I have heard about the AP tourism Bangalore Tirupathi package and booked for my family for travel in June 2012. There was only one pick up point mentioned on the website while booking the e-Ticket (Race Course Road). It was not so convenient to reach in the peak hours of evening traffic and wish they had kept a few official pick up points en-route such as Indira Nagar, KR Puram etc. However, when I reached the Race course road office to board the bus, I inquired about additional pick up points and the booking clerk told that it can be arranged on request if passenger calls in advance ! If only I could know this earlier it could have saved me couple of hundred bucks and peak hour traffic commute. Lesson learnt for next time.
The AP tourism office was on first floor with good seating facility and clean toilets. The bus was brand new Mercedes Benz coach which was very cozy with good leg room. The bus started on time at 9:30 PM and picked up few more passengers from Old Madras road and KR Puram. They stopped for dinner around 11 at a Kamath hotel which was decent type. Reached Tirupathi AP tourism complex around 3 AM and were given non AC std room (1 room b/w 2 people) to freshen up. Rooms were budget type and ok for a quick halt though bathroom needed some maintenance. Started at 4:30 AM towards Padmavati Temple.
This was good thing since the temple was quite empty and we were among the first ones to get into line for Suprabhatam darshan. One has to buy 25/- ticket and passenger has to stand in queue to buy it. I thought it would have been more convenient and time saving had the Tour operator have some tie up to get bulk tickets. Anyway, we were able to attend the morning pooja and were also allowed to go inside and near the Goddess. First thing in the morning and you couldn’t have asked for more ! Point to note : They did not give any laddu against the darshan ticket nor did I see the counter open. Generally, you get 2 laddus for special ticket of 40/- later in the day. However, it is preferable to visit the temple in morning to avoid walking barefoot in scorching heat.
After that, we came back to the complex and were asked to board local TTD bus which have Ghat section license and are the only buses allowed to ply to Tirumala. You don’t have a choice but to take this bus which is little bumpy ride specially if you get seats at the back. Reached Tirumala hills around 7 AM. There were some folks in the tour who had to go for head shaving so the tour guide told us to wait at the Ram Bageecha Bus stand while others got their heads shaved. Now this part was quite inconvenient since there was no proper place to sit or have breakfast. I wish the AP tourism could arrange some decent breakfast options en-route rather than leaving passengers at the mercy of shady joints at this bus stand.
I heard that other private tour operators provide better options for food and on this account, the APTDC package is a big let down even during lunch time which I would mention later. The guide came back by 8 AM and asked us to deposit any electronic items such as cellphone or camera at one of the shops since those items are not allowed in the temple. We than proceeded towards the main Temple and could see huge crowd here and there trying to get the darshan tickets. We were made to stand at the entry of Special (Sheeghra) Darshan Ticket which costs INR 300/- (included in the package).
The guide took nearly 45 mins to get us the tickets and we then proceeded for the darshan. I have heard that other private tour operators hand over INR 300 to passengers and ask them to stand in the queue to buy tickets. Though I have not traveled in other travel but I think may be the APTDC tour scores high in this aspect since the guide himself gets you the ticket. There was heavy weekend rush and it took us almost 3 hours to complete the darshan and come out of the temple. The guide had collected the Laddus on our behalf in the meantime and handed over to us once we came out.
We then proceeded downhill towards the AP tourism Complex in another TTD bus which was more uncomfortable in the heat of the day. The complex had an restaurant where we were asked to take lunch. This was quite a let down since they had only south Indian meal buffet on the menu and that too was tasteless. They should have some additional items on the menu like dosa/idli or some North Indian items. I could see disappointed faces around due to the pathetic food and lack of varieties. We boarded our Benz bus at 2:30 PM and started back to Bangalore. With a 20 min stoppage on the way for refreshments, we reached Indira Nagar by 7:30 PM. I can say the bus journey itself is quite comfortable. Had there been better arrangement for breakfast and lunch,
I would have given a Thumbs up to the APTDC package. Overall, it is recommended packageto save the food. Though the cost is on the higher side given that other operators provide complimentary breakfast and lunch.