Jurala !

So we planned a trip to Jurala Project , MahaboobNagar. I felt good because i am going to see a new place, felt bad because its the same old NH7.

This time, the group got bigger. We are 11 members on 6 bikes.

We followed the ritual, i.e starting at the cafe after having few cups of tea and delaying the trip for 1 Hr. There was no fog, so my bike compensated it with thick white smoke. After, reaching Aaramghar, Mahesh, the irritatingly speed driver Mahesh on Apache, said, he doesnot have money for petrol. Raju, step forwarded to help that poor guy, so that we dont have to go without him.

 
Am really getting bored of NH7. One more trip on that highway, may be i can tell the name of every Dhaba till Judcherla. I let Dixit drive and let the music not road, entertain me. With the entry of new members, there was no coordination on halts. Chandu is getting irritated of halts, and i am in a mood of "Let it go".


We got off NH7 , took a detour on dirt road to reach Jurala. The dam is not very big, but its a local picnic spot. People from near by Karnataka Villages come there to have a family outing there. Its almost 3, by the time we reached there. Everybody is hungry and nobody dared to talk on it. Finally, Sridhar broke-down and bought Bananas and ice-creams. They become starters for our lunch. Now we have to drive for main-course.

We took another path to return home, and joined with NH7 at Gadwel. Its 5 PM. Sridhar wanted to have lunch at Gadwel, but we dragged him till Pebbair, where Dixit and Raju went to bring chicken. We got into a Dhaba. The owner is kind and gave us a big hall. Had our lunch there, then Chandu made hukkah. I didnt know he brought Hukkah with him. Its a pleasant surprise.

 After having their stomachs full, now guys wanted to have fun, which goes great with Hukkah. And there is Mahesh. Anil reminded him of the bet they both placed. The bet is Mahesh should reach Jurala from Hyderabad in 2 hours. Stake is 5000.  Mahesh complained that he didnt knew the route to Jurala then. They both made me the judge. My verdict is, Mahesh should from Pebbair to Hyderabad in 1 and half hours to prove his driving prowess or give 5k to Anil. When Sridhar mocked him, Mahesh accepted the bet and left the Dhaba with such a rash speed that the dust rose to 5 feet. When dust settled down, Raju questioned "How can he go to Hyderabad, with no sufficient fuel in bike and no money in pocket ? "

We resumed journey with loud laughter, pointed at Mahesh. This time me and Raju on my bike. With Raju driving at 60 speed. Later, i realized that , we are actually at 80 KMPH and speedometer is broke. First dusk then darkness chased us. Once the night conquered the day and ruling the world, Anil called us and asked to us wait for them, as sridhar bikes HID is not functioning. As we were waiting at Bus Shelter, Sridhar and Anil came on Avenger, with low beam , turn lights on and Anil holding a torchlight, focusing it on road. After me and Raju done laughing at them, we started again and halted at Judcherla to get the headlight repaired.

Mahesh called me for help as he ran out of fuel and doesnot have money with him. As we were at Judcherla, i called Chandu and asked him to help that poor guy who was waiting at a petrol bunk. Soon, Chandu called me and started shouting at me. Apperantly, Mahesh bike was at petrol bunk and he is nowhere to be seen and its raining there. I called Mahesh, only to know that he went out for smoke and got struck in rain.

Everybody waited at Bunk, till me, Raju, Sridhar and Anil reached. I am using reserve petrol now, so went inside and getting petrol. Mahesh told the Bunk to fuel his bike worth 170 Rs. I didnt understand that, but i let it go, as cant understand most things about him. The Bunk guy asked me to pay 200 for fueling Mahesh Bike. When i asked , why extra 30, that guy told me that he lent Mahesh , Rs 30 for cigarettes. Rarely we meet guys like Mahesh, is not it.

The rain has spoiled the whatever coordination we had since morning. Only few of us, came to the cafe to finish off the driving ritual.

Trip to Nellore

This is my first multi-day trip. When i embarked on it, i have picked a direction, not a destination.

I was  tired of single day trips. Still, i enjoy them, but while returning, the thought of reaching the home used to annoy me. For few days i want to roam like a nomad without a destination. I started preparations for  just two days  i.e told to my parents i will be going to Nellore with my friends to attend a marriage.

Upgraded the bike headlight bulb to H.I.D. Increased the bike height by modifying the seat. Bought new leather gloves. Replaced the rear mud-guard with a new one. Refilled the engine oil with semi-synthetic oil. At home, i told that the marriage was on 18th. So i started on 17th January, 2012 at 5:30 AM from home.

                                                         Day 1

First halt at Hayathnagar, not even 10KM from my home. But i had to have to tea. Its against trip-ritual, to start the journey without a tea. I had a Rajasthani chai there.

Bike felt different. Its like, i was riding another bike, or i was in some others body and riding my bike. The new handle bar grips, the gloves and the heightened seat making me feel uncomfortable. I took the gloves off, and swore not to use them again.

Nobody knows where i was going, even i didnt know where i was going. But i had to inform my friend Raju or somebody about it, but what to inform? I updated my facebook status saying i was going south.

