A trip to Bangalore for VIJYOSHI

Day 1

The date was 29th of November, one day after our 1st semester was over. All 21 of us were in a jolly mood. We all had our luggage  some having pretty heavy ones as if they were going to build a house and start a family there (dedicated to Hardik  alias Thhippi :P ). And some had extremely small ones (like me of course), as if they were going to NISER to attend a lecture (i.e. with an empty bag). Please dont clap for me. :P :D . But all of us, no matter the size of luggage, were desperately waiting for  the bus to come. That should be enough to show unity in diversity.  :D

The bus started from Niser probably at 11 am ( I dont exactly remember).  We reached the station in time. Some had come along to ensure our safety and security. :P . Thanks to Ayush, Ashish, Abhilash and Kiran. We all boarded the train and took our respective seats. Of course, all had bought tons of eatables and cold-drinks at the station, adding to their massive luggage.

The train left the Bhubaneswar station exactly at 12:05 pm. Well, i am sure about the timing because this was the time from which i started taking notes about the journey. This was also the time when I first time thought about making a post in my blog about it. Well, we all took our time to make ourselves comfortable to the atmosphere and change seats in order to have a better compatibility.

We reached our first station - Khurdha at 12:30 pm. The compartment we (me, Vishal, Hardik & param) were sitting also contained two other people. One was an Oriya. And the other one was a Malayali. Of course, Blessy was overwhelmed talking to him as if she had seen a real Malayali after so many days. (No offence to Rohit and Jishnu :D )

Soon, we were near the Balugaon station at around 1:10 pm or something. Being an Odia, I can not stop myself from saying something about Balugaon. Balugaon is a town and notified area under the district of Khordha. It is one of the main attractions of Chilika. Though most of the parts of the Chilika Lake lie in Puri district, some parts of it is also visible while passing through Balugaon. Boating at this place is one of its many tourist attractions.

We had our lunch at that time. Lunch was not that good, but our survival depended on it. So, had to take it. :( Just after lunch, we got an opportunity to see the beauty of Chilika through our window panes. There were boats floating on the lake, ready for going fishing. On one side of the train, there was the ever extending water of Chilika lake. And on the other side of the train, there were beautiful hills. After some distance, we were also able to see the hills being completely surrounded by the lake, making small islands. That was indeed a marvelous and charming view which we all enjoyed a lot. :)

After passing Chilika, I tried to pass my time listening to songs. Hardik was sleeping just above me. Vishal was reading some "Linear Algebra" book, none of which I could understand. And Param had already changed the seats. At last, Dipti went to sleep too. So, on our side of the bogie, only I was left awake and enjoying the view and the music. Soon, we crossed the bridge of the Birupa river. We were soon passing through Hilly terrains and many ups and downs.

Soon, we were passing through marshy forests which were dense and typical to the Chilika ecosystem. The train stopped at Chhatrapur Station. After leaving the scene, there was a village scene - small ponds, rice fields and screw-pine forests. Then we passed through a small town, probably that of Chhatrapur.

We reached Berhampur station which was near to the Andhra Pradesh border and the southern-most station of Odisha. I could see plain fields, small hills, narrow roads passing behind. We were soon near the Andhra Pradesh border. I went to the other side of the bogie and found out that most people were watching movies from a long time. Some had even missed the view of Chilika Lake. :-o

We entered the Andhra Pradesh border at 3:08 pm. I noted this time because this was the time I received text notifications from telecom servers welcoming into the state of Andhra Pradesh. The first station we stopped in Andhra Pradesh was Ichhapur station. The name ringed bells because I had heard this name earlier in some Telugu song (Aa Ante). We left the station after 10 minutes. And at 3:20 pm I could see a serene village scene. It was afternoon and the cows were grazing in the fields, happily chewing the green grass.

