waiting for the rest.
i am surprised that still the stretch near chilka is not ready. i have seen that stretch was being constructed in 2005.

nice write up and pics...How did the platina manage to kep up with the bigges, was the platina pushed to its limits all the time ?

@Pradeep: Thanks buddy

@Nabendu: The roads are mostly good, with some intermittent patches of shredded tarmac. After you climb the ghat, the road gets limited to one side only. Good still.

@Steve: The Platina was cruising at a 60-70. At each 50 km stop, we waited up for 10-20 mins for the bike to catch up. The max it went was 80 on the speedo.

Kool pictures and log from the east coast. Nice fun u guys had

Superb trip guys! Good too see loads of touring happening in Orissa

Wish it had all started when I was there

Nice to see that a platina went too.....just goes to show that touring ain't about the ride, its about the rider...

Btw, how much time would it take to cover Chilika to AP border, as roads are not complete in that strech. Or has some amounts of construction work started?

good ride guys.... liking the photos...

if you want me to identify the roads and parts of the city from the night photograph (a good snap you've got there!), I can do it for you

@Praveen: Thanks buddy. Still a long way to go before coming even near your odometer readings

@Praful: Thanks mate. Still got to cover your ride to Paradip...the guys here are not sure about the destination(what to expect) and the route (poor condition). The Platina was a good show, and attracted lots of criticism, before the ride. Not sure about the Chilika to AP patch, but I would say we reached Berhampur pretty late for the distance covered: 4.5 hrs for just 170 kms.

@Hydbiker: Thanks mate. Loved the place truly. Alpha and Kebabri were the tongue-ticklers, plus the hang-out places were totally cool. Hope to visit again soon.

Day 2: Roaming around

Started at: 9:00 AM
Trip-meter reading: 455 km

Yupp, that’s right. The IT bozos failed to wake up as usual, even on a holiday to explore Vizag. After we did wake up, breakfast was ordered from downstairs and we hurried up on the eating part. Somnath decided to give a rest to his faithful Platina and hopped on with Soumya. We decided to go down the beach road and capture some of the spots that we had seen the day before. The first stop that we took was at a beautiful place, with beach on the right and an array of pastel-and-red colored bungalows on the left, with a few hi-tech looking buildings behind them. We also found a board indicating an IT SEZ near the place. Stopping for a few pics, we had a decision to make whether to visit the nearby Dr. RamaNaidu Film Studio right away or on the return trip. Pramir went up to the studio gate and inquired about the timings, which were suitable for a visit later that day. Riding on, I looked back wistfully at the snaky road going up the hill, then caught up with the rest of the pack.


Beautiful houses on beach road


The Snake climbing the hill

Next stop was the bridge where we had stopped the day before to capture the sunset. Moving onward would have brought us to a stony beach that Soumya had seen on the way to Vizag, but then, ever Rushikonda Beach was similar. Taking the bikes off road, we reached a point beside the bridge where the lagoon water was stopped by a wall. The barrage-like thing was wrecked and the bikes had to be stopped a little away from the center. Looking for better reach, we got back on road and entered the structure from the other end, encountering some dead, blackened fish on the way. May their souls rest in peaceK. Soumya had been dropped off at the bridge itself to take some distant shots, while we lined up the four bikes on the edge, facing the bridge. Meanwhile, I kept jumping on the muddy land around the water, trying to get some good reflection shots from the bridge side, but the water was too filthy. After the shoot was over, I moved my bike to the other side, facing the sea and took a few shots. Pramir took his bike to the edge and sat on it, half the front tyre out in air over the water and Soumya clicked away. After that, Soumya made us stand in a pose, taking photos like a professional portfolio shooterJ. Ranjan was trying to get the three elements, water, sky and earth in one shot by taking the reflections on a bike’s mirror, but the effort required was too much. Once done at this place, we climbed on and moved in the direction of Vizag.


First we got here


The Noble Steeds


The cameraman


Sleeping still


Posing away


Photographer dude


How deep is this thing??


