The temperature at Lambasingi ,located at Alluri seetaramaraju Forest , Visakapatnam drops to 0 degrees in winter.
Distance from Hyderabad : 600KM
Nearest place to stay: Narsipatnam
After two years i am going single again. Was planning it for month or so, but i have no clue when it will be executed. I have two options for stay 1. Tuni, 2. Narsipatnam.
Tuni is about 70KM away from Lambasingi, and Narsipatnam is 30KM. I know Tuni is big town and accommodation can be found easily , but not sure about Narsipatnam. Been asking friends and Google, but none gave answers with assurance.
Initiated the pre-drive ritual by servicing the bike and finished it by informing Raju about the road trip.
Day 1
Started at 5:30 AM from home. couple of tea breaks and one long halt due to flat tire at Suryapet and crossed Vijayawda by 12:30 PM, Rajamandry by 5PM and Annavaram at 7PM. Nothing else to describe.
I am no religious person, but i always find Annavaram temple serene at dusk with all the lights on. Its like the other mountains of Easternghat are prostrating before it. However the view is better when traveling by
Janmabhoomi express than on road.
There , i started my usual cursing for not taking public transport and as usual, tea lifted my mood and made journey interesting.
Reached Tuni by 8PM. The road from Tuni to Narsipatnam is a well laid single road with villages and hamlets and with lot of curves. Luckily, the moon light was so luminous that i dont have depend on my headlight to ride, when i switched off headlight for fun, i could see the road fine. Riding like that was fun, but i had to turn it on to make myself visible to other drivers.
My suspicion to find a place to eat and sleep at Narsipatnam was growing up each time i pass a village which already slept. People whom i asked kept assuring me , not to worry. Its no big deal to return to Tuni but I was not in a mood to ride long at night.
Once I reached Narsipatnam, my fears vanished at the sight of Movie theaters, function halls, 3G signal , Two way roads and petrol bunks. There are 2 big hotels along with many lodges. I checked in at Sri Krishna Residency . Room rent Rs 500.
I was planning to sleep till 9 AM next day and then go to Lambasingi, but the receptionist advised me to start as early as 4:30AM or else i might miss fog.
That day i traveled for 15 hours 30 mins. I no longer wish to put pressure on ass so i slept on my tummy.
Day 2
Damn those birds at Narsipatnam which started chirping loudly at 2:30 in the morning. Checked out at 5:30AM. I was talking to the tea-stall guy for the clues to understand why the town become so big and developed in the middle of nowhere. He kept on talking how real estate boomed but could not tell why the boom came.
Moon is still ruling the sky when i started my journey. I saw a group of people standing by the road at about 100yards, i slowed down looking sideways for any movement on either side of the road and honked to see if they are dacoits, seems they are harmless villages chatting while waiting for sun to begin their work. I encountered many such chatters on the way, and each time i made sure.
The mountains were bulky and dense, like a fortress , to romanticize the event, i must describe, i approached them like Brad Pitt approached gates of Troy on chariot in the movie Troy. But only, he is fearless, and looking for revenge, and me going for fun to strike off another name in the list.
It become dawn when i approached the Ghat section. I know i still have miles to go , feared that i might not see fog. The ghat is too narrow for even one car and one bike.
Sun came out of blankets and i started racing towards lambasingi, hoping to catch the glimpse of fog and coldness before sun melts them. Somehow, i was beginning to enjoy the passage. It was lonely, it got curves, , to my left is the mountain , showing its red soil , and to my right there is thick forest full of green, the black road is draw boarder between the two and i was in full black zooming up. If only i could get painting of that moment.
I see fog falling down from a cliff, like somebody pouring milk from top , like a green volcano oozing white lava, like a blonde untying her hair. Few more kilometers and i reached Lambasingi.
The Hamlet is located on a hilltop. I met other tourists and went further into the village. The total population of village cant exceed 100, there are two grocery stores, and a cell phone repair shop. The fog gets accumulated on the trees , turns to liquid and the droplets fall on leaves fooling us to believe that its raining.
The fog searches for the places to get accumulated, with in minutes of reaching Lambasingi, i noticed droplets on fingers.
There is nothing much to do , except talking to other tourists on how they arrived, from where and at what point they started? A group of software engineers from Hyderabad , came by car , stayed at the village paying 500 for a small room. Later i noticed a flex before a house confirming that.
Babu, Sell the Girls
I returned to Narsipatnam to go ahead with my plan i.e to visit Draksharamam and go to Vijayawada.
On the way to Narsipatnam i was accompanied by a College student who asked lift. At Narsipatnam two little girls asked me lift till the school which is about 1KM and they are running late. I said OK, and took my bag and placed it on tank so the girls with school bags can sit. The old fat lady from the vegetable shop who observed , shouted at me to sell the girls with a laugh. She talked to girls for a moment and asked me again to sell them off for 1.5Lac . I am not really comfortable this kind of comedy, i gave plastic laugh and went ahead with the girls.
