Kerala Trip. Day 1. Allepey

I arrived at the Kochi International Airport all tired and weary after a nights journey to Chennai and then to Kochi. It was a bright morning with the sun shining warmly as I walked out of the airport.After much asking around I caught a bus leaving for the city.It was the most convenient and cheapest way for me. Bhanu was joining me for this weekend trip and was waiting for me at the city bus stand from where we planned to take the state transport bus to Allepey.

We reached Allepey around 12 noon. The warm sunlight of the morning turned harsh now and by the time we walked to our hotel by the beach side we were soaked wet with sweat. After the formalities of checking in, we were greeted with the most awesome view of the beach from our room balcony. We just stood there for some time taking in the sight.

Later after a refreshing bath we went out to take a stroll around the canal ridden town. The sun was still strong over head and we started perspiring again. Presently we came across a juice vendor and we bought a bottle of mazaa. There we met a man in crisp shirt pant who asked us if we had done boating yet. Maybe he overheard us talking in Hindi and correctly assumed us to be tourists. We had a discussion with him and decided to hire a boat from him. We booked it for 2 hours and it cost us Rs 1200.

His boat was parked in the canal running right across the road. A 'driver' was waiting for us and after checking his credentials (just to be safe) we started off on our leisurely crawl along the canal.It was mesmerizing. At first we were in a crowded part of the canal. Our boat made its way past other boats parked along both sides of the canal and under a bridge. We passed by passenger boats run by the Government, then we spotted a couple of hospital boats that looked like they were abandoned long ago. Slowly we came out in the open into the huge Great Backwaters. The boat crawled along the smooth water in a relaxed manner. We were seated comfortably on a sofa and the calmness around me was lulling me to sleep.I even fell asleep sometime later only to be woken up by the horn of another boat passing us.There was only one stop at a small hotel where we had a nice strong cup of coffee. Our boat trip winded up 2 hours later and the boatman dropped us near the bus stand.

After this relaxing boat ride we took an auto to the lighthouse. This was quite an old lighthouse. To our surprise there was a small museum attached there. At the top a few people were already there enjoying the evening breeze. We sat here for some time taking in the views. Later we checked out the museum. It is spread out in a small space, the size of a small room and contains equipment used in the old lighthouse. There was a long telescope which is the only thing I found of interest. From there we went to the beach nearby. There was a huge crowd here. We started walking on the beach in the direction of our beach hotel. As soon as we were just in front of our room we sat on the sand and waited for the sunset. Soon the sky turned orange and the sun set, slowly departing into the depths of the sea. This was a completion of a minor milestone for me. For many years I had seen the sunrise on the eastern beaches of Puri, Digha, Vizag, Machilipatnam and Mypadu. Now I had seen a sunset from the western beach. The loop was closed now.

From there we went back to our room.Got some rest and started planning for dinner. On checking the net we found that Halais restaurant was the best one to check out the local non veg fare. So off we went to Halais. We ordered some four different types of items including chicken,mutton,fish and prawns. Back in the hotel ,we settled down in the balcony and had a hearty meal. The food was delicious. All this food soon made us sleepy and we decided to call it a day and slept by 11pm.

Krishnapatnam Beach, Andhra Pradesh

Krishnapatnam is a small village 25kms south east of Nellore. It lends its name to the huge port nearby. Of the three beaches near Nellore, the one in Krishnapatnam is the best. It is situated on a curve along the coast till it reaches the port embankments. The actual beach area is still some distance away from the port but huge ships can be seen from here entering the embankments.

A couple of weeks back myself along with a couple colleagues from work visited the beach. It was a saturday and we reached around 4pm. There was a small crowd there. Enough to feel secure and also have some privacy. Much better than the crowds at Mypadu Beach, the most popular beach near Nellore. We walked ahead away from the crowd and selected a nice, quite deserted stretch of the beach. After some idle sitting and talking we changed into our water wear and dashed into the waves. 

The best thing about this place is that the depth of the sea increases gradually and not suddenly like in Mypadu. One can go a fair distance into the sea to enjoy the waves. In fact we ventured so far that the waves were forming behind us and we had a relatively quiet sea to play around with. We spent an hour in the water jumping, falling, and just letting the sea crash on us and throw us around. Soon we got tired and ventured out of the water and sat on the beach enjoying the solitude. We had bought some knickknacks to eat which we fished out from our bags and devoured hungrily.

After that refreshing snack we made our way to the nearby Lighthouse. A lot of people do not know that lighthouses are open to public for 2 hrs everyday. The usual timings are from 1500 Hrs to 1700 Hrs. It was 1730 by the time we reached the base of the lighthouse but the caretaker there graciously let us in. We climbed to the top and spent some time there. It has some excellent views of the sea but the other side is marred with the coal carrying conveyors of the power plant nearby. I struck up a conversation with the caretaker. He told us that this particular lighthouse is one of the least visited lighthouses among all the lighthouse situated on the Andhra coast owning to the ignorance of the people and the lack of easy access. True, access is a huge problem. The path from the krishnapatnam village to the beach is a 'kacha' one.

We left the place around 6pm and reached home comfortably at around 7pm.

Quick Facts

From Nellore, take the road going to Krishnapatnam Port. After crossing a Muthukur town, near a town called Gopalapuram, take a left. From there its straight to the Krishnapatnam Village. From there there is a right turn which leads to the beach. Ask around at the village since its a muddy road and you might wander off in the wrong direction. There are huge belt conveyors and other structures of the power plant nearby. Let that not confuse you. The beach is right there just ahead of the light house.