Going over the edge

Undecided which point to head to, Soumya called up Harish and asked about good beaches to take some good photographs on. Getting the directions, we headed towards INS Kalinga and reaching there, took a short dirt trail, towards what seemed to be a wall of sand. Parking the bikes among palm (or maybe coconut) trees, we climbed the huge mound and found ourselves facing a pristine beach, with no one in sight in any direction. Heading down, my feet got cooked in the hot sand and jumped around like an ape. Soumya setup his tripod, going for a series of shots to stitch up for a panorama. I took the pains to lie on the sand to picture my Old Helmet and The Sea. Ranjan and Pramir were clicking away the beach and the palm trees lined up behind the sand dune. We even had a sequence of photographing the photographer. Some more posing and we were done. Climbing back was a tough job for both me and Somnath, and it took two efforts before we made it with scorched feet. Moving back on road, we decided to stop at Thotlakonda, a wayside tourist attraction with ruins of a Buddhist monastery on top of the hill. Before entering, we waited for Pramir to catch up, and I took a nice shot of the curve in the road in the waiting period. The paved road up the hill was very enjoyable, but reaching the top, we found the attractions rather lackluster. Hardly spending five minutes there, we rode back downhill and stopped at a small garden having a statue of Buddha to click a few pictures. Pramir decided to test his skill riding downhill, without holding the bike’s handle. Having absorbed all the place had to offer, we left it and headed towards the film studio.


The lone beach


Nothing beats having fun


The sand wall


Lone ranger


Thotlakonda


Curve ahead


The Big Guy


The Budhha

The zigzag roads leading to the top of the hill, where the Dr. RamaNaidu film studio was located, was a kind of ecstasy in its own. The challenging slopes, the sharp turns, the loose sand at corners, all asked for some expertise in handling the bikes. And we didn’t fall short on that front! Reaching the top, we parked up the bikes and entered the gates of the mesmerizing world of movie sets. All sorts of buildings, fit to be located in the best of the posh colonies, were lying empty. The studio was inaugurated in August 2008, and work was still going on. Somehow, I seemed to remember the set from some movie I had seen earlier. Couldn’t place a finger though. Moving around various structures, we kept capturing the location on digital memory. Finally, we headed to the grandest structure in the studio: a palatial house built in a corner of the compound. The looks were enough to gawk at it with wide eyes. A grand Sarkar-type sofa was placed in the front. Entering, we found the place empty as our stomachs wereJ, with just one open-top car in a corner. While the others found that interesting, I saw a couple of openings in roof from where light was falling in rays and tried to capture it as best as I could. Then I joined the others, posing in the car. After we moved on, one family of about eight members crammed up in the puny car, which had space for just four. The place had a big door and we took a chance posing for the camera as silhouettes. Next in line came the Sarkar chair, where the Dons posed along with their temporary goons. We located a police station in the neighborhood and enrolled to protect the townsfolkJ. Soumya was locked up by the station in-charge Pramir for bad behavior. Before leaving the studio, we planned to take one last capture. Pramir was to stay on the top of the hill, while the three bikes would stay on one bend each of the way downhill. The outcome was pretty good, considering the distance from the camera.


Dr. RamaNaidu Film Studio


Inside the film city


An outhouse


Pramir on the edge


Spiral stairs


Look, a hospital!


My X


Guess where's Hogan??


Imperial house, but hollow within


A temple in the courtyard


Posers, Inc.


Silhouettes


Dil Chahta Hai


Chota Don


WTF??? Who are these people in my house?


Sasuraal


Sub-Inspector Pramir


Desh ke sipahi


The three bikes down there...


Kapilash revisited


View from the top


The Beach Road

After leaving the studio, the BULLZzz headed towards food. The intestines were threatening to jump out, so we located the nearest joint and settled down for some fried rice and chicken, while Ranjan took the vegetarian’s way. After much wait, the food was served and devoured quicker that Quick-draw McGraw draws his gun. Since the last day’s experience, we decided to let the food settle before climbing back on the rides. The next destination was Rushikonda Beach, which had eluded us the previous day on our way into Vizag. Turning left at a small road, we parked our bikes in a crunched space and moved into the crowded beach. Something that interested us the most was a rocky structure looking out into the sea. On our way there, we were stopped by many boatmen offering us a ride into the sea in their wooden boats. No thank you sir, I am allergic to creaky wooden boats, whose outboard motors seem to be willing to jump overboard without notice. We also found one lone powerboat sort of thing, operated by the AP tourism department and considered that as a may-be when returning. Climbing on the rocks, we reached the nose very quickly without any trouble. After a point, I was afraid to go on, fearing an uninvited dip in the sea. The others went as far as the tip of the rocks and took some handsome shots of the blue waters before returning to safety. We posed for a group photo there, then went back to the powerboat and got the details of the ride. Sadly, only three can climb at a time, so Pramir and I sacrificed for the sake of the smaller children (pun intended) and found solace in the shadow of a flag on the beach. While the others waited for their turn on the boat, we found a kid with unnaturally large head and tried photographing him, but he ram away. Meanwhile, on the boat ride, Soumya was able to take one good shot, also managing to spill some water on his camera’s lens. Coming back, they recovered their belongings from the shore and we went back to our bikes. At the bike stand, we enjoyed some ice cream before getting back on road.


