Two day Roadtrip to Araku Valley – Borra Caves
Things to know about Borra Caves :
Borra Caves is the main tourist spot for people who are visiting Araku Valley or Vizag. Borra (means hole in Oriya) Caves are a naturally formed and believed to be of 150 million years old. This was first discovered by British geologist William king in 1807.In the excavation, its found stone tools dating back to 30,000 to 50,000 years indication human habitations.
Here the water percolating from the roof containing calcium bi carbonate and other minerals from the mounds on the ground called “Stalagmites” and spear like structure hanging from the roof called “Stalactites” . These acquire different shapes , imagined to be Shiv Parvathi , Mother child etc.
Visit to Borra Caves:
Day 1 We started our Roadtrip to Araku Valley from Kakinada . We reached Borra caves around 10 a.m. Timings to visit the same are 10 a.m – 5 p.m and there is a lunch break from 1-2 p.m . Its better to go there before 11 a.m. , after that the queue to parking the vehicle , get entrance ticket etc will take long time, especially in weekends and holidays .
Inspite of it being a natural cave , it consists a very well laid out and well maintained path inside to move around. It also fitted with colourful lights which apart from providing the necessary lighting to guide the people, improvises the mood inside Cave as well.
There is a natural formed Shiv linga inside the Cave which is visited by thousands of tribals during ShivRatri Festival every year.
After coming out from the cave near the entrance there were many stalls serving tasty Bamboo Chicken and selling artifacts made of Bamboo. After eating bamboo chicken and some shopping, we started the Journey to Araku Valley.
Araku Coffee plantation – Ananthagiri Hills:
On the Way to Araku , we stopped at Coffee Plantation in Ananthagiri hills . We had freshly brewed Araku coffee there which is very tasty. We bought some Araku coffee packets to take back to home .
Padmapuram Gardens – Araku Valley:
After checking into the room and fresh-up , we went to see Padmapuram gardens . The garden was built in 1942 on a 26-acre plot to supply vegetables to the soldiers who fought in World War II. After the War, it was converted into a Horticultural Nursery cum Training center.
Vlog:
After that we had dinner we retired early for the day as we have a busy schedule for the second day ahead.