[megazoid]

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.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[androdev]

Fantastic travelogue, @megazoid! Given that Andhra and Telangana don't do that well compared to KA/KL/TN when it comes to holiday travel, this made a very interesting read. Of course, I was trying to look beyond your amazing photographic skills to get a sense of the place and it looks and it really looks fabulous. It's rare to find this region showcased as well as you did, maybe AP Tourism should give you an award :-)

Just curious, how did you decide on this itinerary?

[Dr.AD]

Awesome travelogue @megazoid. Loved reading it.

The biggest joy of a road trip is the road trip itself. And your travelogues bring that out so beautifully. Loved every single photograph. Photos of Hilux in that setting makes for some dreamy visuals. Great stuff. Thank you very much for sharing this.

[Chillout]

Had been to Sterling Godavari 8 yrs back and this travelogue reminded of that wonderful trip. But what caught my attention was the other places that you visited and this making me want to visit those places, looks beautiful and tranquil.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by megazoid

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.

Nice travelogue and amazing pictures Megazoid. This part of Andhra is beautiful and the countryside is superb. There are no tourists and roads are pretty good too. I hope it stays as is and doesnot become another case of overtourism.

[megazoid]

Originally Posted by androdev

Just curious, how did you decide on this itinerary?

The plan was Shivali's. Many times, when we returned from the longer trips to Tawang and Sikkim etc in January(earlier new year drives), we would see these parts and keep exclaiming but would never have the time to make our way around. So, this time we thought of making this the destination itself. btw, Rajahmundry has fabulous plant nurseries too. We wanted to visit Gudisa hill and few other attractions but the roads were closed due to ongoing road work. I am imagining the Porsche at some of these places. Will make for some crazy pictures.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

The biggest joy of a road trip is the road trip itself.

Can't agree more. I found the people nice and curious. Even though I could not speak the local tongue, there is very little that cant be communicated with some mudras and vigorous head shakes.

Originally Posted by Chillout

But what caught my attention was the other places that you visited and this making me want to visit those places, looks beautiful and tranquil.

The forest was very pretty and a drive inside is very appealing.

Originally Posted by PrideRed

I hope it stays as is and doesnot become another case of overtourism.

This is a topic very close to my heart and I am not sure what is the way out. Secrecy, strictness, rules, penalty all can do that much but public conduct has to be in the curriculum and has to be repeatedly practiced every single year of school. Complex numbers and differential equations can wait.

[Mystic]

The photos look professional. The drive from Bangalore to Visakhapatnam via Rajahmundry has become a routine for me and I failed to observe the beauty. As a person from this part of the world, we fail to appreciate our own adda and go to far off places to enjoy. Thanks for posting the travelogue. I enjoyed reading it. Also the places you have visited can be enjoyed in a tourist package by cruise which is another experience. The place Maredumili has become famous with a lot of tourists after the pan Indian movie Pushpa being shot there. I wish and hope that such hidden treasures should not be marketed by tourism but explored by enthusiastic travellers.

[kethu_vaishnav]

Man those are lovely pictures. Will be using these as my wallpapers.

[sreekanth1987]

My father was from Godavari and he always tells me how beautiful the place is.

Looking at these photos, I feel it's time I plan a trip with parents. Loved reading through your pleasant experience. Must have been a wonderful drive. Oh boy, and the pictures are killers! You sure know what to click, where and when.

[FAKER]

I must say the images seem to be straight out of a Net Geo magazine of yesteryears. Wonderful!

[amyntor]

Welcome to my neck of the woods! I call Rajahmundry home. Born, brought up and spent 20 years of my life there. Now I'm back to the same place thanks to my remote work.

The entire stretch of eastern ghats in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, and some parts in Telangana are less explored and are still holding on their rustic charm. I'm secretly hoping they stay that way. I frequently ride to Maredumilli, Araku, Lambasingi, Koraput, Jagdalpur, and Bhadrachalem areas for weekend trips on my KTM 390 Duke.

Ripping through those ghat sections (safely of course) and forests on the Duke feels amazing to say the least. I write about my rides in the 2024 KTM Duke 390 thread. Latest one: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5901417 (2024 KTM Duke 390 Review)

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip.

[jkrishnakj]

Oh wow! Simply wow megazoid. And the captures from Shivali is spectacular.

I have traveled to Rajamahendravaram for work several times by air and have failed to appreciate the beauty that you have so well captured and articulated a few key moments straight from the heart. Very tempted to hit those roads straightaway.

[majumon]

Wow fantastic travelogue, never heard of most places, enjoyed reading every bot of it, feel like making it to these places. Beautiful pictures too, looked out of the world, you have captured it so well.

[drive.helios]

The photos are all beautiful and makes me want to plan a trip to the same route. Hyderabad has been in our list of places, mainly for the food, but this could make it worth more. Loved the writing as well but a bit more biased towards the well framed pictures.