Visakhapatnam or Vizag?

This city is called Visakhapatnam or you can call it by it's anglicized name 'Vizag'.

Whatever you call it, it's a beautiful and unique city located on the Bay of Bengal with mountains on the West side of the city.

 Asha's dad was our auto driver.  This little message was on the back of the driver's seat.

 A look at the streets of Vizag.

Lunch for 4

 We had Tandoori Chicken as a starter which was more BBQ'd and not too hot.

 And Manchurian Chicken which was pretty spicy.

 Prudvi (Asha's brother friend) and Asha acted as our tour guides for the day.

 Meals always seem to be an event for us in India.

 So many bikes in India, and Vizag is no exception.

 Many of the streets are lined with trees. Quite lovely.

 This is our auto for the day.

 At the bottom of Kailash Hill, there is a cable Tram which goes up and down the hill.

 We rode up the hill and walked back, down the steps.

 Asha kept offering to take our picture, so sure.

 These are some apartment buildings across the street from the Bay of Bengal.

 There are many interesting statues along this seaside road.

 I think this serpent is for children to play on.

 Here is our first view of the ocean or Bay of Bengal.

 We went up to Ross Hill to see the Catholic Church on the hill.

 There are many nice works of art remembering Jesus.

 There was a huge metal roof, I would guess, for large gatherings of Catholics.

 The inscription says 'Visakhapuri MaryMartha Shrine, Ross Hill'.

 The light here was quite good for photos.

 This is Asha's tree pose!  You're beautiful, Asha.

 This is Prudvi, the tour guide assistant.

 Finally, we get a smile.

 This is a beautiful Catholic Church building.

 Ross Hill overlooks the water.  Here you can see the Hindu Temple which was built by a British Sailor named Captain Blackmore in 1876.

 And the Muslim Mosque.

 I love how they decorate the front of the trucks.  So original.

And these poor deserted rickshaws look sad and lonely.  But I still love the picture.

The Fishing Dock

 The fishermen lay their fish out in the sun to dry.

 It was very interesting to see the process in action.

 I was thrilled with the fishing boats, the colors and the refections in the water.

So beautiful!

 The only drawback was the strong scent of fish.

Everywhere there was lots of color.

The Seaside

 This is the main drag in Visag, along the Bay.

We walked around this cute little park.

  This seaside park was interesting to see.

 This is a pretty area, but not very developed.

 But people do not come to the beach to swim or suntan, they just come to visit and hang out.

One of my favourite birds, the White-throated Kingfisher is fishing, I believe.

Two little birds looking out to sea, trying to spot some lunch.

This beautiful beach is fairly quiet during the day, but I hear it is hopping in the evening.

I think the tide is out.

 The beach has a few fishermen and really interesting lamp posts.  See the giraffe?

Jerome patiently strolling through the park.

Looking out at the Bay of Bengal on a smoggy day.

Asha got some sand for me. She is a real sweetheart.