Marina


On the rocks


Deep blue sea


Colorful Crab


This one's a hermit


All teeth


Heading into the sea


Only shot from the boat


Big-headed kid

Coming out of the beach, the road towards Vizag were totally empty of any traffic, so I decided to try out what I had been practicing for a few weeks: wheelies!! After the camera crew was setup on both sides of the road, I went back a little and tried to pull off one. It is quite difficult to perform a wheelie on my CBZ, owing to the lack of power in the 40k km old mill. Still, after about ten tries, Soumya and Ranjan managed to capture a few decent shots. Heck, we even had a small audience, watching curiously from the other side of the road. After the show was over, we headed on towards our next stop: INS Kursura. After parking the bikes at the museum, we were surprised to see the queue for entering the sub. Two of us got lined up, while I went up to the ticket booth and got ourselves entry tickets. Waiting in the queue, Pramir and Soumya got a few amazing shots of the sun setting behind the submarine. Entering the submarine, the first thing that we saw was a bunch of torpedoes. Whoa man! Look at those things and you can guess the size of the hole they can blow on the side of a ship. The tour guide told us the powder had been drained out to prevent any, ahem, mishaps. Inside, I was acting as a facilitator for Soumya, holding back the crowd while he took his time for taking the pics. We also found a captain’s thingy for changing the engine speed, like the one shown in Titanic. The doors were so low that it felt like crawling on knees to reach from one compartment to other. A claustrophobic could have died in there. Coming out, we got a group picture snapped by a bystander and hopped off towards the museum memorabilia shop. Unable to find a submarine keychain, I settled for a tour guide to Vizag city, while other got themselves pocket calendars, picture books and DVDs. Unsure about what to do next, we headed towards the hotel to take an hour’s break before going any further.


The Long Sub


And the longer queue


Fantastic shot


Blast 'em!!


All hands on deck!!


Titanic thing


So narrow, yet so deadly


Another shot


Sun setting

After freshening up in the hotel, we moved on towards VUDA Park. But first, we decided to stop at the Kali Temple on the beach. Pramir hung back, getting a shave before joining us there. At Kali Temple, I called up one of my best friends from training days, who was in the city paying a visit to his home. While waiting for him, we paid a visit inside the temple and bowed before the Goddess. There seemed to be some radiance coming off Kali Maa, which kept me hooked to the spot for a good ten minutes, adoring the statue from the temple courtyard. When my friend came, we had a brief chat, mostly on how I had fattened up since he had last seen me a year-and-half ago. After Pramir joined us, we moved to VUDA Park, with my friend leading on his bike. Earlier, I had confused the Tenneti Park, with beautiful rock-cut structures as VUDA Park, so it definitely surprised me when we stopped much earlier than that. My friend look leave from there and we entered the park. What we found there was complete disappointment. The park was just-another-park sort of, with hardly any crowd, business that seemed to be failing, and yes, some lights too. It was totally unlike what I had pictured. Soumya was the only one happy, coz he made his time’s worth by riding a horse inside the park, practicing for his marriageJJ. After a walk round a pond in the park, we departed from there. Next, we called up and asked Harish about a good food joint to get some delicious kebabs and he pointed us out a place called Kebabri not far from where we stayed. The street where it was located was the ‘in’ place of the city, Siripuram. Outlets ranging from apparel brands to food destinations were all there, and made us wish we had an extra day for the place. An extraordinary large HSBC building was also located there nearby. We located Kebabri and settled in, and were soon joined by Harish. The menu was full of mouthwatering varieties of kebabs, so we decided to order the ones we hadn’t heard of. While the order was being prepared, Harish told us about the nightlife in the city, parties in the open near lagoons, with bonfire, music blaring from cars, food cooked over the fire and booze to the max. After listening open-jawed, we decided that this trip wasn’t enough for the city and it certainly deserved a second visit. Delicious kebabs landed on the tables and we pounced upon them like wolves. Since the next day’s plan was for Araku Valley and Borra Caves, we consulted with Harish how we should go there. Earlier, when leaving hotel, we had decided to take the journey on a bike, the other alternatives being train and cab. But remembering the return journey on the cards, we had to drop the idea of going on bikes. Plus, the valley roads were full of rampant drivers and this was not going to be a piece of cake. Harish booked a Toyota Qualis for us on the spot, which would pick us from the hotel the next morning. The kebabs were laid down in our stomachs by generous helpings of Gaajar ka Halwa, equally delicious.


