After exiting the Nehru ORR, found an extremely fast Isuzu Vcross on the Hyderabad Bangalore stretch and we danced around the landscape together homeward.
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Many times while travelling the east coast, the beautiful scenery with the water soaked paddy fields and palm trees around Rajahmundry had always fascinated us. It took a long time materialising until we decided to do a trip this January especially since road connectivity is good and we had a good mile muncher in the hilux.
The trip started late one evening around 8pm from Bangalore and the target for the day was Srikalahasti which is a 280km drive with excellent roads. Next day was a breeze till Ongole on the highway from where we deviated toward Machlipatanam. The skyview restaurant atop a toll plaza before Ongole was a unique experience and I was even more surprised to learn that they started in 2015. Why more aren’t popping up is sursprising. Had Ragi sangati and chepala pulasu to kickstart proceedings Andhra style. After the deviation toward the coast, it was a beautiful drive with extensive farming activities on either side of the highway.
Planting
Typical sight all around
This is a very fertile belt and the scale of cultivation has to be seen to be believed. The roads were terrific but the most beautiful thing was the sparse population all along. Coming from Kerala, it is a relief to the senses to see open spaces and I was wide eyed feeding all that emptiness into the brain. After meandering through roads flanked by a thousand coconut trees, we landed up at Sterling Palavelli Godavari. A spacious property by the side of the Godavari.
Coconut trees galore
The pond inside the property. Lots of hardworking pond herons to be found
The food, stay and service were good and I was chasing Andhra delights and they tasted great, the prawns vepudu being a favourite. That evening we went boating to an island that would get submerged in high tide but was visible at other times. As the boat made its way to the island, all I could see were a zillion coconut trees on the mainland and they made a fantastic sight. The boatman mentioned that a number of trees along the banks had actually fallen due to the soil being washed away by tides.
Setting sun on the isalnd
A moored boat
After a wonderful evening at the island, the rest of the evening was spent at the resort. The dinner was a quiet and tasty affair just as it had been that afternoon.
Maredumili was our destination the next day and the drive was nothing short of spectacular. Terrific roads and very beautiful forests. Felt bad not to have visited these parts before. The woods resort was our destination and the place was nestled in the woods adjacent to the papikonda national park. The temperature dipped perceptibly and it got nippy as the sun started going down the horizon.
Lovely piece of tarmac
Shadows of the forest
While there, I saw a gun totting man walking along the path inside the premises and enquired if the air gun he happened to carry was meant to scare away monkeys. He had a funny look on his face as he looked at me before replying that what he was lugging around was a rifle meant to deal with naxals. It suddenly dawned on me that we were bang in the connected forests that led to an active naxal hotbed.
We went around the Papikonda national park that evening and the drive was very interesting. Looked like it is a favorite spot for wedding shoots and we ran into blushing couples posing for the camera trying to freeze memorable moments. The trees in the park were huge and there were hardly anyone along the road except for few birders who were anxiously waiting for some elusive species.
Farming scenes
Through the trees
The next day was our return and we decided to take the route via Badrachalam and it turned out to be a delightful drive through the forests. There were small broken patches here and there but nothing to upset the serial Dakar winner. Yes, the Dakar was in full flow and both my favourites were biting the dust with crashes on various stages. Carlos Sainz on stage two and Sebastien Loeb on stage three.
Dark forest pathways
Lion of the road
Sights around the papikonda national park
Brought some local farm produce that we picked up from the tribals at the forest fringes at Maredumili. We decided to do the return via Hyderabad and kept a good pace throughout. Maredumili to Badrachalam was a splendid drive and we stopped at many places for customary pictures. Khammam to Suryapet was a wide deserted six laner. Traffic picked up as we neared Hyderabad towards the ORR. After exiting the Nehru ORR, found an extremely fast Isuzu Vcross on the Hyderabad Bangalore stretch and we danced around the landscape together homeward. Was a delight to watch the Isuzu move. He drove great and it felt satisfying to see a pickup blast its way so well on the highway. Reached home after a twelve hour drive well in time for a good night’s rest. As always, thanks to Shivali for the photographs and as for the hilux, its 6000kms on the odo with trips to Munnar, Meghamalai and Rajahmundry being major contributors.
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