Pulikat was in my mind then. Its in nellore, there are two routes to go there. 1. Via vijayawada, 2. Via Miryalaguda . I was scared of vijayawada highway then. I stopped at Narketpalli, where

At the canal near Vemulapally village

 I bought nylon rope to tie my backpack to the saree-guard of the bike. But the bag is slipping. So, i bought a chain and a lock. The chain gave support to the backpack and nylon rope made sure that it wont wiggle. Now me and bike, attained long-drive-look-and-comfort.

 I was in no hurry at all, as i dont have to reach home by night. On the way to Miryalaguda, i crossed a bridge over a canal. Instead of going straight , i took left turn and started riding on the bank of the canal. After few minutes, i reached serene place. I parked my bike, removed the shoes, tied them to the bike with laces. Then  sat at
the canal with legs immersed in water and listening to the songs from the farmland on the other side of canal. The landlord setup two speakers in the land for the entertainment of employees at work. Cool !!

It was almost noon when i reached Miryalaguda. On the outskirts of Miryalaguda, where i stopped for a chai, i met few college students. Didnt talk to them much. when they asked me to take few snaps of them together, i obliged. They must be in engineering first year or so. There was railway track just beside the road. I always wanted to have a photograph of me, while resting on tracks. First they were awed then giggled and said ok. Thats how i got my dream picture. I wish i took off the goggles, but still fine.

The road from Miryalaguda to Guntur was under construction then. For more than 100 KM , the road is half laid, and there were road rollers everywhere i go.  As i said earlier, i was in no hurry at all. I was having tea  wherever i wished . Not many hotels or  dhabas on the way. I found a dhaba on road side and went inside.  Its not a dhaba, its a Janatha Bar. No rice items are available to eat. I ordered khaju fry and to remove dust in the eyes i planned to use eyedrops. However, i ended up with ear-drops in my eyes. I have cleansed the eyes cursing myself for picking up the wrong one. By the time, my eye-fiasco ended, khaju fry was ready. I had little, poured the rest in my jacket pocket and started off.

Bridge connecting Guntur and Nalgonda

Soon i reached Guntur boarder. There is a bridge connecting Telangana and Coastal Andhra, which serves as the boarder between Nalgonda and Guntur. I shouted "Jai Telengana" before riding on the bridge.

Had lunch at Piduguralla. Guntur is famous for red chilly. They add it in everything, that lunch was the spiciest meals i ever had. Even daal was spicy. I had to drink lot of water to calm my tongue.

 I was going real slow. Stopping and admiring the nature whenever it is possible. After a couple of Tea-breaks the sun is set. Its dark by the time i reached Addanki. Its the birthplace of famous telugu poet Errapragada, the last member of Kavitryam who translated Mahabharata in to Telugu. I expected to a statue of him on the main road, but all i have seen are the statues of Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.


After few kilometers the road got merged with NH5. I was able to go fast now, in fact i had a race with couple of Ongole bikers there, i could continue that, but i have stopped to see Taj Mahal. The local exhibition fellows built a replica of it. It was so good, and could fool anybody. I entered the Ongole town, and called my friend Samrat who is from the same place to take his advise on accommodation. He suggested Hotel Mourya beside Bus stand. I checked in, then went to meet him at the bus stand, gave send off to him and went on searching for food. After sitting for a long time on bike, bums feel funny when i started walking. So, i strolled for sometime before i slept.

                                                                Day 2 

Next day i started at around 9 AM. When i checked Google Maps, i found Kavali ahead. Kavali is the background of the book "Poleramma banda kathalu " and "Dargamitta kathalu ", a  telugu equivalent of "Swamy and his friends". Both the books are full of wit and comedy and personally i gave those to at least six friends as gift.

There is a beach in Ongole but, i have decided to skip it. After travelling for some time on the highway, i saw a board which says "Tanguturu" is few KM away. Tanguturi Prakasham panthulu a.k.a Andhra kesari ( The lion of Andhra) flashed in my mind. Without a second thought i have

decided to go there. On the way to Tanguturu i stopped for chai. The owner seen the bike and bag then asked me about my journey. His jaw dropped when i told him that i started from Ongole that morning and going to Tanguturu. May be he would have got a heart attack if i told him that i was coming from hyderabad.

I asked a man with Telugu-teacher-looks for the house address of Andhra kesari in Tanguturu. He enlightened me that, the forefathers of Prakasham pantulu lived there but not him.
                             
                                                                                                                                     
                                                            

                                                            Kavali 

Then headed to kavali. Its few KM from the highway. Kavali is not as bad as i thought. "Poleramma banda kathalu " is the collection of short stories of kids of local high school. I

was able to find the school easily. Then to "Poleramma banda". Shockingly, not a single soul heard the name. I was having tea at the hotel opposite to school and enquired. No use. I asked the SI who was also having tea. He said he had no idea. I told him about the book, the publishers , the authors,

Poleramma Banda 

he denied any knowledge of them. Then he asked how old that book was. I vaguely guessed that the incidents might have happened about 15 to 20 years ago. When i said that, he asked me to go and check in the old-town. And yes, i found poleramma banda there.