At 3:25 pm, we reached Jhadupudi station and left soon. The fields nearby were yellow and hence, were ready to be reaped as winter ends. At some distance, a small forest was also seen. At 3:30 pm we crossed another station without stopping - Sompeta. After Sompeta, I could see greenery on both sides, small villages, probably tribal guessing from the type of dresses they wore. At 3:45 pm, we were crossing through a dense forest which looked nice and dark. The train was very slow before. But, after this forest, the train took a tremendous pace.

At 3:55 pm we stopped at the Palasa Station and left at 4:00 pm. The station was followed by small hills and consequently by crop fields. One could have easily guessed that we were not in Odisha by looking at the men and women working in the fields. The men were wearing lungis which is typical to the southern states. And the women wore sarees, but the style was much different from that of Odisha. The fields were followed by coconut tree plantations.

Kaushal was moving from compartment to compartment and hunting down sleeping people among us. He was taking their photos while asleep. I bet they would come in handy for future entertainment.

At around 4:10 pm,we were passing through primitive looking villages. All the houses were thatched and not a single one had a cemented roof. It resembled to the villages in some undeveloped parts of Odisha. It was almost indistinguishable. I earlier thought that life would be much different in different states. But I found out it to be otherwise. There were many similarities. I was getting bored. Hence at 4:20 pm, I changed SIM to incur less data charges while in roaming, so that I could do Facebook.

At 4:40 pm, the uncles in our compartment started watching a movie - X-men : Wolverine. So, we also joined them. I had seen the movie many times earlier but still enjoyed it. It was dusk outside and everything looked hazy and beautiful. At 4:45 pm we crossed the river Vasamdhara. At 4:50 pm, reached the Srikakulam station. The train stopped there some time and left. Crossed  Dusi station at 5 pm without halting.

Around 5:15 pm, we were passing through a forest which was very dense. The train was on a cut-down track below, keeping the forest to our tops. We passed through the town of Shreemanagar at 5:25 pm. After Shreemanagar, there was a view I was longing to see. On both sides, there were large hills; some ranging more than a kilometer in height. I was unable to see the top of the mountain through the window-glass even though it was at a large distance from the train. There was jungle all around. I could see hills in all directions. The view was elegant; I am unable to express in words.

At around 5:40 pm, we were passing through a small town, or more of a township. It was almost dark and the only thing now visible outside was the lights of the apartment buildings. At 5:45 pm, we arrived at Vizianagaram Station and halted for around 10-15 minutes. At 6:05 pm, I looked out of my window again. I became very sad as I was unable to see the scenery, the hills anymore. Though I could feel their presence, the only thing that stood between my eyes and them was the ever extending darkness. Probably this was the first time I actually felt a little of how a blind man must be feeling unable to see this world. Everywhere he sees, there is nothing but darkness. Unable to hold the impatience any long, I started moving inside the boggie and enjoying with friends. :)

At 7 pm, we reached Vishakhapatnam station. As the train was expected to wait here for half an hour, we got our water bottles refilled and became fresh. We left the Vizag station exactly at 7:30 pm. Tried to pass time somehow, moving here and there in the bogie and watching outside from the main door. At 8 pm we reached Anakapalli station and left around 8:15 pm. At times, I had to even go out at stations to record their names due to the night. This is the main reason I am unable to mention station names in a good frequency as I did in the daytime.

At around 8:45 pm I started listening to some songs. Then, moved to the other side of the compartment. We all were hungry and were waiting for the dinner to come. Planned to watch movie all the night. At 9 pm I joined the others who were now playing some sort of a game. I joined them but lost both the times my turn came, probably due to the reason that I was giving them more clues to guess than necessary. We had our dinner at 9:45 pm. At around 10 pm, we all returned to our respective sleepers. I was unable to sleep, mainly due to the excitement due to the journey. At 11 pm, started watching a movie with Dipti on my laptop.

The train had taken a tremendous pace by then. The train reached the Vijaywada station sometime between 12:30 am and 1 am. Stopped there almost half an hour. At 1:30 am I did a round of our bogie. All were asleep by then. I closed my eyes to let myself sleep at around 2 am.

