Lambasingi - The Andhra Kashmir

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.

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 .

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.

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,

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 .

Trip to Gandikota

Years back, i was surfing through wikipedia and found an article on Gandikota. The image of Penna gorge made me add this place to my list.

Recently, i was getting bored of driving all the way to visit a man-made artifice. Decided to appreciate beauty of nature, thus this trip.

Two bikes and four people. This time we started off before sun rise. While sun still contemplating of rising or not, i am sipping coffee miles away from home.  Raju does not need breaks, Chandu hates them. I wish to go at my usual speed with usual frequency of  tea-breaks but, we have long way to go. Target is to reach Gandikota by 2PM , finish sightseeing there and go to Belum caves on the way back next day.

Thanks to Chandu, tea-breaks are contained. We went in to Kurnool city just to buy Bun-Cova as Dixit wanted. Before noon, we reached Orwakal for lunch. After having meals, except me rest of them went rock climbing. I came to bike, to realize that the monkeys are creating havoc there. I stood there guarding the bikes.

Dixit realized that his Nike cap was missing from the Tank cover of bike. And i could not find strip of painkillers.

Note: Never leave any valuables with bikes when parking at Orwakal APTDC Haritha Resort, unless you can convince monkeys to bring back your items. 

Crossed Bethamcherla ghat road and to reach Banaganapalli. Its almost 3 by the time we reached there. After tea, we started off to Jammalamadugu, which 60KM. The road is well laid with no potholes. Vast farms lands on either side of the road, and trees making canopy made the journey less tiresome.

We have inquired for lodges just to make sure we have alternatives if APTDC Haritha Resorts got filled. The Tea-seller told us that there are lodges. The time was 5PM. It took another 20 min to travel 15KM on a lonely road i have ever traveled.

The APTDC resort designed like a small fort is economical and comfortable. The room boy advised us to go to valley next day morning as its getting dark already, and there is a leopard out there snatching the cattle.

The whole Gandikota village is inside the fort. The way from the first gate to second gate is designed with sharp curves to slowdown the invading enemy. Once we passed the second gate, a charminar stood there welcoming us. Its dwarf and ugly version Charminar of Hyderabad.  

We went to see an old jail, now resident of bats. It was not so impressive, but the view of Madhavaraya temple from there is.

Me and Dixit went ahead to reach temple, Raju and Chandu went to see Jama Masjid and came there. Instead of going to the temple, we took the dirt road and drove till we can ride safely. There is a lake and abandoned stone buildings there. I was thinking of Leopard , and Raju gone into nostalgia and started eating fruits of an unknown tree which he claims to have tasted in childhood. I too had one.

In countryside, darkness gets an easy victory over dusk. We started walking back and as we are  contemplating the leopard attack, moving figures appeared on either side of the way all of a sudden. Turns out they are villagers going back to village.

Went back to resort, continued chitchatting till sleep came over.

Day 2

Fatigue from previous day didnt allow me get out of bed when alarm went off. I want to go out and see hills and valleys but body wants to take rest. Finally got up at 7AM and by 9 everybody is awake and ready to go. When asked for directions an autorikshaw driver mislead us to hills rather than valley.

I could not figure out how to ask  "View point" in Telugu. Cant ask for directions for penna river as it flows great distances. I just want to stand at the view point, but i dont know how to ask. We shown the picture from internet to a local guy and he said the location "behind" the fort.

We drove into the fort. Raju and Dixit started taking videos. We pulling each other legs and parked bikes at Jama Masjid and went ahead. There was a board saying that the way leads to Queens's palace, Gun foundry  and river front. Assured by the sign board we went ahead. We crossed the ruins to be lost. Yes , we are lost, there is no river to be seen, just rocky hills with no one around. The local guy on the hiss said behind the fort, so i was looking for end of the fort.  Our trials to find the view point yielded no results. With the thought of Leopard hanging over the head, we decided to go back and return with a guide.

As we reached Jama Masjid again we asked for direction to the valley to couple of guys with beers. They pointed out to the right side of Masjid. At the corner there is a sign board which says "Raghavanatha temple, Jama Masjid and Penna valley".

NOTE: To reach the view point , enter the fort , pass by charminar , at Jamamasjid take right.

Went there, enjoyed the view, took few snaps of the valley and of each other till it become afternoon.

