The Land of the Thunder Dragon (BHUTAN) – Day 2

19.12.2010 (Sunday)
Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh) to Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) = 442 kms

Starting Place: Vijaywada
Starting Km Reading on the odometer of the car: 3200 km @ Vijaywada
Starting Time: 8 A.M. Morning
Closing Km Reading on the odometer of the car: 3642 km
Closing Time: 11.30 P.M. Night @ Vishakhapatnam

The hotel where we stayed room was decent enough and clean. After coming out of the Hotel just before we took the highway we saw a good restaurant and a small Anjaneya Temple. We had a darshan of the Lord of Might, Valor & Wisdom and we prayed to the lord to take us further safely. Then we had an excellent breakfast. The food was very good. Idli Wada, Masala Dosa & Poori Bhaji.

We hit the highway at 9.10 AM from Vijaywada and destination was supposed to cross AP / Orissa Border but decided to halt at Vishakhapatnam. The route was Vijaywada, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Anakapalli, Vishakhapatnam. At 9.23 AM we passed Pottipadu Toll Plaza and drove on NH5. At 9.45 we passed through Kalaparru Toll Plaza.

We just passed a fully loaded Orissa registered Lorry in the above picture. Jamuna saw the driver and told me that he was a small kid. I did not believe her and said “No way! May be a short guy!”

She asked me to allow the truck to pass me and I saw & wow, no jokes! He must have been just a little kid growing up to become a man. I overtook him & put some distance between us, stopped, got off my car & took photos. Unfortunately I could not get a clear shot of his face as I was to his left side.

I observed he was driving very carefully and with a good judgement and handling the pregnant cow well. He looked very relaxed and was singing & humming a song, looking least disturbed. I was wondering if this kid was the cleaner & the main driver was taking a nap or absconding!!! Looks like he isn’t new to highway driving and also driving fully loaded trucks. I thought maybe I should just stop him and take a photo. But you never know how he would have reacted.

At 1 PM, we came across a Gigantic Status of Lord Anjaneya – the size of which I have never seen anywhere. It was so massive & so huge!!!! It looks so majestic & reassuring to travellers & people by looking at the Abhaya Mudra sign of Don’t Worry I am there with you to remove all your fear. Go with the speed of Wind. That gave us the added strength to continue after taking some nice pictures. We could not believe it. The Linea looks like a dwarf in front of Lord Anjaneya.

At 1.23 PM on the highway we came across a very bad accident where a Truck had jumped the divider and crashed on the divider by climbing over the divider fencing. Either the driver must have been an expert driver to do this stunt or I guess must have slept off while driving or might have been under the influence of Alcohol. Imagine at what speed he would have been coming down the bridge when this accident happened. Who knows??

On the way, we came across Annavaram where you have a famous temple of Lord Vishnu as Lord Narasimha. This is an ancient temple and is considered as one of the 108 major temples of Vishnavite sect. We did not want to miss this important temple and just then H V Kumar came on-line and spoke to us to know where we were and when we said near Annavaram he advised us to visit this temple and told us about the importance of this temple. We said we definitely would like to visit the temple and then proceed to Vizag. He said very good you should do it as you will not get another chance in near future as we need to take a detour away from the highway. So we took a detour away from the highway towards Annavaram Temple at 1.30 PM.

It is written below in Telugu “Ratna Giri Vasa Satya Deva Namo Nama”. Ratna means Precious Stone, Giri means Mountain, Vasa means residing, Satya Deva means Lord of the Truth or upholder of Truth / Satya. Simply put, it means “To the Precious Lord who resides in this mountain and the upholder of Truth, I salute you”.

We passed a huge lake while climbing on this mountain and you can see a huge amount of water in this lake. The hill is surrounded by a huge lake reservoir and it was just fantastic to see the sheer majesty & beauty of this place.

Check out the picture below clicked by Uthamkumar. He also takes good photos and has an eye for details.

Coming down the hill, you will find a sign board that says “Welcome to Boat Shikar”. Both my kids said “Appa Appa Boat Ride”. As usual Jamuna was saying “No, we have to go on”. I believe she was more scared of water. I said “Come on! The kids also need a break.” And we decided to go on a boat ride. The problem is when you arrive first you got to wait for the place to fill. The waiting was killing as we almost waited more than 20 minutes.

Finally I said “Look, either you decide you will go with available people or we will also leave”. Luckily for him or for us we saw some young college crowd coming and soon the boat was full. We had safety jackets strapped on and all 4 were ready.

The time spent at the lake & boat ride from 3.30 pm to 4.30 pm, 1 hour, was fantastic. Both the kids were all charged up.

We were on the highway towards Vishakhapatnam and we again called up HVK and he advised us to take a room at APTDC Hotel at Rushikonda Beach Resort. He messaged the number. We called up the hotel & told them to block a room for us and we arrived at this resort at 9.00 PM Night.

The hotel details are

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Limited
Haritha Rushikonda Beach Resort

Bhimili Road, Risikonda,
Visakhapatnam
Tel: +91 891 2788826, 2793973
Cel: +91 9848813581
http://www.tourisminap.com/vizag/accommodation.php

This resort is located on a hill-top with a clear view to the sea & beach.

From the room balcony the scene of the ocean & beach is just wonderful. It really is worth paying here to just enjoy the sheer beauty of this nature which in other such resorts would cost a bomb. Full Value for Money VFM. Full Paisa Vasool.

Diesel fuel @ Sri Venkateshwara Filling HPCL Kurmannapalem, Vishakpatnam 24.71 litres @ Rs.40.47 per Ltr for Rs.1000/-

Total Toll Gate Fees paid on 19.12.2010 from Vijayawada to Vishakhapatnam Rs.230/-