Seems one is studying fourth and another is fifth standard. I dropped them on the road where they have requested me , made sure that their uniform is matching with the herds of students going in the same direction. I would get arrested within 6 hours , before reaching even Rajamandry if those girls were to kidnapped like it happens in old Hollywood movies.
Beauty of the surroundings is captivating . It will be waste of your time, if i start describing each road in Coastal Andhra. Unless otherwise specified, they are all good roads , with Coconut and Taddy trees on either side , and then there will be paddy farms till horizon. They are all beautiful .
According to Google Maps, i should be traveling on Kakinada beach road to reach Draksharamam, i was on to another road as i asked locals for direction. Kakinada roads could not meet the population growth and vehicles on it. The roads are just like sultan Bazar road in Hyderabad, clumsy, and full of hawkers.
Kakinada to Draksharamam road is a single way, without potholes , the usual Godavari districts beauty is there, added to that, its a canal road.
At 1PM I reached Draksharamam temple. Lunch time for God and his priests is from 12PM to 4 PM. I thought of looking around on the perimeter . After learning where i come from , the lady at the shoe-stand introduced me to a priest , the priest asked me to come inside, for a second i thought might get me inside the shrine. He led me to a statue of Lord Ganesh out side the snctorium , made me recite few mantras after him, then led me to a banyan tree on the perimeter , sat there like a sage, lectured me how important Hinduism is , and charged me all the Ten currency notes i have with me.
Shoe-stand fellow said he dont have change for 500 , so i owe him Rs. 3 .
Selfie at Pasalapudi
My next destination is a village called Pasalapudi. Pasalapudi is Telugu equivalent of Malgudi, except the place is real. Director Vamsi wrote bunch of short stories which takes the reader to pensive mood and named it "Pasalapudi Kathalu". I always planned to take a selfie at the village name board with that book in hand, but it didnt happen.
I crossed "Kadiam" , place known for nurseries and flowers. My plan is to reach Vijayawada by night. I reached a " T " junction and asked the gentlemen in the corner for directions. One guy tried to mislead me and the other showed me the path , i.e. I have reached NH5 and i have to take left to go Vijayawada.
Fatigue is taking over. Agreed to give lift to a college student who is studying engineering, controlled urge to ask him questions on electrical and electronics , solitude returned once he got off. Had snacks at Eluru Medical college.
Fading sunlight reminded me of the time constraint. Damn this time. I always wanted to kill the man who introduced it. Why we need to measure time? Probably the same reason i am doing now. To finish things before night falls. Sun dials were the first watches. And calenders must have been introduced because of seasons. If only earth is not moving,
neither rotation nor revolution , and if we have four suns at equal distance to maintain the constant temperature, and we have plenty of water to feed crops, then probably we can ditch all the clocks and calendars.
Would not life be better without a factor of time? Only the biological changes in body reveals at what stage we are on. Born, walk, talk, fall of baby teeth, mustache and beard, when bones stopped growing, white hair, wrinkled skin , decreased performance in memory and senses, bed ridden , death. Simple. No birth day parties , no retirement age , nothing. No weather predictions, no disappointments , no seasons , no seasonal cloths . World would have been better if i were God.
Reached Vijayawada at about 7PM, it took me one hour to find a hotel . Checked in at Hotel Leelavati near Bus stand., Rs. 550. Changed room as the washbasin is broke and unclean room , without much fuss they shifted me to another.
After dinner, spent some time on social networking sites , checked maps to plan next days journey and slept.
Day 3
All the vehicles passing by the road, decided to blow horn when they come near to the window of my room. Could not sleep well. Got ready to strike off Undavalli caves from my list. Its about 7 KM from the hotel.
Checked out and realized that there is an old man sitting on my bike and reading newspaper. I approached him and told him that i have to go. He politely got off. I asked him for directions to Undavalli Caves. He asked me to go straight to the bus stand and catch a bus. I told him that i have a vehicle . He listened and told me to go straight to the bus stand, park my vehicle there and catch a bus!!
Without talking further, i took the bike and went to Undavalli caves via Prakasham barrage. I learn that Prakasham barrage is the connecting bridge between Vijayawada and Guntur.
Undavalli caves are rock-cut caves. Well, "Rock-cut" is a simple word but the cutting is not. Legend is that the main statue in the temple is of Jain , is Hinduised in later years into Lord Vishnu. One can observe the difference in stone texture and color on torso, head and the raised hand.