The distance between kavali and ocean is not more than 5KM. The ocean air is inviting me to the beach. So i have decided to go to a beach. There are two beaches in Nellore. Maipad and Kothakoduru. Due to logistics i have decided to go to kothakoduru beach.



                                            Kothakoduru beach.

Its a long way from Highway to the beach. But the way is serene with fishponds and coconut trees. I was in a very good mood with all the greenery around me and going slow, as I was passing through a village, a kid with cycle started racing with me. I cant say he was "on" the cycle because he was not sitting on the seat, he was peddling with one through the frame of the bicycle , i

dont the right word to describe that style of riding a bicycle but in telugu its called "Pakka Tokkudu". I bonked the harn loud and shouted at him to go faster. All of a sudden , he started crying but kept on peddling it. I started riding beside him and bonking the horn, at that point he started sobbing. I thought thats enough and left the kid alone.

Soon i reached kothakoduru beach. Though its January, the area was hot. The beach is not well maintained. It must be the holiday-resort to the nearby villages.

I was enjoying the beach view and saw two bikers on the beach. Suddenly, i had the urge to ride my bike on the beach. I went to the parking place and started riding it. Its not easy to ride a bike on sand, it requires a technique. Naturally, i thought i should ride on the first or second gear as friction would be more, but i was wrong, biker should maintain an optimum speed or the wheels get stuck in the sand. Naturally, i though i should not ride on the wet sand as it cant support the weight of the bike and me. Again , i was wrong, riding on the wet sand with optimum speed is all it requires to enjoy the ride on the shore. It took me some time and lot of petrol to learn these things. A fellow

rider on beach and me helped each other to preserve those memories by taking snaps of each other.  I rode till i reached an abandoned construction protruding in to the sea. May be its used to carry goods to the ships.

I scaled that construction, planned to hit the road and then have my lunch. On the beach, i found many hotels which only serve fish and crabs. I have little experience in eating fish and none regarding crabs. The men procure the fish and crabs and the ladies fry them and sell them. I always appreciate the equality in gender regarding economics. However, its more predominant in low class than in educated upper or middle class. However, domestic violence is more in lower class than in other classes. When the woman is financially independent , then why she has to tolerate domestic violence is the question which always beats me. May be i need some more understanding regarding, family, economics and women.

                                                                   

With little difficulty, i finished the fish. Its more like a snack than a meal. I started back and reached the highway, and started searching for a dhaba to eat. Again , i got myself into a janatha bar. I guess this trip is jinxed with janatha bars. Luckily, they also serve food. I had roties and resumed the journey.

I found many villages in Nellore whose names are hilarious. Dont understand how they got those names. The core city of nellore is called "Buja Buja nellore". I fueled the bike there and went on driving, laughing at the names. I have decided to make a halt at Sullurupeta.

It was dark, when i reached Sullurupeta. I started enquiring for lodges and about ten members eagerly surrounded me and trying to help me. The shining snake emblem on bike must have attracted them. I followed their directions and found a lodge near vegetable market. Rent is cheap and room is clean. The owner adjusted other vehicles so that i can park my bike inside the building. Surely, long driver gets lot of help from others. After dinner, i bathed and slept. But, woke up couple of times because of the trains on railway tracks which is not even 100 yards from the building. At least the building is not shaking , like shown in old bollywood movies.

                                                    Day 3  


Woke up late and decided to visit nearby  tourist spots. I started towards Pulicat lake. I had breakfast in the market and had a coffee near national highway. Then changed my mind and went to Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary. Its few kilometers from Sullurupeta. The place is crowded with

Pelicans and Flamingos. Few years back i read "Pelican brief" by John Grisham , but didn't know how to looks till then. However, Flamingos look beautiful than Pelicans. They are categorized based on size of beak, color and body weight mainly. Locals organize Flamingo Festival to promote tourism. The bird sanctuary is a group of isles in a large lake, where the migratory birds breed.

On the way to Pulicat lake, i met two saints walking on the highway. I considered them as fellow travellers and chatted with them for a while. Apparently, they are coming from Varanasi and their destination is Rameswaram. It took them 5 months on foot to reach Nellore and they are confident that they would reach the

destination in 3 months. When i asked them about their fooding and lodging , they simply shrugged and said almighty takes care of them. Well, thats faith, and i lack it.












                                                      Pulicat lake

Pulicat is in the village Thada which is at the border of  Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. Though, geographically its in A.P, Tamil culture is predominant there. There were no sign boards to Pulicat.  I was asking for directions for everybody is confusing me, including Google Maps.

Finally, god sent an angle with white beard on old Luna. I followed him and reached Pulicat. Everything was great so far. I dont know Tamil and the fishermen don't know Telugu. We communicated in pidgin language and finally settled  on Rs 200 for a trip in the lake.  This is my

first trip on a sail-boat. Raising the sail is a tricky job.

