Machilipatnam to Vishakhpatnam

DAY 10 - MACHILIPATNAM TO VISHAKHPATNAM TUESDAY 6th SEPTEMBER 2016

If there is a phrase "Postcard riding" then todays ride can be coined as one. It shall forever be etched in my mind as the most scenic, soothing & fun-riding till date. It partly reminded me of the stretch between Rameshwaram and Pondicherry. Every kilo-meter was a picture-card image of a fertile rural India and through it I was zipping with a smile.

I started my ride at 8:00am from Vani hotel in Machalipatnam & the ride was through rural farming lands. The road conditions was good enough to land a jet if they could work out on how to escape the buffalos that tend to pose in the middle of the road. Lush green paddy fields were swaying in sync to the Metal tracks I was tuned into. People were on the field with the latest state-of-art farming equipments (themselves). What a divine sight it was to behold! Acres upon acres of land dotted with rice fields & fringed with palmyra palm (toddy) trees, coconut trees. The north side of Andhra post the Kaveri river is very fertile with millions of water bodies interspersed. The South of Andhra is dry and facing acute water shortage. The river beds are either dry or have become small puddles. Its interesting to see two different landscape in less than 600 kms. Yesterday I was disappointed with the Kaveri river levels today I was impressed with Godavari Rivers abundance. No wonder north Andhra Pradesh is the richer half of the state.

I rode for approx 70 odd kilo-meters until I touched the highway at a place called the Hanuman Junction after Perkeedu village. Its not suprising as the Roads in Andhra are dotted with huge Hunaman's facing the east in reverence to the sun. Since 40 feet tall Hanumanji happened to be at the junction hence the name Hanuman Junction. Thanks to Hanumanji one does not need compass to know the path they need to take.(definitely not speaking of the moral compass here)

Once on the highway it was smooth sailing thanks to excellent road conditions & lack of traffic. It had rained yesterday, everything was glistening as if the landscape was studded with gems & sparkling in sunlight for my benefit. I had to stop twice to refill my tank, which was funny for a mere 450 odd kilometers. The pumps are not male dominated but have many ladies who are doing the filling job & also occupy managerial positions. They do not get mesmerised either by the vehicle or occupants & stay focused on the job. This is actually very efficient from customer point-of-view. For these ladies the truck driver & the luxury car owner are of equal importance. I hope this becomes a trend across India where women should be considered for jobs that till date were given to men exclusively.

Vishakhpatnam is the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh. Its surrounding fertile lands had already communicated this to me visually. Its the only natural port on the Eastern Coast of India and is the HQ of Eastern Naval command. The port in Vizag (Vishakhpatnam) is the largest port along the eastern coast and the 5th busiest port of India. The Krishna Godavari basin is also rich in oil and natural gas. This area is blessed barring some rare days when cyclonic winds rage the coastline. As I entered the city I could feel the industrial smog hovering in the air and reducing the visibility. I could see thousands of big industries in the sky line contributing to the economy. Providing employment for millions of locals who breathe the smog and spend their earnings on medicines. The only ecological wonder I saw (after Crossing the airport area) was the 10 MW Solar Power-station. With the abundance of sunlight our nation is blessed, this is a great step towards harnessing solar power for clean energy. Thus reducing our dependence on perishable gases & minerals which emit CO2.

I had called my younger brother to get me a booking in The Gateway Hotel which is situated on the beach road & he managed to get me a great room inspite it having 100% occupancy. I am a Taj loyalist as most Indians are. This Taj property is 30 years old doing amazing business inspite being adjacent to a spanking new Novotel which has 3 times the room inventory. At Taj I met Kiran the GM and he gave me amazing insights into Vaizag city. This is a city of foodies one can also consider Andhra Pradesh a foodie state. They pride in their local cuisine (very very spicy) & indulge in both veg & non veg delicacies. Being religious (they exceed in this department too) they adhere to strict dietary regime as per the holy days. If anybody offers them a treat on the days they are on Vegetarian diet (mostly Tuesday's) or days of fasting (Major festivals) they get offended. They expect treat from people on days when they can indulge on gastronomic orgy. The famous Vaizag restaurant of repute (doing daily business of 500,000/- INR is the modestly priced Paradise Biryani (offshoot of the famous Pradise biryani in Hyderabad). Every day it has a huge line of waiting customers outside. On Ganesh Chaturthi (and major fasting days) the restaurant had a desreted look & did absolutely no business. According to a gas pump manager (alas a male) the locals (him inclusive) are such misers that they hoard gold at every opportunity. The land brought by them is rarely sold as they always expect more than what the market value is at the given time. They prefer to wait till the rate increases to their satisfaction which is never. Since Andhrites loved to eat (sea food, red meat, poultry & rarely vegetables) which hotel did they go to enjoy it? Was my question. His answer muted any further queries "at home where I can cook all the specialities at 1/10th the cost".

The other main obsession of Andhrites is hoarding gold. They save money by not splurging on dining and wining in luxury hotels. Instead of spending on such frivolous habits (according to them) they prefer investing the same money in Gold. Hence their weddings is a give & take of gold jewels in kilos (not exaggerating). The quantity exchanged defines their social status.

The beach road (2 kms long) is the most happening place in the city. The whole city converges there on weekends and spend their entire day up untill late night at the promenade. The only other time the citizens converge at a same location in such abundance is at the cricket stadium to cheer team India.

I had breakfast at Vani hotel in Machilipatnam it consisted of plain Dosa (which had a fine slivers of Ginger & carrots I must say it added to the taste). Around 12:30 I stopped for lunch at a small Dhabha in Peddapuram & it served delicious non-veg food. I opted for Chicken as it was the only medium-spicy dish they had to offer. It also served filter coffee which is a rarity in Andhra Pradesh. On my south Indian sojurn most eatries on the road I found were pure vegetarian.

Tomorrows destination is the costal town of Puri in Orrisa, I plan to stay couple of days there sightseeing.

Total distance covered today 420 kms Total Distance from Bombay 2811 kms