Vizag trip

Work sent me to Vizag and I must say that I was quite looking forward to the experience. Staying in Hyderabad for almost a decade has made me rather soft about the state of Andhra Pradesh. So Vizag was a city I was kicked about visiting.

Anyway, I land in Vizag on Monday, 13 th July and am rather surprised to see hills and mountains around me. At the Hyderabad airport you are surrounded by barren land all around you. Vizag airport reminded me of Nepal and I love Nepal. My airline decided to cut costs and take in only some passengers on the bus from the tarmac to the airport; and leave the others to walk to the airport. Not being one to have enormous patience, I walked briskly (as briskly as possible with a laptop, a handbag, a jacket, a bottle of water and a book juggling between 2 hands) to the airport and looked for my baggage. They say Time and Tide wait for none....well in my case, my baggage decided to wait for half hour before showing its face on the conveyor belt....by this time, I was already tight for time and in in dire need of coffee...
I finally got my bag and walked confidently to the pre-paid taxi service to get a car to drop me to my hotel. They promptly collected the cash (please note that with the rain drizzling outside and the temperature hovering around 25 degree, the man at the counter still booked me an a.c cab. I walked out of the airport to meet my driver. He escorted me to the car and when I asked him how far the hotel was....it struck me that Hindi was not a common language or known to many in Vizag. Now I dont pride myself when it comes to my very mediocre, broken Telugu ( my expertise in Telugu starts at asking about one's day and ends with cussing one's ancestors into oblivion). Obviously. I could not do the latter even though the elderly gentleman driving me decided to drive at a snail's pace leaving me with only a 45 min window to check into the hotel, shower, eat and reach office in time for a meeting.

Finally, I reached the hotel ( which was all of 30 minutes from the airport- in Vizag terminology- far) and proceeded to check in. The gentleman at the front desk obviosuly took an intense and immediate dislike to me and asked me to pay up for the accomodation, even though it was arranged through my office and was a regluar affair. Then he proceeded to tell me that he wanted me to show him a visiting card which would state that I was a bona fide employee of ABC Ltd. If looks could kill he would have died a gazillion deaths that morning. I had just about 20 minutes to spare for breakfast, a shower and rush to the office for my meeting.

We sorted everything out and I was escorted to my room. The right people were paid a tip and a smile was finally bestowed on yours truly. Phew! something finally went right.

I freshened up and ran to the restaurant looking forward to some scrumptious sausages and bacon....only to be brought down to earth with the idlis, vadas and corn flakes that was being served....nevertheless, a hungry stomach does not make a discrimination and I had a healthy serving of idlis, papaya and pineapple.

Time to rush to office....fell for the story the auto walla weaved and paid him an extra 20rs. for an otherwise 1.5 km drive to my office. Now if you have ever lived in Hyderabad, one should know that even without the meter running, every fare starts at 20 if not 30. In Vizag, it started at 15 and rarely did auto wallas cheat you blind...I was the exception

I ran into the office and was pleased that I had made it in time for my meeting. The day dragged on after that and I was waiting to get back to the hotel and chill out. I got back and then decided to go for a walk around the area in an attempt to discover true Vizag.
10 minutes into my walk, I was suddenly weaving my way through a barrage of bikes and cars....and a million girls clad in salwar kameezes giggling and tittering in the middle of the road. Little did I know that my adventurous spirit would end up walking to a famous girls college in Vizag and as is with every girls school or college at the end of its day....it has a million boys waiting outside it to get a glimpse of the fairer sex (in this case some were young enough to be my daughters). When these young men whizzed and zigged and zagged their bikes on the road-not caring for us mere mortals- in an attempt to impress the ladies...I was trying my best at this point in time not to get killed under a speeding bike....I survived somehow.

Anyway, I decided my sense of adventure had been fulfilled for a day and I decided to walk back to the hotel....NOW, people who know me will vouch that my sense of direction leaves a lot to be deisred for and guess what....I was walking away from the hotel as opposed to towards it...I walked for almost 2 kms when the roads appeared rather unfriendly and unknown so I did what is best under these cicumstances......walk to the nearest auto fellow and ask him to drop you to your destination. :)
I got back to the room and decided that I had enough of adventure for my 1st day in Vizag. So I got comfortable on my soft bed and watched 'Rakhi ka Swayamvar' on tv...Now watching that show is another experience which I will share with you some other day.