Day 2

After a two hours sleep, finally I woke up at 4 am. I tried to spend my time by surfing the net and listening to music. At around 6 am, almost all of us were awake. We all got fresh and enjoyed our cup of tea/coffee.

Due to the thick fog outside, I was unable to see outside the train clearly. Luckily, the fog cleared at around 6:20 am, giving me ample opportunity to gratify myself perceiving the freshness of the morning. The cold atmosphere was keeping us fresh as if we were some flower on a tree. The train crossed Guddur station at 6:15 am and we halted at Naydupata at around 6:30 am. At 7 am, we were at Sururupeta station. I caught a glimpse of NH 5, which was running parallel to the train line at the right side of the station. NH 5 is the same NH that connects Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. By this time, small rivers were visible, all glistening in the charm of the morning freshness. At 7:10 am we reached the Tada Station which was our last station in Andhra Pradesh.

At 7:13 am, we entered the state of Tamil Nadu and by 7:25 am, we were at Gummudipanti Station. At 7:40 am we crossed the Ponneri Station, Annuppambattu at 7:45 am, Minjur at 7:50 am and finally Nandiambakkam and Attipattu at 7:55 am. The first part of our journey was almost coming to an end and we were swiftly heading towards Chennai.

At 8 am, we were crossing a bridge over what seemed to me as an estuary; I am not pretty sure what it was. But the thing I was sure of was that it was looking too beautiful while reflecting the morning sun. On the other side, there was a coal power plant throwing long strings of smoke to the sky, polluting the very surrounding I was amazed at a few minutes ago. A chill went through my nerve imagining the fate of the place after a few years, though I was equally rejoiced at the thought about how beautiful the place must be looking before the establishment of the coal plant.

At 8:05 am, we reached the Wimconagar station, halted for some time, then left again. At 8:10 am we were at Tiruvottyor, V.O.C. Nagar. At 8:15 am, we crossed the Tondiarpet Station. All of us were making their bag-packs ready as we knew that Chennai was not much far. Finally, at 8:35 am, we reached the Chennai Central. We had to spent our next 6 hours there till we boarded the next train to Bangalore.

After coming out of the train, I met Swadesh, my ex-roommate and my good friend. We used to be room-mates during 1st year of my +2. He is studying at Maritime, Chennai now. On hearing that I was coming Chennai, he had taken much pains in the chilly winter morning to come to the station and meet me. Rare are such friends, indeed.

We waited till 9 am at the Chennai Station. Then, after keeping our luggages in the luggage room, we went for having some brunch at around 10 am. Went to a nearby restaurant and had a dosa there. Had a lot of fun too. Took many photos. All this contributed to relieve us from the travel fatigue. After eating, we all met Subbulakshmi's parents at 10:30 am, who live at a place nearby. They flooded us with different types of sweets. They were delicious. Then, we took rest for some time there till around 11:30 am.

At 11:30 am, our batteries were recharged :D and we all were ready to have a tour of Chennai guided by Subbulakshmi and her father. We went to a Murugan temple nearby. Murugan is another name for Kartika, the son of Shiva. The temple was a old one and it was beautiful. We learned a lot about south Indian temples and gods from Subbulakshmi. Then, we moved a local market. Some people bought some articles as a remembrance. While moving, I looked at Swadesh a few times. I feared that he would be feeling uncomfortable with my NISER friends. But to the contrary, he was absolutely comfortable and mixed well with others. I felt that as if I was the one from outside, not he. :-D

At around 12:30 pm, we returned to the station. Chennai sun was too hot, even in the winters. At 1:10 pm, we all once again found ourselves in the train with our baggage. I bid goodbye to Swadesh finally. This time, we all were distributed in 2 bogies and were seating far apart as the alternative could not be arranged. Headed happily towards Bangalore or newly named Bengaluru.

