Advertisement
Published: February 27th 2006
Edit Blog Post
jess wanted to eat this little munchin alive!
playing around with a beach vendor's kid on kuddle beach, gokarna after leaving stace, i weaseled my way onto a "fully booked" sleeper train. i got to enjoy the 8 hour journey with 5 other indian men. it was one of my more memorable train ride experiences because these men were so kind to me. none of them knew one another but random locals usually seem to get along right off the bat. to illustrate how enjoyable my ride was... imagine the notorious "chi chi chi chi" man that strolls by. one guy in our sleeper bought a round for everyone. and then when the "coffee coffee coffee" man made his rounds, another guy took the initiative to buy everyone in our sleeper another round. if they didn't buy chi or coffee for the 6 of us, they would get samosas for everyone. my contribution to the new circle of friends was passion fruit i grabbed at a station stand on one of the stops. sharing never felt so good!! haha.
i fell asleep listening to zero 7 and was lucky enough to wake up around 3am, which was when i was informed that we would be close to my stop. with little light and not clear station signs... one of
the old men helped me pry open the train door and i hopped off of one of my last cockroach infested train rides. ahhhh. i took a snooze in the "female waiting room" until the sun rose and the local buses starting making their daily rounds. i enjoyed a couple bus rides jam packed with school kids until i finally arrived at the small city of Gokarna. it was charming... closest indian city to what i imagined from the disney "Aladdin"! it was bustling at 9am with cows meandering through narrow alley ways and people buzzing around the morning bazaar.
i got right on my way and headed towards the beach. gokarna is famous for its deserted beaches and i was excited to see what all the talk was about. some people pay auto-rikshaws or buses to take them in to closer beaches but i was ready for the challenge, pack and all! i wanted to hike in and take my time. after about a half hour and questioning which direction to go next every other five steps... i had arrived at kuddle beach. this beach had a beautiful shore that stretched out for over a mile. it was
the equivalent of Arambol beach in Goa just ten times more mellow and less crowded. i found a hut, got settled and headed straight for the ocean.
i spent the next day hiking from kudle beach... to uma beach... then to om beach... followed by half moon beach... and finally arrived at the most secluded one of all, paradise beach! as lonley plantet describes it... there is a single shack here that provides food and drink but fresh water has to be brought in by a pipe which runs around the cliffs to the nearest source. i think electricity is a recent phenomenon here!
at some points, esp towards the end, i was on my hands and knees. no joke... this hiking thing rapidly turned into hard core CLIFF CLIMBING!!! there was absolutely no way that we would have been able to carry our packs along the shore. i waded in the water, talked to some interesting randoms, cracked and drank my first personal coconut, took in the scene and treated myself to a sunset boat cruise back to a beach closer to my "home". it was well deserved and i don't think my reefs or my bare
wait a minute...
are we in INDIA?? tea plantations in Munnar... feet could have handled making it back that way i came esp at dusk.
i spent a couple nights on my own in gokarna and met some really great people from some of my favorite places - ireland, london and israel. it was more social than many southern cities we have travelled to thus far in india and very low key. i thoroughly enjoyed my time here but of course was stoked to hook up with stace again!
wow. i think both jess and i each had an adventure just to GET to the wonderful places we explored. we left each other in Ernakulam, and as jess sailed away in her train getting treated to chi, i hopped aboard a lovely local bus who's windows actually opened and closed with a little less effort than usual. the road was surprisingly paved quite nice for the entire 5 hour climb up to the hill station, but we just can't have easy roads in india, noooooo way, that is just not allowed! so instead, this one chose to be more curvy than jess' ass. when i was not making stupid faces at the adorable child sitting next to me
on his mother's lap, i was bumbling along to my ipod and focusing on the road ahead. everything was going smoothly until andre nickatina's final ayo for yayo chorus, and i felt a warm object hit me and slowly trickle down on my unshaved leg, which although protects me from pasty mosquitoes, probably prolonged the wonderful experience due to the spiky resistance. yes, yes that same cute little boy leaned over and artistically expressed the roads curves in the graceful form of THROWING UP on me! there were some pretty big, bright orange chunks that i could not even identify or imagin this little thing swallowing... anyways, i remained surprisingly calm and after seeing the look of horror that came from the mother's face when she looked up at me i actually laughed light heartedly. hey, shit happens. luckily, i had some water left in my bottle so i let it too trickle down my leg, and i wiggled my toes free of all unidentifiable baby indian food chunks. ahhh, life on the road and the adventure begins again!
upon arriving in munnar, i was greeted by a breath of fresh, cool evening air. defiantly not prepared for such
a temperature drop in my shorts and tee shirt, and so i opted to treat myself to a room with, gasp, hot water! to say the least, we are all so privileged to have
this convenience everyday at home, and it felt good to scrub the last sticky ruminants from the bus ride off. i spent the next day touring the hills and the crazy tea plantations that covered them. munnar is beautiful.
although it was nice to experience the independence... i missed the little buddy in pink pants by my side laughing and sharing our interesting travel situations, quirky people interactions, and beautiful surroundings. i got on the same train jess did a few days earlier, found my sleepy way to that same resting room, battled the busses, absorbed the town, and treked along the beach right as jess was settling down to read and eat breakfast. the timing could not have been any better even if we had planned it. life's crazy!
xoxo S & J
Advertisement
Tot: 0.137s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 16; qc: 97; dbt: 0.0796s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Gadiel
non-member comment
BUSTED!
I cant wait to see you guys. Come hom e soon.