Tour of Eastern Ghats - Day 4
Day 4,Tue 03 Sep 2019 : Araku Local, 80 km, 190 m
For the first time in the tour, we woke up leisurely.
The legs felt great in the morning, most likely because of the good massage from Prabha before dinner on the previous night. When we saw Somnath getting it done, Narayan and I too joined him. Gokul went to the extent of standing on Narayan's legs to relieve the pain :D
Coming back to the present day, Krish got the early morning coffee ready by 6:20 AM in his room.
I go and grab some coffee, and get stunned by the beautiful views from the balcony. Though I visited Araku valley a couple of times in the past, I didn't get to see such amazing views while in Araku.
After the coffee I lied down on the balcony wall and start thinking - when was the last time I lied down to have an open view of sky. I then turn my head to enjoy the views. Krish takes a snap of me in the meanwhile.
Narayan goes down to wash his bike while we relax in the balcony.
After relaxing there a bit, the rest of us also took our bikes down for washing and lubing. I go back to the room and get ready for the ride.
We go downstairs and have breakfast.
The buffet style breakfast spread was tasty. The coffee and tea were also very good.
The taste, ambience and service quality makes one wonder if one is actually in a Government undertaking hotel. The Bhadrachalam hotel service and this one are nowhere near.
We go back to the room after breakfast, but it starts pouring.
We all wait for the rain to stop, and after a while it finally stops.
We finally start riding at 9:55 AM instead of the planned schedule of 9:00 AM.
The day's schedule is to cross over into Orissa/Odisha state, have lunch, and come back. Riding a total of about 70 km.
As soon as we started, the rain too started again and it became a heavy downpour.
We were supposed to take a right turn at the fork after 6 km from the start point.
Since it would be a short ride, it was decided to have only one support vehicle instead of two.
The truck driver was also not feeling well anyway.
So Krish asked me to tell everyone to wait at the turn while he arrives.
I join the pack and inform everyone about the stop.
In heavy rain, we waited under a tree for about 10 minutes for Krish to arrive.
Prajwal decided to go back to the room as he was not keen in riding in heavy rain.
As soon as we start from the turn, the surroundings got amazingly beautiful.
Not just the scenery, but the roads too were quite good, except for a few nasty potholes and bad sections. Saddle sores bothered me as I switched to not so good shorts as today's ride being a small one. I would jokingly say to Dev and Gokul that I now have only one sweet spot left, and that I had to search for it every time when sitting on the saddle.
About 13 km into the ride we were at the AP-Orissa border. The rain too stopped a bit.
We all stopped to take some pics with the 'Welcome' and 'Thank you' boards of the states.
It was my first time into Orissa and the roads, terrain, nature... all looked beautiful! There was a stream/river running parallel to us, which later became big with a few bridges visible across it.
We (Sam, Gokul and I) waited for others after skipping one such bridge, to confirm that we were on the correct route, as none of us had the navigation on our devices.
We started rolling after everyone arrived, and the rain came back again.
Watching the Jalaput reservoir to the left of the road was a feast to the eyes.
With the reservoir still visible, we reached the lunch place after riding about 32 km.
We had Odiya local meal for lunch. We ordered Chicken, mutton, fish and egg to taste all of the available non-veg cuisines. To top it off, we had some laddus and tea after the lunch.
Dev ventured closer to the reservoir and Prabha went with him to take some pictures of the reservoir and a boat there.
The legs felt fresh as if they were ready for another 100 km. But we would let them recover for tomorrow's ride. To satiate the sweet tooth, we went in quest of a local sweet shop.
After asking around, we finally found one.
We got to taste some freshly made kajas, rasagulla and jalebi.
To make the combination a bit crazy, we had some tea along with the sweets.
After clicking pics of the crazy combinations and the expression on the face of Sam when he was offered sweets (as that won't help him go faster), we turned back to Araku.
The weather was just amazing through out the ride.
The roads felt as if it was a cyclist's dream come true with rolling terrain and mesmerizing views.
When Sam was riding at a normal pace, I provoked him to pick up the pace and he did :P
I again got back to my own pace and enjoyed the nature thoroughly.
I stopped at the state border to take a picture, and Dev too joined me.
I started riding and again stopped at the place where we waited for Krish in the morning, to take a picture in panorama mode as I just couldn't keep riding without appreciating the beautiful views all around. Few other riders too stopped while riding to take some pictures.
The ride ended at 3:05 PM after covering about 67 km and 853 m elevation gain. Though short, it was an amazing experience. This day and the waterfall experience on day 2 were like picnic for some of us :)
Gokul and others were already in the restaurant but I did not notice them calling me, and went ahead to the room to freshen up.
Later in the evening few riders went to the tribal museum, but I skipped it because I have been there before. Afterwards all of us went to the coffee museum. It was a good experience.
We tasted some local special coffee, and bought some chocolates and coffee powder.
Narayan was already feeling low that the tour would end after tomorrow's ride.
We went back to the room to pack the newly bought stuff in our luggage, and went down for dinner.
