Sun, Sand and a Holiday.... :-)

Okie this is been long in the pending stage… a travelogue on our trip to Vizag…!!! :-)

Vizag is around 700-750 kilometers from Hyderabad… a neat straight road that goes through Vijayawada, Rajamundry and then finally Vizag…

An impulsive decision to go on a road-trip, a unanimous choice to drive down to Vizag for the weekend, and 2 days of guaranteed fun… Sun… Sand… and a holiday… Rhythm of the soul!!! :-)

There were 10 of us for the trip… Me, Glen, Meenal, Kalyan, Ravi, Amol, Lokesh, Bheemesh, Nagaraj, Mahender…. 2 cars… A Scorpio and a Wagon R…

We started from Hyd at around 6:00-6:30 on a Friday evening and drove down all the way without stopping for gaps until 9:00. We stopped for dinner at a road-side dhaba, hogged, swapped stories, had hot cups of chai to keep us awake during the journey and moved… stopped again at around 1:30 – 2:00 at a toll gate and swapped passengers… :-) we stopped for breakfast at a place called Annavaram where we had a nice good satiation of our hunger-pangs… we reached Vizag at around 7:00 in the morning… went straight to hotel, settled in and then had a huge breakfast (complimentary u see ;)) … then to get some of our strength back we dozed for a while… got up at arnd 12:30 sorts and went down for lunch.. After lunch we left immediately for Rushikonda Beach… now this is the best part of the Vizag trip…the beach was awesome, the water was perfect and clear, and we had a lot of fun.. Dunking each other in water… splashing water all around… etc etc..!! Now I don’t know swimming and so didn’t venture too much into the water.. But my dear brothers – Kalyan and Ravi – they did not spare me… they dragged me in so much and so deep that I was dunked and water over my head… I thot I was a gone-case…!! Lol… but anyways…

Rushikonda stretch is just too awesome and breath-taking… the beach is a perfect haven for rest, relaxation and more….

After the beach, we went up to the Kailasagiri hills in the ropeway… that gave us a good view of the surrounding area as well as the beach..!! We went up the hill, roamed for a bit, hogged on the cotton candies.. And well had a gr8 time..!! We also went in the toy train.. :-) Once we came back down, we went back to the beach and again hogged on paani-puri, groundnuts and all those stuff that you normally get at the beach… :-) Glen and Kalyan got into an argument about the “kadalamma kalli on the sand” thingy… readers from kerala would identify with this :-) for the others,…

The legend goes that if you write “kadalamma kalli (the sea goddess is a liar)” on the shore on the beach, the sea will make sure that it is washed off… irrespective of how much further to the shore the water has to come…

So anyways they tried that and well after a few unsuccessful attempts the water did manage to come up there and wash it off… lol..!!

Once we were back in the hotel, we washed off the sand from ourselves and had a good dinner and then slept off… Morning we were woken up at 4:45-5:00 to leave for Araku valley & Borra caves which is about 70 kms from Vizag… had a hot cuppa tea, and cleared out the room and left for Araku..

The drive was damn peaceful, full of lush greenery all around, and lots of those yellow flowers (not sunflowers!) and a nice winding road… we stopped for breakfast at a road-side hut… the food was served hot – nice crisp dosas with spicy chutney, omlettes, and idlis with Chai… it was so YUMMY and MOUTH-WATERING… better than any dosa that I have tasted so far (sorry amma! :P)… we left soon for our destination…

Reached Araku at around 10:30-11:00. Araku has this little rivulet of a waterfall from higher up… not exactly a rivulet but more so a stream with a strong current… it was very wet and slippery and Kalyan and Meenal had a nasty fall.. but it was not too bad, thank god the rocks were not jagged… then yours truly almost fell into water, but thankfully managed to regain my balance and hurt my big toe instead … all said and done it was a great time..!! :-) managed to capture a lot of good snaps…

Next trip was to Borra caves… legendary for the fact that, it is believed that Lord Hanuman, on his way to Lanka passed through these caves… Indeed, there is a huge gash on the rocks at one particular spot which looks like a mace has been dragged through it and a HUGE footprint on the ground there, believed to be Hanuman’s. The caves were not too exciting except for this part of it and we came out of the caves in a hour’s time. We left for Vizag ata round 4:00. Reached Vizag at 6:00, went up to Kailasagiri Hills again for a last visit to Lord Shiva and Parvathy whose colossal statues were enshrined there.

We left Vizag, back to hyd at arnd 7:30 in the evening… I slept the entire way back until we stopped for dinner somewhere near Rajamundhry. Had good dosas and a nice south Indian kaapi… drove back all the way …. All of us were dead worn-out and exhausted. The next stop we made was at 5:30-6:00 in the morning when we stopped for tea and biscuits somewhere near hyd. We reached hyd back at 8:00-9:00 in the morning all drained but happy…

Monday morning – office beckons – who cares?? :P .. Thankfully my boss was also with us so we said we are bunking office for the day… went back home… long hot bath, a cup of tea and straight 8 hours of sleep on our cozy bed…

Vizag was a great trip not for just the fun part of it… when we went we all knew each other to the extent colleagues know other contemporaries. The trip helped us bond together and form some friendships that are to last a lifetime…

(Yeah, yeah, too much senti at the end I know… but can’t help… I had to write that!!)