A Week Long Tour To Vizag


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Hi friends,
On the onset of my short travelogue, I had mentioned that it was a weeklong tour. But actually I left my home at 11-40 PM on 19th December and had returned back on 26th, hence I guess that it barely qualifies me to write that.

Some two weeks ago my daughter informed me that her school (she studies in class-XI) should close for winter vacations on 19th December. I was thinking of going to some place where I have never been before. But I have visited almost all of the popular tourist places in West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Could not think of any new place to visit. Hence I thought of going to Andhra Pradesh, Vizag in particular. My friends who have been to this place supported my idea, telling me that winter is the place to travel there.

A quick search in the net allowed me to book a guest house in Vizag. Booked it for three days from 21st onward. So packed up and hit my garage at 11-30 Hrs of 19th December. My over ten year old Tata Indigo car (Petrol, run over 150000+KM) was faithfully waiting for me for another long trip.
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Left home at 11-40 at the evening. The initial progress was slow, as the Kona expressway leading to NH-6 was chocked with heavy truck traffic. Reached the almost deserted Kolaghat Bridge at around two in the morning.
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The road between Kharagpur and Balasore was bad. It is lying in this condition for over two or three years now, with one side permanently blocked for repair. Potholes and frequent diversions made driving difficult and had to proceed cautiously. I neared Cuttack by eight in the morning.
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The bridge over river Mahanadi was almost empty at that time.
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As usual, I found that the roads of Bhuwaneswar were busy. Not many cars at that time, it was mostly full of unruly bikers.
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After crossing the city searched and found a small hotel for a breakfast. They made good samosas and idlis.
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The road opened up after Bhuwaneswar and I could speed up. Good roads and minimal traffic.
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A view of Chilka Lake from the main highway. Sorry that only a part of the lake is visible.
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Soon I entered Ganjam district of Orissa. I had no prior reservation anywhere but called up the manager of “Hotel Sea Side Breeze” at Gopalpur-on-sea. He informed me that a room was indeed available for a day. Though it was on the terrace, he assured me that it would have excellent view of the sea. I was only charged Rs 800/- for a room. Please allow me to share with you a picture of mine standing there, with the room being barely visible at the left. Please also excuse me for not being properly dressed up for the photo shoot.
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I had previously read in other travel related forums that “Hotel Sea Side Breeze” was very much centrally located at Gopalpur. Located right on the main road, it faces the sea on one side and the taxi/bus stand on the other. A view of the beach, with vendors selling some food items.
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The main road at the night.
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The car/taxi stand of Gopalpur is visible at right hand side of the picture.
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Finished up our dinner and went to bed. It was the end of day number one and two.
Thanks for reading. I shall continue with the next part of my travel story soon. Please feel free to comment, if you have any.
Regards,
Rahul,
Calcutta.
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Rahulji

Nice to see you behind the wheels again

Enjoying your travelogue once again as usual

Waiting for the continuation
 
Thread Starter #5
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Thanks for sharing Rahul da. waiting for next part
Thanks Mr. Biswas. Let me now continue please.

Day three of our trip.

We left early in the morning at 7 O’clock, because we wished to see Bora caves before entering Vizag. The roads continued to be both superb and empty.
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This is somewhere before Srikakulam town where we stopped to have breakfast at a highway dhaba.
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Our route was to pass through Vizianagaram town, to reach Araku Road, which would in turn lead us to Borra Caves. We did not visit Araku valley though. This is the place on NH-5 where I had to turn right for Vizianagaram.
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Two pictures of the Vizianagaram fort, which fell on our way. I was very much interested to visit the fort and even had encircled it fully. But could not locate the main gate. My inability to speak the local dialect worsened my problem. Hence dropped my plan to visit the fort and drove towards Araku valley.
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The road to Araku valley was very beautiful.
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Shortly we reached Borra Caves.
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The main gate of the cave.
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Start of the underground passageway.
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The passage through the cave.
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Unique type rock formation.
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After visiting the caves left for Vizag. The drive back took me little less than three hours. We had a room booked for us in a guest house. This is the view of the guest house, shot later than night. This place was called Seethamdhara. We got an AC room for just Rs 1200/- (tax included). Nice room with big windows facing the main road and having a large bed. The bathroom had all modern fittings. Though hot water was available only in one tap in the bathroom, we had no problem and could manage with it.
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Thanks all for reading. I shall post the remaining portion of my trip report soon. Please feel free to leave any comment or ask any questions.

