Last year, I had spent three days at Araku Valley with my family as an extension of our Vishakhapatnam tour. Araku Valley happens to be a very picturesque hill station about 115 kms away from Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, fast becoming a much popular tourist destination owing to its serene and calm ambience and scenic landscape.  There is more than one way to reach Araku Valley. If you wish to take the flight – Vishapatnam Airport happens to be the closest airport. Trains are available to Araku Valley from Vizag. If you so wish, you can take the help of your hotel authorities in Vizag to arrange for a rented car to take you to Araku Valley. Again, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation takes tourists to Araku Valley in luxury buses at regular intervals. We had taken the train from Vizag and thoroughly enjoyed the stunningly beautiful route, intercepted by numerous tunnels. Araku Valley has a number of hotels, resorts and guesthouses with in-house restaurants in many of them. So accommodation and food are not a concern.  Once we reached the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Resort, which is a very pretty and well-maintained one, we were greeted by a very vibrant performance by the local tribal women decked up in bright and colorful sarees. They sang their traditional songs and swayed and moved elegantly along with the beats. A lot of tourists also joined in to dance with them. It was a very enjoyable performance.  We spent the three days at Araku Valley relaxing and taking leisurely strolls along the mountain paths with a cool pleasant mountain breeze blowing in our hair. Even sitting in the balcony and looking out at the picture-postcard scenery – majestic mountains smeared with lush greenery - right in front was an amazing experience. One evening, we walked over to the tribal museum, which has a nice collection of interesting arts and artifacts related to the culture of the tribals. After three satisfyingly pleasant days at Araku Valley, we hired a car back to Vizag. Along the way, we dropped in to see a pretty coffee plantation and quite a few viewpoints looking out to slices of gorgeous landscape. The driver proudly informed us that movies have been shot in these beautiful locales. However, the show-stealer was Borra Caves. This limestone cavern is a wonderful place, displaying stalactites and stalagmites and steps leading into the bowels of the cave. The cave is flanked by lush greenery. If you are going on a trip to Andhra Pradesh, do not miss the beautiful Araku Valley. Traveller: Anwesha, Kolkata   … [Read more...]