The forgotten Stepwell of Lingampet in Telangana

Sitting in the 100 year old home of my grandfather's sister in my ancestral village,I gazed at the wrinkled lines on her face as she excitedly told me a tale about the days gone by. I was in Lingampet,a small village in Telangana, with my dad to spend the weekend.We used to spend our holidays here during our childhood. All our cousins would be there too and the house resonated with the festivities and noise of the family. But as we grew up the visits declined and after the death of my grandparents the visits totally dried up. Our home there, lay empty save for the occasional visits by my dad's brothers.Last weekend I decided to spend the days there and as I am a history fan I thought of meeting up old timers and extracting some info about the history of the village and of our family itself.

So we paid a visit to my grandather's sister. As the conversation turned from present day to the past her husband casually mentioned about an old stepwell. He mentioned that the local queen long ago used to arrive there with all her cavalcade which included elephants. This piqued my interest and after returning to home I asked my dad if we could make a visit there the next day. He agreed to take me there if we start early the next day.

And so we did.Early morning we reached the place which is just opposite to the police station on the main road. The weather was cool and there was no sign of the sun. We started off on our walk among the barren land lying on one side of the Kamareddy road. Here we had to search for a bit as even my dad was coming here after a long time. At one point we spotted a long boundary wall. We assumed that to be the well and quickly reached there but to our dismay it was just a wall with nothing on the other side. We moved along to check out another low wall a little bit ahead. With my dad ahead I followed him taking pics of the surrounding walls. A couple of minutes later my dad exclaimed with delight that he had spotted the well. I quickened my steps and followed him.Reaching there I saw a wall totally covered with shrubs and foliage. In a clearing between the foliage I finally got a good view of the well. It was majestic.Better than anything I expected. From the clearing I could look down at 6 arches on the opposite side.Built of rocks it looked pretty stable and solid. We couldn't see more of the well, so we hurried along the perimeter looking for a way in. All the sides were covered by the trees and shrubs. At last we found a way in. My father led the way down. Before descending he cautioned me not to come down unless he specifically asks me too. This took me right back to my childhood when dad used to take us around to old monuments and structures and gave us the same instructions. It was a long time since I heard them.

We descended through the dusty and cob web filled steps. They opened in one corner of the well. The sight was spectacular. Like the ruins of a castle, the walls looked beautiful. As I made sense of the structure I found that we were on level 1, below which extended 3 more levels. The base was in the fifth level. The last level was filled with so much garbage on the surface that it was difficult to tell if there was water below or if it was all only garbage. The layout of the well was something like this. At one side, which was the entrance there was gradual slope from the ground level leading to the well. This was all broken up with only the stones remaining scattered all over.. Just at the end of this slope are three grand arches of almost 5 mtrs height. These arches overlook the well. On the opposite side were six arches, three above and three below offering an excellent place to sit and view the proceedings below. The other two sides were split into the 5 levels that I mentioned before. The whole structure still looked stable and we were tempted to explore further but we stayed put in our position. Reason being that the place was covered with decaying leaves and it was very slippery. It was a risk not worth taking.

At the top of the arches near the entrance we spotted some carvings on the wall.They were partly covered by the foliage and I couldn't get a clear picture. There was a lady saluting someone or something. Then there were some animals and other designs of which I couldn't make much sense.I clicked some pics of the carvings as I intend to find out more about them.I wonder who built this well and why. Stepwells are rare in south of India and even rarer in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The only other stepwell I saw is in the Qutub Shahi Tombs complex in Hyderabad.

Soon we clambered back to the top and left after taking some more pics. This place in my opinion has immense potential for a tourist spot. All that needs to be done is clean it up and maybe build a small park around it.

A visit to the Railway station with the longest name in India, Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta.

There are things that some people do that makes them look like lunatics to others. For me chasing travel trivia is one such activity. A couple of years back when I went to visit a railway station in Orissa just because it had the smallest railway station name in India my colleagues at work couldn't believe it.  They told me that I was a 'pagal aadmi' (mad guy). I covered 50 kms on bus and 50 more on a train just to see that station so they thought they had every reason to call me pagal.

Well, they should have seen what I did to reach the station with the longest name in India.It is  situated on the Renigunta-Arakkonam section of Southern Railway. I started the night before to catch a 1 am train to Renigunta (from Nellore,where I live presently). From there I caught a morning 5 am passenger to Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta and reached the station at around 6 30am. Though I had the easier option to take the bus route I wanted to make the experience truthful to the purpose of my visit so I stuck with the inconvenient option of train.

The Venkatanarasimharajuvaripeta station itself is nothing much. There is a small building housing the waiting area and a small room from where the tickets are issued. It was closed when I got down at the station. Only two trains have a stop here. As it was early morning the surroundings were bathed in the morning glow of the sunlight. On one side of the station a road runs, on the other side of which is a hillock. The sunlight fell on this hillock illuminating its rocky terrain. The other side was the village stuck close to the tracks. I strolled around here, making a rectangular circuit around the station on the opposing two tracks. This place lacked the kind of tranquility I experienced in the station with the smallest name, Ib in Orissa. So I decided to head back as soon as possible but before doing so I wanted to have breakfast. Sometimes you get the most delicious tiffins in remote villages. With this in mind I had a plate of hot Idlis in a tiffin center just in front of the station building. To my disappointment it was horrible.

I decided to head back and first took some pics with the name boards and the building. Luckily for me one train running in the opposing direction was due to arrive and I quickly bought a ticket from the old woman at the ticket counter. The tickets looked ancient. I did not know that cardboard tickets were still in existence. And it cost me only Rs15 which was including some kind of commission that the old woman was muttering about. I did not understand a word of what she spoke. I boarded that train to reach Renigunta Junction in an hour and from there I caught an RTC bus to Nellore to complete my trip by afternoon 1 am. So 12 hours and 320 Kms up and down for a trip to the station with the longest station name in India. Call me a pagal but it was an awesome trip!