The forest area near Peerancheruvu is a popular destination for trekking, bouldering, hiking and rock climbing in Hyderabad. Peerancheru Village(Peeranchuruvu) is among the first settlements in this area named after the Saint Hazrat Peeran Shah Wali Rahmatullah Alayhi. This place is ideal for beginner trekkers.
Prelude
On an early Saturday morning, 5 of us had to go on a hike there. You would’ve guessed by now that Hyderabadis waking up early is unheard of and there’s no way these guys could get up early on a weekend. For this reason, 2 of us didn’t pick up calls as they were deep in sleep and couldn’t make it. Leaving 3 of us to explore those hills.
Driving to Peerancheruvu
That morning we learned that wearing jackets is important if you set off early to a place with plenty of vegetation and less civilization. It was freezing. We had no idea that temperature would change so sharply. The thing is that the city warmed up the temperature so much that we didn’t feel any cold in it. As we moved away from the city, it was a whole another story out there.
Peerancheruvu Lake
Peerancheruvu is a lake near PBEL City Township behind Shadan Hospital and its colleges. A polluted, filthy lake. In other words; not worth visiting. Even though the residents try to clean up the lake every few years; as they did 6 years ago, it still remains a dumping ground. We witnessed people throwing garbage into the lake.
Trek through Snehita Hills or Staff Quarters?
You could either go straight and start your trek by finding a trail that goes into the hills or you could take a left at the juncture (in the above picture) and find your way through the awful roads. I would recommend the former because it is easier. As we had been through that path several times, we took the latter path.
Starting our Trek
It is a place with dense vegetation which can be termed as “thorny area”. Bushes with thorns, trees with thorns and eventually your shoes and clothes with thorns. If you forget to wear full sleeves, as I did, then you’ll have bruises and scrapes on your arms.
Peahen on a boulder
Amaan driking water while Abdul Rab picks out thorns
We encountered a couple of peahens when we started the trek. It was a sign that there would be snakes too. Then we decided to climb a tall boulder to choose our path. A little chimneying helped us reach the top.
Chimneying
We could see a hill with the highest peak that became our destination and we headed to climb it.
Heading to the highest point
Use of a stick
Carrying a stick is extremely important in such situations. It can be used to remove thorns tree branches in the way. It is used to hit the ground before taking a step forward in order to warn any snakes hiding in plain sight. Also, make noise while trekking in order to scare away any animal that could harm you if startled.
The above pictures are not of the highest peak. It was a resting point to take off thorns and insects we were carrying.
Break time
After brushing off some thorns and insects, we moved forward.
Then it was time to continue what we were doing; dodging thorns and banging our stick on the ground while making weird sounds. Eventually, we reached our peak.
Peak
After basking in the sun and breathing in the fresh air while also playing with my overgrown hair, it was time to return.
Returning
That is when we encountered a PYTHON! It moved past us by the time we could come back to our senses.
Lost in the hills
Then we realized something; we forgot our way. Consequently, we decided to exit through the staff quarters path. After several gruelling minutes, we got out.
We were “welcomed” by a couple of stray dogs. Thankfully, we had a stick to scare them off. Now we had to walk to our bikes.
Here’s a slow-motion video(gif) of Amaan not jumping and ruining the purpose of shooting slow motion. Enjoy!
