This is Anuj: March 2013

Finally, it was time to say Goodbye to Chennai, my friends Himanshu and Natasha and explore Andhra Pradesh.. Had my final goodbye pics with them... :) We dropped Natasha to her office and then Himanshu took me to the place from where he shown me the route to reach National Highway to reach Andhra,,

Where shall I go - I dont know? :) So - with this notion I firstly thought to cross the border of Tamil Nadu and reach Andhra Pradesh..

Himanshu told me that on your way you will see a beautiful bird Sanctuary - Pulicat lake sooo I found my first destination to Andhra.. and I have also thought of visiting Raj- my friend in Rajahmundry which was 600km away from Chennai which I couldnt finish in 1 day.. soooo it requires one halt in between.. and he also suggested me to visit a Dargah (Shrine) of one of the Saint famous among Muslim believers soooo lets pay my visit there.. :)

First sign board warned me to slow my speed..

And in an hour of travel I was driving on the road next to bird sanctuary.. it could be good to see these kind of maps when are you not carrying GPS and you hardly see people crossing by..

And it was needless for me to get on this Bird watching tower... since it was pretty much visible through roads..

With lots of bird watching.. I moved to visit Venadu Dargah.. it is 140 ft long as said by a local man.. Now it was 15km in internals and absolute bumpy roads.. but since I had it after a long time in my trip hence I enjoyed riding over them.. :P

There were roads with mud and uneven tracks which made it more exciting..

And finally I reached at Shrine.. loads of people but one thing that was disappointing was - MESS all around of food items, plastic bags, paper plates and other garbage spread all around.. it was irritating and if God or that Saint's soul really exist then he will never be happy residing here.. hence I chose to clean some.. convinced some more to help me in cleaning not all but atleast a small bit... took us half an hour and since I had other plans to do hence I chose to leave..

Beautiful highway roads - leading me towards Guntur -> Vijayawada -> Rajahmundry -> Vishakhapatnam -> and other cities of States :: Orissa and West Bengal

Lush green farms on my way made me realised that in my whole trip if I would like to give to Most Green Farm awards then it could be Andhra Pradesh.. :)

And also I was exceeding the mark of my bike's servicing with 500 km over-drive and fortunately I found Royal Enfield showroom in a place called Ongole .. it took 2 hours of break there to get all done.,

Light was getting dim and I was not sure that where shall I end up my trip for the day.. I started my bike and just driving on the road and it was soooooo smooth after servicing that I couldnt stop myself for next 1 hour and hence covered 95km and reached Guntur.. I said it enough for the day and checked into a Lodge..

Woke up early next day and headed towards Rajahmundry - 220km from my hotel and eager to meet my friend and his family.. :) About Raj I will say - Common-sense is very common in him, he is full with spirituality and a deep thinker.. has a south indian dialect when he tries to speak Hindi but very good in conveying his message.. Glad to know him and knowingly and unknowingly you can always learn something from him.. :)

Tractors over-loaded with hays was a frequent view.. :)

Lush Green farms were soothing my eyes.. :)

And lots of Brick houses - Glad to see both cooked and uncooked bricks at the same place...

And one more thing that I observed was - idols of ex CM of Andhra Rajshekhar Reddy almost in every village..

Ganesha idols were taking the sun bath and then will be ready to get painted.. :)

Have passed through Krishna river.. which is a big reason for greenery around..

And finally I met Raj.. my friend and my Enfield's fan now.. :) warm welcome by him and his mom - who was waiting for me and have prepared awesome Andhra-style delicacies.. Raj taught me the manner and right order of eating them.. Rice is common in all course of meals and the final course contains Rice with Curd/ Yogurt.. wowww - it tastes delicious.. :)

Spending some time at home we left for exploring Rajamundry..

Crowded market..

And beautiful Godavari river... locals have their sentiments attached to it..

We have had awesome experience driving on a road parallel to Godavari.. we were also giving lift to the village people,, and I fortunately got chance to drink Taadi.. :P and also understood how it is taken out from the tree.. :) Taadi is a drink which people majorly in village drinks to get High :P Absolute natural drink.. :)

And thats how it happens,, :) on this tree there were pots which were hanging and this guy will climb up the tree wih his own vessel and take out the taadi from it ., actually there is some part of the tree which actually secrets liquid which is alcoholic kinda,,

And finally he got down and ready to give me another cup of Taadi... I didnt took it much since I just want to taste it hence I didnt get high.. :)

Finally we ended our day by watching a Telugu (regional language of Andhra Pradesh) movie and decided to get up early next day to explore the rurals.. :)

And any words about my experience will be far less than I actually have experienced.. just seeing pictures may give you the glimpse.. :)

Bananas from the villages were carried to a common market to sell..

And we decided to go SANGAM - a point where a river meets Ocean.. Yes I went to witness that ,, Godavari getting mix with Bay of Bengal.. :)

Then I chose to start my journey and go to Vishakhapatnam.. it was pretty late when I reached there and then what happens I call as Magic.. :)

I was waiting at Traffic Signal to turn Green and find time to talk to a guy standing besides me to suggest some good hotel to stay.. we both decided to have a break and talk about it.. since he being localite here who else can be better than him..

Meet Rakesh... :) Rakesh - young boy pursuing his engineering in Mechanical and is a passionate bike lover and has a wish to right reviews on bikes in market.. within some minutes we get to know each other very well.. and he surprised me by asking to stay at his home for that night.. he has his Mom and Dad and a cute pet called Shorty (as her name - She was really very Short :P but damn cute) .. His Mom already prepared hot food for me and his dad - absolute gentle and humble man came down in parking to welcome me - he himself is a big enfield fan but due to some health issues he couldnt drive bike now but with his car he keep exploring places.. Very enthusiast about machines and adventurous man himself.. :) After dinner we chit chat alot and then Rakesh was all set to know about my tour, my preparation and my motivation.. wellllll - I explained him all but still I must confess - I dont know why I am doing it but I am satisfied and very happy with whats going on... :)

Honored to meet this family.. and now I believe I will be in touch with them always.. Just in 1 day I can say that I know somebody in Vizag (Visakhapatnam) :) And then I left early morning and had a target to end my Andhra trip.. Dropped Rakesh to his college and then moved to Srikakulam.. a place famous for SUN Temple.. :)

And an interesting thing happen.. As said to me, Basheer - Press Photography for a newspaper - The Hindu saw me and wished to click my pictures and assured that reporter will call and take my interview,, Interesting - I did as he said.. posed for picture but I was getting late as per my schedule hence we shared our informed and then I left.,, Nice meeting him.. :) and if he is right then soon I will be in NEWS .. welllll - doesnt excite me much since I am still having my own purpose and above all these fame and other strings,,, I just want to drive more and more and more... :)

I too clicked his picture.. :) Meet Basheer.. pleasure meeting him and dont know why but talking to him made me feel special - kinda celebrity for few minutes and then I smiled and chose to be nothing but me myself... :P