10 Feb 2013

Araku valley

by | posted in: Andhra Pradesh, Asia, India | 14

23rd – 25th December 2012

Araku valley is a hill station in Andhra Pradesh located about 120 km from Vishakhapatnam.  Situated in Eastern ghats bordering Orissa, it attracts many people from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

 

Araku valley is connected to Vishakhapatnam by train. The route from Vishakhapatnam goes via Araku valley, reaching the maximum height at Similiguda station and continues further into Orissa, ending at Kirandul in Chattisgarh. This electrified railway line runs for 472 km. One might wonder why railways would have constructed this line in such a remote area. This line intended to enable transportation of ores from the mining fields of Kirandul to Vishakhapatnam port!! And for the general public, they have granted one passenger train running daily.

 

 

The best mode of transport to reach Araku by train as the route passes through scenic route via series of tunnels and bridges. But unfortunately, we could not take the train as railways did not put additional bogies nor enabled “tatkal” tickets for this train. A mistake from my side was assuming that booking starts 90 days before the journey whereas it was 120 days. A three-digit waiting list number was of no value!! We had no option but to take the taxi to reach Araku.

 

Borra caves

We started from Vizag after breakfast. The first place we visited was the Borra caves. It comes 35 km before Araku. We were there on a Sunday of Christmas weekend, and hence it was very crowded. But the cave itself was so huge that it could house 1000 people!! The cave entrance was large, with 100 meters in width and about 75 meters in height.

 

 

While my wife and I liked the place, our daughter hated it immediately. It was dark, and also the crowds irritated her. But she had no choice but to follow us!!

 

 

The total length of the cave is 200 meters, and we need to walk for about 350 meters to reach the dead end of the cave. Neatly constructed steps with lighting arrangements help people to see the interior of the cave better. It was a beautiful experience for us to see such a large cave. The cave is the best place in Araku.

 

 

Near to Borra caves was Katiki waterfalls. The journey to the falls involved some amount of travel on Jeep and walk. It was already 2 PM, and we were hungry. Since we did not find any good restaurants near Borra caves, the plan was to reach Araku and have Lunch. We skipped the falls for the next day.

 

Galikonda view point

The viewpoint is next to the main road before Araku. We could see beautiful views of hills and valleys from here.

 

Tribal museum

It is a museum containing many collections of the tribals living in Araku and nearby areas. In front of the museum is a Coffee house which is a good place to have drinks and snacks.

 

Padmapuram gardens

A nice place for kids.

 

Katika waterfalls

This place is near to Borra caves. We had to travel by Jeep for 7km and then walk for about 1km to reach the waterfalls. The walk was not difficult as my daughter managed it without much assistance from us.

 

 

We had to cross railway line during our trek.

 

 

It is a two-stage waterfall. The height of the falls is about 100 feet. It is a nice place to enjoy.

 

 

Trip to the waterfalls would have been uneventful, but for an altercation that broke out. Since the Jeep people were charging a lot for the trip, we decided to share with another family. They were 6 of them including 2 kids. We were given an hour to spend in the falls, which I feel was a fair amount of time. We came back after one hour, but there was no sign of the other group. The driver waited for some time then he lost patience and went out in search of them.

 

 

Having been prompt on time, it was frustrating to wait in that heat and dust. We were also hungry. After 2 hours, the other group comes in. I was angry, but a simply sorry from them would have cooled me. But typical to a breed of a gene, they were arrogant. He started asking why the driver was no seen and such questions.

 

I had lost my cool by then and started blasting them.
Me: “The driver has gone searching for you. Why you people are so slow? Even old people are faster than you!! Don’t you understand that you are late by an hour and causing hardship to others?”
He: (Clearly insulted on me comparing with old people) “Look at us. We have kids. It will take time”.
Me: (I showed my daughter) “We have even younger one. But we were on time and also spent a good time in water”.
He: (Now giving the actual reason) “It never came to our mind that there was another group waiting for us. Only after seeing you, we realized”.
Me: (This made me even angrier!! Here is a breed of a gene that only thinks about their self) “Only people without common sense can have such thinking” (and did some animation).

 

I must say that my words were not gentle, and it was hurting their ego a lot. I had an upper hand as the mistake was on their side, but I also knew I cannot go too far as they were localities. It was good that we did not have a common mother tongue!! Such words would have caused a physical fight, but when you speak in a language other than your mother tongue, it generally comes out milder.

 

Our war of words was halted when the driver appeared on the scene. The delay for him costs money, and so he started arguing with them. But he was silenced by an onslaught of bad words by the other group. The driver was milder and could not continue the argument further.

Dumriguda Chaparai

It is another waterfall 15km from Araku. Not strictly a waterfall but water cascades down a huge rock. One can slide down the rock and enjoy the water.

 

Hotels and food

APTDC has hotels at Tyda, Ananthagiri and Arakku. Since I did not stay, I cannot comment on the hotel but we had lunch at Ananthagiri which was bad.
Vihar holiday Inn: This was the hotel we stayed. It was decent and clean. The food was OK.
Horticulture department cottages: Cheapest one but I think they have a complex procedure for booking.

 

Other than the restaurants attached to the hotels mentioned above, there are hardly any good eateries. Most of them are road side Dhabas serving oily food. Coffee house is a nice place to have drinks and snacks.

Alternate means of transport

APTDC conducts one day/ two day trips from Visakhapatnam. Onward journey is by train (They have 3 compartments reserved for them) and return by bus.

14 Responses

  1. Srikanth Manjunath
    | Reply

    very nice information about near by places in Vishaakapattanam. The caves details and the pictures are awesome.
    the falls, and the fall guys all came very well. A wonderful wiki for this place.

  6. Jatdevta Sandeep
    | Reply

    इसी 12 तारीख को मैंने यह सारी जगह देखी है। वोरा गुफ़ा सबसे यादगार रही।

  8. Nisha Jha
    | Reply

    More than the info, it's photos which attracted me here again. 🙂
    Thanks for sharing, will note it down to visit.

    What's that colorful light in the first photo?

  10. Neekunj kapoor
    | Reply

    Hi,

    I would like to have a Guest blogpost or Article link for my Company Travel site.. I would like to have my links to be posted on your blogpost.

    Can you please provide me the pricing plan for the same?

    Thanks

  12. Peter
    | Reply

    Wonderful post about your travel experience to Vizag, thanks for nice post in your blog. Its really awesome to know your travelogue. Visit to those places by booking your tickets in Kaleswari Travels.

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