Ride to Horsley Hills and a visit to Arokyavaram Medical Center, Madanapalle.
A sudden plan and a mad rush not to miss a chance for a long ride ended up in the roads leading to Horsley hills from Vellore.
Samson visa had come and he was expected to fly as early as possible to join a 5-star hotel chain at Angola, Africa. It means he would be unavailable to join me for long rides, at least for the next three months. With limited days in hand, we decided to make a one-day return ride to Horsley hills which was 170 km away. As usual, we wanted to visit a Christian mission field as well and hence Arokyavaram sanatorium came into our plan.
The Ride 31 July 2019
I started at 4am from Kasam, Vellore and reached Samson's house by 4.08 am. After a small prayer for a safe journey, we hit the roads. In a few minutes, Samson told he has hit the reserve and went to fill petrol in a nearby bunk. we started again towards Chittoor. The road was very bad between Katpadi to Chittoor as the road work was in progress.
After Chittoor, the road was smooth on most of the part. But head-on traffic was there as the roads for oncoming vehicles were not divided.
we stopped for coffee after Palamner in a village but to our surprise, the shops there were only providing breakfast and no coffee or tea were available. A little further away towards Punganur (Famous for its breed of Cows), we saw a bunk shop which sold tea and we stopped there for the tea break.
From there we rode non stop to Horsley hills top. My jio network was not good in that area and I didn't download the offline maps as it was a sudden plan. The poor GPS navigation often led us to go into the towns that we passed by instead of taking bypass road.
After Madanapalle there was one cement arch welcoming us to Horsley hills and another one sometime after (Iron grillwork arch) saying Horsley hills fire dept.
There was a toll collection of rs 10/- to enter Horsley hills Ghat road.
It was a 9 km stretch with 6 hairpin bends. there was no rain till that day since summer and so we couldn't spot seasonal Gangotri lake on the way. The road was, of course, beautiful and we enjoyed the riding on our classic bullets.
Horsley Hills
History
Horsley, the then collector of Kadappa, developed this 1km radius hill station perched on the rock. There is no town or local people, living there apart from the resort and a zoo.
Finally, we reached the Horsley hills at 8.30 am. Climate was slightly cold compared to plains.
We went to APTDC reception to find out the room rent as we thought, relaxing after lunch before the return ride will be best to avoid tiredness and road rage. But the price of the rooms starts from 2500/- and goes above. We asked for the dormitory option as I read in T'Logue in BCMT but there was no option like that. The APTDC receptionist suggested trying Holiday homes who owns a big number of rooms on the other side. We checked in the holiday home and the rooms were starting from 1000/-. With no option left, we checked into a 1000/- rupees category. The room was modest with a double bed, a twin sofa, tv (not working....who cares)and an attached bathroom with geyser.
We left our luggage and strolled around to have breakfast.
Just at the roadside shop near the holiday home, we had 2egg dosa, 2 plain dosa with peanut chutney. we also got 1-liter mineral water. total cost was 160/-.
After that, we went behind the governor's bungalow to the viewpoint there. Among the three viewpoints in Horsley hills that was the best, perched over the rock.
We strolled around to reach the far end where another viewpoint was located on the rocky slopes called Galli bundu. One can never walk barefoot on Galli bundu as the liquor bottles were broken all around the rocky slopes in Galli bundu (Like a ritual act!!!).
We walked back and saw the swimming pool complex near governors bungalow. For 1 hour its 100 rs. We weren't interested in swimming and moreover, it was small and just 5 feet in depth.
I wanted to try fish pedicure which was available.
It gave a gentle stimulation to feet when fish were bitting the dead skin over the sole of the foot and toes. I saw few ladies getting scared initially to put the feet inside the fish tank but I guess they enjoyed it after a while. The cost was 100 rs for 10 minutes. Samson tried leg massage for 600 rs. He said in comparison with the star hotels at the Maldives which offered the service, its ok kind. They applied oil on the foot from the knee below and did manual massage. Curious???!!! The massager was a male.
Then we went back to the room and took Samson's bike and went around to visit the zoo and explored around. The Zoo has got animal enclosures with deer, peacock, guinea, rabbit, turtle, and crocodile.
There was a small pond called Manasarovaram. It was beautiful with turtles taking a sunbath on the rocks submerged partially in water and the edge of the pond had a scenic stone bench under a tree with yellow flowers bordering the pond on one side.
There was a viewpoint within the zoo at a lesser altitude.
The great Eucalyptus tree planted by the then collector of Kadappa Horsley is still there looking magnificent fetching Indian government Puraskar maha viruksha award.