Narayan noticed that my rear tyre was totally deflated and asked me if what he was seeing is true. Indeed, it was flat! I am glad it did not trouble me during the ride.
Later in the night Prabha changed the tube for me and lubed the bike.
The day ended with a hope that everyone can tackle the Ananthagiri hill climb the next day.
For the first time in the tour, we woke up leisurely.
 |
| Panaroma view from balcony in Araku |
Coming back to the present day, Krish got the early morning coffee ready by 6:20 AM in his room.
 |
| Crazy combo of tea with sweets |
I go and grab some coffee, and get stunned by the beautiful views from the balcony. Though I visited Araku valley a couple of times in the past, I didn't get to see such amazing views while in Araku.
After the coffee I lied down on the balcony wall and start thinking - when was the last time I lied down to have an open view of sky. I then turn my head to enjoy the views. Krish takes a snap of me in the meanwhile.Narayan goes down to wash his bike while we relax in the balcony.
After relaxing there a bit, the rest of us also took our bikes down for washing and lubing. I go back to the room and get ready for the ride.
We go downstairs and have breakfast.
The buffet style breakfast spread was tasty. The coffee and tea were also very good.The taste, ambience and service quality makes one wonder if one is actually in a Government undertaking hotel. The Bhadrachalam hotel service and this one are nowhere near.
We go back to the room after breakfast, but it starts pouring.
We all wait for the rain to stop, and after a while it finally stops.We finally start riding at 9:55 AM instead of the planned schedule of 9:00 AM.
The day's schedule is to cross over into Orissa/Odisha state, have lunch, and come back. Riding a total of about 70 km.
As soon as we started, the rain too started again and it became a heavy downpour.We were supposed to take a right turn at the fork after 6 km from the start point.
Since it would be a short ride, it was decided to have only one support vehicle instead of two.
The truck driver was also not feeling well anyway.So Krish asked me to tell everyone to wait at the turn while he arrives.
I join the pack and inform everyone about the stop.In heavy rain, we waited under a tree for about 10 minutes for Krish to arrive.
Prajwal decided to go back to the room as he was not keen in riding in heavy rain.
As soon as we start from the turn, the surroundings got amazingly beautiful.Not just the scenery, but the roads too were quite good, except for a few nasty potholes and bad sections. Saddle sores bothered me as I switched to not so good shorts as today's ride being a small one. I would jokingly say to Dev and Gokul that I now have only one sweet spot left, and that I had to search for it every time when sitting on the saddle.
About 13 km into the ride we were at the AP-Orissa border. The rain too stopped a bit.
We all stopped to take some pics with the 'Welcome' and 'Thank you' boards of the states.
It was my first time into Orissa and the roads, terrain, nature... all looked beautiful! There was a stream/river running parallel to us, which later became big with a few bridges visible across it.
We (Sam, Gokul and I) waited for others after skipping one such bridge, to confirm that we were on the correct route, as none of us had the navigation on our devices.We started rolling after everyone arrived, and the rain came back again.
Watching the Jalaput reservoir to the left of the road was a feast to the eyes.With the reservoir still visible, we reached the lunch place after riding about 32 km.
We had Odiya local meal for lunch. We ordered Chicken, mutton, fish and egg to taste all of the available non-veg cuisines. To top it off, we had some laddus and tea after the lunch.
Dev ventured closer to the reservoir and Prabha went with him to take some pictures of the reservoir and a boat there.
The legs felt fresh as if they were ready for another 100 km. But we would let them recover for tomorrow's ride. To satiate the sweet tooth, we went in quest of a local sweet shop.
After asking around, we finally found one.We got to taste some freshly made kajas, rasagulla and jalebi.
To make the combination a bit crazy, we had some tea along with the sweets.
After clicking pics of the crazy combinations and the expression on the face of Sam when he was offered sweets (as that won't help him go faster), we turned back to Araku.
The roads felt as if it was a cyclist's dream come true with rolling terrain and mesmerizing views.When Sam was riding at a normal pace, I provoked him to pick up the pace and he did :P
I again got back to my own pace and enjoyed the nature thoroughly.
I stopped at the state border to take a picture, and Dev too joined me.I started riding and again stopped at the place where we waited for Krish in the morning, to take a picture in panorama mode as I just couldn't keep riding without appreciating the beautiful views all around. Few other riders too stopped while riding to take some pictures.
The ride ended at 3:05 PM after covering about 67 km and 853 m elevation gain. Though short, it was an amazing experience. This day and the waterfall experience on day 2 were like picnic for some of us :)
Later in the evening few riders went to the tribal museum, but I skipped it because I have been there before. Afterwards all of us went to the coffee museum. It was a good experience.We tasted some local special coffee, and bought some chocolates and coffee powder.
Narayan was already feeling low that the tour would end after tomorrow's ride.
We went back to the room to pack the newly bought stuff in our luggage, and went down for dinner.
 |
| Panaroma view from the spot where we waited for Krish |
Later in the night Prabha changed the tube for me and lubed the bike.
The day ended with a hope that everyone can tackle the Ananthagiri hill climb the next day.
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