Pulicat is a lagoon. Its salty and with less depth. We have gone one KM from the bank and other fisherman standing in the lake arranging their Nets. I was able to show those sailors how to take a snap and they convinced me that its safe to walk in the lake. I got excited , left my wallet, mobile, bag, bike keys and shoes on the boat and jumped in the water. The cold water touched the face, then cold fear touched me. What can i do , if they hit my head with an oar and sail back to bank? Well, if they want to do something like that, they can hit me and throw in me water even from boat. I got a sailor who is walking with me holding the boat. I thought may be his job is make sure that i was drowned. Then i thought, i must start trusting people if want to travel alone. Then i thought about the saints i met earlier that day, and planned to walk back to home like them, if they rob me. At least i would become lean that way, but nothing of the sort happened. The fisherman walking with me offered  Beedi, and encouraged me to swim in those waters.

Well, world is not a bad place at all. I swam for a while, then came to boat. I ditched the thought of getting back in to the boat and started walking. The mud under my feat is little slippery but the aquatic plants compensate  that. I asked for one more beedi and walked while smoking. The month was January, the weather is chilling, i was waist deep underwater , there is water everywhere in half kilometer radius , and there are some fish jumping off the water like dolphins. At least i got one lifetime memory which i cherish till i die.

When we reached the bank, i paid the money. Interestingly, they offered me a fish which is still alive, as a gift. Or at least i thought it was a gift as i dont understand their language, but i don't know how to cook it, so i returned it to them and left.

I reached Thada but the problem of Tamil is still there. I never went out of Andhra pradesh after i grew up. I am at Tamilnadu border now, Chennai is about 40 KM, suddenly i had the urge to eat Idli - Sambar at Chennai. I crossed the state border  towards Chennai. I travelled about 10KM on the highway, then i started contemplating things again. I dont know a bit of Tamil, none of my friends were living in Chennai, I remember someone saying that Chennai Traffic police are hostile towards vehicles from Andhra Pradesh.. so, I returned to Thada, called a friend who used to live in Chennai and asked him how to say " Is Idly available ?" in Tamil. The answer is "Idly irukaa".

Then i searched for Idly for sometime. Its almost 2 PM, so hotels stopped serving Idly. One guy said something in Tamil when i asked for Idly , and i heard the word "Dosa", i said ok and sat. He served a Dosa with sambar. Well, that Dosa is more like large idly.

I had lunch at a mess, then started towards Thada falls.  However, thada falls is so large and have to walk so much that, i should have been there by 11 AM or so. I reached the place at closing time, i took few snaps of the small pond at the entrance and returned.

The detour to Thada is not a disaster, though i could not see the water falls. My bike tyres touched the dirt road for the first time. A lonely road , and the calmness is guarded by the hills around. The dried lands around me made me feel that i was riding for months. The beauty exhausted me. In the last three days i have seen new things, travelled on the road which i have not travelled before, talked to people with different accents. Its all too much to take for guy like me, who never really travelled before.

I thought of going to Sri kalahasti, spend the night there and travel back to hyderabad via chittoor, but dropped that idea as i am running our of money. With little money, i found the known places safe. I have returend to Sullurpeta, had a coffee and started off to Ongole.

                                                  Angles at midnight - police

After driving for a long time, fighting with insects , making my way through the darkness , a couple of teas , two rotis at a punjabi Dhaba, i reached Ongole by 1 AM.

I was searching for hotels to stay. Every where i go i get the reply "No rooms" from the watchman or attendant who is half asleep. Apparently, all the students who came to Ongole to write B.Ed exam next day occupied cheap hotels, including dormitories and costly hotels were occupied by a Cinema company.   I was hopping from one Hotel to another in search of room. While roaming on the empty roads of Ongole, after half an hour, police zeep started following me. They stopped me and asked me about my details. After listening to my long drive, they got impressed and promised to help me out.

I have to mention , SI Sultan Khan. He took me to a Hotel , woke the manager up and told him that i was cousin and demanded a room for me. The greedy manager, who rented his own room , could not help me. Then one of the constable reminded the SI that , there was a new lodge in the adjacent lane. SI sent me there with two constables. Both lodge and its owner are small. First he said there are no rooms with droopy eyes, but the constables, lifted him up, threw him in the air and again caught him, just like we do with little kids. When safely landed, his mind is active and suddenly he remembered that there is a vacant room. I thanked the police, stayed in the hotel that night.

                                                 
                                                           Day-4  

Woke up a bit late in the morning , and started off to Hyderabad after thanking to SI once again. Few Kilometers of the road from Ongole is blocked because of the police selection. But i got bored to ride on the same road again and again. I have decided to take detour. I started off on Guntur

Highway. Then , via , Macharla , Nagarjuna Sagar, i reached home. On the way back home, i have seen two statutes of Police constables who died in Naxal encounter. Never seen police getting such respect.

As i was having chai, i noticed sand on the bike. It must be from Kothakoduru beach. I had my bike water washed at Piduguralla. That waterwash cut the horn wire. Got it repaired at Macerla.

At Nagarjuna Sagar, i have seen little Romeos. Kids of about 10

years age, offering flowers to girls on the way. When i asked them to give a pose, they did their best to look like a true Romeo.

