A Day at Nagar Juno Sagar

Since the big Hindu festival prevented us from being able to visit in the villages in the morning, on Monday, February 9th, we drove 1 1/2 hours past endless, lush rice paddies to the huge dams and resevoir lake that supply the entire area with water--Nagar Juno Sagar. There are 2 earthen dams on each side of a concrete one that collect the water from the river and store it in a man-made lake that supplies the water for the giant canal system in this part of Andhra Pradesh. It took 10 years to fill it for the first time! It was low now in the dry season--down 40 feet, but in the rainy season it fills right up. The view was lovely, and we tried some fresh squeezed "lorange" (don't know what else you'd call a green orange!) juice from a street vendor. (Yes we know it may have been a bit risky, but was it ever good!) We had missed the ferry to the small island and museum, so we walked along the shore, did a little bird-watching, and got a very unique boat ride! They have these large, round, woven bamboo baskets about the size of a full bed. They cover the bottom with a tarp and then tar over it--instant open boat! You sit in the bottom and the driver rows you about with a wooden paddle. It was great going around in circles, too! Worth every bit of the 30 rupees a head (about 60 cents) for the experience! On the ride back, we stopped at the side of the road to watch monkeys, and fed them the rest of our loaf of bread and bag of chips!