Vizag: Memory of a lifetime

The next morning, we boarded our bus for our first stop, Simhachalam temple. The temple is located on Simhachalam hill, dedicated to lord Vishnu who is worshipped there as Varaha Narsimha. For security purpose mobile phones, camera and leather belts are not allowed inside the temple. There was a long queue inside and it took us about an hour to reach the hall where Lord's idol was placed. The idol is covered with sandalwood paste throughout the year and looked beautiful. The visitors are not allowed to go near Narsimha's idol.

Our next destination was Kailasgiri park located on a hilltop with a breathtaking, picturesque view of the whole city and the sea shore. As the name suggests, the park has big statues of Lord Shiva and goddess Parwati. For the tourists to enjoy the scenic beauty of Vizag, there are rope way facilities and a toy train that takes you around the park. One can enjoy the sea view along with the beautiful park. People can also walk around, relax and eat at the small eating joints while appreciating the scenic beauty.

Finally came the highlight of the day, Rushikonda Beach. The beach was crowded with people playing with the waves, walking on the sand, and engaging themselves in adventure activities like, paramotoring which costs about 2500/- for 7 minutes of air time. The beach also has changing room facilities since one can't keep themselves from bathing in the sea. After playing in the sea water and drenching ourselves completely we drooled over some delicious maggie at the beach. Many local souvenir shops and eateries were lined up at the beach, typically maggie points. We returned to out hotel and a perfect day came to an end.

We set off to Araku Valley, the next morning. After a 3 hours long, nauseous and bumpy bus ride we reached Padmapuram Gardens in the afternoon. For those who love being around nature and a quiet place the garden would be worth travelling 3 hours for. For us, it was just a garden with a variety of trees, plants and flowers blossoming on them. The art of cutting the plants finely into different shapes could be appreciated. Eating out options for vegetarians were almost nil but non-vegetarians had options. We tried the famous Bamboo Chicken. The chicken is diced into pieces and cooked in a bamboo stem and tastes delicious.

Borra Caves was next on our list. We reached there in evening before 5 pm since the entry closes at 5. One must reach well before the entry closes otherwise it is worthless. The caves were definitely worth visiting. The more we walked deep into the cave, the more beautiful it looked. Stones are finely cut into attractive shapes and colourful lights ornament the caves which makes it more appealing. There is a little temple inside the caves located at an end in a narrow space. Those with breathing problems must not stay inside for long since it gets suffocating as you go deep inside. After a long tiring journey back to the hotel we retired to our rooms.

To watch sunrise at the Kashmir of south India we drove to Lammasingi which is about 100 Kms from Vizag, at 2 in the morning. Our sleepy eyes made the travel easy and after 3 hours we found ourselves surrounded by fog. The hill station is at such height that its weather was completely opposite to that of Vizag. We were chilled. Our bus driver dropped us at the parking from where we had to trek up the hill to catch the sunrise. After warming ourselves up in a 3Km trek we caught the most stunning view of the hills and the Sun slowly resting on the top of a mountain. By the time we came downhill the fog had disappeared and temperature rose.

To beat the heat we went to Kaitiki waterfalls. The waterfall was located in a large area with steps leading us from the top to its bottom. We soaked our legs in cold water while splashing it on each other. This was a perfect ending to the day.

Our last day was planned for Kursura Submarine museum visit which is present at the popular RK beach. Afternoon is the best time to visit the museum because a limited number of people can enter the submarine and there is a long queue. Also, one gets to relish the evening at RK beach. Kursura submarine was used in Indo-Pakistan War in 1971 and later in other naval exercises. This is one of the few submarines that have retained originality. Visitors get the idea of how naval officers spend their days and nights in a submarine with limited space.

After taking a tour of the museum we rushed to the beach. The beach was kept clean and well maintained. Strong winds blew across our face and the gushing water was gratifying. Because of high waves we were not allowed to bathe in the sea so we enjoyed by getting hundreds of pictures clicked at the sea shore. We departed for Delhi the next day with countless memories in our phones and Hearts.