15th November 2015 - Vsakhapatnam to Bhubaneshwar

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We left Vizag early in the morning and reached Bhubaneshwar at about 3 PM, a total drive of about 6.5 hours.

The roads were empty and the surface good, facilitated a high average speed throughout the drive. Not much of traffic on the roads not even autorisckshaws and two wheelers, either not many people go to Bhubaneshwar from Vizag or being a Sunday there was less traffic.

All along the way we saw people carrying platters with flowers and other puja items and when stopped to enquire we were told that today was Nagula Chauthi, a day when people pray to snakes. Those who wanted to pray were making their way to and searching for snake pits (termite mounds) for praying and making their offerings.

Praying to the snakes

On this road too the toll booths were in bad condition and sorely lacking in amenities, forget the vehicles passing through, what about those who work at the toll booths?

Toll booth, wonder what the staff do during summer or when it rains.

The drive was pleasant as was the weather.

Once we crossed into Orissa there were hundreds of lorries in a queue at the integrated check post and waiting to get into the State. The roads were not as well cared for as in AP and the road traffic was also heavier. Is it that Orissa is not as developed as Andhra?

A huge statute of Hanuman coming up alongside the highway

Toll Booth Operator

Lunch time - Close to a quarry

Overgrown lorry

carrying recron, lage in size but not heavy, however he still overflows and is this correct?

This lorry gave me the scare, I thought he was coming towards me but was actually moving away from me, I thought for a moment he was going in reverse till  noticed that he was being towed.

All along te highway in Andhra one can come across goats being herded, maybe the large quantities because we were on te highway during the weekend, all of them prospective Briyani?

Lorries trying to pass one another at slow speeds slow you down

This lorry was coming in the wrong direction and had run over a two wheeler, nothing seems to have happened to the rider but the vehicle was stuck under the lorry and there were three men under the lorry trying to extricate the two wheeler.

Transvestite at a toll booth

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14th November 2015 Vijaywada to Visakhapatnam

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The journey commenced from Vijaywada at about 9:50 AM, NH 5 was quite close to our Hotel, in fact just a few Kms away, we reached the highway and got going in a short while.

NH 5 between Vijaywada and Vizag is a rather crowded road what with large numbers of the larger share autorickshaws and two wheelers all vying for space in the middle of the road, most of them do not want to keep left but stayed right in the middle of the road.  If we wanted to overtake the slower vehicles on the highway they would expect us to go past them while they remained in the centre of the road. The highway is four lane and two lanes going each way, the motorcycles and autos would be on the white marking or line which divides the two lanes.

Goats on the highway

As was expected in this part of the Golden Quadrilateral there were a number of diversions and one has to contend with traffic coming in opposite direction, not only because of these diversions but also many humans wanting to take the short cut, meaning driving or riding in the opposite direction on a one way highway.

The toll booths were pathetic, run down and with very little amenities, wonder why? If we were surprised with this a bigger surprise awaited us in Bihar and East UP.

A toll booth on NH5 close to Vizag, poor infra structure at all toll booths along the way and no amenities :(

Another funny thing was that there were no restaurants between these two cities on the NH5, the only decent place we saw was a Cafe Coffee Day quite some distance form Vijaywada, how do travellers manage, carry their food? Make do with what is available? Yes, there was not many cars on the road, is this how it is at all times? Is this why there is lack of infa structure and facilities on this road?

About 240 Kms from Vijaywada we came to Ammavaram, from here the road was good for a about 30 Kms and went through valleys the drive here was superb and the scenery refreshing and not much traffic too. Beyond this stretch we had to contend with what we had experienced of NH5 earlier.

The drive was rather uneventful and a little stressful because of the many slow vehicles on the road wanting to remain in the centre of the road.

Slow vehicles trying to overtake and holding up traffic, common throughout India.

While the surface of the Golden Quadrilateral is good there is little thought that has been paid to safety, hundreds of cross roads go through the NH5 and posing great danger to those on the road, many two wheelers join the highway from the village and side roads coming in at high speed and not caring to check for oncoming traffic, while the authorities talk about careless riders and drivers why are roads laid without safety being considered?

The farmlands on the highway broke the monotony and provided a pleasant view.

