Beautiful Vizag
- October 14th 2022
A running friend of mine told me sometime in June 2022 about their plans of launching a marathon in the month of September in the coastal city of Vizag where the run would pass through the Zoo for some distance and weave its way parallel to the coast line and follow the same route on the return.
Table of Contents
Getting there
The city of Vizag is connected by Air to most major metros either directly or through a single hop flight. Almost all long distance trains to Kolkata on the Southern Railway section pass through this city.
The ideal time to be at Vizag
The best months to be in Vizag are between November to March when the weather remains cool and comfortable and the temperature ranges between 25 to 30 degree Celsius. The summers can be scorching and the monsoons which normally start from July continue till almost mid October.
Vizag also known as Vishakapatnam was originally known as Waltair by the Britishers during their rule, While wrong theories abound about the name of Waltair being derived from some British colonel and that there existed a club called the Waltair Club, the name is actually a derivative of a Telugu word Valuteru Gedda meaning Storm Water Drain.
The Britishers misspelt and mispronounced it and finally it got called as Waltair. Vizag’s rich history dates back over 2,500 years and its believed that the name of Vishakapatnam was derived from the family deity Vishaka of the Chalukya dynasty in 1010 CE.
Multiple dynasties continued to rule it until the era of European Colonization which started in 1630 with the Dutch followed by the Britishers taking control in 1757 after a brief interlude of French influence. Waltair holds lot of nostalgic and lovely memories in my mind as we used to visit this town once in 2 years during our Annual Summer holidays to meet my grandparents.
A visit to the temples and beaches always used to be our favorite activity. We also came to Vizag on a study tour while I was in college and with all those fond memories, decided to run the marathon and got a few of my fellow runners to join me.
The Train Journey to Vizag
We had decided to go by the evening train Howrah Mail from Chennai. The train leaves Chennai by around 7 PM in the evening and reaches Vizag the next day by around 8 in the morning.
The 4 of us did a kind of pot luck between us and had a great time in our 1st AC coupe.
The plan was to finish our breakfast somewhere close to the station and then reach the resort where we had booked ourselves in.
By the time we exited the station, a slight drizzle had turned into a steady downpour.
- October 15th 2022
I had got a cab booked through my friend. The driver Sekhar incidentally was a marathon runner and was due to take part in the event the next day along with us.
We asked him for suggestions for a decent place for breakfast and he took us to Sri Sairam Parlour a very non descript place but with some amazing food. By around 9.30 AM we left for our resort Sai Priya Resorts which was very close to the Rushikonda beach and around 15 kms away from the station.
Choices of stay at Vizag
There are plenty of hotels to choose from in Vizag depending on your budgets. While our stay was booked at Sai Priya Resorts, given their proximity to the Zoo and Rushikonda beach being a stone’s throw away, within the city one could look at 5 Elements, Fairfield by Marriott, Devee Grand Bay (run by ITC Welcomgroup), Fortune Inn Sree Kanya (run by ITC), The Bheemli Resort, Novotel and Hotel Touchwood as alternates. A lot of Treebo Hotels are also available which are decent value for money hotels but narrow down on your choice after doing a due diligence of the reviews on the net.
A few places where we went around
The Varaha Laxmi Narasimha Temple, Simhachalam
While the run for all the 4 of us would have taken utmost priority in keeping ourselves in shape for the 21K, we decided to make the most of our free time for some bit of sightseeing over the 2 days. We had asked our cab driver to come by around 12 noon to pick us up and our first place of visit was a drive to the Varaha Laxmi Narasimha Temple at Simhachalam which was around 20 kms from our resort.
The west facing temple, signifying victory resembles a fortress from outside with 5 gateways and 3 outer courtyards. Located atop a hill at a height of 244 metres, this temple’s architecture is a fusion of the Kalinga and Chalukya styles.
The main shrine is that of Lord Vishnu, manifested in the avatar of Sri Narasimha Swami Varu. The temple’s history dates back to 1098 AD with the help of an inscription found here which belongs to the Chola King Kulothunga.
Another inscription ascribes the building of the sanctum to 1267 AD while a third inscription is attributed to King Krishna Deva Raya in the years 1516 and 1519 AD to celebrate his victory over the Kalinga rulers. The temple remains open on all days of the week between There is no entry fee to visit the Simhachalam Temple. It is open for its visitors from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM and from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on all days of the week. There is a special darshan ticket one can buy for Rs.100/- per head in case you want to beat the queues.
Kailasagiri (the abode of Lord Shiva & Parvati)
We then commenced our drive for around 15 kms towards Kailasagri. This place has also been built atop a hill and offers some fantastic views of the Bay of Bengal from the top. A 40 feet high statue of Lord Shiva and Parvati is the main attraction here. Landscaped gardens and parks are the main attraction here apart from the services of a ropeway which one can use to come to the top.
We were back at our resort by around 4.45 in the evening and grabbed a quick bite at Another Fine Day, their in-house restaurant. We then walked across to the Rushikonda beach and after spending some time there, got to do some swimming at the resort pool.
The Rushikonda Beach
This beach was at a walkable distance from our resort and was a lot cleaner and less crowded. Spent some time walking around the beach before we made our way back.
Since we had to be up early for the run, we went into the restaurant by around 7.30 PM for our dinner. A funny combo of French Onion Soup, Paneer Tikka and curd rice is what we ordered.
- October 16th 2022
We were up and ready by 4.45 AM at the resort, all set for the 21K run. Sekhar arrived in the next 5 minutes and drove us to the start point outside the gates of the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park. We were there by around 5.15 AM and by 5.30 AM sharp, the runners hit the roads, winding their way through the Zoo and then all along the coastline till the U turn point at the 10th Km mark and ran back the same way. The Sun was out early at 6.00 AM itself and the heat and the humidity made it pretty tough but we managed to complete the run without straining ourselves too much. We were back at the resort by around 10 in the morning.
After freshening up, we checked out by around 12 and headed for some beer followed by lunch at Chutneys. Plan was to drive around the Ramakrishna Beach front post lunch before heading for the airport.
Could not resist ordering the Andhra Thali, knowing well that with the Gunpowder and the Chutneys it would have me sweating but then temptations die hard. Post a hearty lunch, we headed for the Ramakrishna Beach and spent some time there.
The Ramakrishna Beach and around
We had our flight to Chennai at 17.45 hours and we just about managed a photo shoot of the TU 142 Aircraft Museum and the INS Kursura Submarine Museum. A good fun trip but maybe an extra day would have given us an opportunity to visit the Arakku Valley and the Bora Caves. Heard about the train journey to this place being very picturesque and passing through lot of greenery. Anyways would save this for another trip maybe where I would also get to see the Dolphin’s Nose, The Ross Hill Church, the Botanical Garden and the Indira Gandhi Zoo and the Victory at Sea War Memorial. Our driver charged us Rs.4,000/- for the 2 days he was around with us. He can be reached on +91 9160628683.