Unlike many trips before, this trip gave me new experiences, i ventured into distant lands, i have seen people of different culture and language. Most of all, this trip proved my stamina.



One lesson i learned from this trip is to use sunscreen lotion.

Avancha

Nageswar forwarded an article from Namaste Telengana, where we found information on this Avancha ganapathi statue. Apparently the statue belongs to 10th century. Its about 30 feet height and carved from a single stone.

The picture in the article, where the statue is lying among the grass fields tempted us to go there. The place is around 120KM from where i live. This time, the team become big with new people. We decided to start at 10AM from the cafe, due to the joining of unexpected people, we started off  an hour lately.  We were seven members on four bikes.

Took the first halt at Aramghar, then another near shadnagar, then at Hillpark restaurant near Balanagar for lunch. So far we covered more than 70 KM.  There is new member Mahesh, who got confused long drive with racing and scared every pillion rider he had in the trip. He was alone from starting, but Nageswar dared to go with him, when we stopped for lunch he had to drink two glasses of water to calm himself down. After lunch, Raju ventured to ride with Mahesh.

To go to avancha, one has to take left turn before reaching the judcherla flyover. Everybody was informed so, but chandu didnt pay attention. He was riding alone. He took the flyover and going
fast towards banglore. He didnt pay attention to the surrounding or milestones and not to his phone either. After half an hour , he called us, realized his mistake and returned.  I proposed to resume the journey while chandu was returning. Raju didnt have faith in chandu it seems, he said he would wait for chandu and bring him and and asked us to move forward. So Srikanth and Raju waited there and the rest i.e me , Nageswar, Sridhar and Mahesh , continued to Avancha.

An old man asked us for lift. Its a delight to give lift to localite on trips like these. Usually, i indulge them into a conversation with me, but this time nageswar took that job. Where we had to take a left turn to go to Avancha, Mahesh and Sridhar went straight. We all started when they came back.

After dropping the oldaman at his village, which is about 5 KM from Avancha, we have decided to wait by the road for rest of the boys to join us. There we met another old farmer, who started discussing his family issues with us. When rest of the boys, came, we started again.

It was not that difficult to find the Statue. Its among the green fields. There was a farmer , taking care of his cotton plantation. One acre of land might yiled anywhere between one ton to two tons. The market price of one quintal raw cotton is about 3500. Due to lack of water, they could raise the farm in one season only. It means a small farmer with 10 acres of land shall get minimum 3.5lac per annum.

The farmer complained that the construction of  irrigation lift canal which was started when YSR was CM has stopped. When asked about the statue, he told me that the land where the statue is situated now belongs to a Pune trust who bought 9 acres of land and the way which leads to statue. And he provided all these information because he mistook me for the ETV journalist who is yet to come.

We took few snaps there and went to village to have some tea. Its been a long time my tongue tasted tea. We stopped at a kirana&general stores to have softdrinks and enquired for tea. The house next to the shop is the hotel. When we went there an urdu-speaking person confronted us

and told us that they are out of milk. The owner of the hotel, a lady in her early fifties promised us to make black tea, but the cattle is full of tea with milk and she served us in the cups where villages get tea in glasses. Surely, we were treated well.

On the way to Jadcharla, we have seen two men , with a bird in the cage. They are trying to sell it and told us that it would taste great. Even offered us to cook it for us. After much negotiations Nageswar wanted to buy that bird to set it free. So we bought it and went ahead.

Genetically , the bird must be a relative to the Hen. It has long legs and could not fly. I noticed its tongue when it bit me. The ropes with which it was tied are hard to untie. Raju had to use his teeth to untie them. Finally, the bird was free. When everybody was waiting for fly like a pigeon from the hand of Nehru, it jumped from my bike and ran in to woods.

We started again, had a tea at judcherla, and had to stop again several times due to rain.

The journey was good, but it got prolonged unnecessarily.

Trip to Araku

Its an epic trip. An Impulsive road trip with bunch of acquaintances, it involved GrayHound cops , unbearable heat, exceeding expenditures, ad hoc planning, adventure and tribal hunters.


It all started with a lie

Uday and Sridhar ran away on Sreekanth's pulsar. We have decided to chase them and catch them. I just came to hyderabad on saturday after one week of ordeal in east and west godavari districts.

Uday called me on friday night when i was at vijayawada bus station and asked me if i am interested to join them for a road trip. If i was ok, then they would pick me at vijayawada. Without second thoughts , i declined the offer. First they want to me roam in the same region i was escaping. Second reason is, these people are car-people.

On sunday i started getting calls again for the trip. News was, uday and sridhar started off their trip on saturday night, reached vijayawada and washing clothes at a local park, It was decided that a rescue team must start from hyderabad, i got invitation to participate.They have lured me by saying  "on bikes". Thats the keyword, bike, after couple of thoughts i said yes.

Later, uday called me in the evening, and convinced me that car is economical than bike. I really didn't understand his explanation. But i know that he is a long driver .. I felt honored to get invitation. And , there is already a bike there, except srikanth all of them are small, i can muscle them out and take the bike if needed, i think i can beat srikanth too.  But would not i be cheating my bike?