For around an hour, I stopped noting down the details and watched some videos and listened to some songs on my laptop. A man in his fifties was seated next to me. He seemed to be a gentleman but we did not converse for quite a long time. Some of my friends were in the same bogie that I was but they were far apart and I was not able to talk to them.

Hence, I got bored and started taking notes; unable to visualize that I was going to have my best experience of the trip soon and completely unaware of the upcoming role of the man sitting next to me in it.

At around 2:20 pm, we reached the Thiruvallur station and Arakkonam at 2:50 pm. At 3:10, we passed Sholinger station and at 3:30 pm, we passed the Walajah Road Station. The landscape was a bit dry now, quite different from the coastal landscape in which I had spent my past years .

At this time, the person next to me took notice of the fact that I was taking some notes. Maybe he thought this was weird or may be he felt curious, but he asked me about the same. I replied to him that I was fond of writing blogs and that I needed notes for the same. He seemed quite amused. And started talking to me about the notes I was talking. I got to know much later that his name was Vasudevan and he was a native of Tamil Nadu but worked in Bangalore. He was an engineer and had done his B.Tech , M.Tech and PhD at different IITs. He is an engineer-cum-scientist now. I also told about myself and we got acquainted in a very short time.

He pointed to the small patches of forests, now visible through the window of the train, that grew in that dry landscape and informed me that those were social forestry. It was very difficult to grow plants on those soils a few years back, but due to the effort by local social groups, fortunately it is not the same case now. In the dry lands, I could see small villages, some temples, long lines of coconut trees and hills.

After some time, Vasudevan uncle showed me to a special kind of tree named "Padree" in Tamil. The specialty of the tree was that it had very soft branches and delicate parts; he even remarked funnily that its branches would fall off even if it got kicked by a child. But the fragrance of the flowers was very strong and pleasant. How similar is the human nature !The people that we often perceive as weak and incompetent, often blossom to be the brightest talents spreading their fragrances all over the world. This fact amazed me and I kept thinking about it for a long time.

My train of thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mukundarayapuram Station at around 3:40 pm. At 3:50 pm , long ranges of hills were seen at a distance. The ranges seemed to be continuous and I couldn't find an end to the trail. Uncle said that they are called "Kalvarayan" in Tamil; I am not sure whether he referred to the hill ranges in general or the name of the particular one that we were crossing. My Tamil friends, do let me know about it if u know about the same.

At 3:55 pm, we were crossing the prestigious Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). Its infrastructures were laid on both sides of the track. And uncle added that there was an underground tunnel to connect both the sides. The campus was beautiful and the surroundings seemed to be very best for education with all its coolness and silence.

At 4 pm, we crossed the Katpadi junction. At around 4:20 pm, we were passing through continuous series of hills. There were some traces of village people, returning to their homes after a long tiring day at the fields. Through the windows, I saw some new kinds of trees which I was not able to recognize. There were also some familiar trees, like the long-stemmed coconut. At 4:25 pm, we passed Gudiattam Station.

At 4:35 pm, we were crossing a small Muslim village established just below the hills. It looked so divine, peaceful and calm in the evening time. In the distance, I could see a boy flying a kite. It somehow reminded me of the character of “Ali” in the story “The Kitemaker” which I liked a lot. The hills were now somewhat rocky. There was barely any vegetation other than mosses growing on it. Watching all these soothing views, even the coffee I was taking tasted sweeter.

At 4:45 pm, we were passing through a place named Bachakuppam. Well, there wasn't any signs to indicate it, but I didn't require any, now that I had Vasudevan uncle by my side who was a native. The scenery was nice out there and to add to the delight the train was moving slow. Below the hills, there were plantations and small establishments.

At 4:50 pm, passing through the same hill ranges, I saw a large ' † ' symbol painted on the top of one side of a hill. It was meant for the prosperity and propagation of Christianity. To its very side, I found another symbol 'U' – the symbol of 'Tilak' representing to the 'Vaisnav' sect of Hinduism. This interested me a lot because the people living below the hills were Muslims. Really, Incredible India.

