The next day Arjun, Bhargav and Balram started early in the morning in Arjun's new ambassador which still looked shiny thanks to the bi-weekly cleaning his dad forced him and Sari to do. Bhargav was the one to drive as Balram was tired from the previous day security duty and went back to sleep as soon as he got into the car.
Bhargav meanwhile had recently got into the habit of smoking recently thanks to all the work had been making him do and lit up the cigarette as soon as they were out of the village.
He had already asked Arjun for the permission and since Arjun did not want to waste any more time and had already done plenty of smoking himself in his last life he did not mind either. Balram who woke up feeling the smoke wanted to scold Bhargav for smoking in a car with a kid in it but held back once Arjun gave the go ahead.
Arjun himself was surprised about how his mind adapted without smoking since he was a chain smoker in his previous life which he could only explain with his body that had never smoked in this life which perhaps impacted his brain in some way but he was quite skeptical of the assumption himself. Perhaps it was about habits and environment too, since he was busy most of the time his mind never drifted towards smoking and if he did do so he was absolutely sure Pratap would get to know and once he got to know it was all but game over which was not an option for Arjun.
Since this was going to be a long trip of at least twelve hours thanks to the horrible road conditions Arjun suggested Bhargav to take it slow until they hit the main highways. Arjun was quite surprised when Balram had mentioned it would take so much long since it was only a travel of four to five hours in the future but soon came to understand why that was the case as soon as they entered the highway.
The highway which was renowned as a national highway was only a two lane road and most of the traffic on it was buses, trucks and sometimes even bullock carts which impacted their travel time a lot.
Since Kavitha had already packed them a big box of lemon rice they did not have to stop for their breakfast. They stopped at a road side Dhaba for their lunch after which Balram took the steering while Bhargav began discussing about the port officer he came to know because of Madan.
One thing Arjun came to understand from this talk was this guy was corrupt to the core but since he was already prepared to throw some money he felt this was for the better. If it was someone like his father who would always ramble about the rules it would take much longer to get the shipment out of the port.
Even though Arjun hated the corrupt nature of the current situation he sometimes felt this was better for people who wanted to get the things done quickly. The issue was people who misuse this convenience for doing underhanded or illegal stuff which ruins not only the county's image but also its credibility in the international markets.
It was already evening by the time they reached Vishakhapatnam(Vizag), Arjun originally wanted to stop at Bheemili which was renowned for the seventeenth century architecture but since it was already getting late he had to postpone it to some other time. Arjun wanted to visit as many historical places as possible before the modernization and tourism destroys their ambience after his rebirth as this was a rare chance offered to him. He enjoyed travelling a lot and had been to many places in his past life too but most of them were for tourists which Arjun was already too tired about and decided not to visit such busy places only to get scammed for tiny tiny things again and again.
Arjun instructed Bhargav to head directly to the Taj residency which was right next to the beach and was much more luxurious than the hotels they had previously stayed in at Vijayawada. This was the first time for Bhargav and Balram to stay in such a premium hotel and they both asked Arjun to reconsider once they entered the lobby but since they were already here Arjun took them along stubbornly. Frankly this was something he missed from his previous life and now that he had some money in his pocket he wanted to experience such life once again.
This hotel was much more expensive than the others with a single room costing around twelve hundred rupees each which they had taken two of, one for Arjun alone and one with a double bed to be shared between the two adults.
Frankly Bhargav did not want to stay alongside this brute but when Arjun mentioned he had to get along with this gut if he really had the intention to get along with Lalli in the future he shut his mouth and went along.
Once they were done with freshening up they headed out as Arjun wanted to have the famed Bamboo Biryani. Even though other places had it too Vizag's one was where it originated and Arjun wanted to give it a try.
They headed to a beach side restaurant where they could enjoy the food alongside the beach view. Arjun ordered the Biryani while the adults went with the Roayyala Pulusu (Prawn curry) and some rice which Arjun decided to have the next day since it could impact his stomach negatively as he was still a kid and he could not afford a off day since they had to receive the shipment the upcoming day.
Once done with the dinner they went to the transport office branch of the same firm they had always dealt with and booked a couple of big trucks for the next day. They charged Arjun around five thousand rupees for the trip which was quite frankly over charging but since they were already too tired after the twelve hour trip Arjun did not pay much attention to it and took their contact info to contact them once they got the approval of the port personnel.
After getting everything done they went on a walk alongside the beach road trying out any interesting street food they came across. Since the hotel was right next to the beach road they did not have to walk long before returning back to the hotel where Arjun took them towards the swimming pool to have some time in the water which washed away most of their tardiness.
Bhargav and Balram who had only been to local swimming pools that too very rarely enjoyed the experience a lot and did not stop talking about it even when they returned to their rooms. Perhaps this was why they were being charged such exorbitant prices as Balram's monthly salary would only allow him to stay for a couple days in this pricey hotel which he could not quite stomach.
Arjun on the other hand drifted into sleep as soon as he got into the bed as the bed was much more comfortable almost mirroring the bed he had in his future apartment which made him relax much more even in the unfamiliar environment and so did the two adults.
Arjun woke up early the next day thanks to forgetting to close the window sheets the previous nights but he did not have any complaints once he saw the serene view in the early morning.
Wanting to enjoy the feel longer he headed out for a jog and was surprised to find Balram already in the cellar who explained he had the same thought too so they both went ahead for a jog along the beach enjoying the rising sun and the cool breeze.
They quickly headed back once they were done with the jog as today was going to be a busy day for them. After getting done with the recreational matters three of them headed to the in hotel restaurant as they had the free breakfast option available.
This was the first time for Balram to look at so many different kinds of food most of which he had never even heard about but seeing Arjun self serve himself he too followed but unlike Arjun who went with traditional south Indian breakfast, Balram picked mostly fruits explaining he had to maintain his body and this was perfect. He even mentioned he would be way more athletic if he could have such foods everyday but it would be quite an expense to do so and took the full chance to try out various fruits which he had only seen in books.
Bhargav meanwhile went ham on the western food, especially the sweet ones since it was quite rare to seem them in this part of the world. The two adults became quite the attraction to others as both of them carried two plates full of food making one of the guests even ask them if they could finish it but seeing them gulping down like hungry beasts they did not know what else to say and turned their faces away continuing with their breakfast.