It become 7PM , YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was arrested, telugu channels started terrorising by saying NH9 is blocked. Nobody was sure if the trip is on or not. But i really want to see the polished, always-formal-dressing, a-man-with-style, who-hates-country , Uday, washing clothes in a park!! Thats something hard to imagine. Finally, the boys arrived, we have so much of luggage which can support a family with kids. We loaded up water at home, adjusted the luggage and set our journey. I was little skeptical on how much longer we can go before we hit traffic jam, but there was none. Clearly, telugu news media cant be trusted. First stop was Green Bawarchi.. After our stomachs and petrol tank are full, then become the phone calls one more time. This time, to all the other guys. I suppose they are convincing their girls on this trip. But i have my phone, my new phone , with shiny black finishing. With 1GHz processor its running smooth, and GPS gets locked in less than 5 seconds.

NH 9  was still under construction then. They are turning the single lane into six lane. Its been a long time, i got myself on it. Last time, when i was on it, i was almost got hit by two lorries and one scorpio. I was really scared of that highway. Its Manohar who is driving. I trust his driving, no sudden turns, no loud music, no aggressiveness and no racing. Our vehicle is Maruthi Wagon R. I dont know much about cars, but this car is not for me. I dont even fit in that. Except that complaint, its a decent car i guess.

I was checking my phone, listening to music and lost in thoughts then dozed off. I woke up with some sounds. It took me a while, to understand that, those are made by manohar , to warn srikanth not to check sms while driving. Cant blame srikanth, he is newly engaged, but made a mental note, not to sleep while srikanth is behind the wheel. In vijayawada we made a wrong turn, i was busy tweeting about my new phone. Aravind was calling the whole night. He was not part of the trip, but Uday and Sridhar are on the way to rajahmundry. Aravind was in rajahmundry then and made arrangements for us in rajahmundry. I have added sridhar on google latitude and checking their locations.

Circling Rajahmundry central jail

Our black car and sun rised in rajamandry almost at the same time. Rajamandry, on the banks of river godavari, athis holy place is a large steam bathtub in summer. Step out of AC and fog accumulates on the glasses. Kerchiefs get wet, shirts get wet , the whole body leaks sweat and there is no way to quench the thirst. Its so irritating and i could not forgive myself for coming into the steam bath with in two days. But, i got my new phone. . I was busy removing sweat off my nose and taking pictures with 5MP camera.

We made halt at Dhavaleswaram bridge. River Godavari runs through the yellow sands. I guess, the heat damaged our brains or else why would we jump the fence to go to the river bank in that heat. I was trying to

remember songs on Godavari, but due to heat, its the railway announcement for Godavari Express that came to mind, that too in all three languages.After a long photo session on the banks, we started off. From here onwards , , wherever i mention photo session, i am praising the photography of the satish

. Manohar could not stand the heat anymore , even with car air conditioner. He removed his shirt and driving. Thanks to his manners , he stopped with shirt. I have checked the last location of sridhar, it was near rajahmundry central jail. Called him and uday, no response. We started curcumfencing the central jail for lodges where these guys might have checked in. Meanwhile we started having breakfast. The hotel was a large hut , where customers are allowed pour sambar as much as they like from a big bowl. I liked the concept, it would have been  great if they had extended the same offer to tea.

After an hour or so, sridhar called us and gave the address, we went to the lodge, adjusted the whole luggage in the car. Still i have no clue on how manohar was able to fit a luggage weighing mountain in that car. And there is bike parked in front of the lodge, getting it for my self was not so hard then. Everybody wants to get in car except me and uday. Now we are six members, uday, sridhar, srikanth, manohar , satish and me. Sridhar and satish are friends but they are two opposite poles of talking. Satish wont start and sridhar wont stop.

Our next destination is medical college on highway, where aravind was arguing with the clerk to get his certificates. We met him, had a smoke and few soft drinks, then resumed the journey again. Next destination is araku.

On the way to araku, beside the road, we came across a big statue of swami vivekananda. Well, it got to be him ,

nobody used that posture and that color. Uday said ok , so we made a detour to the statue. Its on a small hill, and the statue is about 30 feet height. We exchanged our bookish knowledge for sometime then came down. The road is wide, air is humid and sun is trying to burn us, there is no cloud to give us some protection. Somehow , i drive fast in humid regions, to escape the sweat or because i feel unleashed whenever i am on a trip, i cant say but, i was going fast. First time, i got good impression on pulsar, i touched 90 KMPH but the bike was going smooth. after some time came down to my normal speed.We reached a village called "Murari", which is the name of a movie in Tollywood.

===NH5====

I have never traveled on that road before. Its a wide road, guarded by eastern ghats. The mountains are still green, while me and uday, coming slowly stopping wherever we feel like, the car-boys were impatiently waiting near annavaram toll-gate , in a mango garden. I was learned htat, sridhar had convinced the owner that no fruit will be plucked. And we kept his promise.

