It was my long time wish to take footpath to Tirumala. But due to knee pain, i was controlling my eagerness for past 2 years. Finally we decided to give a go and hired a cab from Chennai to Tirumala.
There are two footpaths, Srivari mettu which is 3 kms in distance with 2400 steps, where as Alipiri footpath is 9 kms in distance with 3550 steps. Five of us started our trekking from Alipiri footpath at morning 5 am. We kept our baggages in car and proceeded with only one water bottle, money purse, PS camera and our mobiles. There is a facility at the start up point to keep your baggages in locker. You need to get the receipt and reproduce same after reaching uphill to collect.
The initial 1000 steps are too steep. I didnt face any problem for first 200 steps. But after that i started feeling giddiness and could clearly hear my heart beat loudly. I had to take break for every 10-20 steps and obviously slowed down others :) Make sure to not drink more water as it could slow down your speed. Just take a sip to keep your throat wet.
There are toilets and watering points for every 50-100 steps. And the most important is most of the route is covered with concrete roof, which will protect you from sun and heavy rain.
The 1000 steps were really testing time for us especially me who was slowing down others. But there are mandapam on the way where you can sit and relax for sometime. I couldn't control my thirst and finally decided to drink lemon soda to boost up energy. We relaxed for some 15 mins. Others had their tea and we started to climb. It is always better to climb in groups of at least four.
There is a Divya darshan counter (Gaali Gopuram) at 2083 rd step, where you can collect your free darshan tickets. We reached this spot at 6 am. There are various small road side shops in this place. We had idli, dosa & took rest for around 30 mins.
After this point, there are no steep steps :) Now that was relaxing for me. There were flat steps with a distance of 4-5 steps in between. And the sight was also beautiful. You could hear the sound of birds and feel cool breeze.
On the way you could see deer park and also feed them with vegetables and fruits. This is the point where few people have seen leopards. I was too scared at this stretch but since it was day time and people were moving in groups, it made me bit relaxed.
On 7th Mile, there is a huge Prasanna Anjaneya Swamy Statue. At 2850 step, there is Divya Darshan Token checking counter where they put seal mark. We continued our journey without taking any rest hereafter. After certain distance, there are no steps and you need to take vehicles road path, which goes for around 1 km. You can enjoy the serene beauty at this place and also relax for sometime. Before climbing the final 1000 steps, we took rest for 10 mins.
The final 1000 steps are also steep but it didnt bother me as i got enough strength after climbing 2850 steps. Now that was a big number for me :)
At this point, we took few seconds break for every 50 steps and tadda we reached our destination. We finished our walk of 9 kms with 3550 steps. We reached Tirumala at 9:30 am taking overall time of 4 and a half hours. But for Swamy darshan we had to wait for another 4-5 hours. You can collect your baggages at the respective counters. My overall trekking experience was really good and i hope i will take footpath routes hereafter.
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