Although I have been to Tirupati and Kanipakam quite a few times, Aragonda is my first visit. I wanted to write about this trip as a reference post for people who are wanting to visit these places for the first time.
Tirupati is around 260 KM from Bangalore located in Chittor district. You need to take the Old Madras Road from Bangalore. After you leave Bangalore, there is Reliance A1 food outlet after ~140 KM from Haskote. You can take a break here to refresh yourself. From A1, after 20 KM, you will need to take a deviation towards your left for Tirupati (there is a direction board there). On this deviation, after around 5 KM, you will have a toll gate who would charge you Rs. 10 for the maintenance of that deviation road which will further continue for another 4 KM before it lands you to connect Kurnool road. You can argue and don't pay for it (I have been going on this road for last 4 years and every time he says that they would improve it and no one bothers, so this is my online protest for the owner, whom I am sure would not be reading this). After the toll gate, proceed for another 4 KM and you would connect to Kurnool road. Take left and continue. You can safely drive for another 20 KM and then you need to watch our for a right turn towards Tirupati. There are two railway crossings on this road, after you cross both, keep an eye for the right. From here, it is another 50 KM to Tirupati. I will not speak anything more here, as Tirupati is a famous place and if you search for accommodations in Google, you can find many..
In return, you can come back till the toll gate road and you would need to take right and proceed for around 8-9KM where you would see a right turn (sign board is available on the left of the road) towards Kanipakam. After you take left, it is another 2 KM before you reach the temple. Kanipakam is famous for the Vinayaka Temple. It is believed that the idol came out from a well and over a period of time, the idol came out of the well. You can still see half of the idol is still in water.
Come to the junction where you have taken left to Kanipakam. At this junction take right and proceed 11 KM to reach Aragonda. Aragonda is a bit bigger than a village, but not a town. What impressed me here is a unit of Apollo Hospitals. You can ask anyone after reaching the village limits for the Hanuman temple. It is believed that a piece of Sanjeevani Parvatam (Hill) has fallen here while Hanuman was carrying the same to Lanka to cure Lakshmana. They say that if you drink the water in the pond, all your diseases would be cured. I have few pictures of Aragonda on my Flickr account.
My timelines - left Bangalore on Sunday afternoon, reached Tirupati in the evening. The next day early morning had Darshan of the lord and started at 10:30 AM. After stopping at Kanipakam and Aragonda, reached Bangalore by 6 PM in the evening.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Trip to Ooty
This is my second trip to Ooty. The first time I went was last year, just after I brought my car and also made it in a hurry to check my vehicle out :)
This time, wanted to take my parents there to show how an hill station feels. But, due to bad luck, Ooty has been hotter than Bangalore in the two days we were there. The nights were a bit chill with temperatures closing to around 10 Degrees Centigrade.
Now, getting into the journey...We left Bangalore at around 6:30 AM on 11 August (Saturday), filled in diesel and started getting out of the city by around 7 AM. Our first stop was at Kamat hotel on Bangalore-Mysore Highway at around 8:30 or so for breakfast. After breakfast, we started driving again at around 9. We could cover only close to 90 KM in the first two hours of leaving home (traffic and signals played a role in slowing us down). After Kamat, we did not stop anywhere until we reached Bandipur forest Cafe at the beginning of the forest reserves.
Tip: When you get to Mysore at the first signal, you wold see the direction board taking you to right towards Ooty. Try not taking this road. This is the outer ring road and it is time consuming and also a bit long to get to Ooty road. Instead, just drive straight into the city, follow directions towards Palace and at the junction where you would see Palace, you can see sign-boards directing you towards Ooty. If you have any confusion, don't hesitate to ask anyone :)
We stopped for coffee at the Government Cafe which is just 5 Km before the official gate into the forest. We are now around 90 KM away from Ooty and it was 12 PM. We left after a short 30 minute break and drove through the forest. This is a fantastic and amazing drive. Last time when we went, it was drizzling and very cloudy. The breeze was cool and there were many animals on the road. This time, it was hot and sunny and probably all animals were sleeping :) I could capture few snaps and you can see them on my Flickr Photos.
Request: When you drive through the forest, please do not stop your vehicle on the middle of the road and Please do not HONK. I have seen many white board drivers doing this...unfortuate and I pity these educated drivers.
Reached Ooty by 1:45 and went to the hotel I booked earlier - Sinclair. The hotel is a bit secluded from the heart of the city, but I was really disappointed. The hotel is under renovation and the sales office in Bangalore has not informed me when I was booking. When we saw the rooms and the work going on, we were really disappointed. The hotel staff understood our situation and promiced to refund our money if we chose to cancel our booking. After I came back to Bangalore, the sales office promptly sent me a SMS informing that my check is ready to be picked up. I appreciate their Customer Service :)
We immediately came back and went to Taj Savoy, a very nice place to stay. We stayed here last time and also came back this time too. It is a Taj Group hotel and I could only afford it because it is off-season...If you are going there, do check this place out, a very nice place to stay while in Ooty.
Relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and took parents out for a drive in the city and for small road site shopping. After dinner came back and watched a movie for sometime in the room with the fire place lit-up and a beer mug in my hand :)
The next day, we left after breakfast and went around the roads in Ooty and then drove down to Coonoor which is around 15 KM away from Ooty. On the way, we stooped at the Wax Museum recently set-up in Ooty-Coonor road. This is very good for the place. I have been to Madam Tussauds in London and there is no comparison to it, but for the works they have, I am really impressed. You can see picturess in my Flickr page.
Came back to Hotel in the evening around 6:30 PM and parents relaxed. Went to the bar to have a nice drink which could make me feel a bit warm :)
Next day, left Ooty around 11:30 AM and reached Bangalore back at 5:45 PM with only one stop in Mysore for lunch.
Total Distance from Bangalore - Ooty : 290 KM
Drive Time : 6 Hours.
Toll Gate : 1 (At Karnataka - TN border)
Ghat Distance : ~ 25 KM
No. of Hair Pin Bends : 36
In September, probably I might be going to Vizag for a holiday at home :)
This time, wanted to take my parents there to show how an hill station feels. But, due to bad luck, Ooty has been hotter than Bangalore in the two days we were there. The nights were a bit chill with temperatures closing to around 10 Degrees Centigrade.
Now, getting into the journey...We left Bangalore at around 6:30 AM on 11 August (Saturday), filled in diesel and started getting out of the city by around 7 AM. Our first stop was at Kamat hotel on Bangalore-Mysore Highway at around 8:30 or so for breakfast. After breakfast, we started driving again at around 9. We could cover only close to 90 KM in the first two hours of leaving home (traffic and signals played a role in slowing us down). After Kamat, we did not stop anywhere until we reached Bandipur forest Cafe at the beginning of the forest reserves.
Tip: When you get to Mysore at the first signal, you wold see the direction board taking you to right towards Ooty. Try not taking this road. This is the outer ring road and it is time consuming and also a bit long to get to Ooty road. Instead, just drive straight into the city, follow directions towards Palace and at the junction where you would see Palace, you can see sign-boards directing you towards Ooty. If you have any confusion, don't hesitate to ask anyone :)
We stopped for coffee at the Government Cafe which is just 5 Km before the official gate into the forest. We are now around 90 KM away from Ooty and it was 12 PM. We left after a short 30 minute break and drove through the forest. This is a fantastic and amazing drive. Last time when we went, it was drizzling and very cloudy. The breeze was cool and there were many animals on the road. This time, it was hot and sunny and probably all animals were sleeping :) I could capture few snaps and you can see them on my Flickr Photos.
Request: When you drive through the forest, please do not stop your vehicle on the middle of the road and Please do not HONK. I have seen many white board drivers doing this...unfortuate and I pity these educated drivers.
Reached Ooty by 1:45 and went to the hotel I booked earlier - Sinclair. The hotel is a bit secluded from the heart of the city, but I was really disappointed. The hotel is under renovation and the sales office in Bangalore has not informed me when I was booking. When we saw the rooms and the work going on, we were really disappointed. The hotel staff understood our situation and promiced to refund our money if we chose to cancel our booking. After I came back to Bangalore, the sales office promptly sent me a SMS informing that my check is ready to be picked up. I appreciate their Customer Service :)
We immediately came back and went to Taj Savoy, a very nice place to stay. We stayed here last time and also came back this time too. It is a Taj Group hotel and I could only afford it because it is off-season...If you are going there, do check this place out, a very nice place to stay while in Ooty.
Relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and took parents out for a drive in the city and for small road site shopping. After dinner came back and watched a movie for sometime in the room with the fire place lit-up and a beer mug in my hand :)
The next day, we left after breakfast and went around the roads in Ooty and then drove down to Coonoor which is around 15 KM away from Ooty. On the way, we stooped at the Wax Museum recently set-up in Ooty-Coonor road. This is very good for the place. I have been to Madam Tussauds in London and there is no comparison to it, but for the works they have, I am really impressed. You can see picturess in my Flickr page.
Came back to Hotel in the evening around 6:30 PM and parents relaxed. Went to the bar to have a nice drink which could make me feel a bit warm :)
Next day, left Ooty around 11:30 AM and reached Bangalore back at 5:45 PM with only one stop in Mysore for lunch.
Total Distance from Bangalore - Ooty : 290 KM
Drive Time : 6 Hours.
Toll Gate : 1 (At Karnataka - TN border)
Ghat Distance : ~ 25 KM
No. of Hair Pin Bends : 36
In September, probably I might be going to Vizag for a holiday at home :)
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