MY NEVER ENDING EXPERIENCE IN VIZAG
ANDHRA PRADESH TOUR
Last couple of years, I have been extremely busy. Every time my friends asked me out, but i have always had some work or the other and I was in desperate need of break. So we planned back to back tours with in a gap of one and half month.
After talk with my friends Naren, Vishnu, Raghu Anna and Afzal Bhai after Maharashtra visit this time we decided to travel around the Andhra Pradesh which have full of beaches and beautiful greenery places for one week.
We started our journey on 28th September, Wednesday at early morning 5:30 am in our car (It was a road trip !). Our first drive is 400 kms and took us around 7-8 hours to reach our first destination. The drive was somehow the craziest and full of thrill. After taking so many breaks finally at 2:00 pm we reached Chirala. It seemed like a ghost town. where ever you see there is silence.
After reached Chirala we are all very hungry. So we first stopped at a Dhaba which is adjacent to Beach and had a lunch. The food is very tasty.
Chirala has two beaches - Vodarevu beach and Rampuram beach. we first moved to Rampuram beach. It is just 5 kms from Chirala. "All our tiredness disappeared the moment we saw the see after long time".
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| Rampuram Beach |
The beach was clean, undisturbed and pleasant. It was less crowded with no fishy smell. Morning sunrise and evening sunset are the two best times in the day to enjoy here. But while we are here the weather is cool with fresh air. fishermen's are active all day along in their boats and travels. we sat on the sand for few time and enjoyed in the sea water.
We next moved to another beach-Vodarevu Beach. We travelled 10kms along the road which is just beside of the sea. The road is very calm and view is very beautiful. We parked our car and entered into beach. Whenever we entered, the whether turned into cloudy.
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| Vodarevu beach |
Vodarevu beach was crowded with travelers and fishermen. where can we see there is full of boats and sellers. I saw that fishermen returning with their catches and auctioning fishes, crabs and prawns with reasonable cheap rates.
We all were so relaxed and at inner peace with ourselves that we didn't realize the time slip away. It was around 4:30 pm when we left this place and moved to todays last beach.
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| I am with Rahu Anna and Vishnu |
After 20 Kms of journey we reached Suryalanka beach. Suryalanka is a beach name and Bapatla is adjacent town. This beach entry fee is Rs.50/-. It was crowded and dirty as well. Whenever we entered beach premises there is small raining. we just spent an hour there clicking pictures. Nobody even dared to touch the muddy beach water here. It was dark and we are at the beach listening to the sound of the waves so slowly we came back to the parking area.
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| Suryalanka Beach |
Next we got ready off to Machilipatnam which was 105 km away. The foggy and narrow roads made it almost impossible to drive. After 3 hours journey finally we reached the Machilipatnam. we check in in a hotel room and stayed overnight there.
Sometimes without search god gives us some surprises although while researching kakinada we hit upon a new surprise. This was nothing new - Yanam its a different place compared to all andhra places. Its a place of Pondicherry. Actually Pondicherry comprises of four districts spread over states of Tamilnadu, Kerala and AP.
Four Districts are Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam. This is just 32 km away from Kakinada. We are not visited this place yet, so we are certainly excited to grab this chance to get a slice of Pondicherry in Yanam.
Next, we drove to Yanam beach way, they call it the beach way but you cannot find a beach anywhere nearby. All you can see is the mighty Godavari filling up the entire landscape.
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| We are at Yanam |
This place is perfect for an early morning and evening walks. I observed the winds were very strong and as we got down to click some pictures, it was almost pushing us off walk way in Yanam because the walkway is dotted with statues. There is a huge Shiva Linga with elephants.. All statues are amazing to see..
After that we moved to Kakinada and visit the Kakinada Beach and Port area for more than two hours. At evening we started our journey to Vizag through Pitapuram, Tuni and Narsipatnam. My friends are stopped our car at Annavaram and visited Annavaram Temple. Finally at 8.00 pm we reached vizag and check in in a hotel room near railway station.
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| RK Beach |
Vizag is also called as Vishakapatnam, is the Capital of Andhra Pradesh and It serves as the headquarters of the Indian Naval Command. Vizag - The Bissful Heaven of the south India, is known for its quiet scenic natural beauty and beautiful seashores, the places to visit in Vizag best underline the city's cultural heritage with its immense number of attractions, Vizag ensures us a foremost experience.
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| Vizag City from Kailasagiri |
Vizag has clean beaches, naval museums, a hilltop accessible by cable car and is at driving distance to Araku Valley. Over the last ten years, it has also started to be recognized as an important tourist destination. I am mentioning some of these top places which was visited in Vizag.
