Weekend Getaway

Muscles and I went away on the weekend, there aren't too many places to go that isn't too far outside of Hyderabad, so we chose Nagarjuna Sagar, which is a waterfall in the closest thing to wilderness you'll find so close to the city. We drove, and it took about 4 hours (and it is only about 200km) outside of the city.
The waterfall has pretty much dried up, but after the monsoon there should be a lot more water. But for us it was just the point of getting away more than seeing a waterfall, I mean come on, I've been to the Niagara Falls so many times in my life, no other waterfall could really do it justice (ok yes there are a few others that could in South America I think), but really, it was just about getting away.

Not much to write about, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.





A tree growing withing a tree




















28 weeks pregnant

Vizag beach vacation: pictures

Here are some pics of the vacation Muscles and i took to Vizag. We had a lovely time and mostly hung out on the beach, it was a short trip and since it took 12 hours to get there and back we didn't want to spend all our time running around. We just wanted to chill out!

Vizag is the second largest city in the state of Andra Pradesh but compared to Hyderabad, it was so much more laid back, had much less traffic and dust and way more humidity since Vizag is a coastal city on the Bay of Bengal. The city pretty much shuts down after after about 9:30pm, but after frolicking in the ocean and the sun all day, we were pretty much exhausted.

There weren't many other western tourists around on the beach although there were plenty of Indian tourists, the men swimming in their brief bikini underwear (gross) and the women swim or just walk around in the shallow waters in their Salwars. And then there was me, in a bikini. I didn't go into the water too much as the Ocean was quite aggressive and had large waves. You couldn't go too deep as the currents had the potential to pull you in, so we just went in to cool off. I did meet three westerners, who are in high school studying in Vizag on a 4 month program with their schools. Two were from California and the other was from Guadalajara Mexico. What a terrific opportunity these teenagers are getting by spending 4 months abroad studying. They aren't loving India too much as being a teenager can suck here, but they certainly are getting a taste of a different culture. They live with host Indian families and are not used to the very strict restraints put on them. Anyway, if i have kids, I'd love for them to have this kind of an opportunity!!

Here are some pics to give you an idea of what it was like there, 4 days on the beach just wasn't enough, but it was still nice to go and chill out for a little while.








Our cottage style hotel for the weekend








i actually saw a few guys surfing. The waves were huge! But I have no idea where they got their surfboards from. We couldn't find any surf boards or boogey boards to save our lives!

Vacation

My first real vacation is this week. I just took 4 days off and with the weekend it gives me a nice 6 days of relaxation on the beach. We were going to go to Goa, but decided to try another Indian beach in the same state I am in already- Andra Pradesh-, called Visakhapatnam or Vizag for short, as I will call it. Now, just because it is in the same state does not mean it is any closer, it will take us 12-13 hours by bus from Hyderabad. We booked the trip a little late and couldn't get train tickets, so opted for the bus, which is pricier, but still economical. It feels like it has been a while since I've done the traveling thing, and although it will just be for about 4 days, the excitement of seeing someplace new and being close to the ocean (in this case the Bay of Bengal) on the eastern part of India, keeps me thriving!

Click here, to see some pictures and get a feel for Vizag. I'll be taking a lot of my own pictures as well, and getting some sun on my super fair skin. It's summer all year round here, but I still haven't managed to get much colour other than on my arms and some on my face. I wear sunscreen a lot and of course I cover myself up when I'm out.

We leave on Thursday and I can't wait!

Here is a map of India, I have circled Hyderabad, and Vizag in green, just to give you a visual of where I am and where I'm going. They look close together, I know, but again, this is India and places take the double the time they normally should to get there, I think it is about 650km away. Which we could probably drive in about 7 hours in Canada.