We saw many cottages all around the 1 km circle road around from the APTDC reception.
There were less staff and we were wondering how they could manage all cottages and rooms if it were filled with guests! we went on a Wednesday and I hope it may be crowded on weekends and they might hire temporary workers. Most of the cottages were owned by APTDC and holiday homes. But we also saw cottages owned by the police department and other institutions.
There were a lot of old buildings like BSNL office, hostel, government employee quarters which were in dilapidated state and uninhabited.
We went to the APTDC restaurant and ordered white rice, chicken curry, chicken fried rice and a bottle of water. I guess the bill came around 600rs.
We went back to the room around 1.30 noon and rested till 2.45pm.
We vacated the room and started riding back towards Arokyavaram medical center in Madanapalli.
Arokyavaram medical center 1915
Once a secluded TB sanatorium is now a general hospital spreading around an area of 400 acres. Prime minister Nehru had visited this institution in the 1950s.
we reached the Arokyavaram medical centre in 30 minutes from Horsley hills. We visited the family of Daniel Prashanth, who was my student in the School of Physiotherapy, Vels University. Daniel's uncle took us to meet Dr. BonamWesley, the director of the Arokyavaram medical centre. We gave a meagre amount as a donation towards their mission work among the TB and HIV infected patients. As the food is important equally as medicines in these diseases, the hospital apart from giving medicines also provides free food during their stay at the hospital. The hospital is undergoing a fund crisis as the new government rules have very much restricted the mobilisation of foreign funds. Yet with no alternative, the institution remains a beacon of light for the downtrodden. The Arokyavaram also offers nursing and paramedical courses for students at a very nominal fee structure If you want to know more about Arokyavaram medical center, you may visit their website http://amc-arogyavaram.com/aboutus.html
After having tea, coffee and snacks from Daniel Prashanth's uncle's house, we bid bye and started riding back to Vellore around 5pm. Had a stop for fuel before Punganur.
We stopped near Palamner. I purchased a small earthenware with a lid to make fish curry. The pottery is quite famous.
So also the tomato cultivation. Asia's largest tomato market is located in Madanapalle.
The return journey was faster as we reached our home by 7.45pm.
Riding statistics
Riders: Samson Peter and Tilak Francis
bikes: classic 500 and classic 350
Repair: No
Fuel stop: one for each bike
Total distance: 340 km
Ride duration: 4 hours 30 min + 2 hours 45 min
Samson visa had come and he was expected to fly as early as possible to join a 5-star hotel chain at Angola, Africa. It means he would be unavailable to join me for long rides, at least for the next three months. With limited days in hand, we decided to make a one-day return ride to Horsley hills which was 170 km away. As usual, we wanted to visit a Christian mission field as well and hence Arokyavaram sanatorium came into our plan.
The Ride 31 July 2019
I started at 4am from Kasam, Vellore and reached Samson's house by 4.08 am. After a small prayer for a safe journey, we hit the roads. In a few minutes, Samson told he has hit the reserve and went to fill petrol in a nearby bunk. we started again towards Chittoor. The road was very bad between Katpadi to Chittoor as the road work was in progress.
After Chittoor, the road was smooth on most of the part. But head-on traffic was there as the roads for oncoming vehicles were not divided.
we stopped for coffee after Palamner in a village but to our surprise, the shops there were only providing breakfast and no coffee or tea were available. A little further away towards Punganur (Famous for its breed of Cows), we saw a bunk shop which sold tea and we stopped there for the tea break.
From there we rode non stop to Horsley hills top. My jio network was not good in that area and I didn't download the offline maps as it was a sudden plan. The poor GPS navigation often led us to go into the towns that we passed by instead of taking bypass road.
After Madanapalle there was one cement arch welcoming us to Horsley hills and another one sometime after (Iron grillwork arch) saying Horsley hills fire dept.
There was a toll collection of rs 10/- to enter Horsley hills Ghat road.
It was a 9 km stretch with 6 hairpin bends. there was no rain till that day since summer and so we couldn't spot seasonal Gangotri lake on the way. The road was, of course, beautiful and we enjoyed the riding on our classic bullets.
Horsley Hills
History
Horsley, the then collector of Kadappa, developed this 1km radius hill station perched on the rock. There is no town or local people, living there apart from the resort and a zoo.
Finally, we reached the Horsley hills at 8.30 am. Climate was slightly cold compared to plains.