Chandu noticed a huge nail in my bikes back tire. We thought the nail itself is stopping the venting of air. Went to resort, packed our things and checked out.

Madhavaraya temple should not be missed. Legend is that the God in the temple could not tolerate atrocities by Muslim invaders and walked out in human form . The temple is God less. However the sculptures eccentric.  

Stopped at a puncture shop in Jammalamaudugu. I was sure that the nail caused two punctures to the tube. When the mechanic removed the nail and poured water on tire to check for the leakage, there is none. We are saved.

After having lunch at a mess with local cuisines , we discussed sometime over  on which route to take. It was 3.30PM already. Our target is to reach NH7 before night falls.

We decided to take Tadipatri route and join NH7 at Gooty. The route is longer but better than the one we traveled yesterday. I have traveled in those roads before when i was working in Anantapur. The route is full of small and dull villages. Had a tea-break at Yadiki and we reached Gooty. Raju started driving from there.

Reached Kurnool by 8 PM. Now i am sure that we can reach hyderabad before morning. My energy levels are going down and the headache becoming annoying. After swallowing a tablet and a cup of coffee we resumed.

I traveled nights before, always hated it. This time, i tried splashing. It works to keep you awake at least for a while. Then tried chewing gums, they work fine as well. Sleep is one thing to handle and darkness is another.  I wonder if any scientist is working on making Damber which is white. That should solve half of problems of night time driving. 

We reached Judcherla at midnight, by 2 AM Shamshabad.

Overall the trip went well without hiccups. But should have read blogs to get more information on the place. 

Trip to Chaya Someswaralayam and Nostalgia

Since i came to that the mystery of this temple can be explained with quantum physics, my palms started itching for a drive.

I dont really need to have a reason to go a drive, but i used my birthday.

The temple is at Panagal , near Nalgonda district headquarters. Its merely 90KM from where i stay, and its a wonder we never heard of it before.

Following the birthday drive protocol i started at 10AM. As it happened before, i am not really sure where i am heading and what destination i need to choose. Been planning for Amaravati for long time, but its not recommended for one day drive in rainy season. Weather report might say it wont rain, and economist might speculate a disaster cause of lack of rains, but when i go on a drive between June to November it will rain. Keeping past experiences in mind, i decided to go to Chaya someswaralayam, which is near, and i can return home by evening..


Due to field trip, i had to go Chowtupall, halfway from my destination, around twice a week. I almost knew every curve, every tea shop en-route. Its NH9, so no complaints on the road. Took right at Narketpally and reached Panagal by afternoon. The temple is not even in half the size i imagined it would be. The temple complex comprises of 7 to 8 temples archaic temples which are ready to collapse. The writing on the wall says, the temple will be closed from 11AM to 5PM. Reconstruction work is going on with few workers toiling in the complex. As i was taking pics, a shepherd came to me and encouraged to get inside the temple. He is dumb ( Not stupid dumb, cant speak dumb). He became my tour guide to the temple and showed me inside out of it.

The temple was open , regardless of time table they painted on the wall. After taking pics, i bid adieu to my tour guide and started back. Had couple of teas, and lunch.

It rained in Chowtuppal, and it looked like its going to rain again. I was about to slap myself for having this longdrive mania instead of going public transport, the "Patangi" board threw me into nostalgia.

Ever since, i bought the bike, and whenever i fueled the tank full, i used to get the urge to go long. But then i was afraid that i might not have the energy to return and i was afraid of single way highways.. One fine day, in the winter of 2008, i broke the fear and decided to

went long at petrol bunk. I decided to travel for half hour and come back.

So i started, after half hour i decided to go another 15 min and return. Something in me refused to take U-turn after 15 min, so i decided to drive till i feel like having a tea. I drove 50KM and stopped at a village called "Pantangi". Had tea and returned.

So many rides happened on NH9 in after years, but never i found that village. I thought the newly laid NH9 bypassed it. But its still there, like scar on the knees to remind childhood. 

Had a tea there, took the pic of village name board and returned to Hyderabad.

PS: For more information on Chaya someswaralayam and its mystery , go through wikipedia article here

Trip to Antarvedi

7 members, 4 bikes , 4 days , 1400 KM , 2 perennial rivers and ocean. That is our trip in a nutshell. Now to the details.



                                                          DAY 1.



