Sunrise at Vizag's R.K.Beach ...... Super start to super days ....
Best Beach in Vizag .... Rushi konda beach .... Serene and gorgeous...

View of Vizag from KailasGiri .....
On the way to picturesque Araku ....
Up to Araku ....
The katki Waterfalls....
The first sunset .... The sun was hidden behind the clouds so we watched the fishermen fish ....

Waiting for Vizag ... bored tired, hungry, shitty too ....
Gorgeous Godavari....
On the way to Vizag ..... NH-6
On the way to Vizag ..... NH-6

On the way to Vizag ..... NH-6

Vizag Visit 2

It was unusual for me to be awake watching the sun rise. Being in the afternoon shift at STC had deprived me of this pleasure. I was in the seat next to the driver's and the rest of the gang had succumbed to the movie "Welcome" and gone to sleep. I was supposed to see to it that the driver doesn't get sleepy and my 'wows' as the sun rose, duly ensured that.
As the sun rose in the pink-violet sky, the barren fields, bordered by the tall standing coconut palms formed the landscape and the mist in the sky made it seem as if a cloud had descended on the earth or maybe .... we were in heaven. And it was a gorgeous sunrise, the first of few more to come. After a lot of chit chatter, fun, sleep and eventual boredom we reached Vizag through the eastern ghats at 4 p.m. First destination was Kailasgiri which had superb views of the city and a nice little ropeway. Snap snap there and we moved on to the beach. Watched the waves from a distance, inched closer. Hardeep was the first one to get his legs wet and soon all of us were trying to save our clothes from getting drenched and Avni from getting drowned. Half an hour of fun and then we trekked our way to the hotel, dirty drenched pants rolled up and shoes in our hands. An eventful dinner with the head waiter suffering the wrath of Naiya Maiya and we went off to sleep for the day.
Early the next day we watched another glorious sunrise from the beach, saw the fishermen get their catch from the ocean went snap snap and after getting some idlis packed left off for the splendid Araku valley - the queen of the Eastern Ghats. The two hour journey to Araku was via Borra Caves, which unfortunately were not accessible to us due to APTDC strike. Nevertheless we went over to Katki waterfalls with sixteen of us in and also above the roof of one jeep. The ones in the jeep indulged in punching the bums of those on top, perched above, hanging on for dear life, we enjoyed a splendid view of the valley amidst all the screaming and shouting and singing that sixteen wild souls could do. Once there we had a gala time bathing in the waterfalls with Moiz getting in his element showing off his 'tond' body. Hardeep learnt that not just driving, running on the hills is also quite a dangerous task. After the climb and back to the waterfalls we were famished and hungry for Araku. After having Biryani we moved to the Botanical Gardens there. Tried getting as many snaps as possible there with my tired camera and then we left for Vizag late in the night. After failing to find a restaurant good enough for our dainty dames we settled for good old idli dosas and the night with some other head waiter blessing our good sense.
Final Day with the snaps .... coming up next .....

Vizag Visit 1

There were no lights anywhere. No electricity and hence no sounds. The only sounds were the sounds of the jungle around us. The trees on both sides of the winding road that went up and down the terrain looked eerily beautiful, silhoutted against the moonlight. The soft rains added to the calm serenity of the night. It was an enchanting evening.
The clog in the wheel though was the clutch kit. It was a two year old Eicher mini bus that we had hired and it had broken down 60 kms from the nearest town of Rajahmundry and the gorgeous Godavari. With Khammam, the next big town still 150 kms farther off in this naxal prone area, we didn't have much time to enjoy the enchanting evening. I and Moiz were drenched in the rain, looking for a mechanic, looking to hire a vehicle back to Hyderabad and back to our then beloved Monday morning.
Somehow we managed to flag a Luxury Bus on the highway and managed to get into the already full bus. The gals somehow managed in the available seats and we guys were left to experience the "Dil Chahta Hai" journey with nothing but a newspaper between our butts and the bus floor. Moiz, Chaitanya and Bhavik were sitting in the cleaner's seats behind the driver with Moiz trying to test the alertness of the driver by repeatedly falling over him. The driver too responded by averting a few close shaves. Dilip experienced the full wrath of Mahakali as he woke up to find a foot pressed upon his chest. After trying to learn Telugu, listening to Telugu music all night Naiya eventually understood "U r my chocolate". Dimple started with praying in our mini bus and ended up cursing all and sundry responsible for our fate. Sated she managed to catch a wink. Parita talked for some time and eventually succumbed to sleep.I being my excitable self wasnt able to sleep and hence occupied myself with trying to lull Madhav and the Moiz to some rest in my lap. Dipika probably spent the night dreaming horrid naxalite dreams because of the fright that Madhav had given her earlier in the evening. Kunal, in a vest, wrapped in a shawl to protect himself from the unusually cold morning looked very much the cute teddy. The mood was sombre, so much so, that even Shilvi was silent.
Eventually after one rather long pit stop we reached on the Hyderabad highway near Uppal cross roads from where we managed to get another dreaded mini bus back to Secundrabad station. Our Vizag adventure finally came to an end as bleary eyed, battered bodied we reached our homes that morning.
What we did in Vizag .... comin up ..........

Zooooo

This weekend the Gujju Gang visited the "Zoo". Most of us hailing from Ahmedabad and roundabouts have a typical notion of a Zoo. The Kankaria Zoo in Ahmedabad being the benchmark. Hence a seriously depleted gang boarded the 7Z bus to the zoo from Paradise bus stand. A visit to the amazing Jawaharlal Nehru nature park - as i should rightly call it changed all that. A superbly well maintained zoo with beautiful animals and surrouds it was a photographs and I went berserk with my S3 IS as I clicked just about everything in sight. Gotta admit though that I did feel the need for a DSLR with its speed and efficiency as I missed out on a few beautiful shots because of the slow speed of my S3 IS. The white tiger was gorgeous and posing for us too, the colourful birds and the flowers in the Butterfly garden were very beautiful too. The boat ride in the masonry dam created at a cost of 1 Lakh rupees was bliss. We missed the train ride but snapped a lot of silhouttes in the train tunnel. The safari ride was where we came face to face with some healthy, well fed tigers who were so used to tourist vehicles that they scarcely gave us a second glance as we ogled them endlessly and by threatening to open the vehicle's door troubled a bunch of foreign tourists who were into the ride with us. All in all it was a hugely fulfilling day for Janit - the photographer, though Janit the lazybum suffered a lot as the zoo was huge.
Am itching to go there again with my cam in tow and click more pics. I was lucky to get the snap I have uploaded here as there was the sun coming on these two pretty birds from the skylight and it illuminated them and their perch. Time was a huge constraint though as inspite of all my efforts I barely managed to click a mere 150 snaps.
So for all you shutterbugs out there, the Jawaharlal Nehru Nature Park is a heaven in waiting.