Hyderabad to Maredumilli Forest Road trip

[varunc 238]

Hyderabad to Maredumilli plan

 

Frustrated with Hyderabad traffic and bad roads due to rains, I have decided to get out of the city and explore the farm lands of Godavari district and the forest range of Maredumilli.
Idea is to go on a quick getaway.

All the accommodations at Maredumilli are full.
This did not dampen my spirits.

 

Its not about the destination, It is the drive that matters to me.

Did some quick research and booked accommodation at the nearest town which is Rajahmundry.

Hyderabad to Maredumilli route plan(best route):
Hyderabad to Maredumilli has two routes

 

Route 1 : Hyderabad --> Suryapet --> Vijayawada --> Tanuku --> Rajahmundry --> Maredumilli
Route 2 : Hyderabad --> Suryapet --> Khammam --> Kothagudem --> Bhadrachalam --> Chintur --> Maredumilli

 

Route 1: It is the best route to take. Completely 4-lane till Rajahmundry

Route 2 : Avoid it unless you are planning to cover Bhadrachalam

 

Plan

• Day 1 : Hyderabad to Rajahmundry 
• Day 2 : Rajahmundry to Maredumilli
• Day 3 : Exploring villages around Rajahmundry
• Day 4 : Rajahmundry to Hyderabad

 

Places to visit in Maredumilli and Rampachodavaram (link)

Excellent post @Surya78, your post helped us a lot.

 

Best places to visit in Maredumilli

1. Bhupathipalem reservoir : gmaps

2. Rampa Water Falls : Gmaps

3. VanaVihari Eco tourism : Gmaps

4. Bamboo Chicken is available near VanaVihari resort : Gmaps 

5. View point, there is no name to this place, you will find it en-route to Amruthadhara : Gmaps

6. Amruthadhara waterfalls : Gmaps

 

Best resorts in maredumilli

• Vanavihari Eco Tourism Center
• Aranya Eco Resorts
• Jungle Star Nature Camp Site
• Birds Nest Resorts

 

There are few private/small resorts at exotic locations. Need to do some research on those places.
Book the resort in advance during holidays/weekends. 

 

[varunc 238]

Day 1 : Hyderabad to Rajahmundry 

Total distance : 620 Kilometers

 

We started early in the morning by 5 AM as we expected heavy traffic due to long weekend, But the traffic is very less and the wait at the tolls was less than 5 minutes.

We reached Suryapet by 7:15 AM, We pushed little hard, so that we can avoid Vijayawada traffic(Dussera celebrations at Vijayawada temple) and took a breakfast stop at famous Hotel 7. 

Road condition form Hyderabad to Vijayawada is bliss, We reached Vijayawada outskirts by 10AM.
 

As we reached earlier then our expected time decided to take a detour and explore Hamsaladeevi beach too as it was pending in my places to visit.

 

Always ready to explore if a place gets checked off your list   

Vijayawada to Hamasaldeevi route:

Vijayawada --> Vallurupalem --> Avanigadda --> Hamsaladeevi
Distance : 90 kilometers

 

Road condition from Vijawayada to Hamsaladeevi is good, it is single lane road with some blind curves, so average speed is advisable.

 

En-route to Hamsaladeevi beach, beautiful landscapes.

Tide is high at the beach, we decided not take our car on to the beach

Nature, Happiness comes in waves

Place where river and ocean meets, Saagara sangamam

We spent around an hour and started our journey to Rajahmundry

Only a farmer knows the difference between 5km/hr and 6km/hr, Life is better on a farm

[varunc 238]

Day 2 : Rajahmundry to Maredumilli

Distance : 85 kilometers

 

Drive from Rajahmundry to Maredumilli is fun, road condition is good with very few potholes. But during long weekends, there is decent traffic so advisable to start early which will enable you to enjoy the serene surroundings without any distraction/disturbance from vehicle and people sound.

Drive through the dense forest is eye pleasing, reflections are perfect at Bhupathipalem reservoir 

Primary reason(reflection) is lack of air, humidity is high, even in rainy season.

There is a speed/pedal boat facility available at the reservoir, we decided to skip it. 

Looks Scary isn't it?

[varunc 238]

After exploring the reservoir, we decided to have lunch and started driving towards Maredumilli

Bamboo trees, you can see lot of them enroute

We packed our lunch (the famous bamboo chicken) near Vanavihari and drove ahead

 

Those curves are fun to drive in a ford 

We stopped at this view point and

had lunch on the car hood

 

[varunc 238]

After lunch break,

we drove towards the forest view point.

Forest view point

Small water falls en route, we couldn't click pictures of waterfalls due to rain

Rampa waterfalls, best water falls to visit, away from regular tourists

 

Last picture for the day, we drove back to Rajahmundry. 

