Have the spirit of adventure and wish to enjoy the wintry chill out in the open? Lammasingi, also known as Lambasingi, is the perfect place to be.
The lack of accommodation facilities to the large number of tourists coming during the winter months has made some adventure-lovers to bring their own camping equipment to pitch tents, a few years ago. The innovative idea seems to have caught the fancy of some local people, who started providing tents to make a fast buck during the peak season, while making up for the shortage of tourist accommodation.
One may shudder at the thought of sleeping in a tent in the cold and the possible threat from wild animals and snakes straying from the forests and hill slopes, a little away from the main road. The hikers light a bonfire outside the tents to keep wild animals at bay apart from keeping themselves warm from the biting cold.
What began with a couple of tents has grown into more than 50 such tents, mostly offered by the local people and private players, apart from four high-quality ones being offered by the A.P. Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC). The tents are in good demand, particularly during December and January, when Lambasingi records single-digit temperature.
Affordable tents
The most affordable tents are, however, provided by the villagers of Tajangi, at a nominal cost of ₹300 per person. The villagers, formed into the Tajangi Paryataka Vikas, and pitched 23 tents on government land. They are also contributing a part of the revenue to the village panchyat.
“We offer bed, pillow, bed sheet and blanket to our guests in the tent. The tent can be closed with a zip. We have also arranged six bathrooms apart from water heater for supply of hot water. The tourist rush is more this year compared to last year,” says M. Nagabushanam, a member of the committee.
B.S. Padal of Lambasingi bought 10 tents and kept them ready to provide to tourists at Lambasingi.