The name of the above place is Ambur. The place was completely filled with tamarind plants which being tropical plants, were shading off their leaves and looking thorny now. We left the nice place soon. But the place already had made a strong impression in my mind. I could not help thinking about it. The thought that struck me most was the religious issue. How much I was able to notice,the place is completely dominated by Muslims. But as uncle said, the Christians are setting up their missionary schools, playgrounds and Churches at this place; in the hope of propagating their religion. I also saw many “cross” symbols on hill tops. I don't want to indulge myself on religion issues by writing about this matter, but I couldn't help withholding the idea. Setting up public playgrounds, schools etc. is nice way of helping humanity, but it can be equally inhuman if done for a selfish purpose. Is there even any difference among religions, don't they stand for the same thing but in different forms ? Why cant people from other religions enter our temples, if they want to ? Why all these religious riots in Gujarat and other parts of the country ? My mind kept pondering over these questions, although I knew there is no answer to such questions, until people don't start mending their views on these serious matters.

At around 4:45 pm, we were crossing the hills again. One funny thing that I noticed among the above serious matters was that I was getting a 3G network on my phone continuously, even in the hilly area, where there was hardly any population. It made me realize the condition of Odisha where finding a 3G network is like finding a tear in a drop of ocean ! :-P :-D Anyways, I hope that Odisha will also develop soon, and 3G will be found in every corners, even in remote areas. :-P :-D

At 5 pm, I saw a leather factory probably manufacturing shoes and belts. The sewage system opened into a small canal and it gave off foul odor. And people were living close to the water source and some were even washing their utensils and clothes in the same water. Cows were drinking the water and eating the dumps accumulated around the water source. It was a horrible scene and I did not dare to imagine the health issue the people might be facing. Really Incredible India, where leather seems to be more important that people!
Now we were at Vaniyambadi Station at 5:05 pm. I was talking with uncle and got to know that name of places in Tamil Nadu generally end with the work 'pakam', which means 'group of people living in a place'. Same is true for place names in most parts of India.

At 5:10 pm, we were passing through a jungle made up of coconut trees only. I had not seen any of that kind before. We were now passing by the Errcod Hills. There I saw terrace farming on the hills, beautifully cut-out to conserve the top-soil from the running water.

At 5:15 pm, we were near the Jolarpettai Junction. The continuous hills that we were crossing through almost came to an end here. At 5:25 pm, we left the station. The sun was red now and looked like a beautiful red ball in the sky. While looking through the window panes, I saw reflection of the sun on the other side. The reflection was splitting into 2 separate suns, hence I was able to see 2 suns at a time :D. I was extremely amazed by the sight.

At 5:30 pm, the train took a turn towards the Karnatak direction and the track to Coimbatore slipped away. At 5:40 pm, rocky hills started again. The hills were typically made up of big boulders instead of just plain rocks and soil. There were some traces of forests in the distance. After some time, we were crossing through a large valley like structure which was covered with dense forests. It was surrounded by hills on all the sides and it looked beautiful, conserved from the ruthless human activities. According to Vasudevan Uncle, this place was the most beautiful place on the Chennai-Bangalore track and I could not find anything to the contrary. After the place, there were series of hills, looking as descending staircases from distance. The vegetation on the hills was so dense that only the tree tops were visible without the trunk and it gave an impression of a dense cabbage field. :-D Around the place, there were small villages. Population was probably very less. Sugar-cane was growing on their fields. Observing all these varied landscapes, I felt as if I was in some wonderland.

At 5:50 pm, we were in Mallannur. The rocky hills were still continuing. They seemed like forming different familiar shapes; I could make out a large head of a dinosaur out of it. I even saw a man. :-D We were now entering the Andhra Pradesh border. It was basically a small patch of Andhra Pradesh intruding in between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

At 5:55 pm, I saw a very peculiar kind of hill. It seemed as if a very long rock was kept over another, perfectly balanced with some mud or soil as support. It seemed as if it could tip off by a gentle breeze, but to the contrary it must have been standing there for thousands of years. How strange nature is!

