The main attraction of Araku is Borra caves. 27kms before Araku. So we decided to visit that first. On the way to Borra caves we crossed the Railway track of Visakhapatnam - Kirandul.
Some pix

Funny





Borra Caves, in Telugu Borra guhalu, entry fee 30/- PH, Camera fee 10/-
some pix






Stallagtite and Stallagmite formations inside the cave



Entry of the cave

After exporing the cave we are ready for the next destination and that is Shimiliguda Rly. Station. The Highest broad gauge Rly. Station till 2004 in India. 3268 FT above MSL. A non metaled road diverted from the main Araku Rd and from there it was 4kms away.
On the way to Similiguda Stn.
a hairpin bend

It was a peaceful station, I've never seen a lonely station like Shimiliguda. Only 2 passenger trains passes in a day and the rest is Goods train.

'Shimiliguda' a lonely station....if there was an accomodation I'll definitely spend the night. Anyway its now 12pm and we are just 15kms(approx) away from Araku. The weather was very nice. Temperature within 20 Degree Celsius. We are missing our Jacket's now.
On the way

Araku

We reached araku within 12:45pm. Presently there were many hotels for staying options including APTDC Haritha and Mayuri Tourist Lodges. We checked in at Vashisth Hotel. Double Room for Rs 500/- we pay Rs.200/-.
View from our room(LCD TV?)

Our Room

From outside of the room

Its a nice place. No sound polution, No Air polution. Feeling great.

After some refreshment we go for the lunch. This time again it was Chawal, Sambar, Sabji. Nice cooking.
Lunch at there

Araku's other attraction was The Tribal Meusium, Padmapuram Botanicle Garden and some villages nearby, famous for their handicrafts.
Araku Station



The next destination was The Botanicle Garden. The garden is in very bad condition.


After nearly 5-7 times up and down in the main Araku locality we were feeling tired, so go to the hotel and took 1hr rest. At around 5:30pm again we rode to the Jeypur way and after 5kms saw a nice place to sit and just experience the beauty of nature.
some more pix's

Woolen garments shop at Araku, really cold there at night

The Tea Shop

We get back to hotel at 7:15pm, watched the idiot box for a while, its really nothing to do in the evening there, as like the other hill stations in India. So decided to pass the time by gossiping at the roof. Totally dark everywhere except our hotels entrance light. Temperature dropped very quickly. We were enjoying and planning about the return journey. Starting tomorrow for home and as per the plan we wanted to reach within 24hrs. Nothing to prove, just checking me and my bikes ability. Its 8:45pm and we are hungry. so go to the main market and entered in a restaurant. Menu is Chicken Curry(south indian style with curry patta, not tasty at all) with Paratha. Bill for two is Rs.128/-

set mobile alarm for 6:15am and its time to sleep.

Informations:
KMs Run: 130
Fuel: 9 ltrs(not consumed but filled)
Started at: 7am
Ended at: 12:45pm
Flat Tyre: None
Engine problem: None

Day 3> 25/07/09

Woke up after 15minutes of mobile alarm. Quickly freshen up and move to the reception. It was locked. By continuous knocking the manager comes out with his sleepy eye's.
'Itni subha kaha jaoge?' he said. Ayan reply's 'haame check out karna hai' The manager said 'de do doso rupai, ho jaega check out'.

Very nice. Is it called the Express check out?

We are soon in the market for a cup of tea. The time is 7:25am. So long way to go, 1005kms. The Araku-Visakha road is in very good condition except last 10kms. We are descending very fast, reached up to 70KM/PH.

Watch the video
YouTube - 25 07 09 0810

Reached Vizag at 10am and entered in NH5. City traffic increases as usual.We stopped in a store and bought some dry foods like cakes,chips,bananas etc.. At 10:25am we are in a position to accelerate as much as we can. From Vizag to Ichapuram the OR-AP border is 227kms away. Full 4 lane stretch. So no trouble for riding. Keeping a constant speed of 80km/ph is not an issue for my Disco.
Some pix on the way
Ayan, worried about the distance and the time factor




After continuous riding of around 1 hour I heard a sound below me(I was in the pillion seat that time). No need to tell Ayan, He stopped the Bike within 10sec. Yeah, it was a rear flat tyre again. The weather is too hot. When I touched the tyre it was hot like as the engine. Searched for any foreign body, but found nothing. We look around but no sign of repairing shop. Asked a local guy(he was riding a cycle) by sign language(tried hindi but failed). He was trying to say follow me by moving his hands. So followed him, we are sweating very much, its so hot and humid weather. After around 1km walk we reached a shop where another AP numbered Discover is repairing her rear tyre.
The puncture repair shop



The man said that the tube condition is very bad, it had 2 leaks already before. He told us not to exceed 60km/ph in day. Repaired 2 leaks. But not found any foreign body. Tyre was fixed after 30minutes. We have lost 1 hr.

