Having travelled extensively in North India, somehow I missed out on the beauty of South India. So we decided to correct that and booked 7tickets for Mid February. We had booked for Howrah-Yashwantpur Express and on the night of February 15, we set off for the City of Destiny Vizag. The train was really great in terms of timing. We reached Visakhapatnam station on time at 10.35am next morning. We had already booked rooms in SeaView Guest House and on reaching Vizag station, we were quickly taken to our hotel in a Bolero sent by the Hotel. The first thing you will notice on reaching Vizag is the heat. It's pretty hot even though the humidity is less.
We reached the hotel in about 20minutes and quickly got freshened up. Not wasting much time, We quickly went to our 5th floor balcony to take in the view of the beach. What we saw there cannot be put into words. It was amazing. I am not much of the sea person. But even I was impressed. Stretches of white sand, with not many people present, and the seawaves rushing onto the sand one second and rushing back the next.
That evening, we visited the Ramkrishna Beach which was a few minutes from our hotel. The sun was setting at that time leaving behind a saffron haze in the sky. People were miling around spending time with friends and family. The children were playing in the parks. The soft sea breeze was like a balm on our tired souls. We munched on some snacks, strolled on the beach enjoying the atmosphere and came back to our hotel to rest for the night.
Day 2 was all about sightseeing. Our first destination was Kailashgiri which housed the gigantic statues of Shiv-Parvati. The place was situated atop a hill and was really peaceful. There was a toy train which runs around the perimeter of the hill giving a good view of the city of Vizag from it's top. The toytrain fare was 80rs per head. We enjoyed the famous ropeway ride too.
This film studio used to be in use years back. Now it's just a relic of what used to be and is only used for sightseeing.
Rushikonda beach is by far the most popular beach of Vizag. The long stretches of white sand are perfect for a playful day at the beach.
After lunch, we visited the Vishakhapatnam museum Vishakha museum. It housed pieces on Submarines, art and articrafts.
The INS Kursura was the highlight of the day for us. The fact that it had once been in use made it all the more real for us. The torpedos and the different weapons stored in the submarine gave us a much needed reality check.
This place was really amazing and super educational. The sight of so many aircrafts and the educational videos of the different parts of aircrafts was a learning experience for all of us.
Day 3 saw us set off for the next leg of the journey, i.e. Araku Valley. The 3hour journey lasted 4.5hours. But the journey was memorable. Traveling on a train high up on the mountains turned out to be an outstanding experience, not to mention the 56 tunnels we went through. It was definitely exhilarating.
We decided to relax the rest of the day and decided to go for local sightseeing the next day. Our first stop was Chaparai Waterfalls. It's a local picnic spot. There were lots of young people who had come to enjoy the bright sunny day. The waterfall was pretty beautiful too.
This waterfall is not for the ones who are not physically fit. But the waterfall was beautiful nonetheless.
Our next stop was Araku Botanical Garden. There were various species of different trees and flowers.
Sadly the tribal museum didn't come up in the locations, hence this location. The tribal museum was a completely different experience altogether. The lives of the tribal people were depicted through different statues and effigies. Their festivals and crops were also showcased. It's a popular sightseeing spot in Araku.
Araku Coffee Plantation is one of the most visited spots in Araku. It was not a garden per se. But coffee plants grown on the hills on the side of the road. There were shops set up on the side of the road selling the local coffee at nominal prices.
Galikonda is the second highest peak in Eastern Ghats. This view point gives a marvelous view of the Galikonda peak and the valleys surrounding it.
The location of this waterfall is so harsh that it is not the task of a person who not that able physically. One person from my group took a tumble because of the uneven road that lay before the waterfall.
This semi natural cave made of stalagmites and stalactites are one of the deepest caves in India. It's astounding what mother nature is truly capable of. We also tried the famous bamboo chicken near Borra caves.
We returned to Vizag after visiting the Borra Caves. Next day we resumed our next leg of sightseeing in Vizag. Our first stop was Simhachalam Varaha temple. This temple is one of the most worshipped places in Simhachalam. The people in Andhra seem to worship the Varaha Avatar of Brahma a lot. We had to enter the temple barefoot. Paying just 20rs per head, we were able to enter the temple and offer our prayers through a much shorter line. The inner sanctume was pretty crowded. Still we got enough time to offer our prayers properly.
Even though I come from a place where fish is considered a staple in our meals, I had never seen so many fishes in one place. Rows and rows of fishes were laid out to dry under the sun. There were boats filled with fishes left to dry. The whole place was stinking with the fish smell. Still it was an amazing sight to behold.
After lunch, we visited the famous Dolphins Nose lighthouse. The view of the Bay of Bengal from the top of the lighthouse was such that I can't even begin to describe. Standing there in front of the vast sea, I felt strangely insignificant.
This was our last sightseeing spot and I can safely say that out of all the beaches we visited in our tour, Yarada beach was by far most beautiful. Granted that this beach was not fit was swimming as they were lots of boulders, but that only added to the beauty of the place.
That day in the evening we went to Jagadamba Market to do some shopping for our loved ones back home. There were lots of interesting things to buy. That night we also tried their famous Hyderabadi Biriyani which turned out to be a bit spicy for our taste. Next day, we had our train at 4.20 in the afternoon in the same Howrah-Yashwantpur express and with a heavy heart and lots of memories,we left the City of Destiny Vizag and set off for home sweet home.