 

Day 3 :Exploring the villages of Konaseema

 

 

 

 

Check out the video, this little dude got stuck in the fishing net

River Godavari 

 

Day 4 :Drive back to Hyderabad

We started at 7 am and reached Hyderabad by 3 pm including few breaks

 

Rain waiting for us at ORR

[driveking 664]

Good write-up.
EcoSport with black pack looks awesome in those green backgrounds.

[Ranger 5,266]

Very detailed post @varunc

You have covered all the required information related Maredumilli drive.

 

Helps first timers a lot.

 

[sagar 3,662]

Very well narrated @varunc. You should have covered Lambasingi part of this place too.. November to January is the perfect time to visit this place.  

[varunc 238]

Very well narrated [mention=9]varunc[/mention]. You should have covered Lambasingi part of this place too.. November to January is the perfect time to visit this place.  

If we had another extra day we would have covered this too...but the plan was to have a relaxed vacation without day to day traveling.

[Sridhar Tandra 1,010]

27 minutes ago, varunc said:

3 hours ago, sagar said:

Very well narrated [mention=9]varunc[/mention]. You should have covered Lambasingi part of this place too.. November to January is the perfect time to visit this place.  

If we had another extra day we would have covered this too...but the plan was to have a relaxed vacation without day to day traveling.

I can see this is a aaram wala drive

[shiva 334]

I have been to Maredumilli many times.
Early morning are too good.
Roads are filled with fog.

Lambasingi is best in winter.
It is all about the drive.

Nice work Varunc, very nicely summarized.

 

Any accommodations available at Hamsaladeevi?

Any specific reason for not taking the car on to the beach?

[Ranger 5,266]

On 10/17/2017 at 10:05 PM, shiva said:

Any accommodations available at Hamsaladeevi?

 

No accommodations are available at Hamsaladeevi, you need to stay at Vijayawada. 

 

On 10/17/2017 at 10:05 PM, shiva said:

Any specific reason for not taking the car on to the beach?

 

We can take our cars without any issue, but the crowd is high due to holiday season.

Early morning morning visit will be fantastic. 

[sbhamidi 376]

On 10/20/2017 at 10:01 AM, Ranger said:

 

No accommodations are available at Hamsaladeevi, you need to stay at Vijayawada. 

 

 

We can take our cars without any issue, but the crowd is high due to holiday season.

Early morning morning visit will be fantastic. 

 

Hamsaladeevi would be an ideal place to stay under the sky in tents. Nearest town/city could be Vijayawada / Repalle (town). Lovely beach i would say.... Must visit..

 

[sbhamidi 376]

between i am planning to go to my native this weekend... will see if i can visit Hamsaladeevi in the day time...

[Ranger 5,266]

7 minutes ago, sbhamidi said:

 

Hamsaladeevi would be an ideal place to stay under the sky in tents. Nearest town/city could be Vijayawada / Repalle (town). Lovely beach i would say.... Must visit.

 

Yeah it is a must visit place,

Place is perfect in winter.

 

Only problem is with accommodation.

I guess it is less crowded due to lack of facilities.

 

Camping is a good idea, but we may face some safety concerns due to isolation.

 

Recently I have seen cops patrolling on the beach, i guess they won't allow us to camp.

[sagar 3,662]

 

21 minutes ago, Ranger said:

Recently I have seen cops patrolling on the beach, i guess they won't allow us to camp.

 

Patrolling is a serious bother in the south of India in case of camping. It is of-course necessary to keep it clean and away from the commercial crowd but somehow on a personal end I feel bad about missing out something joyous as this.

[sagar 3,662]

27 minutes ago, sbhamidi said:

between i am planning to go to my native this weekend... will see if i can visit Hamsaladeevi in the day time...

 

Off-late I have heard that the visitors have levelled up at this place during the weekends. Early morning visit would be the best time to avoid this scene and enjoy some beach side time in peace

 

[sbhamidi 376]

Ya it's just a days trip so will go early in morning starting at 5am if possible to catch some sunrise

[Ranger 5,266]

Ya it's just a days trip so will go early in morning starting at 5am if possible to catch some sunrise

If you are planning to drive on beach, keep an eye on the tide, heard it is high in the morning.

These guys are charging around 5k if you get stuck.

Do visit Sagarasangamam, place where river and ocean meets.

[sbhamidi 376]

If you are planning to drive on beach, keep an eye on the tide, heard it is high in the morning.

These guys are charging around 5k if you get stuck.

Do visit Sagarasangamam, place where river and ocean meets.

Thanks buddy that's good news... Will keep an eye..