a rare bike trip to Basara Saraswati Temple!!! August 11, 2009

August 9, 2009… a Sunday night…as usual a relaxing time after dinner…it was past 12 in the night. Me and my roommate was watching the TV. Suddenly my roommate said “i will woke up in the Monday morning and will go to Basara on bike”. I was surprised, and thenhe explored the route map, decided to go alone. Then not sure why, but i also promised to drive along with. So that was final, it was around 1:30am…planned to start by 5:30am…packed a bag and went to sleep. Believe me i couldn’t get sleep throughout 4 hours…tried but as always my stupid mindwas running behind a lot of tensions.

Monday morning, got up around 5:10AM..and started at 6 in my new CBZ xtreme. Total was around 220km. We started from Madhapur, Hyderabad. Took the Medchal highway via Miyapur. Reached the NH7..way to medchal, Nizamabad… i should say the highway is amazing to drive. We took a couple of break for tea and breakfast. 75km was regular speed on the speedometer while on NH…also i reached 105km/hr at once while intend to touch 100km for the first time on my bike. After 150km we missed the 4 lane NH7…got into 2 lane NH7 without divider…here we slowed down a bit, after Nizamabad a state highway took us to Basara.

famous basara Saraswati Temple

Finally we reached at temple @10:30AM. Basara Saraswatitemple..India’s one of 2 famous ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati…the other being in Jammu & Kashmir. Local pilgrims comes to Basara to perform “Akshara abhyasam” for the children to start their education with the blessings of the Goddess of Knowledge. We had Snan(bath) and Dubki(go under water for taking the whole body in water, done it 7 time as per the rituals) in Godavari river, then went for Darshan(god sighting). It was 12:00pm, everything was over….time to head back to Hyderabad. I was feeling a bit tired due to lack of sleep last night. Moving on, started travelling back soon. Halted a desi dhaba(recommended by Happy to have the food on a cot, a general place for all the travellers on a 24/7 service)…took the lunch. After 30mins, moved on. At last @4:30 PM we reached at our room. On both ways we drove half each. It was a bit tired journey for me…we took rest after taking a nice team prepared by Happy(off course my companion and my roommate)…at 6:00PM i went to office. This was the 2nd time within 1 month i slept after 37hrs at 3:00AM..while Happy was sleeping like a buffalo…i also join the buffalo team.

My experience was more of the bike ride, it was awesome..excellent biking experience of 440KM in 10.5 hours…as well visit to a famous temple. Also i realized the acualt mileage on highway with power mode(speed of 70kmph+), it was around 44kmpl. Completely this is the riding passion…which will guide you for this long drives. I personally njoyed it, but had a lot of ache(bcoz of 28hrs without sleep)…my eyes was completely turned red after reaching at room. Finally the ride was good, CBZ xtreme rocks.

Places to visit near Hyderabad… August 7, 2009

Many times my roomie used to irritate me in discussing on nearby places in Hyderabad for a bike trip. Even i am interested too for ling drive experience as well as a good place to watch. While my friend is ready to travel 300-400km for visiting a normal tourist places. But if one is travelling this far and beyond, there should a destination of a best class, exceptional, special and brilliant. While travelling for <150km, you can njoy the ride as well as a average/usual place. I have gathered a good no.s of places nearby Hyderabad for 1-2 day trip on bike.

Sanghi Temple: The temple is nearly 35km from Hyd, located in Sanghi nagar. This beautiful temple complex atop the hillock Paramanand Giri beckons the faithful devotees who seek gods infinite blessings.

Keesargutta:Keesaragutta is a famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is located 40kms from Hyderabad. All over and around the rocky granite dome of Keesara, there are meter – high stone Lingas.

Mount Opera: This is a multi-theme park/resort, located around 40km from Hyderabad. The hotel is attached to Multitheme park,Health Spa Water World, Indoor, Outdoor games, Skating, Hillock, Adventure Sports.Indoor, Outdoor games, Skating, Hillock, Adventure Sports.

Ramoji Film City: This is the world’s largest integrated film studio, located 45km from Hyderabad. Visitors can go for a Japanese garden, artificial waterfalls, an airport terminal, hospital set, railway station, churches, mosques and temples, shopping plazas, palace interiors, chateaus, rural complexes, urban dwellings, and a winding highway. Shops include Parade, a prop-shop, where costumes of actors can be ordered and Shangrila, a nursery that sells exotic plants.

Bhongir and Yadgirigutta:Bhongir town located in the of Nalgonda district of the state and 48 km from Hyderabad. Bhongir is famous for its fort. Yadgirigutta is a popular temple of Narasimha Swamy situated on a hillock and located another 12 km from Bhongir.

Mahboobnagar: Mehabubnagar is situated at a distance 95km from Hyderabad. This includes the places like Gadwal Fort, Sarlasagar, Nagarjuna-Srisailam Sanctuary, Pillalamarri Banyan Tree, Wanaparthi Temple, Manikonda Temple, Alampur Temple, Nava Brahma Temple, Malleswaram Temple, Sri Rangapur Temple and Somasila Temple.

Medak: A distict in Andhrapradesh, famous for its Asia’s 2ndbiggest Church. This is located around 100km from Hyderabad. Also other places are like Medak Fort, Kondapur, Popikondalu and Pocharam forest and wildlife sanctury.

Nalgonda:Located around 110km from Hyderabad. The popular religious sites in Nalgonda include Matampalli, Wadapally, Yadagirigutta, Kolanupaka, Pangal, Sunkishala, Gajulabanda, Yeleswaram, Phanigiri, and several more. The Sunkishala and Somalingeswaraswamy temples are notable sites, sacred to Hindus.

Bidar: Bidar disrtict known for its forts, mosques, mausoleums and tombs, located 120km from Hyderabad. Bidar fort, Tombs of Bahmani Rulers, Tombs of the Barid Shahis, Chaubara, Takhti-i-kirmani, Madrassa of Mahamud Gawan, Guru Nanak Jhira and rock temple at Narasimha Zara.

Warangal: Warangal was the ancient capital of the Kakatiyas, this is located 130km from Hyderabad. Many places to tour in Warangal are Warangal Fort, Thousand Pillar Temple, Bhadrakali Temple, Jain Mandir, etc.

Nagarjuna Sagar: This is about 160km from Hyderabad, the tallest and biggest stonework dam in the world, Nagarjuna Sagar creates the third largest man-made lake in the world. Good to watch during rainy season. Ethipothala lake and Nagarjunakonda are two other places to visit.

Pakhal Lake: Located around 180km from Hyderabad. One can plan for this place to visit Pakhal lake, Pakhal Sanchury and Ramappa Temple. The lake is a man made lake by the erstwhile kaktiyas.

Srisailam: It is a holy town and Mandal, situated in Nallamala hills and located 232 km from Hyderabad, on the banks of River Krishna. Srisailam is one among the various Jyothirlingam of India. Srisailam Dam on Krishna river is also watchable.

Vanasthalipuram: One can have para-sailing in the Nadrigul Air Field, Vanasthalipuram. Para-sailing will be guided by a professional crew at a height of 500ft for a good 8 to 10 minutes. It is about 30km from Hyderabad.

I have visited a couple of these, planning to go for most of these places with my friend . Hope this would help you too!!!