Trip to Bhadrachalam & Papikondalu

Last weekend we were able to make it to bhadrachalam and papikondalu , which i had been thinking of visiting for a long time. Fortunately it happened to be one of my colleagues' marriage at Kothagudam which is about 1 hour from Bhadrachalam. So we planned for this wonderful and scenic place called Papikodalu which is on the great river Godavari.
People believe that Badhrachalam is the place where Lord Rama went for his 14 year exile ( vana vaasam).
Day April 18, 2009.
We had to start very early in the morning about 5.30AM from Kothagudam as we were told that the boats to Papikondalu starts at 8.00 and we cant afford to miss it. So we reached Badhrachalam by Auto which takes about 1 hour. From Badhrachalam again we had to take a bus to the place where the boating starts which took us about 2 hours. Being summer season, the water was very less in Godavari river in the upper stream. But as went downstream in the river more water was brought in by its tributory Sabari.
Since it was off-season the boat ride started only at 10.30 AM. The boat ride totally last for about 5 hours in which they take you till Papikondalu which is in the downstream and again back to the starting point. They also serve you food which is prepared in the boat and the total cost of the ride is only Rs. 250.
On the way they stop you at village where the tribals live. Here there is a small temple which is covered by lush greenaries and a small stream of water run near the temple.
After sometime they had stopped the boat near the stretch of Papikondalu where our lunch was served. At this place the river converges into a very narrow one in between the mountains. The total width of the river near Bhadrachalam is about 1.2 km and when the river reaches Papikondalu , its squeezed into a mere 500 metres by the mountains and making the currents
stronger and the river more deeper. This place is a scenic beauty where you can see the river bending to the power of the mountains.






On the way to the boating point.













Myself , Sindhu and Praveen near the boating point.










The boat which we took.














Beautiful shores of river godavari.












Mountains along banks of Godavari.













A tribal village on the shores on godavari. A small beautiful temple is over here.












A small stream which was running near the temple.













At Papikondalu. Look at the river getting narrower due to the mountains.













Sunset at river godavari.







They brought us back to the starting point at about 3.30PM. From here again we reached back to Bhadhrachalam at about 5.30PM. It was the rite time for us to get the much awaited bath in the river Godavari. It was a beautiful scene to watch the sunset in the river godavari which is just behind the Bhadhrachalam temple. After having a nice bath in the river we went to the temple and we were out from the temple by 7.30.

Then we got a bus at 9.30 and started out return journey to Hyderabad.