9th January 2014. As usual, we started late. My hopes on trip were not really great. All that pushed me is the mild urge to have a multiple day trip on road.
We very diversified , not all of us are close friends, we dont belong to one age group, not profession, not all of us are riders, not all of us are smokers, not all of us are boozers. With four guys who are new to long drives, i was skeptical how long we go together, or how long we can travel without anybody getting ill.



                                  Cutting through the mist, heading towards east.



After taking pics, we started and stopped after 30 KM for breakfast-1. It was my proposal to have breakfast at Organic Hotel. The advertisements were welcoming us to eat there for the last 15 KM. The place is great, with a fake bullock-cart. Prices are a bit costly, so we decided not satisfy our tummies there and have our second breakfast at Suryapet, about 70KM from there.

When we are about to leave, Uday put iPad on my face and asked me to read the passage on it. Its a passage by Jiddu Krishnamurthy, a philosopher. We had little chat over it.

Of course we stopped twice for tea once and for cigarettes before reaching Suryapet. We devoured there. Santosh is driving my bike. I was enjoying my lost but found songs collection from 2006. I thought i have to recollect the songs when my hard drive broke , but luckily my friend had them. I could not stop smiling and singing. That old collection reminded me of the past "me".

I was a teenager when i started collecting them. So most of them are hero-introduction songs, related to personality development , telling the listeners how to deal with hardships of life and romantic songs. In romantic songs, except for few duets , there are mostly sung by a guy who had feelings for a girl and yet to propose her, or break-up songs.
 
We attach feelings to objects. We need that object to remember those feelings. I attach freedom to drives. That makes me happy, not just because, i am away from home, but it kind of gives me a feeling of Gypsy, a Normad. So, when i am on a drive, i try to enact the modus vivend of a gypsy. A rugged, not-so-
sophisticated , no-problem-with-mingling-with-all kind of Gypsy, who sings along , and who is not rich.
While i was singing out loud and drumming on Santosh's back, rest were waiting for us at road side lake. It must be an open land, which gets immersed with heavy rains. The trees, in the middle of the lake, gave it a magnificiant look. Had a short cigarette break there and we drove away, promising the lake to visit it again.
At outskirts of Vijayawada we discussed in which way we should reach Eluru. There are two ways to reach it. Through Vijayawada and circumventing-vijayawada. Finally, we decided to ride through the city. Sridhar and Uday knew the city well. Despite my request to lead through the city, they have zoomed away and rest of us were lost. Thanks to Google Maps, we crossed the city without wasting much time, its the people and police there who tried their best to confuse us.

Couple of hours of driving and we reached Eluru, headquarters of WestGodavari district. Our plan is to visit Kolleru lake , night halt at some lodge. The college kids we met there told us its futile to go there when sun is setting. So decided to go to Bhimavaram, visit Kolleru on the way back to Hyderabad.

The night, bad road , cattle and bugs, a bad combination to drive. The lady at a Tea stall gave us suggestions and gave phone number of his son in law, who would help us to get lodge at a temple nearby, which we didnt paln for. For curtosy sake, i took the number and assured her that we will call her if we are lost.

We reached Bhimavaram. I was expecting it be a small town, but a big shopping mall welcomed me. After fuelling bikes, we started to veeravasaram, where Grandparents of Uday live. This time, we had tea near a Fish packing factory, where workers are more friendly towards strangers and invited us to bet in the cock fights which will happen in next two days.

After driving in the night, long enough for my mood to get dampened, we reached the destination.

Scope of this blog wont allow me describe the great party and hospitality we received there. I might write it sometime in regular blog.

                                                                  DAY 2

Thanks to last night's party we all woke up late and we all are suffering dizziness. It was around 2 PM we started the bikes. Had to take a long break for Disprin and let it show the results.

Today, our target is to reach Antarvedi beach. This is where Godavari meets Bay of Bengal. And another to-do thing is to cross the river on a ferry.

Borded the ferry at Narsapur, parked bikes at ferry and stood by them as we cross the river, as if there

were horses terrified of river.

When the boat hit the river sand on the other side, i exhaled with relief. However, its fun. BTW, the ferry is called “Panti” in that area. Now we are at Sakinetipalli. Funny name.

