For beach-lovers living in Hyderabad,
SuryaLanka is the nearest. Though, not so well-known among tourists and travelers Suryalanka, is a good weekend destination and a relief from the hectic work schedule.
Around 365 kms from Hyderabad, Suryalanka has a lone beach resort of APTDC (
Haritha Beach Resort), though not well maintained. It has to be booked well in advance to get an accommodation. Start early from Hyderabad in order to reach well in advance as it might take 8-9 hours to reach. The last time I visited, parts of the road was still under maintenance.
Based on my last experience when we started at around 10.30 AM and reached at around 7 PM, this time we decided to start pretty early. As planned, this time 5 of us started early at around 6.30 AM in our friend’s Tata Indigo. After leaving the main city of Hyderabad, we had our breakfast in a local shop on the highway with Onion Dosa, Masala Dosa and Idli’s. We also picked sufficient bottles of water. Other than this we took few more
“soota breaks” as 2 of my friends were smokers.
Cruising through the fields, we were overjoyed seeing the lush green paddy fields and decided to stop for a photo session. All the way, we kept on munching snacks so never really felt the need for having lunch on time. We decided to have lunch in the resort after we have reached Suryalanka. We reached Suryalanka at around 3 PM. GPS on my friend’s mobile guided us all the way to Suryalanka. Other than a small .05 kms drift, we were on the correct road.
We pre-booked a 7 bed dormitory since there were no other rooms available. The only disadvantage for the dormitory accommodation is that the toilet is a little far from the room. After keeping our belongings in the hotel room, we ordered food in the hotel’s restaurant. It was a normal South Indian buffet lunch.
The beach was unexpectedly crowded due to the some bathing festival during the month of November with temporary wooden changing rooms. Last time, when we visited Suryalanka, there were merely 10-15 people on the beach. Seeing the crowd we dropped the idea of bathing and went back to the room and decided to take a small nap.
When we woke up, it was almost dusk. The beach was in the normal lonely mood. Strolling along the beach we enjoyed seeing the sun setting. Since there was no other activity to be done, we decide to bring out the “chatai’s” or floor mats (as it is called in English) which we carried along with us and place them on the sandy beach.
Hours together we gazed at the star studded sky. It was a complete different feeling altogether. In our busy and hectic life, we do not have the urge nor the patience to spend so much time peacefully lying down to see the night sky. Moreover, city lights and pollution also hinders the clear view of the sky. We were hoping if it would have been a night where we could view either a ‘Comet Lovejoy’ or the ‘Halley’s comet’.
Nevertheless, we spend around 3-4 hours both before and after dinner under the sky recollecting our stories from the past. We took a small break in between for snacks; Ordered 2 plates of spicy prawn masala and enjoyed it along with chips and drinks which we carried along with us. At the same time, we ordered for Rootis and Chicken curry for dinner. Dinner has to be ordered early, since there is limited accommodation in the resort and this is at a distance for the main town of Bapatla. If planned early, we could have easily arranged for a small
Bon-fire.
It was beginning to get cold hence we decided to slip into our rooms. It is then, the thought of Bon-Fire came to our minds and we felt the need for some warm cosy atmosphere. After a deep and relaxed sleep, we woke up in the morning at around 7.
There was a complimentary breakfast included with the room booking. Breakfast included of Idli, Vada, Upma and Tea. Everyone had their own choice. Since as per our plan, we were to leave around 10, we had a heavy breakfast.
Today also, the beach was crowded right from the morning for the sacred dip of the sea. It seemed like there was a little fair going on by the Sea side with hawkers selling Ice creams, Guavas and various other eatables. Makeshift shops selling garlands, coconuts etc were also seen.
We ultimately packed our bags and left the resort at around 10.30. The approach road was filled with buses and 7 seater autos carrying people to have the sacred dip on some auspicious occasion. We managed our way out of the town. While returning again we stopped on quite a few occasions for tea or Naryalpani break. Since we had a heavy breakfast, there was no need for snacks at least till 1-1.30 PM.
Then our search began for a decent Dhaba where we can have our lunch. Ultimately we found one at around 3. We ordered for Rootis, Mixed Veg, egg masala and egg burji. The food was decent enough. We halted once more for a tea break in the outskirts of Hyderabad and reached at around 8.30.
It was a great and relaxing weekend spent just quite enough to gear us up for the coming hectic weeks.
Places to Stay:1. Haritha Beach Resort
2. Bhawana Lodge at Bapatla (9Kms; 20 min from the Beach)
Routes From Hyderabad:There are multiple routes to reach Suryalanka beach.
Route1: Hyd-->Chityal-->Tipparti-->Miryalguda-->Narsaraopet-->Chilakaluripet-->Chirala-->Bapatla-->Suryalanka = 324 KM
Route2: Hyd-->Chityal-->Tipparti-->Miryalguda-->Narsaraopet-->Guntur-->Ponnur-->Bapatla-->suryalanka = 340Km
Route3: Hyd --> Vijayawada -->Guntur --> Bapatla -->Suryalanka =350K