The teams have changed from here, manohar and sridhar took the bike and rest in the car. But their luck was bad. Within 10 min , there is a heavy rain and wind is blowing people out of road. Everybody stopped where they were. There were change in plans due to heavy rains, we went to the nearby village to have Mirchi. After that , we started again, the aim was to reach araku before night falls. But it was already 4 PM then.  We have added each other on Google latitude, so there are no more where-are-you-i-am-here calls.

I was enjoying the drive except for music. There guys really have a crappy taste when it comes to music. And they find my music-taste boring. But no worries, i have my phone. I was busy tweeting, taking pics and browsing. When it became night, we were not even close to vizag and no idea how long it will take to reach Araku.

We had to make another halt at pendurthi, a small junction before reaching visakhapatnam. We were all hungry, as cigarettes does nothing to hunger. Manohar went for shaving. There we had shopping.

The road is wet, bumpy and its night. Precisely, the right combination I dislike. But can't refuse the offer to bike-riding. After all, that's my thing. This time, Sridhar is accompanying me. He was a radio jockey at his home town. Considering his talkative nature, he must be a successful RJ. I proposed a singing competition, not that I am good at singing but to I want to let the villagers acknowledge our presence with raised eyebrows.

It was like driving in graveyard.  The trees guarding the border line between fields and road. Rain must have heavily poured there a couple of hours before. With hills watching over us as we zoom in, the movie " Hills have eyes" flashed in mind. I told myself that govt of India never conducted nuclear tests in that area. And the knowledge of anthropology assured me that tribals in that area are not cannibals. But still civilization is miles away, that thought never comforted me.

The fallen branch which blocked sixty percent of the road added fuel my thoughts. I have slowed down for the car to catch us. Everybody in the car fell asleep except uday. After we crossed the obstacle, uday told me that he would use the handbreak to stop the car and we should jump in it leaving the bike, if something happens. Well, he too must have felt the eyes of hills too.

"Why did he say so?" , sridhar asked me from behind. What can i say? I could have told him about the cannibals but I chose to gave a more realistic and less scary answer, "in case somebody attacks to rob us", gladly I didnt get the question, " who might do that?"

We woke up the watchman at a small toll-gate then took a smoke-break. The pitch dark    

blanket of clouds covered the sky, devouring us any kind of natural light. We chose to kill the artificial lights of vehicles to match with darkness of nature and started searching for matchbox to light cigarettes. When the knuckle cracking, yawning and chatter ended, we realized that we are on a small road-bridge and water is flowing underneath. We listened to it for a while and started chatting again on how beautiful everything around is. Is it beauty, or we are just talking something to keep away the graveyard silence? Cant tell.

Soon we reached a village, where shops are about to be closed. While having little chat with the shopkeeper who served us badam milk, he asked " How could a bunch of guys enjoy Araku without lady-companionship?" It looks as if he could arrange that if only we asked him. Luckily, none of us asked him.

                                              A roof over the head 

No rooms available at Tyda APTDC hotel, the manager or watchman who ever he was assured us that rooms will be available at the next place. Driving on a ghat road at night is more trickier than at day. Light beam from other vehicles will warn us about the opposite vehicles but unlike in day , its hard to estimate the surroundings.

There in only one room available at Anantagirihills APTDC hotel but they checkout is 8 AM and the room rent is Rs 1800. We decided to test our luck at Araku which is 25KM away.This time me and manohar took the bike. It became hard for him to ride on ghat with a heavy man in the back. I guess for the first time, my weight helped me.

It was a non-stop journey till Araku. Its past midnight by the time we reached araku. All the boys except for me , uday and manohar were sleeping. Me and manohar went to a lodge to enquire, returned disappointed, and started searching for another lodge. But the car is not with us, we went back to check what happened, . We found the car with lights and engine on and everybody including uday were asleep. I woke him up and made him sit on bike while manohar took the wheel.

Finally got in to a cheap lodge, the room is little dirty , and can accommodate only two people. Nobody was in a mood to complain, we checked in, plugged in mobile chargers, decided to wake up at 8AM and started snoring.

To my shock, others in lodge are already playing cards with alcohol early in the morning. While we are having breakfast at the small hotel, uday and srikanth went to the APTDC hotel opposite to our lodge. For one hour rest of us were eating whatever is available to eat and these two didn't show up. We were losing time and I was losing patience and prepared a search team as there is no cellphone signal n that area.

Satish and sridhar went inside to "fetch" them, but they too disappeared. The hotel is too big with a swimming pool. I am sure, if I get in there, after sometime, everybody would be searching for everybody. So I stayed out. Srikanth and uday came out after finishing their photo session in different angles and poses at a same location. I felt irritated, because just before breakfast we have discussed the plan for that day and they have spoiled it. But, at that time, I gave all of them only " acquaintance" status, so could not display my irritation.

We threw everything back in the car. I have heard stories on how manohar packs for a trip, and all of them are true. We had, torch lights, many pillows, many blankets , one water can, multiple phone chargers, 6 spare cell phones, pens, books, stove ( they told me that sridhar would cook upma, but it didnt happen as there were no cookery) , cigarette lighters, air pillow , and many more . At Araku everybody wants to ride, I don't want to be the greedy one so I let others have the bike, so I was struck in the car with "things" around me.

