Vizag and Araku Valley Trip.It was in the talks and picture for quite a long time but it all started on 25th of June, 2006 when a couple of colleagues at office initiated the plan for the trip... We thought about the plan and were excited to make a positive move, when we realised that the offer from our colleagues was a formality and nobody really wished that we could join them....All over again it seemed as if it was still a dream and a mission unaccomplished, when the initiation was taken by my friend Srinath.... We had a very little hope of people turning up for the trip but as the days passed and the deadline was set for the nominations to come in, to our surprise we had a group of 20 members ready for the trip..... Now it seemed like a dream come true..... We had already started dreaming of the trip and FUN places we were to visit in the future.....
The tickets, accomodation and bus for local Vizag tour were booked and it was a collective effort of Ravi (Dippa), Phani and Srinath.... The trip and the FUN was scheduled to start on 13th of July, 2006 a day just after my B'day....
The train was scheduled to leave the Nampally station at 5:15PM and the most exciting part was reaching the staition on time (as the tickets were with me). After being at the office untill 3:30PM and not even packing up the luggage it seemed as if I was going to make all of us miss the train....I started at 4:55PM from my home along with a friend, though it was just a 15 min journey and we could have reached the railway station on time it was not the end of our problems... The auto man had dropped us outside the station rather than dropping till the railway station gate..... We had to run with the luggage in our hand for about 1/2 a kilometer and then jump over the railway tracks to the train and then we got into another coach and moved forward towards our coach as the train was about to start....
A sigh of relief that we had finally taken the train and we were off to our journey into the beautiful Valley of Araku..... After 15min the train reached the Secunderabad railway station at about 5:30PM, were the rest 18 members got in and it was like we were the sole owner of the entire coach and the train....As the time clicked 5:40PM it was time to bid good bye to Hyderabad for the next 3 days and the journey, FUN and excitement had already begun...... It was very quick that the time passed by and we soon reached the Kazipet railway station.... Everyone were in a relaxed mood and were busy taking snaps with each other..... (Busy in Photo Session)
We soon had our dinner and all were off to sleep.... To my surprise the next morning I was told that all were awake and chatting untill 1:00AM in the night and I was the only one sleeping like Kumbkaran..... What to do I cannot resist the sleep....
Anyways lets continue the journey, we reached the Vizag railway station at around 6:00AM the next morning and had taken cabs to reach the hotel and before we could check in we again had a photo session outside the hotel and then all were soon into their rooms getting ready to experience the FUN and joy out there that was waiting for us......We all were ready by 10:00AM and done with our breakfast and outside there was a bus waiting for us to take on the Vizag city tour.... Can you guess what was the first place we visited at Vizag.... You guessed it right we had gone to meet our relatives, hold on not so boring place.... the first place we visited was were our relatives are and that is the Zoo.....
Then we visited the Kailasagiri a beautiful park and place to be and it was at a great height and the view from the top was excellent.... We had lot of FUN there taking snaps and roaming around and the most attractive thing there is a big satue of Lord Shiv and Maa Parvati..... Then we moved on to the Rushikonda beach from there and then for lunch......It was already 3:30PM by the time all had finished their lunch and then we moved to the Rushikinda beach once again and had a good time for around 1/2 an hour and then we were off to the religious trip to the Simhachalam temple.... We reached the temple and by the time we finished the darshanam it was already 6:30PM and we were running short of time..... We then quickly moved into the heart of the city and were near the RK beach were we visited a submarine museum....
It was a submarine which has now been converted into a museum and is on the shore for the public view..... We had a great time at the museum and got alot to learn and to know about how the Naval people have a tough time when they are at work..... Then it was the time to move on for the most exciting and the last FUN place for the day...... It was time to be at the beach...... The RK beacj just a couple of minutes away from the submarine museum was the place everyone wanted to be at, we had reached the beach very late at around 8:00PM and had very less time as we had to leave the bus by 9:00PM......The time was the major factor for us at that hour but nothing could stop us from havinig FUN at the beach and we all had a great time playing at the beach and then it was finally the time to wish the beach a warm Goodnite and move towards the hotel..... We had reached the hotel at around 9:00PM and all were busy getting fresh and were ready for the dinner by 10:30PM..... We had our dinner by 11:30PM amd were soon off to our rooms as we had another journey the next day morning.......
The night passed by and it was the worst night of my life ever as I had a bad time with the mosquitos and the fan, as it was running very slow.... We all got up and were ready by 6:30AM the next morning as we had to take a train to travel to the Araku Valley.... It was the most memorable day as the day started on a note with the camera and ended with camera.... You will soon know what I mean to say by that statement......
