[rnidumolu]

Hi,

As far as my concern goes this is purely my perception and I did not come across any people having challenges. IIRC, this ghat section is around 72 km and that too in the forest. The sections near both sides of the dam would be challenging for a Nano (which would be fully loaded). This needs continuous effort in shifting the gears to get the required power to pass these. My opinion is, a trip with family should be a joyful but need not to be an adventurous. So that is the prime reason I gave my recommendation.

Thanks

[shamanth]

There should be no issues driving Nano in these roads, Also not much Hairpin curves, Just few near to Srisailam. When Nano can make it to Leh this should be cake walk

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by fazalaliadil

Hyd Traveller and all,

The best place to eat between HYD-SRISAILAM is at Kalwakurty, be it break fast, lunch or dinner. He is better at non-veg dishes.

The name is, ROYAL FAMILY DHABA, owned by ASIF.

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

The exact location of Royal Dhaba owned by Asif is not Vela Danda but Jaya Prakash Nagar. It takes just one hour from the ORR - Srisailam Highway Junction at Thokkuguda(?).

When driving down from Hyderabad towards Srisialam, you can use the Kawalkurthy bye pass. The end of the bye pass is a T-Junction where you need to turn left towards Deverkonda (the right is towards Kawalkurthy town).

This is Jaya Prakash Nagar. On the right you will see the Hanuman Statue while on the left is Royal Dhaba, one dhaba among many dhabas located there.

The location on a map is :
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!

Here is the Board with Asif's Mobile Number (99 495 60 820) [This is the board you will see when driving from Hyderabad towards Srisailam]:
Attachment 570084

Here is Asif [This is the board you will see when driving from Srisailam towards Hyderabad]:
Attachment 570085

This is the lunch meal :
Attachment 570086

Another view of the sabzis and daals :
Attachment 570087

The extra items, chicken curry & egg bhurji :
Attachment 570088

The four of us had 7 rotis in total with the tomato chutney, brinjal sabzi, some chutney type dish, daal, rasam, a little rice, a little curd which costed us 70. Chicken curry was 50 while egg bhurji was 30. Bottle of water was 16 and 7-Up was 10 each. Total bill was 201.

The tomato chutney was very spicy and tasty while daal was bland (just perfect for my father). Chicken curry was spicy and went very well with the rice while egg bhurji was very lightly spicy (we wanted it non spicy since my sister and father cannot digest chillies). All in all a good halt for nice food.

The only drawbacks were lack of fans to keep the flies at bay and lack of tandoor which meant we ended up eating tawa rotis.

Road widening of Kalwakurthy Devarkonda road will see the frontage of Royal Family Dhaba vanish soon.

The latest board at the dhaba :

[aamateen46]

Went to srisailam last weekend. Roads are smooth all the way. Reached the dam in 3.5 hours

[mobike008]

I have done 2 biking trips to Srisailam in the last 2 months.

Both rides were done in 10 hours covering 475kms including lots of pit stops and a big one for lunch

Roads are fantastic and there is not even a few kms of bad patches.

Great route for a biking trip especially the 60kms of ghat section was designed for a bike ride with plenty of twisties and some nice straights !!!

[vnabhi]

I used to enjoy Srisailam trips more a few years back when there were not so many speed-breakers in the ghat section. It was a breeze driving through the curves on the ghat road with the forest around, but the speed-breakers have spoilt most of the fun. There is one every kilometer, which drastically affects the driving time.

That apart, there is a killer speed-breaker on a down slope before Dindi, that cannot be spotted due to shadow of trees. That one has caused many an accident. I was lucky to see a vehicle ahead of me braking hard, and i followed suit.

I don't think anybody who cares for his vehicle can reach the temple in less than 4 hours.

[deepv]

Planning for Srisailam Trip the coming weekend (rather 25th or 26th), should be drive as usual.
Any recent inputs .. except for the usual lookout for the speed breakers!!!