Fake arrows

We headed towards "chaaparaayi" , a large granite rock with water flowing over it, and people can slide on it. Its just a big naturally formed slide and cant understand why everybody were excited about it.

Me and uday were on bike again. We stopped for cigarettes and car zoomed away. The way to chaaparayi is beautiful. We came a village called "jaipur". We took pictures of the Jaipur milestone ,joking on how everybody will be confused once the pic is uploaded to the Facebook. Little we know that the same night I would lose my phone saving Facebook friends from confusion.

I was sure that our car people didnt notice that milestone. I agree that its  safer in the car, but we would be missing lot of fun. A/C with closed windows and high music is as good as a home. And what's the point of going out if one confines self to indoors.

After Jaipur, the road gets divided. We took the left turn to go to Chaapaeaayi. Right turn leads to orissa.

Before jumping on the rock, we have ordered "Bongulo chicken ",  chicken prepared using a bamboo instead of a bowl.

I wore my new shorts which i bought a couple of hours before embarking on this trip. At once, i understood that, they are of cheap quality and wouldnot last long. So, i didnt got onto the sliding rock.  Eventually, i become the security manager for the phones and cameras. Luckily , satish also with me, so i pulled myself out of photography competition.

I started enjoying my-time. I was walking around the place, observing the people. Most of them are from nearby villages. Tall and bulky trees covered what is beyond the rock. Its hard not to see green color. Soon , an old man appeared near a tree, nailed a paper plate on it and spread out few arrows and a bow. Three arrows for Rs. 10. I tried, but none hit the paper plate which is the target. We had Bongulo-chicken, then everybody took turns to show their archery skills. None was better than me and none was hilarious than Manohar. The old-man started puffing the local made marijuana. According to him , marijuana is a local business, and police dont do much about it. Few years back, i have read that , Naxalites plant marijuana in green belt. Well, Araku is green and Araku is a naxalite area.

We started enquiring for a nice place to stay. In this context, nice means, cheap and big. And we got what we are searching for. Huts. Very large circular huts with attached toilet, built opposite to the petrol bunk at araku. They can accommodate at least 10 members and rent for one day is just Rs. 400.

                                   

                                            AK-47s

We bought alcohol, cigarettes, snacks , tea and went to a place which we found exotic on the way to araku from chaaparaayi. By the time we reached there it was around 9PM. Thanks to Manohar, we have torchlights to check our way to go down from the road to a lonely spot just to have drinks. 

 I sat facing the mountain. When i first saw Jurassic Park, i thought all mountains are hibernating dinosaurs which might wake up at anytime. As i was seeing the mountain, i thought the same for the zillianth time. The moon light was good, the silhouette of the mountain is attracting my eyes. Of course, one more thing is constantly demanding my attention, my new phone. The smooth black finishing was shining in the moon light. Everybody were taking alcohol and except me, i had chai. I expressed my wish to walk all the way down to Araku in the moon light, and sridhar hung up on that. He became adamant , Uday had to change his voice modulation, for him to abandon the idea of night walk.

We have decided to leave and started packing things. At that we heard a sound from a distance, everybody pointed torchlights in that direction, a man shouted at us to switch off the lights and about 10 people with AK - 47 guns surrounded us before we understand whats happening. The mighty assault rifiles made us to show respect for the people who are holding them. Thats a naxalite area, they could be naxalites, or police. One fellow said "Sir, they had drinks", the usage of the word sir assured me that, they are not bandits at least. They started questioning if we had any girls with us. Then they revealed that they are from greyhounds, a subdivision of AP police to tackle naxalites.

Luckily, the profession of Dr. Uday, created a good impression. The man leading them , was not rude to us but a little harsh. After few minutes, a police next to me started talking to me, in a non-threatening way. Suddenly, the SI become cool and started patronizing us. I was expecting that, they would ask bribe, but they left. We started resuming the packing but our brains still working to comprehend what had happened. Then i have realized that my phone is missing. I was holding it when Greyhounds came, but didnt thought about it since then. After painfully unpacking everything, we concluded that the phone is missing and Greyhounds might have nicked  it. I doubt the police who talked to me.

On the way back to hotel, we stopped at the railway gate and waiting for the train to go. The local Jeep fellows told us that, the greayhounds noted the car on the road with twigs on it and stopped at half a KM distance and tracked us. So, for sure they knew we are civilians.

Everybody become silent and uday asked if i get attached to my gadgets. It took all my willpower from not to laugh at his face. His intention is to console me a bit, and i have to respect it, i said no, and turned my face to window to exhale the smoke and laugh.

There were cement benches forming a circle before our hut, we sat there smoking and drinking for sometime, while everybody was trying to either console me or trying to create a hope to find the phone in the morning. Its hard to digest pity, when you dont feel hurt. I sat there patiently , listening to their kind-words, and thinking how to manage my credit card bill which went high and what mobile i should buy next. I took sridhar phone,