The second day at Gandikota was again a rainy onw with heavy thunders the previous night. Seeing sunrise was ruled out but we set out at 7AM after a quick refreshment. Most of the shops were shut due to power cuts since it's been raining continuously since last night, managed to get mini cup chai for Rs.10 and went to the right of the fort where we could see a different view of the creek. The air-conditioned tent accommodations are also here. Also, adventure sports happen here. The place was shabby due to overnight rains and the tourists had littered the place completely with bottles, glass pieces and food items. This happens in most of the tourist places, unless the visitors take the responsibility to keep the place clean, government cannot help maintaining.
As we went through the restaurants nearby, no food was available due to lack of power. So we decided to drive to Jammalamadugu for breakfast. Within 20 mins we reached Jammalamadugu, it was a beautiful morning owing to weather and the slight drizzling through-out. Had food at a mess - poori, masala dosa and hot hot vada. Food was homely and tasty. We drove back, took some rest. The geyser in resort was connected to gar cylinder so we got hot water in spite of the power cut. Except the air condition, we had the fans and lights working with the power back-up. Most of the resorts here are equipped with power back-ups. Sunday seem to be more quiet here as visitors start leaving in the morning.
We then left to Belum caves, 61 kms from here. Stopped at a new temple with a different structure just before Jammalamadugu and prayed. We had to again go via Jammalamadugu through villages covering 2 cement factories, that of Dalmia and Ramco. While driving through the villages, one can see green fields on both sides. There are no restaurants or food points. You can get cool drinks if needed. But for that one has to carry food to tend to your hunger. Once we reach the compound to the Belum caves, we came across a Buddha statue. Its is a huge, serene figure. Beyond this is the parking lot. We have to pay for the parking and move ahead. Entrance ticket to the caves is Rs.70 per head, We have to go down a spiral staircase to enter the cave. Belum caves is said to be the second largest natural cave in India.
Inside the cave, adequate lighting is provided for the visitors but power cuts happen now and then. Its a large cave, you can see water flowing naturally inside. The surface with water, makes it difficult to walk. We go around 1 to 1.5 kms inside the cave and return back to the entry point. Colourful lights highlight the galleries with the cave. We have to even climb few steps inside the cave to see the different formations of rocks. The cave site is under the Andhra Pradesh Tourism. We had a canteen inside the cave compound after the Buddha statue. Cool drinks and snacks are available here for refreshment sake. Being a Sunday we saw few visitors, on week days it would be deserted. It took about 1.5 hours here.
We drove all the way to Jammalamadugu and enquired for a good restaurant. We were directed to Abhiruchi and turned out to be a worthy one. We had mutton biryani, veg biryani, roti and paneer curry. Biryani was hyderabadi style. We had a sumptuous meal here. So packed roti and veg kadai for dinner and left Jammalamadugu. We went to the Mylavaram lake/dam. It was almost empty, we could have taken boating if we preferred but we declined and went back to our stay. The lake is 5 kms before Gandikota. It takes narrow path of 3 kms to reach the lake area.
Rest of the day was spent in the resort. Night again was noisy with visitors partying hard all night. With not much sleep, we left by 5 AM from Gandikota to reach Chennai around 1 PM. We took a break for food near Tirupati and a tea break after crossing over from Andhra to Tamilnadu.
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