Gokarna and Uchila (Again!)

A glimpse of this 4-day, 1200 kilometre road trip. In pictures.

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We left at about 4:30AM on a Saturday morning, with an aim to cover about 500 odd kilometres from Bangalore to Gokarna. There were four of us: Alvin, Anant, Maheep and I. Anant took to the wheels gleefully even though it was so early in the morning!

This one taken from the back seat of my Alto, en route to Jog Falls which falls on the same route to Gokarna.


And we finally reached the Jog Falls which, owing to the post-monsoon season, was way past its prime. But for us, as tourists, this was one more important must-see place ticked off our checklist!

We didn't spend much time here and quickly made our way to Gokarna. After halting for a quick lunch at Shimoga, we exchanged drivers (Anant drove from Bangalore to Shimoga) and I took over the wheel. Unfortunately, the sad roads happened to fall in my plate and till Honavar it was a nightmare. After that the roads were merciful and we reached Gokarna around 4:3oPM.












 



Early next morning, we were off to hit the beaches. And where else to start but from the famed Om beach of Gokarna!
















Breakfast at Dolphin Cafe, Om beach. Where I was the only foolish one to have ordered for veg macaroni (I guess it was because I was sleep-deprived!). It turned out to be so "masaley-daar" (full of masala) that I was sweating profusely! Then good sense prevailed and I ordered for golden prawns (it was like 8:30AM!) and that turned out to be yumm! Of course with apple juice which had like huge chunks of apples in it - slurp!






A stroll on the Om Beach after our breakfast showed us some good things, besides bikini clad women of course. For example, it was time for these boats to go out for their daily bit of tourist ferrying. And they do charge a handsome amount for that ride, be warned!




A fresh haul that was found on the beach - these fishes were so fresh that a few of them were still breathing. In this picture, I have to give it to my camera Nikon D300s for the awesome clarity (try viewing it in a bigger size here).







We trekked from Om beach to Half-Moon beach, along a scarcely existing trail that passed through dense vegetation and sometimes just around the edge of the cliff. While I was mortally afraid of accidentally stepping on a snake, others who are afraid of heights could only manage to hope that they didn't fall off the cliff!

This photograph by Maheep Pradhan was taken while we were sort of lost at Half-Moon beach. I saw a passing boat and, in jest, waved my hands as if to be rescued. The boat turned, and came to us, and picked us up. After about an hour of the not-so-comfortable walk, I guess we were ready for some boat ride.




We asked the boatman to take us to Paradise beach - which turned out to be like a minute away in the boat. On realizing that we asked the boatman to instead take us to Kudle beach, about 5 kilometers (and about 15 minutes) by boat. It was much better than walking, for sure!


















This photograph basically sums up our second day, which we spent lazily at the Dragon Cafe, Kudle beach sipping beer, smoking cigarettes, digging on sub-standard sea food, some good guitar music by Anant and of course, ogling at the bikini clad women. We were, after all, tourists on vacation!










Finally, as we made our way to Om beach where we had left our car in the morning, the sun and the sea decided to put up an amazing display of lights for us. I don't think even the D300s could do justice to the view - it was just so beautiful.








This time we hadn't planned on Uchila. Just like the last time. It so happened that while on our way back from Gokarna, we were sort of looking for directions. The road signs pointed to Mangalore. I was driving and I jokingly said, "If we reach Mangalore, then let's stay at Uchila!". Alvin, who was my navigator, joined in saying "OK!". Anant also chipped in with "Fine by me!". And I could see Maheep nod in excitement in my rear-view mirror. So, we changed course, and instead of heading to Bangalore were now headed to Uchila! My third road trip there in as many years.

We booked ourselves in Palm Grove Beach Resort, grabbed some grub and went off to see the lighthouse at Kaup. That is where I chanced upon this speed boat. Or whatever it's called.


A view of the Kaup beach. It was almost as if these boats were in the exact same position when I'd last seen them in February, 2010. Maybe they have their own parking spaces, like we have for cars. I don't know.

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Please visit this link for more pictures from the trip.