Christmas eve at Araku Valley

Andhra Pradesh is a south-eastern state in India. When you search for Andhra Pradesh tourism, there are a few cities and places that come up in the search or you might have heard from someone. One of them being Araku Valley. It is a beautiful hill station in the city of Vishakhapatnam (also known as Vizag). I have been to Vizag before but this time decided to cover this wonderful valley too.

I, with 9 more friends, decided to visit Araku valley in 2017 Christmas eve. And, I must tell you, a really cold time to go. Since it’s a hill station so it was ought to be chilly. But will get to that point later. Anyways, we started our journey from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. We took a night train from Bhubaneswar station to Vishakhapatnam junction. We boarded at around 01:30 A.M. (the train was pretty late) and reached Vishakhapatnam at 08:00 A.M. 

Reached our destination

Now, we had our hotel reservations in Araku Valley, so we freshened up in the station itself. It was considered one of the cleanest stations in India in those times. Their washrooms were huge and had bath facility too. By paying a meagre amount of Rs.10, we could avail these services. After freshening up, we had breakfast and waited for our car to arrive. We booked a Mahindra Scorpio from Zoomcar services and 2 bikes. Soon we were off for our first destination- Borra Caves.

Borra caves are one of the largest and deepest caves in India. They consist of limestone structures created by the Gosthani river that flows from the caves. Locals believe that Lord Shiva resides inside the cave, protecting the cows, because of a stone that resembles a lingam. 

Inside, there are various lightings done to showcase various structures of limestone deposits. Some were even quite scary.

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It took us around 2-3 hours to completely see the caves. If you do not have the stamina to take stairs then don’t visit. This cave has a hell lot of stairs to take. But I would say it is still worth going. You can take your own time taking rest from time to time. People consider watching the lingam is the main destination, but for me, it was the structures to see that fascinated me.

After walking for such a long time, now we were hungry. Just outside the gates of Borra caves, you can see the various number of stalls. From selling traditional handmade products to snacks and toys, so much to venture. One very famous dish here is Bamboo Chicken. People usually order before going into the caves as it takes a lot of time to cook.

They take orders in terms of weight. Like half a kilo or 1 kilo and so on. The chicken is mixed with a blend of spices. It is then stuffed inside a thick hollow bamboo stick and slow-cooked over wood. After an hour of getting cooked, it is scooped out and served with onion slices and lime. 

Coffee Museum at Araku valley

After enjoying such a delightful meal, we headed for our next destination- Coffee Museum. It is a distance of around 35 km and it took us a bit more than an hour to reach there. Now the museum is in Araku, which is a very cold place during December, especially at nights. It was around 07:30 P.M.

It is a passage with figures explaining the history of coffee making. How coffee was prepared for the first time and how it gradually changes from time to time. It’s different variations and tastes people changed according to their preference. Everything. In the end, they had a coffee shop where you can buy coffee and chocolates (of course coffee-flavoured).

A cup of hot coffee in this chilly winter night was so soothing. After enjoying it, we headed off to our hotel. Since it was Christmas eve, all hotels were totally packed. When we reached our hotel, they told us that the rooms were not available. Only huts were our only option. We also tried to look for an alternate stay but no luck. So, we decided to go to the hut only. That’s our accommodation for the night.

Accommodation

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A special feature of staying in this hotel and lounge service was the traditional Dhimsa dance performance by the locals. The hotel staff made the arrangements for the bonfire in the backyard and everyone gathered around. Soon, a couple of ladies dressed in saree came along. I personally felt quite bad because the weather was so damn cold. We all were wearing layers of clothing to keep us warm but they were just wearing a saree. Still, they had such beautiful smiles. Maybe they were used to the weather. And then they started their performance.

It is a dance form where people dance around the fire. They performed for a good 20 minutes and then they asked us all to join them. It was soooooo much fun. We laughed, we danced our heart out, had dinner together, just wonderful. Even though afterwards, when we went to sleep, it was such a huge task. As I told, it was just a hut. No heater, no insulation nothing. At night I literally woke up and wore my jacket and shoes and then was able to sleep. Still, It was a night to remember. 🙂  See ya in my next post.