With coconut trees standing like soldiers on either side of road, we got the black carpet welcome. I am going to skip how beautiful the way is , because all the routes we travelled in this particular trip are exceptionally beautiful. Unless i say otherwise , assume that, the road is beautiful, with coconut trees, canals and green fileds on either side of the road. This way, i dont have search for new words and expressions to make repetitions less boring.

Few kilometers from Antarvedi, we come across prossession of dummies to ward off evil. Enjoyed the show and went ahead.

                                                       

                                                              Antarvedi Beach 

If you are looking for a lonely beach, where ocean makes less noise and beach is relatively neat and where you wont be distrubed by the streethawkers. Then its Antarvedi Beach. Whenever, i go to beach, i make sure to have some lonely time, to let the waves beat my thoughts so hard that i can find peace.

I was about to get into the beach-calm, sridhar came with his bike, followed by dixit on his bullet and lot of noice. Then came santosh and uday with my jacket and shoes. Nageswar and Prahlad follwed then. I was determined not to to let them distrub me, so i encouraged them to enjoy the ocean and promised that i shall guard their belonging. Santosh was first to throw his mobile and wallet and ran. Then Sridhar, Prahlad and Dixit disappeared from my sight. Nageswar took time then moved , he needed some push. Finally, Uday walked away with iPad. Aloneness again !!!

Anything which breaks our chain of thoughts and make us stop thinking about anyother , we say it has “wow” factor or “awe” factor. Things like an engineering marvel , ocean, beauty of girl, great art work, force of nature, a deadbody , forest, waterfalls etc etc. However, its very rare for a thing to have both wow factor and awe factor. Ocean is one such thing. The shore is like rap music, it has a beat and mood lifting nature, but the horizon is silent , terrifying seems observant . Its like the lazy lion watching its cubs playing in the distance.

There are tons of poetry on waves. Not much on ocean. Probably, the sheer size of ocean scared the wits of poets too.

Been looking at the ocean long enough to wonder if the ocean is trying to encroch remaining earth or its just retreting ? Then i realized its running away from me. Its been more than36hrs since i took a bath.

We found 2 dead turtles on the beach which come ashore. After few days i read in the newspaper that there were more.

I was hoping that today we dont have to ride in the dark, but , Uday decided otherwise. He returned to the bikes after sunset. After he started talking, the fact that i didnt go to the place where Godavari meets the sea hit me. I blame the beach.

                                                            Wrong Mukkamala 

Its decided. We are going stay at Mukkamala, where cousins of Uday reside. We headed back from the beach, and this time we trusted Google Maps and it costed us time. We reached the beach through bunch of villages with loud temples. Now, we were riding on a lonely road , through the woods. There was not man on the to confirm the Google is right.

We ate Rotis at a hotel.. Mukkamala is not so far, that made us to take more halts for tea. Ocean filled energy in everybody, especially, in Nageswar and Prahlad who seen it for the first time.

We reached Mukkamala at around 11PM. As bikes stopped polluting the air and we took up the job, Uday talked over phone with his cousin and ended the call with a peculier expression on his. He took slow steps , changed the voice modulation and told us “ Guys, we are in wrong Mukkamala, our Mukkamala is in West Godavari district and now we are in East ”.

When everybody froze with that and cold weather outside, Sridhar jumped on the road and started shouting “ I like this twist, I like this twist” with hands thrown in the air.

Uday is a doctor by profession, Santosh is a mechanical engineer, me and Prahlad studied electrical

engineering. Santosh, can take out the batteries from the bikes, me and Prahlad could connect them in series and Uday can give shocks to sridhar brain to set it right. However, Sridhar came to his senses soon and we started riding.

There are two villages named “Mukkamala” in each Godavari districts. Sadly, only one Mukkamala is recognized by Google which is not our destination.

Patil, cousin of Uday, came to pick us at Ravulapalem as he started doubting our navigation skills. He took us the correct Mukkamala village and hoasted a party in paddy fileds. This party too just went like the old one, with camp fire and all. However, this time the host is with us and he is one good conversationalist.

We went to sleep at 3AM.

                                                                  DAY 3

Woke up early than yesterday. After breakfast, took leave from Patil and started off our journey.

Sun showed us what darkness hid from us last night. Its greenary! Spreading across acres of land, like an ocean which is standstill. Except sridhar everyone become speechless. It brought out creative photographer in everybody. Uday, become the cinematographer with his iPad , asking us to drive in a row. I enjoyed it for sometime. When they started showing each others work , wasting precious day light, i was irritated.

