Sunday, February 23, 2020

Sriharikota & Pulicat Lake - a road trip


 



 Some photos in the album:






My friend Ganesh and myself took off on a motorcycle road trip to Pulicat lake and Sriharikota which are close by. The one-horse town to stay is Sullurpeta, but some other choices could be; Tirupati, Srikalahasti, Sri City, or even Chennai which about 90 Kms away. There is a train connection to Sullurpeta.



The weather was excellent and closer to the lake it was even more pleasant. We arrived around 2.00 pm, leisurely. Lunch at Komala Vilas, the only good vegetarian place, plenty of NV available.  Next day morning we started early and see the transitory birds at the lake. We stayed at Shri Ram Residency, which clean but just about OK.



Sriharikota is a barrier island off the Bay of Bengal coast located in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It houses the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches satellites from here which have been successful.  It is partly located in Sullurpeta / Tada mandal in Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh.  It and separates Pulicat Lake from the Bay of Bengal.  The nearest town and railway station is Sullurpeta which is 20 km from Sriharikota.



Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish (not as salty as the sea) water lagoon in India, the first being the Chilika Lake (Orissa).  The water body measures 759 square kilometres (293 sq. mi). Every year approximately 15,000 greater flamingos are reported to visit the lake along with pelicans, kingfishers, herons, painted storks, spoonbills and ducks.



Having finished our ‘sight-seeing calls’ we returned the next day leaving around 10.30 pm. It was hot (30 degrees C) and very few stops on the return, except for lunch and lot of water consumption to prevent dehydration. Ganesh ‘s and my Avenger 220 behaved well, absolutely perfect !



My ODO showed 753 Kms both ways, and about 40 Km / litre

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