The best is always left for the last

It had been a day long tour and that was the final day of our stay in Vizag. We went up to watch Kailash Giri, unsuccessful attempt at availing the ropeway/cablecar (not that we were very keen about this as we have already seen perhaps, the best of the ropeways in Mt. Titlis and also in Gulmarg) due to long queue, which could only mean that we drive all the way up and the scorching heat meant, we could not spend much time there. A brief stint at Rishi Konda beach, a couple of hours of spending time with the jungle boy Tugga at the Zoo and then lunch at Ming room was enough for us to call it a day for the youngest and eldest member of the travelling team.

Madhushree had been keen since the day we stepped in to Vizag to catch up on the Vizag fishing harbour and before we bid goodbye to the city, we planned to do that.

Driving down RK beach road towards the end, the narrow lanes and a distinct smell of sea fish gave us indication that we were on the correct path. Vizag fishing harbour is a tourist spot per say and needs no direction. Inaugurated in 1933, Vizag port is the second largest port in terms of volume of cargo handled and one of the key ports of the country. There is an inner harbour which has 18 berths, the outer harbour which has 6 berths and the shipping harbor- the famous Vizag fishing harbour.

As we drove inside the fishing harbor, we crossed the hub or the market place which at that point of the day, was barren. All the activities in the market place happen early morning, when about 600 mechanised boats and around 100 big and small trawlers come back after the days of catch.

Slowly as we took our car forward, we could find some of the fishermen at their small makeshift huts, where tons and tons of fishes were left for drying. The little doubt that we had of getting down the car was eradicated once we reached the place where all the trawlers were parked. Yellow, being a predominant colour here, this place was a photographer’s dream destination. Different shades of yellow, some freshly painted bright ones like golden yellow, some worn out like amber, some gave you a feeling of the school bus yellow while some, a perfect sunglow shades. If there was one moment in the entire tour where I thought again and again to take out my camera – this was at this moment. Well, I still did not.

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Madhushree and I didn’t have much time in our hand as we had to return to the car quickly for senior and the junior family members. We could see from far that Tugga was waving his one arm while covering his nose with the other hand to ward off the stench of dry fish. The stench was strong; nevertheless it did not stop us from taking a stroll around the place with an intention of clicking pics. Eventually it could only mean an enthusiastic local fisherman inviting us inside the trawler, allowing me to play with the steering wheel. The communication barrier that we faced was definitely on language as he wanted to see the picture or wanted me to share the picture or something that I didn’t understand. He allowed me to touch the wheel and also get inside the masters cabin and yes, a photo opportunity was not lost.

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As we rushed towards the car, some more photo opportunities came our way and while we passed through the main market place which worn a deserted look, I tried to visualize what this place will look like when in morning. We were also told that a little further down was the point from where one could take boats into the sea. A boat ride with a 4 yr and 74 yr was not quite a great proposition. Hence we dropped the idea. As we drove back to our hotel for the final time through RK beach road, I regretted not discovering this place earlier and coming here in the morning.

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For photographers

  1. This is one place you need travel more than one time. A place like this which has so much activity around can be so different at different point of times.
  2. We came across wonderful warm people as evident in the blog and because this is a tourist spot, so they must be accustomed with camera. Hence people photography should not be an issue.
  3. Too much of camera gear is not suggested for this place.

Saying that I have clicked all the pics with my Samsung Mobile.