Nageswar had no choice except to accept my ultimatum to get on the bike. The road is highly elevated , giving the obstruction free view of beauty around me. I decided to enjoy it , with music. Music serves another purpose too, i can escape participating in conversation.

We have only two things to do that day. Travel from Bobbarlanka, where river Godavari splits , to highway. The way looked beautiful in Google Maps. The two tributaries and the highway formed a triangle. The choosen way is from apex of the triangle to the mid point of the base.

Highway was conjusted as there was a lorry-bus accident. I drove till Kadiyam. Kadiyam is famous for nursaries and Nageswar wanted to see it for a long time, and that was the seed to this drive. I anticipated that he would take much time there, however, he was bored after first nursary we bumped into.

Part of me wanted to have tea and part of me wanted to see Bobbarlanka. Former is strong but later one got lucky. We halted at a hotel, which doesnot serve tea. Continued the ride in disappointment. Once we saw a bigger than life size statue of SV RangaRao, a gem from Tollywood,at Dhavaleswaram Dam, i become alright.

I passed through Dhavaleswaram bridge before, we walked on the sands in the previous trip. I anticipated that the road to Ravulapalem from Bobbarlanka would have the similar traces. I was wrong.

I bid Nageswar to call someone and tell them the location, and where to take the turn. Its about 2PM then.

We are headed towards a village called Ryali. To visit a temple there, where the sculptor is of both Vishnu and Jaganmohini. Just like previous day, the way is filled with greenary, and as a bonus, there is canal to either side of the road.

Blood is for Vampires, and tea for me. Its hard to resist our thirst for those liquids. We stopped at a place, had tea, had Jilabi and gave chance to rest of the guys to catch us up. They came, after having tea i requested them to get started. Everybody is talking on their photographic skills. I though Que sera sera and gave ultimatum to Nageswar again.

Bumped into series of shops which are selling “Pootharekulu”, a sweet which looks like a thin wrapper. We bought some and went to Ryali.

Spent some time in that temple, as we are returning, rest of the bikes approached us. I asked them to visit the temple as it is unique , while i ride slow towards Ravulapalem. They didnt show much interest in the temple and started off to Ravulapalem with Uday cursing me from behind. Obviously, i was pissing them off.

For the last one hr or so, i felt weirdness riding my bike. I thought, the problem is with with shockobsorbers again, however, Prahlad pointed out that its a flat tyre.

Its almost 4PM, and we are yet to have lunch, i asked rest them to go ahead with lunch to get my fixed. I was afraid that the tube must be replaced, fortunately that was not the case. When i called them to ask in which hotel they are lunching , they said they are still searching for the hotel. Apparently, sridhar wanted to eat rice-items so all bikes went for hunting. Its sad, we are searching for rice in the rice-bowl of Andhra Pradesh.

We had a long , unsatisfactory and costly lunch at a Dhaba. It was so long that we had hit the highway with headlights on.

                                                          

                                                           To Learn or not to Learn

“I hope that you will listen, but not with the memory of what you already know; and this is very difficult to do. You listen to something, and your mind immediately reacts with its knowledge, its conclusions, its opinions, its past memories. It listens, inquiring for a future understanding.

Just observe yourself, how you are listening, and you will see that this is what is taking place. Either you are listening with a conclusion, with knowledge, with certain memories, experiences, or you want an answer, and you are impatient. You want to know what it is all about, what life is all about, the extraordinary complexity of life. You are not actually listening at all.

You can only listen when the mind is quiet, when the mind doesn't react immediately, when there is an interval between your reaction and what is being said. Then, in that interval there is a quietness, there is a silence in which alone there is a comprehension which is not intellectual understanding.

If there is a gap between what is said and your own reaction to what is said, in that interval, whether you prolong it indefinitely, for a long period or for a few seconds - in that interval, if you observe, there comes clarity. It is the interval that is the new brain. The immediate reaction is the old brain, and the old brain functions in its own traditional, accepted, reactionary, animalistic sense.

When there is an abeyance of that, when the reaction is suspended, when there is an interval, then you will find that the new brain acts, and it is only the new brain that can understand, not the old brain”

― Jiddu Krishnamurti

This was the passage, Uday made me read at dawn of first day. I was thinking about it and found it half wise and half ridiculous. Jiddu Krishnamurti was proposing to abondon the experience we had and to grasp things as they are without judging them based on knowledge acquired in the past.

