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Published: March 10th 2013
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It was in the summer of 2010, my friend Niyaz got to know about a trip of his colleagues made then, he was too excited about that. The main reason was trekking, which is very rare in coastal areas.
We had our 'brench' at 12.00 am in one of the weekend in the same summer and we were talking about the same beach spot. Are you still thinking what is that 'Brench' is all about? well... that’s a very normal meal served at the wrong time. Since weekends we may get up late or reach the room from the playground late , we used to have breakfast and lunch together and is called 'BRENCH'.
Back to the room,we goggled little about the place and made a quick plan.Booked the ticket , Waited for next week, planned a sick leave in office on Monday so we get three days including week ends. We confirmed with other friends as well who would be coming with us. They are Haris, Prashant and Suresh.
Thus the day arrived and we left our room and reached Bangalore Majestic BMTC Bus Station, from there our private travel agency which is away by walkable distance.
Sunny Walk at Kudli Beach
L->R : Me, Haris,Niyas(Sitting) & Prashant We finally got into the bus with some eatables and water, all are in a jolly mood and acts as if we were in train on our private compartment.
Next day morning 8 O'clock the bus switched-off its engine at the last stop.
Yoe!!! We reached Gokarana!
After streching ourselves and making a 360 degree panoramic observation we reached in a small hotel there and washed our face then had a mini breakfast .
New Place, New taste, New smell....
We did some shopping like towel, food, soap, oil etc. Niyaz purchased enough suns cream oil as he is little sensitive about his skin care.
We got into two autos and after few minutes reached Gokarna Beach. Since we had a plan of staying at the shore in an open hut we didn't look for any room there.
Gokarna is a small & remote place, kind of holy town in Karnataka, around 475 Km from Bangalore and few hrs. form Goa, with four of India's most secluded and pristine beaches nestled nearby named as Kudle Beach,Om Beach,Halfmoon Beach& Paradise Beach.Kudle Beach is the one closest to the town. This stretch is
crescent-shaped, hugging a wide cove. Here you can see people practicing yoga and martial arts, or strumming the guitar in the evenings. About 5 kms from the town Centre, Om Beach is approx. 45-min walk from Kudle. OM Beach is not just another but the most scenic and popular beach in Gokarna.
Though each has its own appeal. Om Beach is the most happening beach, Since its shape resembles the Hindu religious symbol ‘OM’ is the reason behind the name of the beach. The beaches are almost separated by rocky hills
As we walked, and finally reached till the end of Om Beach, We had some food in Namaste Hotel there in the beach, Prashant had some hot sip with some crunchy spicy bites. We saw what looked like a path on the hills going up. Now, we were planning on visiting the other two popular beaches of Gokarna too -- Half Moon Beach and Paradise beach. And there were many boat taxis offering to take us there (which is most people were going).
After listening to our rate, boat driver immediately left the place. No one ever would have told him the amount lesser than we
quoted.
But in honesty, most of us were pumped up for trekking. but that was enough for the first day since we walked a lot hence we kept remaining two beaches for the next day.
Instead we decided to go for kayaking. Man, that was the first time I have gone for kayaking, Since my boat was a double seated Haris and myself got into it and started rowing and we crossed more than 200 meter, now we could see where the wave begins behind us.
But there was something wrong with us. It was not going where we were rowing, Finally we came to know about it, since we have little fear of sinking, we were rowing the boat in different directions, thus we went little further and we felt we were in the mid of the sea.
As the force of the waves increase by evening, while coming back, our kayaking boat did a magic along with the huge wave which came and embraced us from behind and the boat was upside down and I drank mouthful of sea water.
The very next wave threw us to the shore. Niyaz and Suresh were
laughing like hell by looking us. We ran behind them and hit them with the rowing stick and pulled them out of their single seated kayaking boat. Prashant was capturing all these sitting at the shore.
Since we did not get the hut and some owners refused to provide the room for guys as there was some issue happened with some local people since some people escaped from police came and stayed there doing some illegal activities, they said they give room for only foreigners.
We came back to kudle beach near the town and finally managed to get a room. After the shower and dinner we all again went to beach at late night.
What a night!!! Lying on your back at midnight in a beach looking at the majestic decoration of the sky with the shining stars, and with the whispering feather touch of the cold wind from the sea.
I was thinking how it could be trekking at night in Gokarna, and later I knew it happens there, A trek from Half-moon Beach to Paradise Beach on a full moon night, leaving behind the silvery sands of other two beaches. That would be
incredibly fantastic!!!!
Suddenly Haris came and called me to join the campfire, there are some foreigners as well sitting around the firewood. There are some other couples singing country songs with instruments in their hand, completely lost in this world.
Next day we had our breakfast in the hotel below our room and started from the place we stopped. For trekking, We reached om beach first and and stayed for a while gulped a lemon juice, Suresh and Prashant kept one extra bottle of their hot drink brand.
All the ways, we met tourists from around the world and I used to wave at them and ask few things as well.
Trekking to the Half-moon under the hot sun made all of us look like an over fried fish. By the the time suns cream came to my hand it was almost over and I could not tell anything to Niyaz as I did not buy it at all.
That was an awesome trek through the narrow ways of very sloppy areas the by looking at the biggest water source having no drop of water in our bottles. Finally we reached Half-moon beach and played
in the sea.
Here you hardly find local people. By then I met people from Germany, US, UK, France, Israel, Brazil etc. Most of them were very carefree and jovial.
And we went to a beach -restaurant, I ordered a Mexican dish, Niyaz wanted to try some Italian dish, someone from us ordered Israel dish as well. Since we were too hungry, we belted one more plate.
Then we moved to Paradise beach, again by walk, we were too f****** tired but still not ready to use boat. We have to indulge in a bit of rock climbing as well. In between Niyaz and Suresh caught a fish trapped in a water on the rock and put it in a bottle. Evening we reached in Paradise and played some game using flying disk .
Like any other beach, you may find people sell drugs, massage center brokers or pimps there as well. Paradise beach looked really sexy in sunset, like a masterpiece oil painting in a golden tint.
Since we had to reach the town at night, we opted for a boat ride back to kudle beach.
Back to room, a mini shower and
an evening tea.
Just thought of going to the market for some time. The market in Gokarna means a street with all sorts of colorful shops selling items like fancy stuff, clothing,handcrafts,brass lamps etc. You can also get some really nice decorative items made of seashells, here. Kallusakkare, a kind of sugar candy, is the best thing to buy from here.
Caught the bus back to Bangalore 😊
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The Travel Camel
Shane Dallas
Beautiful writing
A writing style that effortlessly leads the reader on your journey and experiences. Great to read about my favouite travel destination in the world from a local perspective. Please keep writing!