At 6 pm, we were at the Kuppam Station. There were both flyovers and subway to cross the tracks, which I found unique. There was a state medical college nearby on the other side of the station. We were still in Andhra Pradesh. At 6:10 pm, the dusk was approaching rapidly. The outside started dimming. I was disappointed from the fact that I won't be able to see those wonderful views more. All I was left with was the bogie I was in and the people I was with. Still, I was confident that I would be able to feel and listen the outside beauty even in the darkness.

At 6:15 pm, Karnataka Telecomm services welcomed us. At 6:25 pm, we were at the Bangarpet Junction. In the past, there used to be a gold mine near it. Kolar was the nearby gold field, hence the place was highly valuable and flourished with economy in the late 20th century. But just after the gold resource was depleted, the value of the place went down to almost nullity.

It was time to part with Vasudevan Uncle. He was going to get down in the next station. Before that we exchanged e-mail ids for future correspondence. Before he left, he asked me a riddle “What is yours that you use rarely, but others use it often ?” After thinking for some time, I was able to figure it out. The answer is “Your Name”. At 6:50 pm, we were at the Malur Station. At 7:05 pm, uncle got down at the Whitefield. I thank him for the details and information he put into my collection of this travel. Now, Vishal changed his seats and came near me. I was praying to God that he doesn't start discussing some high level Quantum mechanics or Group Theory with me. :-D . Luckily, he didn't. :-)

I forgot to mention an important thing earlier. Just before Vasudevan Uncle left, he said about himself. He was an engineer. He had completed his B.Tech. , M.Tech and Ph.D. At various IITs. He also taught me in the meantime how to design simple integrated circuits and chargers, which were his main works at job now.

At 7:22 pm, we were at the Krisnarajapuram Station and left it after 10 minutes. We soon entered Bangalore. At 7:40 pm, we were at the Bangalore East Station. The end of our long journey was drawing in. We got ready with our luggage to get down. We arrived at our final station – The Bangalore Cantonment at exactly 7:50 pm.

We got relaxed, then got out of the station. Some students of the IISc. Were waiting for us outside. After a short time of wait, we were transported to the beautiful campus of IISc where we had our dinner and completed the registration formalities. Then we boys were taken to an apartment of Platinum City where we checked in into our rooms. I got fresh and the last thing I remember about the night was lying on my bed.

So this was the end to our 2nd day of the journey.

Return

As I found myself quite busy in the camp, I was unable to document rest of the days there. I directly move to the day of the return. At 3 pm, we started from Yeshwantpur station excited to return home after a tiring journey and camp. At 3:10 pm we pass through a small station named Gollamali and at 3:20 pm we again pass the Yellahanka station. At around 3:35 pm, the train starts picking up pace and we start to enjoy the views that nature throws in our way with the crows grazing and the birds flying as we pass through a hilly area. At 3:50 pm we see a large Ganesha idol and a small forest with trees of the same kind, and a large factory between these hills, polluting the entire scenic landscape. Oh, we wonderful human beings!

At 3:55 pm, we pass through a place where scenic beauty is at its best. Valleys with few signs of inhabitants, small pools filled with water from recent rainfall and covered with dew. The place looked clean and serene. We passed the Makalidurga station. Similar scenes continue for a long distance. At 4:10 pm, we pass by maize plantations in small areas and many mosques. At 4:15 pm, we pass through Gauribandhaghar station and I notice a small church. At 4:25 pm, the scene was replaced by plain agricultural lands.

At 4:30 pm, we stop at Devarapalli station for some time and at 4:35 pm, we enter the Andhra Pradesh border and I get welcomed to AP by a message from the telecom circle. At 4:40 pm, we reach Hindipur station where the train halts for a long time and starts again at 5 pm. At 5:10 pm, we climb through barren hills without even a single tree on them, but as we descend downhill, there was a dense tree cover. At 5:20 pm, I observe a Baarat in a small village though the window, people dancing merrily and celebrating the new life journey of the groom. The hills continue for a long distance and seem eternal. Smaller hills are replaced with bigger hills, some big enough that their tops are not visible due to the surrounding fog.

