We visited Visakhapatnam and Araku Valley when Mamli was about 2 and a half years old. Padmaja booked the SAIL Guest House next to the main beach road, about half a kilometer from the Submarine Museum. We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days.
The train from Secunderabad to Vizag left in the evening, arriving in Vizag early the next morning. I had an ugly conversation with the CEO of Applabs, my employer at that time, just after the train left Secunderabad. Sashi Reddy might be a good entrepreneur but he is an idiot when it comes to people. I had already applied for leave and it had been granted by Sashi. He was in the US at the time and had sent me an email earlier in the day to which I had already replied. He called me on my mobile phone in the evening when we were on the train. He was in a foul mood and it seems had forgotten that I was on leave for the next few days. Well, to cut a long story short, he cast a pall on our vacation that evening. It took us some time to recover from that idiot’s bad manners but we did and went on to have a lovely time in Vizag, Araku Valley & the Borra Caves. That is when I decided to leave Applabs, and I haven’t taken a better decision in my life!
On the first day we visited the Simhachalam temple, Rushikonda beach & Kailashagiri park before returning to the SAIL Guest House. That evening we walked on the beach and had a quite dinner in the Guest House which was actually a 3 bedroom apartment and we had it to ourselves.
The next day we were to take the AP Tourism Bus package tour to Araku Valley & the Borra Caves. The tour includes a second class train ticket to the rail head in Araku Valley, a journey of some 4 hours, a bus ride around the valley to visit the various places of interest, lunch at the AP Tourism hotel, and finally a return trip to Vizag by the same bus. The bus stops at Borra Cases on the way back.
I had booked the tour tickets in the AP Tourism office on Tank Bund, next to Lumbini Park. At the time of booking I had not bothered to check the seat assignments on the bus and didn’t realize that they had put the three of us on the last seat of the bus which was otherwise taken up by a school group from West Bengal. Padmaja is prone to motion sickness and the last seat of the bus is hell on wheel, more so on mountain roads. So I had to bring out my Bengali tongue and butter up the School Teachers, a huge lady and a rather thin gentleman, accompanying the group. They were not pleased with my request but were gracious enough to give us a seat towards the front of the bus. Padmaja hated the ride anyway but at least she kept her food down.
Araku Valley is beautiful. And the people there speak Odiya! Yes. They do. It seems a few hundred years ago the local king invited tribal artisans from Odissa to come and live in his kingdom. Those Tribals are still there in the heart of Andhra.
By the time we reached Borra Caves we were very tired. We went down the stairs to the Caves anyway and it was worth it! I don’t have any photos of the Caves because I had left my camera in the bus and I didn’t have the energy to climb back up to get it. So we looked and went back. Borra Caves isn’t very large but the AP Tourism Department has done a good job of lighting it up to showcase the high points. We arrived at Vizag late in the evening and essentially collapsed into bed.
The next day was left for Vizag itself and we spent it in exploring the city. I don’t remember all the places we visited other than the Submarine Museum on the beach next to the SAIL Guest House. It is a small diesel submarine and a must visit for anybody going to Vizag.
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