Gave him thank and moved forward. But......

today we are on a race....a race against time,
after around 5kms we crossed the diversion of Narsannapeta on NH5 and about 1kms ahead from there I heard the same sound as just 1hr before. Yeah,... it was flat again, the same one. Think that the mechanic may be missed to locate another leak. It was total helpless condition. We are exhausted, tired. The time is 12:40pm. I've decided that this time no repair but, have to buy a new tube. Told Ayan to turn back to the Narsannapeta Diversion and enter in to the locality. There must be a Tyre shop. Ayan rode the bike slowly to that direction. I was walking and looking for a lift. and I got the lift just after few meters walk by another bike, this gentleman was a local guy and heading to Narsannapeta. He told me that just after entering through the diversion there was a repairing shop where w'll find the tube. Ayan was waiting in front of the diversion. My rider showed him the shop and dropped me in front of the same. We got the tube changed by paying Rs130+20=Rs.150.
This guys are running the shop

in front of the shop

They are very curious about us, and wanted to know where we came from and going. The main difficulty is the language problem but somehow we managed that and answered their queries. They are very happy after seeing the photos of Araku and Vizag. Nice little boys they are.
Finally the bike was ready at 1:30pm.So we have lost 2hrs.
Again hit the road and accelerate as fast as possible. We managed to ride fast because of the low traffic on NH5. Reached Ichapuram at 4:30pm without any further mishap. We are totally on Dry foods today as because we don't want to spent time by stopping except Fuel,Drinking water collection,natures call,Bikes rest(not more than 15minutes) and dinner. Already drank 10 ltrs of water by both of us. After Ichapuram the bad roads started. Road is in very bad shape. Average speed drops naturally. We are dealing with local traffic and speed breakers. Yes, Speed Breaker on a National Highway. After Berhampur entered in a BPCL outlet for Petrol. Petrol in Orissa is cheaper by around Rs2 than Andhra. Filled 8 ltrs. In morning today I've filled 4 ltrs also. Reached Balugaon at 6pm and the 4 lane starts again. Before Balugaon we crossed the two level crossings of Howrah-Chennai track. We are now at Kuhuri(where we had our Dinner on the way to Vizag), entered in to the same dhaba and decided to gave rest of 15minutes to my Bike.In the Mean time we ordered 2 cups of tea.
6:30pm, we are again on track, next stop is at Cuttack.Traffic increases as we are getting nearer to BBSR. Reached Cuttack at 08:45pm. Entered in a restaurant, freshen up and ordered Paneer masala with Butter Nan. Finished within 9:15. Just after Cuttack filled tank by 4ltrs again and then rode to Bhadrak. The next important city after crossing Jajpur. High traffic on NH5 now. We saw so many night service buses from BBSR to different destination on NH5 in to the kolkata direction. We crossed many toll plazas(thank god, no fee for bikes). My bikes headlight is cutting through the deep darkness of NH5.

Day 4> 26/07/09

Bhadrak at 12am. Our body is now tired, feeling sleepy. This condition is very dangerous for a rider like us who had no experience of overnight riding on any road and this is NH. We know that after few kilometers of Bhadrak NH5 turns in to single carriage and as I've mentioned before ''the problem begin by opposite vehicles headlight. Nothing to see. Nobody is ready to turn the light on low beam. Even after repeatedly giving high and low beam signal. A bike is nothing to them. I've seen this many times before also'' and the road is full of diversions also. Took a stop just in front of the Single Carriage. I was thinking that whether to take the risk or not(going back to a Dhaba in Bhadrak). If any problem arise with the bike we will be stucked. After 5 minutes discussion with Ayan we decided lets see. We are now around 340kms from home and we have to cover it within 7:30. So 7.5hrs we are in our hand and the single carriage starts. It was rained few minutes ago. Roads are slippery. I was riding at 60km/ph in a smooth surface and in diversion the speed falls naturally. After fighting against the opposite vehicles(Giant Trucks) high beam headlight and the broken road I managed to cover this 57kms single stretch at 2 o'clock. We are now in Balasore. Had 2 cups of tea there. After that we are on NH60 at around 2:15am. It was a smooth ride from there. Continuous speed 85km/ph.is no prob. Very less traffic.Reached Kharagpur within 4:15am and entered in NH6. Crossed Kolaghat at 5am. Vidhyasagar Setu at 5:55am and finally reached home at 6:25am, Covered 283kms within 4hrs 10minutes. AVG Speed around 69KM/PH with a Oct'04 make Bajaj Discover. We congratulate each other. Feeling tired but happy as never before.

Informations:
KMs run > 1005
Started at 7:30 am
Ended at 6:25 am next day
Fuel > 12 ltrs.+ Previously filled 9 ltrs (LESS Araku UP/DN 110X2=220KMS)
Flat tyre > 2 times
Engine problem > None
Kilometer breakup
Araku-Vizag=110kms, Vizag-Kolkata=859kms, Kolkata-My Home=36kms
(all odo readings)
Average speed 47.85km/ph in Total 21hrs (less2hrs,due to puncture out of 23hrs)

@Bhaskar: bravo! you had a great trip with your bike,hope you do many more trips in future with the discover.

Thanx, hope so

Nice log and pics there!