Probably the passage was taken out of context, or its the whole thing he wanted to make. I agree with the philosopher, we tend to ignore new things which keeps us away from getting fresh perspective of things, however, if we dont learn lessons from the past, and treat every repetitive incident as anew , we wont go ahead. If we dont learn and pass that knowledge to the next generation, then every generation would be inventing the wheel.

According to me, humans are supreme not because we have an opposible thumb or we are created by god. Its our ability to learn from experience, using it at next occurance of the same event and passing that knowledge to the next generation.

Probably, he does not want us to generalize things based knowledge we already have. We learn a lot with bad experience, and make an improptu conclusion based on it, they might help us survive but not make us happy on content. If every person , concludes that love is false after the first break up, we are all doomed. If every person concludes that his life is a waste after first failure, we are all dead. I dont mean to say, sit and talk to a tiger which came your way , hoping that it will become your pet. Tigers kill, thats all.

Though passing knowledge from one genration to other made us improvise the things, it is the same reason some of us are struck with dogmas.

While these thoughts are chewing my brain, we finished eating “Pootha rekulu” .

100 KM drive and we reached Eluru again. Tomorrow our aim is to tour Kolleru, let Sridhar take pics of Birds there and go home.

                                                                   Day 4

We continued the ritual of partying till late night and starts the bikes late. Of course, this day we started at 9AM, which is way too early for us.

We had Appalu, kind of Idlies till our neck. It took us some time to reach outskirts of Eluru, not because its a big city, but the traffic is as bad as Hyderabad.

                                                    Cheated by Google Maps, Again !!

According to Google Maps, Kolleru lake is a point on land and its not a waterbody at all. Some how , satallites used by Google, missed a fresh water lake of 300 SqKM. Thats then, i decided not to trust Maps.

However, part of blame goes to us too. We didnt bother to Google it and read any available blogs or see videos of Kolleru on Youtube. We expected the lake would be somthing of Hussain Sagar Size.

The lake turned out to be too huge even for our imagination. Its not like any other lake i have seen so far. The lake has small islands on it, some of which are connected and some are habituated by both birds and humans.

The fish-farmers use small boats made out of trunk of taddy trees. They can carry a diesl powered motor to pump water from one sector of farm to another.

I noticed that sridhar went missing. When i asked, Uday said, he drove back few kilometers to take snaps of birds. As we were waiting for him, we stopped a motor cyclist for directions. He gave us orange fruits along with directions.

The road is so bumpy that whatever we had for breakfast is digested and we were hungry again. We

stopped at a temple, “Peddintalamma gudi”, a local diety. We decided have lunch over there, or we had to eat there because Uday started eating. We ate till the hotel owner said there is no rice.

Apparently, there is an a bird sanctuary, 5KM from Kaikaluru. To reach that, travellers have to cross a Bamboo-bridge which is built by village panchayat. They charged Rs 2 for each bike as toll . The money might be sufficient to maintain the bridge, however, the experience we had and laugh i had is priceless. A local says that without that bridge, they have to circumvent 60 KM. At this point, Sridhar zoomed to the bird sanctuary so that he could take few snaps before sun set.

After another long bumpy ride which made our skeletons to vibrate, we reached “Aatapaaku bird sanctuary”. Mostly pelicans and cranes are visible at the bird sanctuary. Sridhar gathered the information that the administrative unit of the zilla made sure that humans and birds dont disturb each other. Hunting the birds and their food i.e fish in the lake is an offence. The policies worked, the fish in the lake grew exponentionally , which made the pelicans to make the bird sanctuary their breeding center.

After discussing how pelicans might taste and how much they weigh , we decided to go back to hyderabad. It was almost 5 PM.After talking a guy at tea stall, we decided reach Hyderabad, via, Gudivada and Vijayawada.

While we stopped , for tea, Sridhar went to saloon to get a shave. Rest of us found it weird and Dixit was shocked. The shock is visible in his face. We left Sridhar and went ahead, as a Ghost Rider, no matter how

late he starts he can catch us in no time.

