I had no slightest idea that a long forgotten wish of mine- exploring Godavari villages beauty was about to come true. That too, on my Blissie- Single speed Btwin Riverside 50 in a single day. Pradeep anna planned the entire trip route, ride, halts and the food, and the nature planned much more.....
Trip Plan:- Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh to Yanam, Puducherry and back. Covering all the villages well-known for their beauty- Atreyapuram, Lolla locks, Ryali, Ravulapalem, Yanam, Dhraksharamam, Tapeswaram, Kadiam and many more unnamed. The entire course runs beside Godavari till it finally empties into Bay of Bengal near Mangrove forests, Yanam, Puducherry.
After getting into dry fits, strapping helmets, stuffing 2 bananas each in our mouths, fastening gloves, lacing up our shoes, jumping on our feet, rushing out, and turning on our front lights, we started off.
Soon came our first halt- Sunrise from top of Dhavaleswaram barrage. Originally built in 1850 by Sir Arthur Cotton on the lower stretch of the River Godavari before it jumps into the Bay of Bengal.
We halted, took pictures, climbed on to the top, strolled through the narrow maintenance passageway. Maintenance passageways were seldom allowed to public, but there were none to control our josh. It offered a serene view of River Godavari on both sides with orange sun rising up and it reflecting in waters below.
Pedalling amidst small villages and rivers we reached our next stop - Atreyapuram. If you are an Andhraite or a sweet-lover this place needs no introduction. Atreyapuram sweets are famous round the globe, especially, Pootharekulu. We obviously munched on them. I also got two boxes packed, put them in my backpack and rode the entire day with it hanging on my shoulder, for getting them is a virtue.
Atreyapuram was our Breakfast point as well. Thanks to YouTube we found a perfect satisfying place- Krishnamaraju Hotel. This place deserves a billboard, yet you cannot find a A4 size placard. But still everyone knows it, for it was ancient. Many film directors, entrepreneurs having their family roots from here travel extra 25km while passing Rajahmundry just to eat Dosa and Uttappam in this hotel.
After a satisfying Breakfast we then rode to a place named Lolla locks, where hundreds of movies where filmed.
Then started to Ryali- a small village with temples all around. And this one temple we visited- Shri Jaganmohini Keshava swamy temple was an architectural marvel. It dates back to 11th century. The idolcarved ou of single stone looks like Sri Vishnu(male) from front side and as Mohini(female) from rear side. The flow of Akasha Ganaga at the feet of idol can be seen here. There are many unsung and unexplored by UNESCO architectural beauties lying in many temples.
Then started the most appealing route and memorable phase of our ride- 'Road to Yanam, Puducheery'. It was a 50 km long straight road, with Godavari river on our right and Coconut farms on our left. Dark clouds started gathering on our heads adding additional beauty. We rode fast, chased each other, took pictures, smiled without a reason, filmed videos. All our energy was coming back multiplied. Then an abandoned hut on the bank of Godavari drew our attention and we ran to it.
No sooner did we reach there, it started raining. We parked our cycles in the hut, removed helmets, gloves and ran towards the dancing river. The holy River, green islands, hut and boats the entire scene was barely visible in rain fog. It was such an inexplicable scene.
After dark clouds scattered away, we were back on saddles. My legs and bum started hurting, for the last time I rode a century was 1 year and 3 months back. But I managed not to show any signs of fatigue. We rode and rode for over 30km non-stop in intermittent rain and finally crossed Andhra border.
Yanam, Puducherry- UT.
After a short break near Beach we rode to Mangrove forests, and then into them. If it weren't for YouTube we wouldn't have found such a breath taking place. Consider yourself walking inside a jungle, a proper dense jungle. We actually pedalled into the jungle- very dense Mangrove. For there was a wooden bridge passing through it. It was a 2km long wooden bridge with many curves. It was dark inside and full of wild sounds.
After coming out of it we reached watch tower- Eifel tower they named it. It offers a panoramic view of entire Mangrove and Godavari river and Ocean. We weren't allowed inside- Covid restrictions.
It was already 1700 and we have the other half of the ride to finish. So we gave up breaks. Only 3 checkpoints and no breaks, strictly. By the time we reached Dhraksharamam temple it was closed, Covid timings again. But the environment around itself contained something magical. We offered prayers from outside did some stretching and left.
Then to Tapeswaram directly. It was proper night now, and we rode with our lights turned on. Reached in an hour stopped at a sweet shop, tasted Tapeswaram Kaja and back again on saddles.
The shopkeeper suggessted us a shortcut which turned out to be an excellent road, with no expected potholes.
In the new road we reached our destination much earlier covering all the places we planned.
My eye lids started shutting down by the time we reached home. But they opened to their full extent on the very sight of the meal waiting for us:- Coconut rice, Paneer kurma, Raita, Pulihara, Payasam and Butter milk. We filled it to our necks, chit chatted recalling what all happened and hit the bed.
The next day was Monday and I thought of applying emergency leave. But a phone call from team made me start back with just 3 hours of sleep. I managed the work with help of my friends and with many lies. I reached home in time and finished my left work and jumped and bed and slept for a whole day.
