Road trip in your mind?? Looking for a trip to the mountains and the valleys to enchant yourself with tranquility? Bingo! Here's my alluring travel note to Araku Valley that I had in my winter break. So, here's all you need to know about Araku and attractions nearby.
Tucked in the foothills of Eastern Ghats, lies a hill station surrounded by thick forests and valley regions, Araku. You can have this small roadtrip from Vishakapatnam - Tyda - Araku and the way back covering all these places i have covered in my itinerary.
We started our journey from Vishakapatnam with our backpacks and rented vehicles and headed straight to Araku taking enough breaks and enjoying the ride along the valleys,forests and views through curved roads and a few hairpin bends covering Anantagiri hills, Coffee Plantation sites and Galikonda viewpoint.
Anantagiri mountain range is a breathtakingly beautiful stretch where you can pause for a while and have amazing clicks all across the route( Tyda). Mentioning of Coffee plantation sites, people are allowed to have a small tour across the site and it's a sin if you don't try coffee there! Proceeding ahead it's Galikonda viewpoint, it's the second highest point in the entire Eastern Ghats.
Anantagiri mountain range is a breathtakingly beautiful stretch where you can pause for a while and have amazing clicks all across the route( Tyda). Mentioning of Coffee plantation sites, people are allowed to have a small tour across the site and it's a sin if you don't try coffee there! Proceeding ahead it's Galikonda viewpoint, it's the second highest point in the entire Eastern Ghats.
After this long 110 km trip, we found ourselves a place where we could stay later. It's a camping site situated in the outskirts of Araku. We kept our backpacks and had lunch across the town and headed straight to Chaparai Water Cascade. Yes, a water cascade. It's a natural setting known for a cascading waterway with rocky pools for swimming & sliding situated about 20 kms from the main town. Then while in the way back to Araku town there is Toshnikonda view point were you can pause for while and breathe the serene view. Just near the main town there is Padmapuram Gardens, a whimsical attraction with colorful statues, flowering plants & kids’ activities like a pool & train. Then we headed to the Tribal museum located at the center of the town. This museum is will acquaint you with the taste, tradition and essence of the local tribe belonging to that very native place.
It was late by then and we had some local food and headed back to our place. We hugged the night with bonfires and soothing tracks in the background and eventually it was an end to our first day.
We embraced the morning with coffees and yes, there's this saying that Fog always lifts!! Indeed Yes. We had breakfast in the town and we left toward Tyda.
We headed straight to Anantagiri Waterfalls through the valley taking breaks and having coffee everywhere available. There's a small adventure park named Mardguda Adventure park that has activities like Zip lining and High Cycling. You can pause there for a while. We then headed to Borra Caves. Here you can have a tour of limestone caves formed up to 150 million years ago by water and filled with stalagmites and the cave has been illuminated with colorful lights. There's a small market place right outside this place and you can try local food nearby. Don't miss Bamboo Chicken! Its the best dish that place has got.
It was time for a trek and we headed to Katiki Waterfalls. It was a delightful trek indeed.The route to this place was a bit tricky! Careful Driving! We kept our vehicles at the bottom and started walking. On the way there was a Railway Track passing midway through the trek and the waterfall was at top.
We then headed to Haritha Jungle Bells, our night stay all through the valleys and it was an end to our second day.
Day 3 was all about rest! After continuous travel and trekking what can we end up with? Infact the last night was all about gossips and stories. So we had a late check-out and we left to Vishakapatnam.
That's all about our trip.
So some important recommendations- Best time to travel is from September - February. When in Araku, its better to prefer for Camping ground and there are a lot available over there. When staying in Tyda, preferable stay is in Jungle bells Haritha resort but you need to book this online prior to your trip. There's also train route to Araku and its famous for travel as it will be going through a lot of caves and yes, demand is high for that!
