A four and a half-hour trip by bus from Hyderabad and a six and a half-hour boat ride on the river Krishna, a night halt and a five-hour journey by the same bus back to the starting point.
Far away from the madding crowd and the concrete jungle, the Hyderabad-Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam-Hyderabad round trip is the latest package from Andhra Pradesh Tourism, which promises to take people on a break they will never forget.
The two-day, one-night road-cum-river cruise tour comes in two options - either a Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam boat trip or vice versa. On weekdays, the tariff is fixed at Rs. 2,900 for an adult and Rs. 2,300 for a child and on weekends, the fare is Rs. 3,200 and Rs. 2,500, respectively. It starts early on Day 1 and ends late in the evening of Day 2.
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Let’s take the first option in which tourists board a boat at Nagarjunasagar, on the AP side of the river Krishna after crossing the dam.
Ten minutes on the river, it is as if the world at large is left far behind and as mobile phone screens show ‘No Service’ indication, people are forced to sit back and enjoy the breeze.
After some idle gazing at the banks of the river, out come the cameras and smart phones to capture images.
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As the hours pass, the eyelids droop, not in exhaustion but with the sheer excitement of being away from it all. Around seven hours later, the tourists disembark at Srisailam, to a welcome shower at the AP Tourism Development Corporation’s Haritha Hotel and a darshan of Lord Mallikarjuna and dinner.
On Day 2, tourists take the ropeway to ‘Pathalaganga’ and are taken to ‘Shikaram’ for a view of the world from the space between the two horns of Lord Shiva’s ‘Nandi’ and the Tribal Museum before lunch. Post-lunch and en route to Hyderabad, there is more excitement in store at the Tiger View Point in the Farahabad forest. Log on to www.aptdc.gov.in or call 1800-42545454 toll free, for details.