Vizag, Araku, Jagdalpur...

It was middle of the November 2004 and all of us were waiting eagerly for the confirmation of our railway tickets. Initially the plan was to go to Vizag and Hyderabad but few alterations were made and H'bad was replaced by Chattisgarh and Araku Valley. Just 4 days before the journey our tickets were confirmed and on a Sunday morning we started our journey from Howrah railway station.

The train journey was quite tedious until the late afternoon when we crossed the famous Chilka Lake. The railway track goes just beside the lake and it takes more or less 15-18 minutes for the train to cross the entire lake. Just gives an idea how big the lake is. Apart from a few hilarious incidents/comments by Rupam, the journey was quite monotonous. We reached Vishkhapattanam at around 10:30 in the night and shifted to a hotel near the station. We had dinner with Chowmin from a Punjabi Dhaba! Just try to envisage the situation! We all were really very tired and without spending much time crashed on our bed.

The next day was the reserve day and we planned to go to Bhimunipattanam alias Bhimili. 2 city autos (3 wheelers) took us there. It’s a small village beside the Bay of Bengal and to Rupam’s delight we found that this is the place where from fish is transported to various parts of our country. There is a Dutch cemetery out there. Some 200 years back this was a Dutch protectorate and every here and there of the village one can found remnants of Dutch sculpture. There is a small lighthouse out here as well. But for some security reason tourists are not allowed to go into the lighthouse. It’s a cool place for a half day outing. We came back to Vizag and had lunch at Ramakrishna beach which is at the heart of the city. There are many places of tourist interests around this place like, marine museum, sub marine, etc. But we found it more interesting to seat on a boulder and enjoy the vigor of the sea. In the evening we booked a cab for next few days. This will take us to Araku and Jagdalpur. We spent the evening around the RK beach and came back to hotel after having dinner at the Bengali hotel near RK beach.

Next day very early in the morning we set off for Araku. It took an hour or so for us to leave the hustle and bustle of the city and the road led us to Araku. It’s a great valley in the deccan plateau. A passenger train from Vizag also can take you to Araku and if you choose that mode of transport then you can get a closer glimpse of the local tribes and their lifestyle. Anyways we were deprived from it as there were some technical problems with the railway service at that time. We reached Araku in the noon. We had no plan to stay there so we straight went on to visit Vorah Caves which certainly is a miracle of the nature. It’s a cave which has gone down the basement and inside the cave there are plenty of rocky sculptures that are made of stalactite and stalagmite soils (remember those early days of school and the geography syllabus). They say that, ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder’, so I won’t be wasting my vocabulary (which certainly has its limitations) and your time. It’s indeed unique and unbelievable. The rocks have various shapes like monkey, rabbit, bull, etc. Inside the cave it will be prudent to carry a torch or hire a guide (no shortage of knowledge whatsoever) who will carry a torch and will describe you each corner of the cave or if you think that you are smart enough then you can simply follow a guide who is hired by someone else (readers, please don’t ask about the ethics, it’s unethical for sure). Here comes a piece of advice mainly for the Bengali travelers who are particularly not quite used to with the local food and quite reluctant to have them in lunch or dinner…don’t forget to carry your packed lunch from Vizag because the restaurants outside the cave can only give you local dish which certainly is very good but might not be so tasty specially for Calactions (me too a part of that group).

Anyways, we carried on our journey and visited the Tribal Museum which offers huge informations about the local tribes, their lifestyle, culture, food habits, etc. We left Araku in the afternoon and still a good amount of distance was yet to be covered on that day. We reached Jaypur (Orissa) at around 6:30 in the evening. Had some snacks from one of the roadside stalls. The tedious journey began again. But this time the story was just a bit different. Soon we were amidst a tick forest which is famous for its scenic beauty and equally infamous for its dacoits. Somehow, we managed to dodge them or they didn’t bother to pay any attention to us. Soon we were at the border of Orissa and Chattisgarh. One needs to collect inter state permit to enter Chattisgarh. We didn’t have to do much apart from some signatures and the permit was ready and we entered the land of tribals’. Just a few kilometers and a signboard took me to a bit of surprise when I saw “Ghat Begins” written over it. Our cab driver told that it’s the Eastern Ghat Mountain Range and soon we were at quite a height. It was densely clouded out there and driving was becoming more and more difficult as visibility was dropping every now and then. Somehow without any more trouble we managed to arrive at Jagdalpur and shifted to a hotel. It was 11 o’clock in the night. Next day our tour was to Kangeghati National Park, Kutumbsar Cave, Tirathgarh Falls and Chitrakote Falls. We started with Tirathgarh and this was inside the Kangergati National Park. One has to take permissions after paying necessary fees for self, vehicle and cameras while entering the park. Tirathgarh is a famous picnic spot for the locals. The unique aspect of this falls is its position. Its right in the middle of the forest and the serenity is something which you will relish out here. It was a great outing and then we moved to Kutumbsar Cave but unfortunately it was closed at that time so we had our lunch and went to Chitrakote. This is also known as The Niagara of India. The river Iravati comes down and suddenly falls 200 meters down and it’s quite wide. It is at its very best during the monsoons. The drizzles create rainbow which is a breathtaking view. The stairs out there take you to the river and you can enjoy a boat ride as well. There is a tourist rest house out here as well. One night out there can be memorable for the entire life.

We came back to Vizag next day and visited few other places like the Dolphin’s Nose, Hrishikonda Beach, etc. Our train to Howrah was on the next day in the evening.