We went to APTDC reception to find out the room rent as we thought, relaxing after lunch before the return ride will be best to avoid tiredness and road rage. But the price of the rooms starts from 2500/- and goes above. We asked for the dormitory option as I read in T'Logue in BCMT but there was no option like that. The APTDC receptionist suggested trying Holiday homes who owns a big number of rooms on the other side. We checked in the holiday home and the rooms were starting from 1000/-. With no option left, we checked into a 1000/- rupees category. The room was modest with a double bed, a twin sofa, tv (not working....who cares)and an attached bathroom with geyser.
We left our luggage and strolled around to have breakfast.
Just at the roadside shop near the holiday home, we had 2egg dosa, 2 plain dosa with peanut chutney. we also got 1-liter mineral water. total cost was 160/-.
After that, we went behind the governor's bungalow to the viewpoint there. Among the three viewpoints in Horsley hills that was the best, perched over the rock.
We strolled around to reach the far end where another viewpoint was located on the rocky slopes called Galli bundu. One can never walk barefoot on Galli bundu as the liquor bottles were broken all around the rocky slopes in Galli bundu (Like a ritual act!!!).
We walked back and saw the swimming pool complex near governors bungalow. For 1 hour its 100 rs. We weren't interested in swimming and moreover, it was small and just 5 feet in depth.
I wanted to try fish pedicure which was available.
It gave a gentle stimulation to feet when fish were bitting the dead skin over the sole of the foot and toes. I saw few ladies getting scared initially to put the feet inside the fish tank but I guess they enjoyed it after a while. The cost was 100 rs for 10 minutes. Samson tried leg massage for 600 rs. He said in comparison with the star hotels at the Maldives which offered the service, its ok kind. They applied oil on the foot from the knee below and did manual massage. Curious???!!! The massager was a male.
Then we went back to the room and took Samson's bike and went around to visit the zoo and explored around. The Zoo has got animal enclosures with deer, peacock, guinea, rabbit, turtle, and crocodile.
There was a viewpoint within the zoo at a lesser altitude.
The great Eucalyptus tree planted by the then collector of Kadappa Horsley is still there looking magnificent fetching Indian government Puraskar maha viruksha award.
We saw many cottages all around the 1 km circle road around from the APTDC reception.
There were less staff and we were wondering how they could manage all cottages and rooms if it were filled with guests! we went on a Wednesday and I hope it may be crowded on weekends and they might hire temporary workers. Most of the cottages were owned by APTDC and holiday homes. But we also saw cottages owned by the police department and other institutions.
There were a lot of old buildings like BSNL office, hostel, government employee quarters which were in dilapidated state and uninhabited.
We went to the APTDC restaurant and ordered white rice, chicken curry, chicken fried rice and a bottle of water. I guess the bill came around 600rs.
We went back to the room around 1.30 noon and rested till 2.45pm.
We vacated the room and started riding back towards Arokyavaram medical center in Madanapalli.
Arokyavaram medical center 1915
Once a secluded TB sanatorium is now a general hospital spreading around an area of 400 acres. Prime minister Nehru had visited this institution in the 1950s.
we reached the Arokyavaram medical centre in 30 minutes from Horsley hills. We visited the family of Daniel Prashanth, who was my student in the School of Physiotherapy, Vels University. Daniel's uncle took us to meet Dr. BonamWesley, the director of the Arokyavaram medical centre. We gave a meagre amount as a donation towards their mission work among the TB and HIV infected patients. As the food is important equally as medicines in these diseases, the hospital apart from giving medicines also provides free food during their stay at the hospital. The hospital is undergoing a fund crisis as the new government rules have very much restricted the mobilisation of foreign funds. Yet with no alternative, the institution remains a beacon of light for the downtrodden. The Arokyavaram also offers nursing and paramedical courses for students at a very nominal fee structure If you want to know more about Arokyavaram medical center, you may visit their website http://amc-arogyavaram.com/aboutus.html
After having tea, coffee and snacks from Daniel Prashanth's uncle's house, we bid bye and started riding back to Vellore around 5pm. Had a stop for fuel before Punganur.
We stopped near Palamner. I purchased a small earthenware with a lid to make fish curry. The pottery is quite famous.
So also the tomato cultivation. Asia's largest tomato market is located in Madanapalle.
The return journey was faster as we reached our home by 7.45pm.
Riding statistics
Riders: Samson Peter and Tilak Francis
bikes: classic 500 and classic 350
Repair: No
Fuel stop: one for each bike
Total distance: 340 km
Ride duration: 4 hours 30 min + 2 hours 45 min
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