Amaravati is in my original itinerary. Its just 40 KM away from Undavalli caves, but i have cancelled it for three reasons. 1. I wish to reach home in day time 2. I wish to save places for future trips. 3. I planned to search for the literature by Patanjali ( Not Yoga Patanjali, he is a Telugu novelist and play writer ) .
No luck in finding the book at Lenin center or at the book houses near by. Emesco publishers guy tried to help me finding the book, by calling the people, it turned futile.
Reached home by 4PM .
Distance from Hyderabad : 600KM
Nearest place to stay: Narsipatnam
After two years i am going single again. Was planning it for month or so, but i have no clue when it will be executed. I have two options for stay 1. Tuni, 2. Narsipatnam.
Tuni is about 70KM away from Lambasingi, and Narsipatnam is 30KM. I know Tuni is big town and accommodation can be found easily , but not sure about Narsipatnam. Been asking friends and Google, but none gave answers with assurance.
Initiated the pre-drive ritual by servicing the bike and finished it by informing Raju about the road trip.
Day 1
Started at 5:30 AM from home. couple of tea breaks and one long halt due to flat tire at Suryapet and crossed Vijayawda by 12:30 PM, Rajamandry by 5PM and Annavaram at 7PM. Nothing else to describe.
I am no religious person, but i always find Annavaram temple serene at dusk with all the lights on. Its like the other mountains of Easternghat are prostrating before it. However the view is better when traveling by
Janmabhoomi express than on road. There , i started my usual cursing for not taking public transport and as usual, tea lifted my mood and made journey interesting.
Reached Tuni by 8PM. The road from Tuni to Narsipatnam is a well laid single road with villages and hamlets and with lot of curves. Luckily, the moon light was so luminous that i dont have depend on my headlight to ride, when i switched off headlight for fun, i could see the road fine. Riding like that was fun, but i had to turn it on to make myself visible to other drivers.
My suspicion to find a place to eat and sleep at Narsipatnam was growing up each time i pass a village which already slept. People whom i asked kept assuring me , not to worry. Its no big deal to return to Tuni but I was not in a mood to ride long at night.
Once I reached Narsipatnam, my fears vanished at the sight of Movie theaters, function halls, 3G signal , Two way roads and petrol bunks. There are 2 big hotels along with many lodges. I checked in at Sri Krishna Residency . Room rent Rs 500.
I was planning to sleep till 9 AM next day and then go to Lambasingi, but the receptionist advised me to start as early as 4:30AM or else i might miss fog.
That day i traveled for 15 hours 30 mins. I no longer wish to put pressure on ass so i slept on my tummy.
Day 2
Damn those birds at Narsipatnam which started chirping loudly at 2:30 in the morning. Checked out at 5:30AM. I was talking to the tea-stall guy for the clues to understand why the town become so big and developed in the middle of nowhere. He kept on talking how real estate boomed but could not tell why the boom came.Moon is still ruling the sky when i started my journey. I saw a group of people standing by the road at about 100yards, i slowed down looking sideways for any movement on either side of the road and honked to see if they are dacoits, seems they are harmless villages chatting while waiting for sun to begin their work. I encountered many such chatters on the way, and each time i made sure.
The mountains were bulky and dense, like a fortress , to romanticize the event, i must describe, i approached them like Brad Pitt approached gates of Troy on chariot in the movie Troy. But only, he is fearless, and looking for revenge, and me going for fun to strike off another name in the list.
It become dawn when i approached the Ghat section. I know i still have miles to go , feared that i might not see fog. The ghat is too narrow for even one car and one bike.Sun came out of blankets and i started racing towards lambasingi, hoping to catch the glimpse of fog and coldness before sun melts them. Somehow, i was beginning to enjoy the passage. It was lonely, it got curves, , to my left is the mountain , showing its red soil , and to my right there is thick forest full of green, the black road is draw boarder between the two and i was in full black zooming up. If only i could get painting of that moment.
The Hamlet is located on a hilltop. I met other tourists and went further into the village. The total population of village cant exceed 100, there are two grocery stores, and a cell phone repair shop. The fog gets accumulated on the trees , turns to liquid and the droplets fall on leaves fooling us to believe that its raining.
 | |
| Lambasingi village |
The fog searches for the places to get accumulated, with in minutes of reaching Lambasingi, i noticed droplets on fingers.
There is nothing much to do , except talking to other tourists on how they arrived, from where and at what point they started? A group of software engineers from Hyderabad , came by car , stayed at the village paying 500 for a small room. Later i noticed a flex before a house confirming that.
Babu, Sell the Girls
I returned to Narsipatnam to go ahead with my plan i.e to visit Draksharamam and go to Vijayawada.