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by deepv

Planning for Srisailam Trip the coming weekend (rather 25th or 26th), should be drive as usual.
Any recent inputs .. except for the usual lookout for the speed breakers!!!

Yes, beware of monkeys crossing the road in the forest section! Drive safe.

[quadmaniac]

I am going tomorrow early morning. Guys, whats the name of the place from where to start watching out for speed breakers? This is my first time, my only previous highway trips have been to Warangal and Bidar (I will be taking the ORR route followed by SH5, as per Google maps)

A quick update would be much appreciated :-)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by quadmaniac

I am going tomorrow early morning. Guys, whats the name of the place from where to start watching out for speed breakers? This is my first time, my only previous highway trips have been to Warangal and Bidar (I will be taking the ORR route followed by SH5, as per Google maps)

A quick update would be much appreciated :-)

Speedbreakers are "available" all the way from Dindi.

If you are starting early morning,its easier going through the city depending on where you are starting from rather than driving all those extra kms on the ORR.

[quadmaniac]

Thanks a lot ranjit. I stay close to Orr.. So I'll take that route. Starting journey shortly

[dre@ms]

Sudden plan of visiting Srisailam started at 1PM on new years day.

Packed and left home at 1.34PM. Took the ORR and the Srisailam exit. The 30KM stretch before kalwakurthy is full of diversions and need to ride on the sand/gravel roads. No bumps, but the dust is too much. This slowed down our trip.

At the junction before Kalwakurthy, had our lunch. Took the left from there and the diversions again started. Then the left, where the royal dhaba is. Then the right to Srisailam. The ghat drive is pleasant and the Dam is picturesque.

Reached Haritha at 6.30PM. No rooms were available and a quick enquiry turned us towards Ganga Sadan. It was sweltering hot so decided to take a AC accommodation. The reception guy moved us to Mallikarjuna Sadan. Took the suite room for 1200/- and the rooms were huge and neat.

Took a rest for 1 hour and took our stroll to the temple by 8.30. No crowd at all, but took the 100 Rs. line and came out of the temple by 9.30. Had dinner buffet at Haritha and retired to room.

Next day, had breakfast at Haritha and vacated room and started journey back at 10.30. Headed to the dam floor, took a ride on the round boat. Got some fish, fried and ate them and headed back at 12.30. Had our lunch at Royal Dhaba and reached home at 8PM

The temple, dam and the boat rides were the highlights. Family enjoyed a lot.

[deepv]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

...
Took the ORR and the Srisailam exit. The 30KM stretch before kalwakurthy is full of diversions and need to ride on the sand/gravel roads. No bumps, but the dust is too much. This slowed down our trip.
...

We also did the trip during previous weekend, and these diversions due to road repair/widening/elevation-at-times were a bit of dampener w.r.t. otherwise serene drive through to Srisailam.
It extends for almost 40kms from just before Kadthal to some distance after Kawalakurthi, not quite sure why whole of the stretch is being dug altogether.

Nevertheless, once you reach Mannanur and forest section its back to being therapeutically peaceful.

And they have added more speed breakers on the other side of dam as well, in fact we saw a couple of tractors carrying tarred concrete creating new nasty ones as we went ahead.
So be watchful.

[adityarao]

Completed the trip last weekend. As others have mentioned - the roads pretty much dug up till Dindi and is not a pleasure drive, but post that the roads are great and you will enjoy the scenic drive. Took the ORR till the Srisailam exit and headed on the highway with lot of diversions. The roads are dusty and not fun driving after dark.

But, I did notice brisk pace of work and I hope it will be ready by late this year for a full and pleasurable ride.

[vnabhi]

The pathetic roads filled with dust and traffic continue to be as bad for 40 kms, starting from about 15 kms after one exits the ORR going all the way till Dindi.

My colleague drove on Saturday and found the drive very tiresome. He says this route is best avoided for another 6 months.