ferry county Victoria Jubilee Museum MUSEUM (MG Rd; admission Indian/foreigner 20/100, camera 3; h10.30am-5pm Sat

Victoria Jubilee Museum MUSEUM (MG Rd; admission Indian/foreigner 20/100, camera 3; h10.30am-5pm Sat-Thu) The best part of this museum is the building itself, built in 1887 to honour Queen Victoria s coronation jubilee. In 1921 it hosted the Congress meeting

The old beach-resort vibe exists despite the fact that Vizag is Andhra Pradesh s second-largest city, famous for shipbuilding, steel manufacturing and now, call centres, software and film production. It s a big, dusty city, but it s surrounded by little gems:

Vijaya Lodge HOTEL $ (%2501222; fax 2446864; ferry county Station Rd; s/d from 150/240) About 100m from the train station, the Vijaya is well organised with helpful staff, but the rooms are becoming a little dreary.

Tirupathi s bus station (%2289900) has buses to Chennai (deluxe/Volvo 70/155, four hours) and Hyderabad (deluxe/Volvo 408/717, 12/10 hours). Tonnes of APSRTC ferry county and KSTDC buses go to Bengaluru (deluxe/Volvo 153/365, ferry county six/five hours), and seven buses go to Puttaparthi daily (express/deluxe 165/227, eight hours).