On the way to Narsipatnam i was accompanied by a College student who asked lift. At Narsipatnam two little girls asked me lift till the school which is about 1KM and they are running late. I said OK, and took my bag and placed it on tank so the girls with school bags can sit. The old fat lady from the vegetable shop who observed , shouted at me to sell the girls with a laugh. She talked to girls for a moment and asked me again to sell them off for 1.5Lac . I am not really comfortable this kind of comedy, i gave plastic laugh and went ahead with the girls.
Seems one is studying fourth and another is fifth standard. I dropped them on the road where they have requested me , made sure that their uniform is matching with the herds of students going in the same direction. I would get arrested within 6 hours , before reaching even Rajamandry if those girls were to kidnapped like it happens in old Hollywood movies.
Beauty of the surroundings is captivating . It will be waste of your time, if i start describing each road in Coastal Andhra. Unless otherwise specified, they are all good roads , with Coconut and Taddy trees on either side , and then there will be paddy farms till horizon. They are all beautiful .
According to Google Maps, i should be traveling on Kakinada beach road to reach Draksharamam, i was on to another road as i asked locals for direction. Kakinada roads could not meet the population growth and vehicles on it. The roads are just like sultan Bazar road in Hyderabad, clumsy, and full of hawkers.
Kakinada to Draksharamam road is a single way, without potholes , the usual Godavari districts beauty is there, added to that, its a canal road.
 | |
| Draksharamam Temple |
At 1PM I reached Draksharamam temple. Lunch time for God and his priests is from 12PM to 4 PM. I thought of looking around on the perimeter . After learning where i come from , the lady at the shoe-stand introduced me to a priest , the priest asked me to come inside, for a second i thought might get me inside the shrine. He led me to a statue of Lord Ganesh out side the snctorium , made me recite few mantras after him, then led me to a banyan tree on the perimeter , sat there like a sage, lectured me how important Hinduism is , and charged me all the Ten currency notes i have with me.
Shoe-stand fellow said he dont have change for 500 , so i owe him Rs. 3 .
My next destination is a village called Pasalapudi. Pasalapudi is Telugu equivalent of Malgudi, except the place is real. Director Vamsi wrote bunch of short stories which takes the reader to pensive mood and named it "Pasalapudi Kathalu". I always planned to take a selfie at the village name board with that book in hand, but it didnt happen.
 | |
| Pasalapudi |
I crossed "Kadiam" , place known for nurseries and flowers. My plan is to reach Vijayawada by night. I reached a " T " junction and asked the gentlemen in the corner for directions. One guy tried to mislead me and the other showed me the path , i.e. I have reached NH5 and i have to take left to go Vijayawada.
Fatigue is taking over. Agreed to give lift to a college student who is studying engineering, controlled urge to ask him questions on electrical and electronics , solitude returned once he got off. Had snacks at Eluru Medical college.
Fading sunlight reminded me of the time constraint. Damn this time. I always wanted to kill the man who introduced it. Why we need to measure time? Probably the same reason i am doing now. To finish things before night falls. Sun dials were the first watches. And calenders must have been introduced because of seasons. If only earth is not moving,
Would not life be better without a factor of time? Only the biological changes in body reveals at what stage we are on. Born, walk, talk, fall of baby teeth, mustache and beard, when bones stopped growing, white hair, wrinkled skin , decreased performance in memory and senses, bed ridden , death. Simple. No birth day parties , no retirement age , nothing. No weather predictions, no disappointments , no seasons , no seasonal cloths . World would have been better if i were God.
Reached Vijayawada at about 7PM, it took me one hour to find a hotel . Checked in at Hotel Leelavati near Bus stand., Rs. 550. Changed room as the washbasin is broke and unclean room , without much fuss they shifted me to another.
After dinner, spent some time on social networking sites , checked maps to plan next days journey and slept.Day 3
All the vehicles passing by the road, decided to blow horn when they come near to the window of my room. Could not sleep well. Got ready to strike off Undavalli caves from my list. Its about 7 KM from the hotel.
Without talking further, i took the bike and went to Undavalli caves via Prakasham barrage. I learn that Prakasham barrage is the connecting bridge between Vijayawada and Guntur.
Undavalli caves are rock-cut caves. Well, "Rock-cut" is a simple word but the cutting is not. Legend is that the main statue in the temple is of Jain , is Hinduised in later years into Lord Vishnu. One can observe the difference in stone texture and color on torso, head and the raised hand.Amaravati is in my original itinerary. Its just 40 KM away from Undavalli caves, but i have cancelled it for three reasons. 1. I wish to reach home in day time 2. I wish to save places for future trips. 3. I planned to search for the literature by Patanjali ( Not Yoga Patanjali, he is a Telugu novelist and play writer ) .
No luck in finding the book at Lenin center or at the book houses near by. Emesco publishers guy tried to help me finding the book, by calling the people, it turned futile.
Reached home by 4PM .