Regards,
Rahul
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Good reading Rahul. The hotel in Gopalpur was impressive location wise. How were the interior cleanliness and bathrooms.

I had been to Gopalpur when the Oberois were running the Palm Beach hotel. At that time it was completely deserted and now you have so much traffic and people as seen in your picture.
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

The hotel in Gopalpur was impressive location wise. How were the interior cleanliness and bathrooms.
Thanks Chandranath. If you are not looking for some extravagance in your hotel and are satisfied with a decent family type budget hotel, rest assured then that it is a very good hotel. Both the rooms and the foods served there are really nice. Their fish menus are really awesome. I had read many reviews of the hotel from other travel related sites, hence had saved their numbers & had called them up. I possibly was really lucky that a room was available there, though it was for a single day. The only downside is that it usually remains booked well in advance, hence it will be better if you book it well in advance.
Nice travelogue and pictures. Waiting for the remaining parts.
Thank you Sir, I shall conclude it early.
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Day IV of my trip.

I went to visit Simhachalam temple in the morning. My mother always talks about Simhachalam temple. My maternal grandfather was posted once in Vizag for a year, when she was just a kid and Vizag was possibly a sleepy town. That time there was no motorable road to reach the temple which is located atop a hillock and all devotees used to climb a long series of stairs.
But now there is an excellent road leading up to the temple. IIRC, a toll of thirty rupees is charged from each vehicle and parking is free. The road is really beautiful and you may have a good view of the town below.
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This is the main gate of the temple.
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The chariot is housed at an enclosure.
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The front portion of the temple, which also contains the parking lot. The parking lot is huge, I must say.
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The other side of the parking lot. Many devotees can be accommodated in the temple's guest houses, I could see.
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A view of Kailashgiri park, which is located on another small hill. Nice place to visit. The view from top is wonderful.
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Titanic view point.
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Rama Naidu film studio.
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The submarine housed on the beach, which we saw later that day.
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To give an impression of the huge size, this is another picture showing my car standing beside it. Please remember that mine is a more than ten year old early generation Indigo, longer than the modern day Indigo cars (not the sub four meter modern day sedans).
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Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave any comment or question.
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Very good travelogue and nice pictures Rahul.
Special mention about the panoramic view of the sea-beach and curvy road.
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Mr Rahul

Excellent Travelogoue. It always feels good to read your experiences. Your car is really amazing. Is it safe to travel in our highways during the night for small cars. Have a very safe and enjoyable 2015.

Regards
Ashis
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

RahulJi,

Fantastic TL as usual from a veteran traveler like you, liked the crisp narration and pictures. Keep sharing.

Regards,
TG
 
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Re: A Week Long Tour To Vizag.

Day V Of our trip.

Friends,
My wife loved the Kailashgiri park so much that at her request went to the hilltop once more. A picture of my wife and daughter on the hilltop at the viewpoint.
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The view from the top of the city below was really magnificent.
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This road goes straight to a place called Bheemunipatnam, which was once a dutch settlement. It is a joy to drive on this road.
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Next we went to Yarada village, to see the beach. We were happy to find out that it was almost a deserted beach, with no tourist anywhere.
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Unfortunately the lighthouse at the vicinity was closed to the visitors. A small signboard informed us that it was closed for repair. We had to return from the gate. This place was called Dolphin point.
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At the afternoon we had went to the nearby shopping mall possibly called "CMR Central", which was located just a block away. A movie and a fast food dining at KFC ended our day.

Thanks for reading,
Warm regards.
 
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