As we were ready to leave for the station there was a tragedy I should call or rather a careless ness by Dolly (one of our colleague), the tragedy or careless ness whatever was that she had mispalced here Digital Camera somewhere the lastnight after the dinner and was unable to find it now.... We searched for it and could not find it and we had to start off without the camera as we were getting late......We reached the station and were off to the Araku Valley, as the train started we had been served the breakfast by AP tourism as we had taken their package and then the guide had given an overview of the entire journey and what all the places we were going to visit.... We had a great time travelling to Araku as the train was a passenger train and no one had the option of sleeping but, still we could capture a few people into our cameras sleeping like the relatives of Kumbkaran, thankfully this time I was not in the list..... The train passed by 52 tunnels and we had a great time as everytime the train would stop we would get down to capture a few snaps......
We finally reached the Araku Valley..... Araku valley a small village in Andhra famous for its coffee plantation and what else I do not know.... I am sorry for that but may be you can make out what is it famous for after I take you through the Araku Valley journey..... Ok now we had reached the Araku station and outside the station there were buses waiting for us and we were first taken to the botanical garden were we went around the garden and had a few snaps then we headed towards a tribal museum and then for lunch....After the lunch we had an opportunity to watch a tribal dance were in two of our colleagues Kavita and Dolly had also participated dancing with the tribal people, then we soon headed towards the Borra Caves and it was a place were you cannot miss out to be at..... There at the caves we had seen a few things which were not made by man but were naturally made..... On our way to the Borra Caves we were shown the coffee plantation and were also taken to the highest point which was around 700ft from the sea level.....
At the Borra caves we had an opportunity to visit a temple were the Shivling was created naturally by water and also it was really exciting visiting the temple as it was built very high and the steps to the temple were really steep..... Then we headed towards a hotel where we were served snacks and then the journey towards Vizag..... Almost all were asleep while returning to Vizag as all were tired after a long days excitement.....We reached Vizag at around 9:15PM and left the bus near to a restaurant and as we were heading towards the restaurant to have our dinner I suddenly realised that I had left my Digital Camera in the bus and thanks to Dolly who had reminded me about my camera..... We soon were busy calling the concerned authorities and then headed towards the bus depot were the bus was parked and to our relief we had found the camera in the bus.... Now you would have understood why I earlier stated that this was a day with started on note with the Digital Camera and ended with the same.....
We soon headed towards the restaurant were all were waiting and had our dinner and then reached our hotel..... As soon as we reached our hotel the search for Dolly's Digital Camera had begun and the most exciting part was that her camera was found and that too in a place where I had said to her that you might have misplaced it...... It was a really a memeorable day..... Now who was in the mood to sleep after having a sleep in the bus while travelling from Araku to Vizag..... We all had gathered in groups in 2 to 3 rooms and were busy watching TV and teasing each other......We had to check out from the hotel the next day morning by 10:00AM and no one was ready to sleep early and all were awake till 2:30AM.
Now it was time to get into our beds and we all were soon asleep, this time I did not had a miserable night like the last one..... We all got up and were ready by 10:00AM and had checked out of the hotel but had left our luggage behind as we had some other plans for the day.... After the breakfast we got into 2 cabs that were waiting for us to take us on another exciting journey... We moved on first to the harbour and then to a place near the harbour where a Temple, Mosque and a Church are constructed next to each other..... Then we moved to the most beautiful place the Yerrada beach and had a good time there.... We could not get into the water completely as we did not have any option to referesh ourselves, so we opted to stay away from getting deep into the water, but still we had a great time....Then we moved to the light house and climbed up entirely and enjoyed very much the view of the sea from the top of the light house....
After a long adventure it was now time to head for the lunch and we returned back to the city and had lunch at a restaurant and then we quickly moved to a shopping mall near by and where there for about 20 to 25 min and then returned to the hotel where we had left our luggage..... Quickly we had collected our luggage and headed towards the railway station to start back for Hyderabad..... We reached the station at around 5:00Pm and the scheduled time of our train was 5:25PM...... All were relaxed and exhausted by this time and were longing for a good sleep...... Now time to say good bye to Vizag and all the FUN places we had visited.... Finally, the train took off and we all were rest less and in no mood to even talk to each other.....
It was high time that all were silent when we planned to cut loose a bit and we started playing dumbsharads..... It was great FUN playing the game as my team was given such movie names to enact that we had never heard of also.... We played the game for about 3 hours and then had our dinner and finally everyone this time was fast asleep after a long holiday..... We reached Hyderabad the next morning at around 6:00AM and immedieatly everyone was off to their homes ending the journey on a exciting note......
