Araku Valley, a hill station nestled around 120 Kms from Vishakhapatnam offers a great deal of fascinating views, gushing waterfalls, coffee plantations, and a sneak peek into the tribal culture.
We planned to visit Vizag on the first day of our 3 days trip. The trip started with Garibrath train to Vizag from Hyderabad. We booked our stay in advance as well as a Innova to roam for the 3 days.
Day1 :
We decided to visit Yarada beach on the first day.This is one of the most beautiful beaches and is in the Yarada Village of Andhra Pradesh. The beach is never really crowded mainly beacause it is quite a distance from the nearest city of Vizag. As you drive till the beach you will be able to enjoy the beauty of nature in the form of lush green sights and the beauty of the Bay of Bengal. As you reach the beach you will be welcomed with very clean crystal waters and golden sands.
By the lunch time we got back into the city and we stopped by D Cabana Cafe for lunch by a friend's suggestion. It was a lovely cafe with Sea view.
And then we went to Rushikonda Beach for the sunset view.
One must really adore the Vizag Beach road. Beach Road is a major highway road in Visakhapatnam. It is home for Tourist destinations such as RK Beach and Kailasagiri. The Beach Road has cultural importance with the presence of buildings and structures like Rajiv Smruthi Bhavan (city's cultural hub), AU Convention Center , GITAM University and many more.
Day 2: Lammasinghi
We set off to lammasinghi early 3'o clock in the morning to see the sunrise. It was a ghat road. Lammasingi, often referred to as the ‘Kashmir of Andhra Pradesh’, is a beautiful village on a hilly area of Visakhapatnam district, nearly 110 km from Vizag city. The winter season here has been attracting tourists for several years.
The nearest town is Narsipatnam which is 20 km from this area and it has hotels and resorts. So people usually stay there and come early morning, and go back in the night. If they insist on staying, some villagers provide rooms for rent in their house for one night .
When we stepped out of the car, boy!! it was cold! Not as bone-chillingly cold as we had expected it to be but in a bracingly pleasant way (must have been about 5⁰C). Both sides of the road were flanked by tall trees and thick shrubs and flowering plants.
At almost 7 AM the fog has cleared and we were able to see the surroundings clearly.
Araku
We reached araku by the lunch time.We decided to have our lunch and then visit the local tourist attractions.
Tribal Museum provides a peek into the life of tribal people. It shows about their accommodation, occupation, art and culture through well-carved effigies.The coffee museum is located very close to Tribal museum. This complex has a coffee souvenir store, craft store, snacks bar, trampoline, cricket nets along with the coffee's discovery and processing history hall. Dhimsa dance form, popular among the tribals, can be experienced live here.
It is a great place to hangout and taste sumptuous coffee products. Coffee raspberry chocolates are a must try here along with hot/cold coffee. The craft store is enormous and hosts a huge variety of art and craft items for sale.
Katiki Waterfalls The place where this waterfalls was located is called Katiki and hence the name Katiki waterfalls to it. So to reach the Katiki waterfalls we have to climb down the very steepy hill. The falls are nearly 20-30 minutes trek from stating point and the path is narrow and slippery. There is no public transport available to this place. Visitors are advised not to venture to the waterfall in their own car as the road is bumpy and not suitable for regular cars other than jeeps.
There are no lodgings near the waterfall but there are small huts that sell marinated chicken in bamboo trunks. Jungle honey is also available near the waterfall.
Chaparai Waterfalls is a popular tourist attraction, with its endless streams that cut across big rock formations of Araku Valley. The area around the waterfalls has become a popular site for picnicking, owing to the presence of the beautiful stream flowing through wide rock formations. Smooth slanting rocks interrupt the stream, making a huge natural water slide. One can experience the beauty of water gushing through natural rocks.
By the evening we returned to the Vizag, had our meal at 6'o clock!! And we returned to the station to catch our train back to Hyderabad carrying luggage and lots of memories????.
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