The roads throughout are just brilliant and the scenery was changing every 50kms. We’re climbing a ghat at one point, next we’re passing through a forest, and then a rocky hill.
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As most T-BHPians would know by now, I have shifted my base to Andhra Pradesh, which is where my workplace is (with an occasional trip Home to Mumbai every 5-6 months), very close to Gandikota.
Now other than Gandikota, Belum Caves and a few temples, there is nothing much to see or do in a 50km radius from where I stay.
Horsley Hills had been in my mind for quite sometime now. Had planned a trip to and fro a few weeks back but it didn’t materialise since my colleagues weren’t willing to come along considering the distance was a lot. Considering this part of India is new for me, I didn’t want to risk going solo. Hence had to drop the plan then.
With Cyclone Fengal wrecking havoc in Tamil Nadu (hope everyone is safe in TN), the weather in AP had changed to gloomy for the past few days, which meant Horsely Hills would be drenched in rain. Checked the weather for Horsley Hills and as expected it was raining continuously, charted out a plan with a colleague of mine late at night and we set out at 4:30AM from Jammalamadugu for Horsley Hills.
The weapon of choice was our ‘14 Fortuner MT, which I got my driver and his friend to drive down from Mumbai to here in the beginning of Oct ‘24.
Eventhough I had to wake up at 4AM, I could only sleep by 11:45PM the previous night. Nonetheless got up even before my alarm could ring, freshened up and was on the road by 4:30AM.
Starting odometer at 4:30AM
The fuel gauge on this generation of Fortuners, Hilux’ and Innovas is faulty and the first thing I planned to do was fill up the Fortuner’s belly with a tank full of Diesel. Having driven 700kms (calculated with the Trip-A method) since the last fill-up with the fuel gauge still at the half way mark meant the thing was showing an erroneous reading.
Filled up ~62L till the cut-off and we were set.
The route we took: Jammalamadugu – Proddatur bypass – Kadapa bypass – Rayachoti – Horsley Hills. The roads throughout are just brilliant and the scenery was changing every 50kms. We’re climbing a ghat at one point, next we’re passing through a forest, and then a rocky hill. The wonderful weather just added to the excitement. The only thing to be taken care of on these routes is haphazard overtaking by few people since there is no divider, unmarked speed-breakers and stray dogs roaming on the highways.
The drive to Horsley Hills which was 217kms from where we started was steamrolled by the Fortuner in no time and it took us 4hrs 30mins with multiple stops for pictures and one tea + loo break to complete.
At YSR-Chinthakommadinne
On the ghat section at YSR-Chinthakommadinne
Spotted lots of monkeys on the ghat section
A rocky hill at Annamayya-Chinnamandem, on the Kadapa-Bangalore road
Passing through a forest on the Kadapa-Bangalore Road
There is not much to see at Horsely Hills, other than the multiple view points that were covered in clouds, a small unkempt zoo, a small seasonal natural Lake called Gangotri and a 150 year old Eucalyptus Tree planted himself by W.D. Horsley after whom this place is named Horsley Hills a.k.a. Ooty of Andhra Pradesh.
Pictures enroute to the top of Horsley Hills:
At the seasonal natural Lake Gangotri, the low clouds just made the experience more calm and serene. But the management should take more care of the surroundings! You’ll find all kinds of plastic waste and alcohol bottles littered everywhere.
Enjoying the weather and change of scenery on the hairpin bends going up Horsley Hills
Some pictures at the zoo, which was really unkempt and I genuinely felt really bad for the animals present inside their respective enclosures:
The deer was dejected because I was offering it a single leaf to eat
The peacock was in rest mode, or feeling cold due to the drop in temperature
The Angry Emu, staring right into my soul
Rabbits enjoying their leafy diet
The view points that usually show the sunrise and sunset, along with the other lower hills nearby, were all obscured by the low rain-laden clouds which had its own beauty! Visibility was pretty low, you could only see one car ahead at a time…:
Having some fun on the rocks, I expected the rear right wheel to lift up, but was simply awestruck at the amount of articulation! While coming down from the rock, in reverse the car was spinning its rear right wheel aimlessly, for a moment I thought we are doomed, but gravity was on our side and turning the front wheels in the opposite direction and moving forward, got us out without any drama. Sometimes I really wish it was a 4X4 and not a 4X2 RWD. Back then in 2014, the difference between a 4X2 MT and 4X4 MT Fortuner was only 1 Lakh ex-showroom, today Toyota India charges almost 5 Lakh for the 4X4 over a 4X2.
There is lot of scope for improvement at Horsley Hills! A fine should be slapped on offenders who litter the place. There could’ve been a lot more eateries but only few exist.
The VSR Windwave, a resort where you can stay, has its restaurant open only for people staying at their property. Open it for all visitors and the business will thrive much better, we entered their restaurant to have breakfast but were told it’s only for folks staying there. Dejected we headed to AP Tourism’s Haritha Resort, where they had a small buffet breakfast spread for ₹150. The breakfast included: Idli, Dosa, Sambhar, Upma and Coffee.
For only ₹150 had some piping hot food and coffee, the weather adding to the climax, something which was very soothing to the soul.
I’m really thankful that I came here when the weather was like this and the original plan hadn’t materialised. The weather added much needed appeal to an otherwise quaint place with not much to do. At 18°C it was as if we weren’t in Andhra Pradesh at all!
At the end, we covered 460kms to and fro with a small detour into Kadapa to have a late lunch. The rains brought a lot of relief in terms of overall temperature, there was a 10°C drop easily in average temperature which made the drive a lot more comfier. There was just a hint of tiredness after the drive, considering everything was done in one day itself, but nothing that would warrant a leave the next day.
The odometer at the end of the trip.
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