1. Ramakrishna Beach (R.K Beach) 2. Rishikonda Beach
3. Submarine Museum 4. Aircraft Museum
5. Kailasagiri Hill Park 6. Thotlakonda Ruins
7. Indira Gandhi Zoological Park 8. Yarada Beach
9. Matsya Darshini Aquarium 10. Dolphins Nose Light house
1. Ramakrishna Beach (R K Beach) :
We woke up around 6:00 am in the morning freshened up quickly and went to the RK Beach. R K Beach is the most popular among the locals. Being inside the main town, this sea beach seems always crowded. Its clean and less frequented. A smooth road skirted the entire length of the beach and beyond. A footpath along the entire road provides us the right opportunity to take a ling walk.
The view of the sunset is mesmerizing from RK Beach, and locals gather here after their daily work. The roadsides stalls along the beach road and the fun rides in the beach makes it the most happening place in the evening.
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| RK Beach |
2. Kailasgiri Hill Park :
After had tiffin we went to Kailasgiri Hill Park. we parked our car and entered with entry fee Rs. 5/- for each and Rs.50/- for parking. and we taken tickets for Rope way (Cable Car) Rs. 150/- for each one. After reaching the the top of the hill we can see the view of entire Vishakhapatnam city and the Arabian Sea along with ships. This view from the hilltop is just mesmerized me lot. I recommend to taking the ropeway as it offers you a heavenly beautiful site for your trip.
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| Kailasgiri statues |
A trip to Vizag will be incomplete without a visit to Kailasgiri. A toy train ride gives the opportunity to quickly travel across the park while enjoying a 360 degree view of the city and the sea from above. we traveled in a toy train for twenty minutes of journey. Toy train tickets are Rs. 100/- for each one adult.
This parks major attraction is the 40 ft tall Shiva-Parvathi statue, for which this place is called Kailasgiri. Inside the park, there are several entertainment options and attractions for all like horse riding, Floral colck, Titanic View point , Jungle trails, Shanthi Ashram and Shanku Chakra Nama.
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| Horse riding |
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| Entrance of the Kailasgiri |
You can also have food from one of the many eateries in the park while enjoying the breathtaking view from above. Entry time is 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
3. Submarine Museum :
We had lunch at a quaint open air eatery beside the road and head to the naval museums. We first visited the INS Kurusura Submarine museum at RK Beach. It is the first submarine turned into a museum in Asia. INS Kurusura served Indian Navy for 30 years since 1970 and converted into a museum in 2001.
Due to space restriction inside the submarine only 25-30 visitors are allowed at a time so people will have a bit of wait time to explore this. We can enjoy after seen the various parts of submarine - the radar room, sonar room, control room, and the weapons used during the war are on display in this museum. This also showcases the life inside a submarine and the hardships faced by the submariners in the sea. The Entry fee is Rs.50/- and Entry time is 2:00 PM to 8:30 PM
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| INS Kurusura Submarine |
4. Aircraft Museum :
Exactly opposite to Submarine museum there is TU 142 Aircraft Museum. The TU 142 Aircraft served 29 years for the Indian Navy. It was converted into a museum in 2017 at RK Beach. In this museum they have audio guides to help us understand the various aspects of flying this giant aircraft. You can enter the aircraft and get the look and feel of it.
This museum gives us a rare opportunity to enter inside a navy aircraft. Before entering into the aircraft, you can see various types of equipment and parts of aircraft places in an exhibition hall like sonobuoys, propeller, engine, survival kit, anti submarine missile, date recorder etc. I must say it was very impressed how this museum has been set up. The Entry Fee is Rs. 50/- for each person.
5. Rushikonda Beach :
In the evening we went to visit another famous beach named Rushikonda Beach. It is a crescent shaped shoreline with a golden sand. It is situated just 12 km away from Vizag town. It is surrounded by natural rocks and green plants. It was crowded and quite cleans compared to RK beach. While we enter beach area the weather was pleasant, we feel fresh breeze, spent all evening time with relaxing on the rocks and enjoyed in the sea water.
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| Rushikonda Beach |
Rushikonda beach is known for its water sports activities like kayaking, speed boating and scuba diving. we can enjoy with street side sea food also. we had some corn there which was good and lip smacking. we also walked around the beach and enjoyed the view of sunset under the cloudy sky.
After enjoyed a lot in this beautiful beach we freshened up near by beach and went to city center for shopping. we purchased so many items and headed back to our hotel room and stayed overnight there.
" From Gadwal to Vizag tour (Part-1) is full of beach sunsets and sunrises. Like our every other trip this trip also totally spontaneous and brought a thousands of memories to cherish forever."
