APTDC launches Araku-Lambasingi tour package in Visakhapatnam

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), on Sunday, launched its Lambasingi tour package in Visakhapatnam. As part of the package, the tourism officials flagged off a tourist bus between Araku and Lambasingi.

The Lambasingi tour package begins at Araku and proceeds to Chaparai waterfalls, Matsyagundam, Kottapalli waterfalls, Tajangi waterfalls, and tours around in Lambasingi for lunch through strawberry and apple orchards and coffee plantation to return Araku by evening. The package has been designed with an estimated stay of 30 minutes at each place and 90 minutes at Kottapalli waterfalls, before taking the tourists back to Araku. While adults will be charged Rs 999 per head, a child’s ticket will cost Rs 799.

Lambasingi and its specialties

Located at an altitude of 1000 meters above sea level, Lambasingi is a hamlet nestled amid the Eastern ghats in Chintapalli Mandal of Visakhapatnam. Popularly known as Andhra Ooty, it has recorded the lowest temperature during winter with thick fog hovering until 10 AM.

The single-digit temperatures allowed for many non-local fruits and vegetables to grow on the hills at this popular place in Visakhapatnam. For instance, the recently introduced strawberry farms. Consequently, every weekend the locals watch in amusement as cars, bikes, and buses offload hundreds of denizens searching for bathrooms and the strawberry fields. And they responded accordingly; where once nothing was available, there are now tea stalls, breakfast nooks and even local houses offered up for a night stay. Makeshift stalls selling locally grown produce, shops selling bottled water, food trucks and road-side tea kiosks are now a regular feature every weekend. Thus, the local economy boomed. For instance, the predominantly thatched roofs have now given way to proper cement houses. The daily life in Lambasingi has seen a definite improvement, revenue has increased and enterprising villagers have prospered.