Kali Temple from outside


VUDA Park


Ranjan instructs Soumya how to ride a horse


Cool colored coals


Need to say sanything??


Another plate


And finally


Only to be followed by


The gang...Harish is there too

Harish took us to a nearby hill, from where we could see the city skyline, similar to Kailasagiri. But the place was a little trashed up since Harish had visited last, so we headed downhill back to the main road. Remembering a picture of the Vizag harbor, we asked Harish if the place is nearby and he motioned us to follow. Leading the way, he reached the Beach Road, then went in the direction we hadn’t followed earlier. Now the beach was blotted from the view by small buildings, and the road seemed to be going through an industrial area. After driving for sometime on bad roads, we came upon a point which Harish pointed out shrines of three religions, a church, a temple and a mosque, existing in communal harmony. We climbed up the hill that had the chapel, with the steep incline challenging the bikes to climb with acceleration, yet carefully. Reaching the top, we were served with an excellent view of the inner harbor, and saw ships of small sizes plying back and forth across the channel that lay below us. Across the channel, we saw a beautiful road vanishing among the hills and once more complained about the shortage of time. Soon, we had to drive back downhill, as we were yet to back up the photos on the cameras for the next day. Coming back to the harbor, which we had passed on our way to the hill, we entered the place and saw lines and lines of boats resting for the day. Also penetrating our nostrils was a pungent stench of dry fish, which had became very common along the beaches. Moving in the harbor, we parked in an open space and looked back at the awesome view of the port, with the lights reflecting in the waters below. Soumya setup is camera to capture the beauty of the night, while Harish went off to talk to a police officer, explaining that we were NOT planning to commit suicide there. Apparently, the place was a hotspot for people with suicidal tendencies and police used to patrol the area to avoid any accidents. Nearby was also a long breakwater, to prevent the harbor from damage for the sea in vicious weathers.


The Inner Port


The port, from the harbour


Shadows of the night

After we left the harbor, Harish took us to a friend of his, who had ready to help us backup camera pics on his laptop. The night had become chilly, but was still bearable. While driving down to the apartment where the guy stayed, we saw a massive scuffle going on in the dark on the other side of the road. Moving along, I noted that the two days to travel, two trouble spots already. Thankfully, none involved us. Soumya went up to Harish’s friend’s room, and came down half an hour later, while the rest of us had been chatting away. Thanking the guy for his help, we drove off behind Harish and reached Jagdamba Junction soon. Eager to get back to our beds, we bade goodbye to the helpful guy and headed in our direction. Parking the bikes in the hotel basement, we hurried back to the rooms to get some sleep before waking up for the big day ahead.

Finished at: 12:00 AM
Trip-meter reading: 565 km

Superb log and equally interesting pics!!

Loved it.Btw, My number is 9937644065.

@ diffuser911

Where do you people get the patience to write such a big log man . Quite interesting to read . Nice picks too. Have a great time and please let us know the source you gather patience to write log logs ...

@chicane: Thanks bro. I'll call as soon as possible. Office has become very hectic.

@Pradeep: Buddy, it feels nice to see the comments at xBhp about the write-ups, plus my own group members go ga-ga over the text. That's where inspiration comes from.

PS: Pics for day 2 added...more coming soon

@diffuser-Very very good stuff.I can see a lot of thought had went into the pictures.Will go through the log tomorrow and comment again.

Beautiful pics Good log

@MG: thanks MG...loads of pics there...confused which ones to put up

@mithun: thanks buddy, but it's really long, with all the details being put in

Day 2: more pics added

Its lot of fun in the east coast as well. Superb log and pix sunil
Nice palm beach to see the sun come up