It was a great experience for me travelling to Vizag and the Araku Valley..... The most memorable and exciting part of the trip was that it was my first trip outside planned with my friends...... Await more such trips in the near future......
Bye for now friends..........
Luv,
Dave
The tickets, accomodation and bus for local Vizag tour were booked and it was a collective effort of Ravi (Dippa), Phani and Srinath.... The trip and the FUN was scheduled to start on 13th of July, 2006 a day just after my B'day....
The train was scheduled to leave the Nampally station at 5:15PM and the most exciting part was reaching the staition on time (as the tickets were with me). After being at the office untill 3:30PM and not even packing up the luggage it seemed as if I was going to make all of us miss the train....I started at 4:55PM from my home along with a friend, though it was just a 15 min journey and we could have reached the railway station on time it was not the end of our problems... The auto man had dropped us outside the station rather than dropping till the railway station gate..... We had to run with the luggage in our hand for about 1/2 a kilometer and then jump over the railway tracks to the train and then we got into another coach and moved forward towards our coach as the train was about to start....
A sigh of relief that we had finally taken the train and we were off to our journey into the beautiful Valley of Araku..... After 15min the train reached the Secunderabad railway station at about 5:30PM, were the rest 18 members got in and it was like we were the sole owner of the entire coach and the train....As the time clicked 5:40PM it was time to bid good bye to Hyderabad for the next 3 days and the journey, FUN and excitement had already begun...... It was very quick that the time passed by and we soon reached the Kazipet railway station.... Everyone were in a relaxed mood and were busy taking snaps with each other..... (Busy in Photo Session)
We soon had our dinner and all were off to sleep.... To my surprise the next morning I was told that all were awake and chatting untill 1:00AM in the night and I was the only one sleeping like Kumbkaran..... What to do I cannot resist the sleep....
Anyways lets continue the journey, we reached the Vizag railway station at around 6:00AM the next morning and had taken cabs to reach the hotel and before we could check in we again had a photo session outside the hotel and then all were soon into their rooms getting ready to experience the FUN and joy out there that was waiting for us......We all were ready by 10:00AM and done with our breakfast and outside there was a bus waiting for us to take on the Vizag city tour.... Can you guess what was the first place we visited at Vizag.... You guessed it right we had gone to meet our relatives, hold on not so boring place.... the first place we visited was were our relatives are and that is the Zoo.....
Then we visited the Kailasagiri a beautiful park and place to be and it was at a great height and the view from the top was excellent.... We had lot of FUN there taking snaps and roaming around and the most attractive thing there is a big satue of Lord Shiv and Maa Parvati..... Then we moved on to the Rushikonda beach from there and then for lunch......It was already 3:30PM by the time all had finished their lunch and then we moved to the Rushikinda beach once again and had a good time for around 1/2 an hour and then we were off to the religious trip to the Simhachalam temple.... We reached the temple and by the time we finished the darshanam it was already 6:30PM and we were running short of time..... We then quickly moved into the heart of the city and were near the RK beach were we visited a submarine museum....
It was a submarine which has now been converted into a museum and is on the shore for the public view..... We had a great time at the museum and got alot to learn and to know about how the Naval people have a tough time when they are at work..... Then it was the time to move on for the most exciting and the last FUN place for the day...... It was time to be at the beach...... The RK beacj just a couple of minutes away from the submarine museum was the place everyone wanted to be at, we had reached the beach very late at around 8:00PM and had very less time as we had to leave the bus by 9:00PM......The time was the major factor for us at that hour but nothing could stop us from havinig FUN at the beach and we all had a great time playing at the beach and then it was finally the time to wish the beach a warm Goodnite and move towards the hotel..... We had reached the hotel at around 9:00PM and all were busy getting fresh and were ready for the dinner by 10:30PM..... We had our dinner by 11:30PM amd were soon off to our rooms as we had another journey the next day morning.......
The night passed by and it was the worst night of my life ever as I had a bad time with the mosquitos and the fan, as it was running very slow.... We all got up and were ready by 6:30AM the next morning as we had to take a train to travel to the Araku Valley.... It was the most memorable day as the day started on a note with the camera and ended with camera.... You will soon know what I mean to say by that statement......