Hay stacks in the field

Dinner was at Dharini a vegetarian restaurant at "Daspalla" on our mind was the Andhra Meals and that is what we had, good meal. We wanted to go to the beach close by but were told to be careful and come back soon etc. so we decided not to go - anti social elements

With nothing much to do at Vizag we filled up fuel, stocked up on drinking water and back to the Hotel to sleep.

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13th Nov 2015 - Chennai to Vijaywada

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Very heavy rains from about 3 AM and into early in the morning delayed out leaving Chennai. We wanted to leave at 5:30 am, but could leave at 7 AM only. To cover the first thirty km we took about one hour, The heavy downpour and stagnant water consequent to the last few hours heavy and incessant rains ensured that the traffic moved at a snail's pace.

The first toll Booth waved us through, maybe there was no power? However the unruly traffic at the toll did not help and the vehicles moved as if the toll was working.

60kms from home, the roads were dry and the rains ceased. The sky was heavily overcast and threatened to start raining.

By this time (8:30 am) we were hungry and looking for a place to have breakfast. Google told us that a Shyams group outlet was a short while away.  130 kms from home was the highway family restaurant, which was actually Amaravathi restaurant and serving vegetarian breakfast. The food was quite good and the toilets not too bad. Maybe restaurants should charge people for using the toilets, this would defeat the very high cost of keeping toilets clean in India.

Amaravathi Restaurant about 130 Kms from Chennai on the Nellore highway, maybe the best option for food when you start your journey from Chennai on that highway.

At 10:30 am and 3.5 hours after we started we had done 155 kms. About 50 kms average per hour not bad considering the slow traffic the first 2 hours.

We reached Vijaywada at 3 PM and checked into our Hotel, After a late lunch we started our looking around Vijaywada.

Sitting with the statues

Waiting for business - Vijaywada

Hundreds of lorries parked alongside the highway.

We drove past the Prakasam Barrage a dam built in 1850 and is being used today and a major thoroughfare at that, one can also many couples ambling on the Barrage taking in the breeze and enjoying the experience.

On the Prakasam barrage

Prakasan Barrage - Vijaywada

A little distance away from the Prakasam Barrage are the Undavalli caves. We were late and so could spend only a few minutes there and well worth the time and visit. One can see from the images below that there are figures of Europeans in the caves, I was not able to find much on this. It is believed that there is a tunnel from the caves to the Mangalagiri mountains but this is not confirmed.....  Undavalli caves are an example of how many Buddhist artifacts and stupas in Andhra were converted into Hindu temples and deities.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undavalli_caves

Vishnu lying down, no prayers being conducted here regularly.

Looks like an Eurpoean right? No information though on these faces in the caves.

Cells in which the buddhist monks used to stay, it is obvious that the sculptures on the pillars were added later. Mostly hindu figures....

Mangalagiri is a just a few Kms away from the Undavalli caves and the draw of this famous textiles centre could not be resisted. We visited a shop at "Kothapet" selling Mangalagiri cotton sarees and textiles and they had three looms attached to the shop, a novel experience and we would have been able to see the workers, weaving if we had gone there a little earlier. One can find a lot of information on the internet about the Mangalagiri sarees and textiles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangalagiri

Lakshminarasimhan temple, Mangalagiri

Mangalagiri cotton looms

It was late by the time we reached the loom and the workers had left for the day.

Mangalagiri threads

Our next stop was the famous Kanaka Durga temple in Vijaywada situated on top of a hillock, not much of a crowd at the time of our visit though being a Friday. For the first time I saw a small shed housing 2 cows being worshipped by devotees inside the temple complex. We had a easy entry and darshan in spite of fears.

http://www.durgamma.com/

Kanaka Durga Temple Vijaywada

Pilgrims making their offerings

Pilgrims getting ready to retire for the day in the halls of the Kanadurga temple.

Kanakadurga temple, Cows being worshipped

We drove through One town, Kaleswara Rao Market a wholesale market in Vijaywada, obviously very popular and doing a lot of business, noticeable by the crowd and vehicles in that area.

Dinner we had earlier decided would be at "Babai" a iconic restaurant famous for its idlies. We were not impressed though. The food was alright but the cleanliness and ambience was lacking and one may visit it once as a result of its past glory but not a second time.

Babai of Vijaywada

At the famouos (?) Babai, my recommendation, visit, eat your idly fast and go somewhere else for dinner.

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