At 5:30 pm, we stop at Penukonda station and I observe rocky hills and a small strip of river in the distance. At 5:50 pm we reach Puttapatty station which is the abode of the famous Satya Sai. At 6:15 pm, we leave this station and I get a call from Sudeep and talked with him for some time. At 6:50 pm, we reach Dharmavaram station and due to the darkness, I am no longer able to watch the outside scenery. Hence I start watching a movie called "Happy Days" and since I was so engrossed in the movie, the next station that I spot is Anantpur station where we arrive at 7:25 pm. The last station we pass before I sleep was Gwoty station at 8:25 pm.

I woke up around 4 am and the first station we stop is Guntur at 4:10 pm. We stop there sometime, have tea and then head on. At 5:05 am, we pass Krishna junction and then pass over Krishna river and a nearby Durga temple. We get down at Vijaywada junction at 5:20 am where we change trains.

At 7:10 am, we catch Prashanti express. I see a stupa on the hills which was beautiful and tall. The morning was fresh and I was excited to know that we are going to reach home soon. At 7:30 am, we see another church on a hill, and below the hills, a golden layer of ripe rice plants waiting to be harvested. At 7:38 am, we pass by Gyanavaram station, and at 8 am, we pass Nuzvid station. At 8:05 am, we pass Valatur station with plain agricultural lands. At 8:10 am, we reach Eluru station; 9:30 am, Kovvur station. At 9:40 am, we passed Godavari which was enormous. Boats were there on the water and fishermen were catching fish. There were small mounds of earth on the earth with tents. There was a factory nearby draining its wastes into the river. At 9:45 am, we cross an area full of small pink flowers known as Kagezi fula in Odia. At 9:47, we cross Rajmhundry station. At 10:10 am, we pass by harvested crops stacked in heaps in the fields and at 10:20, we cross a Dhobighat. At 10:25 am, we reach Anaparti station, at 10:55, Samalkot. At 11 am, we pass by a large statue of Swami Vivekanand. We also see that harvesting is going on in the fields.

At 11:25 am, we pass Anavaram station, and we see cranes hunting for fish in a swamp, trying to catch their breakfast. At 11:40 am, we passed Tuni station with its beautiful yellow flowers. At 11:45 am, I noticed an art performed by nature on the rocks, giving it odd and exquisite shapes. The scenery was nice with the coconut plantations and the temples on the top of the hills. At noon, we pass through a continuous and dense set of hills, with a small river and sugarcane plantations in the valley. At 12:30 pm, we reach Anankapalli station. At 12:50 pm, we pass Duvada station. There is a Buddha temple and a Shiv temple on the same hill nearby and it reminded me of Dhauli.

At 1:05 pm, we pass Gopalapatnam, and at 1:15 pm, we reach Visakhapatnam. I had biriyani for lunch there, and we left the station at 1:40 pm. At 2:10 pm we pass through hills with very sharp slopes, but there was a tricolor flag on top of it. It really must have been a difficult climb. At 2:20 pm, we pass Kantakapalli station, at 2:45 Vizianagaram, 3:10 Chipurpalle station, 3:45 Srikakulam road station, 4:15 Naupada station and at 4:40 pm, we reach Palasa station. At 5:10, I see birds returning home in the distance, same as we were doing. At 5:15 pm, we reach Sompeta station and at 5:35, we finally enter Odisha. At 5:45, we stopped at Berhampur. At 6:15, we pass Jagannathpur, 6:25 Chhatrapur, 7:15 Balugaon. At 8:20, we cross Khordha station and we finally dismount at Bhubaneswar at 8:45 pm.

And the trip finally ends with this. I hope there are many more to come.