Srisailam Experience: Srisailm in a small town situated on the banks of Krishna River.This small town is surrounded by the hills of Nallamalai.One has to pass through the Ghat Section to reach this place. Nearest Places to reach Srisailam is from Hyderbad and Bangalore.It takes 5-6 hrs by APSRTC buses,which is mainatained effectively and can be easily boarded from Hydeberabad.One can go to KempeGowda Bus Station in Bengaluru to catch an APSRTC bus for Srisailam.The APSRTC bus for Srisailam from Bangalore is a 2/2 Semi-Sleeper.and it costs around Rs 420.There are private buses also availabe for Srisailam.The ticket booking should be done prior to date of Journey.The Bus starts from Bangalore at 5.20 in the evening and reaches Srisailam by 7 in the morning next day while stopping at Anantpuram,Kurnool,Atmakur and Sundepenta.Sundepenta is the last stop before the bus starts for Ghat Section. After reaching Srisailam one can find many kind of Accomodations starting from cheap yet clean Dharamshalas to privately owned well maintained Hotels. For Darshan of the Mallikarjuna,there are three ways.Free Darshan,Special Darshan[Rs 100] Abhishekam Darshan[Rs 600].the only major difference is length of queue and time that u have to wait to reach inside the temple apart from the fact that you get pooja related stuff when you take Abhishekam Darshan Ticket .The best thing about the temple is that irrespective of the type of queue you came in from ,once you are inside the temple all the queues merge as a single line . Coming out from the main temple ,there are some other important places in the same campus. Coming out of Main temple campus,One can find geep cars and even local auta-riskhas for local sight seing which comprises of Sakshi Ganesh,Phaladhara and PanchDhara,Hatkeshwara Mahadev,Shikahram etc.For this they charge Rs 50 per head.PataalGanga is near to main Temple.To reach there, one can go by 500 Steps down to the bottom on foot.Going down by foot is as easier as it is tough to climb up through the stairs.Another way to go down is through Govt-run Rope-Way for Rs 50(both sides).APSRTC runs various packages for boating in the huge river .The boats take you around the river,near to the dam.There are private boats available at the bank of river which can be also taken for a boat ride . To reach Akkamahadevi Caves ,one can book a seat on APSRTC Boats with a charge of Rs 230 (Rope Way +Akkamahadvi Caves).And it is always better to book it earlier rather than doing it on-the-spot.Private-run boats are also available at the bank of the river.It takes 1-1.5 hr to reach Akkamahadevi Caves.The boats passes through the valley surrounded by high hills on the both sides and is full of nature\'s beauty.It may take you 3-5 hr for this trip. There are few other places where you can go like IshtaKameshwari temple,Mallela Theertham .for IshtaKameshwari Temple local geeps are available.The Shrisailam Dam is 17 km from main temple and again one has to hire a geep to go there and come back. Overall,Shrisailam is a must visit place but dont expect too much in case of local sights.Food may vary from good to sometimes nasty.Best time to go is before March as it gets hot in summer .After rainy season is also a nice time to go there as the river will be heavily flooded and there is an opportunity to find the gates of Shrisailam Dam open.Also the surrounded areas will be more greener than the summer season.If going in summer season then one should be prepapred for humid atmospehere and it is somewhat difficult to walk around in this season.Be sure to carry a lot of water especially to Akkamahadevi Caves as there is no shop at Akkamahadevi Caves. Avoid going there around UGADI as it gets heavily crowded there with not even a places to put a feet. Expect shopkeepers asking more than MRP prices. .

Food, sight-seeing and shopping: Basic Andhra Foods are available here.

Activities & things to do: Trekking to Akkamhadevi caves and temple. Mallela Theertham waterfall

Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: In Shrisailam,ciggarettes,liquors are banned from use and selling.