As we were ready to leave for the station there was a tragedy I should call or rather a careless ness by Dolly (one of our colleague), the tragedy or careless ness whatever was that she had mispalced here Digital Camera somewhere the lastnight after the dinner and was unable to find it now.... We searched for it and could not find it and we had to start off without the camera as we were getting late......We reached the station and were off to the Araku Valley, as the train started we had been served the breakfast by AP tourism as we had taken their package and then the guide had given an overview of the entire journey and what all the places we were going to visit.... We had a great time travelling to Araku as the train was a passenger train and no one had the option of sleeping but, still we could capture a few people into our cameras sleeping like the relatives of Kumbkaran, thankfully this time I was not in the list..... The train passed by 52 tunnels and we had a great time as everytime the train would stop we would get down to capture a few snaps......
We finally reached the Araku Valley..... Araku valley a small village in Andhra famous for its coffee plantation and what else I do not know.... I am sorry for that but may be you can make out what is it famous for after I take you through the Araku Valley journey..... Ok now we had reached the Araku station and outside the station there were buses waiting for us and we were first taken to the botanical garden were we went around the garden and had a few snaps then we headed towards a tribal museum and then for lunch....After the lunch we had an opportunity to watch a tribal dance were in two of our colleagues Kavita and Dolly had also participated dancing with the tribal people, then we soon headed towards the Borra Caves and it was a place were you cannot miss out to be at..... There at the caves we had seen a few things which were not made by man but were naturally made..... On our way to the Borra Caves we were shown the coffee plantation and were also taken to the highest point which was around 700ft from the sea level.....
At the Borra caves we had an opportunity to visit a temple were the Shivling was created naturally by water and also it was really exciting visiting the temple as it was built very high and the steps to the temple were really steep..... Then we headed towards a hotel where we were served snacks and then the journey towards Vizag..... Almost all were asleep while returning to Vizag as all were tired after a long days excitement.....We reached Vizag at around 9:15PM and left the bus near to a restaurant and as we were heading towards the restaurant to have our dinner I suddenly realised that I had left my Digital Camera in the bus and thanks to Dolly who had reminded me about my camera..... We soon were busy calling the concerned authorities and then headed towards the bus depot were the bus was parked and to our relief we had found the camera in the bus.... Now you would have understood why I earlier stated that this was a day with started on note with the Digital Camera and ended with the same.....We soon headed towards the restaurant were all were waiting and had our dinner and then reached our hotel..... As soon as we reached our hotel the search for Dolly's Digital Camera had begun and the most exciting part was that her camera was found and that too in a place where I had said to her that you might have misplaced it...... It was a really a memeorable day..... Now who was in the mood to sleep after having a sleep in the bus while travelling from Araku to Vizag..... We all had gathered in groups in 2 to 3 rooms and were busy watching TV and teasing each other......We had to check out from the hotel the next day morning by 10:00AM and no one was ready to sleep early and all were awake till 2:30AM.
Now it was time to get into our beds and we all were soon asleep, this time I did not had a miserable night like the last one..... We all got up and were ready by 10:00AM and had checked out of the hotel but had left our luggage behind as we had some other plans for the day.... After the breakfast we got into 2 cabs that were waiting for us to take us on another exciting journey... We moved on first to the harbour and then to a place near the harbour where a Temple, Mosque and a Church are constructed next to each other..... Then we moved to the most beautiful place the Yerrada beach and had a good time there.... We could not get into the water completely as we did not have any option to referesh ourselves, so we opted to stay away from getting deep into the water, but still we had a great time....Then we moved to the light house and climbed up entirely and enjoyed very much the view of the sea from the top of the light house....
After a long adventure it was now time to head for the lunch and we returned back to the city and had lunch at a restaurant and then we quickly moved to a shopping mall near by and where there for about 20 to 25 min and then returned to the hotel where we had left our luggage..... Quickly we had collected our luggage and headed towards the railway station to start back for Hyderabad..... We reached the station at around 5:00Pm and the scheduled time of our train was 5:25PM...... All were relaxed and exhausted by this time and were longing for a good sleep...... Now time to say good bye to Vizag and all the FUN places we had visited.... Finally, the train took off and we all were rest less and in no mood to even talk to each other.....
It was high time that all were silent when we planned to cut loose a bit and we started playing dumbsharads..... It was great FUN playing the game as my team was given such movie names to enact that we had never heard of also.... We played the game for about 3 hours and then had our dinner and finally everyone this time was fast asleep after a long holiday..... We reached Hyderabad the next morning at around 6:00AM and immedieatly everyone was off to their homes ending the journey on a exciting note......
It was a great experience for me travelling to Vizag and the Araku Valley..... The most memorable and exciting part of the trip was that it was my first trip outside planned with my friends...... Await more such trips in the near future......
Bye for now friends..........
Luv,
Dave
