Once upon a time Koraput was known as one of the poorest districts of whole Asia. The poor tribals, dilapidated roads and least facilities used to be the identity of the place for years. This identity kept the place out of the radar for the travellers. But with the passage of time everything changed. Nowadays if you travel to Koraput, you will find wide roads, roadside restaurants, petrol bunks and beautiful tribal home stays. But still not much travellers turn up for this place. Here is a small travelogue from my road trip from Visakhapatnam to Koraput via Araku Valley.
It was a sunny day in the month of February we started from Visakhapatnam in the early morning. The roads were good and scenic as we chose to go via the Araku valley. Our first stop on the way was Bora Caves which was on our way to Koraput. I was amazed by seeing the grandeur of the cave. I have never seen such a big cave in my life. We spent some time there by visiting deep into the cave. It was really an amazing experience to visit the cave.
After visiting the cave it was the time to drive down to Koraput crossing the Araku valley. The roads were extremely good to drive your car or bike. We passed through the valley by looking at its extreme beauty. Here don't forget to have some Bamboo chicken served at the roadside by the local villagers. While entering the Araku town one can find all the amenities including homestays, hotels, restaurants, ATMs, Petrol Pumps etc. The Tribal museum is one of the best places to visit in the town. After passing through the valley you will enter to the Odisha from Andhra Pradesh. By driving few Kilometres on patch free roads, one can see the beautiful Kolab river by the side of the road. You will almost drive some 15 Kilometres by the Side of the river if you are going from Araku to Koraput. The view of the river is extremely beautiful. Keep your camera handy to take some beautiful shots.
Our next stop was the magnificent Duduma fall in Koraput district. This is one of the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. Here you can see a number of waterfalls falling into the gorge creating an amazing view. We have taken a bath in the fall but for that one needs to take around 800 step down to the gorge. I also recommend to be extremely cautious while bathing here. We had an amazing time here for some 3-4 hours. It was almost 5 O'Clock and it was to time to leave the place. We directly drove to Jeypore, Koraput for the night stay. In Jeypur you can find cheap to moderately expensive hotels to stay.
Next morning, we went to see the beautiful Gupteswar Shiva temple in Koraput. The temple was situated on the lap of the nature surrounded by dense greenery.
After visiting Gupteswar it was time to drive back. We took the Sunki Ghat road.
The roads are serpent and and has a lot of ups, downs and sharp turnings. But the view from the Sunki Ghati was enormously beautiful. Here comes to the end of our journey to Koraput which left an amazing memory to be celebrated in years to come.
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