[pms]

I have always been fascinated by the travelogues in this forum. Way it is written encourages you as well to pen down some of your experiences. Though I myself has travelled quite a bit never got the patience or courage to share it in this amazing forum.

Maybe I take this opportunity to share a very crisp one and garner enough confidence to pen down few others. This is a very short travelogue (more of a photo log) about a day trip, me and 2 of my colleagues took to Horsely Hills almost 2 years back, pre-covid era Pardon me for any shortcomings or mistakes.

After hectic days in office we decided to make a day trip out of Bangalore to one of the nearby locations. More than the trip it took us some time to nail down a place. Horsely hills was shortlisted finally as none of us has been there plus it wasn't that far away and the travel would mostly be through some picturesque village roads. Once the place was decided we immediately decided the upcoming weekend 21-Aug, to make the trip. It was decided to take my colleague's Swift Zxi against my Honda City as he hasn't taken it out for some days. Focus was more on the journey than the destination as we all knew that Horsely Hills has minimal to offer, but to our surprise we thoroughly enjoyed the place as it helped us unwind with some greenery, good all around views and almost no crowd clap

We started around 8:30AM from my place as I was the last one to be picked up. We drove in a leisurely place as we had to cover only 150Kms and it was more about thoroughly enjoying the trip with chit chat all along.

Enough of text, let me post some pics now.

My friends and our peppy transport, Swift


We decided to make a pit stop for breakfast just after crossing Hoskote, Indian Paratha Palace


Place looked nice and inviting with good ambience


All Prominent Indian car brands


Finally our crispy and yummy dosas. Had Breakfast pe Charcha


Post our breakfast we resumed our journey, traffic was very moderate and soon we deviated from 4 lane to 2 lane roads towards Chintamani. We bypassed Chintamani towards Marepalli and just before the village we took a left towards B.Kothakota. From there its a picturesque drive all the way. Once we reached B.Kothakota we took a right towards Horsely Hills.

Tarmac was good all the way and we were also blessed with good weather.

Lovely roads


Good Tarmac all the way


Random shot - dont know what flowers are these, looked beautiful


Amazing weather


Around 12:30PM we reached Horsely Hills. We decided to to head straight away to a view point. Weather was lovely and to our surprise there was hardly any crowd. Looked like the whole hills was at our disposal. Basically the entire area on the top can be covered in 2 hours by a good walk.

Superb View and amazing breeze


Can keep on gazing endlessly without uttering a word!!


Rocky terrain


After the first view point we drove to the AP tourism resort to grab some lunch. There was a veg buffet on offer and we took that, food was good not great. You also have an a la carte option.
APTDC provides good accommodation on the top as part of their Haritha resort chain. One can book the rooms in advance online and there is a wide variety of rooms on offer. I didn't see any other prominent hotels or restaurants other than Haritha. We parked the car in the reception area for rest of the day.



Entrance to the Resort Reception area, we were pleasantly surprised by greenery all around.


Post lunch we decided to head to next view point. This was like behind the main resort with a small climb via stairs. It was a good exercise with pure air to inhale


Surreal views


Dark clouds


Can see rains somewhere far away on the right side


There is a kids play area and got to see a live cricket match


Kids playing


It was around 4:30PM and we walked back to the resort to grab some coffee post which we went to the park opposite the resort. The park itself was very nice with greenery all around and a small animal enclosure. What impressed us was the governer's bungalow inside this park that gave a colonial feel to the whole setting.

Park opposite to the resort


Clean surroundings


Governer's bungalow, you can book rooms here as well


Colonial touch


Bird and deer enclosure


Emu


Deers


Another view point within the park


It was around 5:30PM and decided to head back after a lovely day. Felt peaceful, rejuvenated and ready to take on our chaotic world again. Had an uneventful drive and reached Bangalore around 9:30PM.

Smiles that say it all

[Amrik Singh]

Any tour to the lush greens is always a treat and refreshing, both to the Visitor and the viewer of the Travelogue. Living in the Concrete Jungle or Metro Cities has its own benefits, but it comes at the cost of missing such beautiful places that are blessed by nature.

P.S. : The pictures of caged birds are better taken with Mobile Phone Cameras positioned just next to the fence, positioned in the middle of the mesh. The lens being very small, compared to DSLR, the images do not show the fence. Yes, you must have the subject sufficiently away from the fence.

[unoczar]

Hi

That was a nice crisp trip. Meant to go many times but the trip didn't materialize.

What are the staying options if one wants to do an overnighter? Did you check out the accomodation?

[pms]

Originally Posted by unoczar

Hi

That was a nice crisp trip. Meant to go many times but the trip didn't materialize.

What are the staying options if one wants to do an overnighter? Did you check out the accomodation?

Thanks!

Stay wise as I mentioned you can book via the official AP Tourism website
https://tourism.ap.gov.in/home
Wide variety of rooms are available online in the Horsely hill property at different price ranges.

I had a quick look into one of the governor bungalow rooms and they were pretty spacious and clean. There is a nice swimming pool facility as well.
Apart from AP tourism's Haritha resorts I didnt find any other good stay options.

[Sabrish]

Thanks a lot for sharing! These views are indeed surreal, lesser crowds would have made it more enjoyable and safer. Travelogues are a blessing to read during these locked-up times

Horsely hills is one of the spots people seldom go and the very reason they appeal more to us…

I had been to a place near Thekkady (Kerala) last year and the view point was simply breathtaking…We were super lucky to literally have less than 20 people in the whole stretch..

Here are a few pics (Name of the place – Parunthumpara) – I’d rather let them do the talking…

This is the view you would get once you look outside the rails

[Sidban85]

Has anyone been there in 2022? Are the roads still great?