On Monday December 19 we began the day with Raju giving us a tour of his farm. His farm is located in an isolated valley surrounded by hills. There are no other buildings in sight. He is investing a great deal in developing the property with advanced agricultural techniques. He recently built a guest house where we stayed. He has a deer there temporarily.
The view from the guest house
Raju was very hospitable, and we had extended conversations over dinner in the evenings.
After saying our goodbyes, we traveled south to Gopalipatnam to see some early Buddhist rock shelters near an active Hindu temple. We were shown around by a local guide.
One of the rock shelters
We then saw the meager remains of a Dutch fort in the village. Little beyond one wall remains.
The wall of the Dutch fort
We were a major attraction for some school children on a field trip.
The school children
We also went to the nearby beach at Pentakota and Ilse and Anja drew a plan of a British bungalow there.
The British bungalow
At the beach we met up with the school children, who were scared to get too close to the water.
The school children at the water's edge
Also at the beach were many fishermen and their womenfolk waiting for them to land with the day's catch.
Fishermen hauling their boat ashore
Afterwards we continued to the city of Tuni, just across the border of the East Godavari District to get newspapers with news about yesterday’s event. There would have been a news item about us on the television news broadcasts last night, but we did not have the opportunity to see it.
We then returned to Visakhapatnam. We dropped Venkatesh off at the bus station and checked into the Classic Hotel.
The guest house
The deer
The gazebo for meals
The view from the guest house
Raju was very hospitable, and we had extended conversations over dinner in the evenings.
After saying our goodbyes, we traveled south to Gopalipatnam to see some early Buddhist rock shelters near an active Hindu temple. We were shown around by a local guide.
One of the rock shelters
Our guide standing next to an inscription
We then saw the meager remains of a Dutch fort in the village. Little beyond one wall remains.
The wall of the Dutch fort
We were a major attraction for some school children on a field trip.
The school children
We also went to the nearby beach at Pentakota and Ilse and Anja drew a plan of a British bungalow there.
The British bungalow
At the beach we met up with the school children, who were scared to get too close to the water.
The school children at the water's edge
Also at the beach were many fishermen and their womenfolk waiting for them to land with the day's catch.
The village women
Fishermen hauling their boat ashore
Afterwards we continued to the city of Tuni, just across the border of the East Godavari District to get newspapers with news about yesterday’s event. There would have been a news item about us on the television news broadcasts last night, but we did not have the opportunity to see it.
The two newspaper articles about yesterday’s visit to the Buddhist sites at Kummari Lova.
We then returned to Visakhapatnam. We dropped Venkatesh off at the bus station and checked into the Classic Hotel.
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