Horsely Hills, Andhra Pradesh

Horsely Hills, Andhra Pradesh

Horsely Hills is a hill station less visited and it is a good place for a weekend engagement. The hills are named after the collector W H Horsely. This place is completely under the custody of Andhra Pradesh Tourism department. Right in front of the reception gate you will see the tomb of the George Horsely who is the son of W H Horsely, the child lived only one day, i.e. he was born on 31.May.1864 and died on 31.May.1864. 

The hill station is believed to be Andhra's Ooty, however this is a true exaggeration. The place itself is very small in area and can be walked in not more than an hour. The place is not commercialized and so one will not find anything amazing or exciting to enjoy made by private organizations. While there are some adventure sports/games which might keep you occupied for few hours. 

One can plan a night stay to enjoy the morning sunrise from the beautiful view points.

A Small Water Body

Travel:

Be assured of a very good drive, one hitch overall which you might not be happy about the route is, road humps. There are numerous road humps which makes the ride and travel experience a bit unpleasant as you are on an average speed. however the last 9 kms which is the uphill drive is worth a joy. 

Hop on to the K R Puram hanging bridge and drive towards Hosakote. After Hosakote, one must watch out for left turn (which is few kms from LANCO HIGHWAY TOLL GATE). The left turn leads to Bangalore-Kadapa highway. Drive on this road till you reach Madanapalle.On reaching Madanapalle one must keep left and drive towards Horsely Hills which is around 40Kms from there.
All the visiting spots are near enough and can be walked. So your vehicle will be stalled at your accommodation.

Typically, one should plan to start @7am from Banaglore so that you are there for check-in time and also utilize the whole day for the adventure sports and few tourist places around. 

The next day morning should be used to view sunrise and the two exciting treks described below. One can plan to leave the place by 13:00 to reach Bangalore by 5:30pm with a nice lunch break. 

Places to visit:

This place hosts a few beautiful spots to spend time on. Firstly we must be low on expectations from these places. Absolutely no comparison with other places. It is on its own and offers its own beauty and joy.

 
1. Freakout Adventure Sports
It is worth to try these. They are two packages for you to try, combo 1 package worth 300/- and combo 2 package 500/-. 
Both these packages don't include the quad bike ride. It is highly recommended to try 300/- package which includes two tree trail walks at a good altitude and a net climbing that ends with zipline. You could then separately opt for Quad Bike ride which costs 200/-   (3 rounds)

2. Bird Sanctury
Decent enough and a must visit since this is the entrance to all the other places mentioned below. 

Bird Sanctuary

Rabbit Den

3. Manasa Sarovara
A water body which is barely filled with water. It is quite disappointing however the bank of the water body is a nice rock bed where you could either play some games or just spend time. There is also a library at this location you may want to just hop over.
 

Manasa Sarovar - A small water body

Manasa Sarovar - A small water body

4. Oldest (156 years) Eucalyptus Tree
The tree planted by W H Horsely when was the collector. 

5. Exciting Treks
Now these are the exciting times of your trip. 

- Small Krishna Statue Peak
Early in the morning before or after breakfast take a walk inside the bird sanctuary and reach out to the far end of the park cum Zoo cum sanctuary and you will notice a fence that has a way out with long never ending steps.
Progress towards this exit and climb the steps laid, they indeed appear never ending but quite comfortably completed. Once you see the little krishna statue your further adventurous trekking begins. This trek should be done at your own risk and one will see none on the trail. Pay complete caution on doing this trek, the risks involved are certain reptiles and a extremely challenging trail that might need support of tree branches to move on. There is a destination for this trek but it is left to the ability of an individual.

Krishna Statue

Trail to the peak

A stop over - Krishna Statue

Nice View Point from one of the peaks

Rock Bed to Rest

Up Trek - A small stop over

Up trek - intermediate stop over

A Rock that was hit by a lightning made a huge deep split

- Sunrise Rock Bed
Yet another risky trek. This is visited by many up to some distance after which general crowd would halt and back off. While some proceed further and experience the thrill it offers with the risk. The Bed Rock goes steep down to the earth and you can trek down more comfortably with the grip and feel the thrill associated since its steep enough. 
However the up trek is the most dangerous as one small mistake or slip will put you rolling till you stop yourself with the some blocking ends or edges of rock.
It is recommended to trek only till one feels comfortable.   

The nice view from tiny opening formed due to rocks positioning

Up trek

Rock Bed

Steep Rock Bed - Not advisable to trek down

Indeed Steep

Quite a steep rock bed

       
Accommodation:

make your reservations here. The are no other options available for accommodation. 
http://www.aptdc.gov.in/accommodations.html

Cell: 9951611040, 9440272241 Non A/C Cottages Double (4) All days Rs. 2400/- Non A/C Cottages Single (4) All days Rs. 1250/- Governors Banglow A/C (6) All days Rs. 2900/- A/C Suite (2) All days Rs. 7150/- Whisper Winds (8) All days Rs. 2200/- Wild Winds A/C (8) All days Rs. 2900/- Wind Whistle (6) All days Rs. 1850/- Wind Falls (4) All days Rs. 3300/- All of the above accommodations have different price over the weekends. No comments on the accommodation's cleanliness, ambience and facilities hygiene as they vary from one to another. For instance, Non A/C Cottage single is better compared to Double.  The accommodation offers complimentary breakfast and a Swimming Pool entry.  The place is serene and also since one prefers only a single night stay it is worth compromising on the other discomforts that the accommodation is posing on you. Food:
The food is not an issue at all. The APTDC has a canteen and offers a buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner. Additionally room services is also available for food. The food quality is average and quite manageable.
Best Time to Visit: Best time is Oct-Mar. Summer could also be experienced there however very warm temperature is predicted.