Dixit's Enfiled ran out of fuel enroute to Gudivada. Fortunately, we found petrol at a retail shop. With that experience i checked the fuel knob to make sure that its ON. The way from Kaikaluru to Gudivada is scenic as usual, and we have a canal to the left, all through the way. I was looking for “ Ballakattu”, a floating thing which Andhra people use to cross canals. I guess, its the construction of bridges over canal made Ballakattu obsolete.

We passing through famous places which have made their way into Tollywood lyrics. Kaikaleru, Mudunepalli and Gudivada. I should start a theam-drive to cover places which were mentioned in the movies.

                                    Chose the road less traveled and it scared us.

After Sridhar joined us in Gudivada, we picked a way suggested by Uday who travelled in that region before. The traffic constable suggested an alternative route which has traffic. We headed that way, then couple of police suggested us to go the way Uday suggested. We came to route number one, the traffic halted due to railway gate, so decided go in the other way, and that has costed us peace of journy.

Gudivada to Hyderabad road has all the bad qualities a road can have. Single way, Potholes, bugs , cattle and traffic ( Maintly SUVs). Each one of us had experienced a near-accident experience then. Fortnately, nothing unwanted had happened, except two bikes went missing by the time we reached Kankipadu. Dixit , Prahlad and Sridhar took a detour as Sridhar had to pick up few things from his relatives.

I have reached Vijayawada first and waiting at Auto Nagar for the rest. My phone battery is drained and Nageswars battery is about to. We waited till Uday came to rescue us with a charged phone. It took another hour for us to communicate and coordinate for us to meet. Sridhar was still at his relatives home.

We have wasted some more time discussing wheather we should checkout the tunnel route in vijayawada or hit the Hyderabad highway as if we have chocices to make when sun went to bed and moon is challenging us to travel at night.

We have decided to go to Hyderabad and Santosh made us to halt to buy a monkey cap. We drove 20 KM to stop for dinner. Informed Sridhar about the location, and he joined us.

                                                                  Sleep Riding

After having stomach full of rotis, we made our plan. Its simple. Tea break at every major town on the way to Hyderabad. Little i know that we will have a sleeping-break too.

I was skeptical about our journey to hyderabad. Previous trips taught me that not every one can drive through out the night. And i am not one of them. Night driving, though on National Highway scares me. Invisibility , highbeams put more pressure on the brain which wants to take rest.

We stopped at every town for tea and coffee. I expected that Uday would push the idea to check in a hotel and sleep, but it was Dixit who did that. Four days of driving took the toll of each one. But, budget made us

to move ahead.

Dixit entered half-sleep mode, so santosh took Enfield. We continued our journey with me and Dixit arguing over politics till he becomes sober and expressed his will to drive Enfield.

In one of the many tea-breaks, Uday stood up with a firm expression on his face accused us of riding slow, so he would take Nageswar and reach Hyderabad, because Nageswar cant ride and he doesnot nead a back-up rider. We let them go, as Uday had to come to Bhimavaram the next day with his family.

10 min after we all started, i saw Dixits Enfield stopped on the left side. Prahlad didnt put his feet down and Dixit leening on petrol tank, looked as if he checking the fuel in the bike. I thought , the bike ran out of fuel and went there to enquire. Dixit was sleeping with his head on the petrol tank and Prahlad is checking his Mobile.

With a push, he woke up with red eyes. Santosh took Enfield again. Dixit started nagging to take a hotel. He made up stories like, he is seeing houses travelling along with us due to lack of sleep etc etc.

After couple of hours of riding, we stopped at Narketpally for Tea. Now the time is 3AM. One after one, everyone went to sleep. Me and Santosh were chatting till Uday and Nageswar joined us. Apparently, both of them slept at a town for more than hour and came here to sleep again.

My plan is to wake them up after one hour, but could not do so. They scattered all over that small hotel and slept with heads on the tables. The old guy who preparing breakfasts didnt bother us.

Me and Santosh palnned to wake them up at sun rice. The dense fog allowed them to sleep for some more time. It was almost 8:30 AM when the visability increased and we are confident enough to drive.

At Chowtappal, Uday and Sridhar slept again. Santosh who didnt sleep at all, was exhausted. He was so exhausted that he thought spelling of 2 is “to”.

In couple of hours , we reached our cafe, had tea and samosas and went home.

Its one trip which made realize that, one only needs to have endurance for a long drive not experience.

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.