive app on my Lumia and found out a lake nearby. Soon the lake came beside the road we were riding. There was a flyover being constructed near the lake for the national highway. We headed out towards the lake and took some pictures. There was a man trying to fish in a large crater. We anxiously waited for him to catch the fish. After 15 minutes of waiting, my patience ran out and we left from there. Angling does require a lots of patience.
The newly laid 2 lane highway roads were getting their first white marking and the black and white scenery was mesmerizing. A little afterwards the road was diverted due to diversion towards Bhongir village. As we were passing the village, we saw a huge hill with steps having mughal architecture leading to the top. I was sure that it was the Bhongir(Bhuvanagiri) Fort. We asked for directions for the entrance and headed there. The entrance was in neglect with a single man managing it. We deposited our helmet and handed a mere fee of Rs. 10/- to the man and headed top.
The steep climb of the hill was an endurance hike by itself. As told by the man near the entrance the hill rises 1000m above and housed both Kakatiya and Mughal rulers. Stairs were missing at some section of the hill. After 5 minutes of ascent we could see the whole village from above. The view was amazing in every aspect but the best was yet to come.
The walls adored the beautiful Mughal architecture. There were seperate stairs to the fort and besides the defensive outer perimeter wall guarding the fort. Though the fort was in a utter neglect it was a hotspot for moutain climbers, adventure enthusiasts, school children and photographers. There is a Microwave repeater station above the hill managed by the south central railway. I don't know how the personnel manage to get up to the station for their every day job. The rock carved stairs are parapetted in the late 1980's and they look good even now. This was the only barricade between us and the steep downfall of the hill.
to be continued...
