A drive from Vizag to Araku valley and exploration of it's gems

While in Vizag, we had 2 more days to explore some of the surrounding places and we chose to drive towards Araku valley. We had booking at Jungle bells Tyda, which is a property of Andhra Pradesh Tourism department. We will be sharing detailed review of the property soon. This post will take you through some of the main places we explored and some of the lesser known things, which probably a group of photographers can appreciate. 

We started early in the morning from Vizag and to be precise, it was not that early as we started at around 8, after having breakfast. When we reached Tyda and tried doing check-in into the hotel, there was lack of staff and rooms were not ready. They had no other place to keep our bags safely, so we decided to keep our bags in our car and come back during night. 



Related post :  A late night drive to Rushikonda Beach from Vizag City

We planned to visit Borra caves first, got our tickets and took help from a guide to explore these caves. Initially I hated the colorful lights installed inside the caves but as we moved in my Travellingcamera started loving it, although there was an irritating part of change in light colors after every few seconds which was confusing my camera :). 

Related post : Aerial Views of Vishakhapatnam city & the Ocean from Novotel Hotel in Vizag

When you look at Araku Valley Pictures & Videos, you realise that the valley has plenty of experiences to offer. Araku Valley weather is one of the main reasons for that and the Araku Valley waterfalls are one of the most interesting in this region, although reaching them is a little challenge if you have time constraints. 


Related Post : Lighthouse on Dolphin's Nose hill - A must visit place for Brilliant views of Vizag Ports & Beaches

When you are in this region of Andhra Pradesh, it's recommended to try local Araku Coffee and while driving around, you would see some kiosks on road-side and these tribes sell freshly harvested coffee and other organic produce from their farms. Araku Weather is very good for coffee and some of the spices used in Indian cuisine. 

Related Post : Borra Caves and the Faith - An interesting experience from Andhra Pradesh state of India

Here is a photograph of Araku Station (Railway station of Araku town) and we came here to know train timings which would pass through one of the nearest mountains. We wanted to click some shots of train crossing through beautiful Araku valley, but it was not so easy to find out all the details. Our driver Raju couldn't understand Hindi and same was the case with everybody around the station. We tried hard and followed suggestion by one of the gentlemen who said that a train would come from a particular direction and what could be a good place for us to shoot the train. He mentioned about a bridge which can be interesting to shoot. Related Post :  Bamboo Chicken - Traditional Tribal Cuisine of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, India

Araku Valley train is one of the main medium of commuting from Vizag to Araku Valley. Araku Valley weather is very favorable for any kind of transportation system. Araku Valley resorts and hotels are pretty decent & one can get good range of options. I will not recommend any of the Andhra Pradesh Tourism resorts and I am saying this on the basis of experience with Tyda huts which are supposedly one of the best in this region. 

Related Post : How to reach famous Kailashgiri hill from Vizag town and things to do

Top places to visit in Araku valley includes some of the popular museums and waterfalls in this part of Andhra Pradesh state of India. We spent whole day roaming around the Araku Valley and loved each moment spent there. We didn't to lot of checkpoint stuff but it was good experience to drive around the valley and observe some of the lifestyle things & people. 

For more posts from Vizag : Click Here

Some of the other interesting places around Araku valley are (we could explore all of them) :

1. Borra Caves
2. Coffee Museum
3. Padmapuram Gardens
4. Araku Art Museum
5. Tribal Museum
6. Anathagiri
7. Chaparai
8. Katika Waterfalls
9. Tadimada Waterfalls
10. Duduma Waterfall
11. Tatipudi Reservoir

After looking at this list and what I could visit during my first visit, I am sure that I need to plan another trip to this part of the state. 

For more posts from Andhra Pradesh - Click Here

Agriculture is one of the main occupation of people in Araku Valley and we notices people roaming around their fields and at times with their cattle. This man making space for free flow of water through his fields. That's one of the common phenomenon to manage water in stepped fields. During summers, this water is also blocked that so that the soil absorbs it over a period of time and then refill through irrigation pumps or other mediums. 

For more posts from Araku Valley - Click here.

If you are in Araku valley and like non-vegeterian food, don't miss the Bamboo chicken which local delicacy and a popular tribal dish. 

Do check out more about Arakau Valley and it's marvels in detail on other blogposts mentioned in this post and do share your comments with us. 

If you liked this post and found it helpful, I would request you to follow these things when traveling -

1. Manage your waste well and don’t litter
2. Use dustbins. Tell us if you went to a place and found it hard to locate a dustbin.
3. Avoid bottle waters in hills. Usually you get clean water in hills and water bottles create lot of mess in our ecosystem.
4. Say big no to plastic and avoid those unhealthy snacks packed in plastic bags. Rather buy fruits.
5. Don't play loud blaring music in forests of jungle camps. You are a guest in that ecosystem and disturbing the locals (humans and animals) is not polite