Travelogue: An Exhilarating two days at “Gokarna”

Hi folks, hope you all are doing great.It gives me immense pleasure in posting this, on the eve of Christmas. Merry Christmas and a very happy and a prosperous new year my friends. please do keep showing your continued patronage to all my posts as you guys have been doing ever since my first post.

Yes, it has been almost a month since the great Sachin Tendulkar retired and believe it or not, the earth still continues to rotate and people still continue to live happily and I am no exception.

It has been ages together since I travelled and explored some new places. Thanks to my office friends for not only planning an extempore trip by roping me in, but also for having executed it to perfection.

It doesn’t matter where you are going; it’s who you have along with you. I have an amiable team to back me up; despite the perpetual shyness, the kind of insecurity or the hesitancy that usually prevails in me. We found a beautiful place to get lost. it was 'Gokarna'

The Majestic Kudle Beach 

Friday, 13^th December 2013,

The Friday at the office was even more frenzy than the usual ones. Without any second thoughts, the sheer anticipation about the trip brought in the wild excitement and the delirium that made the day move faster. Paul was the trip organizer. He had already booked the Silicon Cab Tempo Traveller for the trip.“We” in the passage shall henceforth denote (Paul, Swathi, Kavita, Udhay, Praneeth, Hema, Sunil, Vineeth, Akash and me). We all were off to a slow and steady start after filling in the diesel at KR Puram gas station. There was one heck of traffic near Nagawara. We reached hebbal around 10.30 pm. Finding a good driver is as important as finding your life partner, in both the cases our precious life is at stake. We were lucky enough to have had Mr. Ramesh as our driver. He drove the Tempo traveller very subtly. As the saying goes calmness is the cradle of power, Ramesh was very calm and composed all throughout the journey. The weather was freaking cold outside. It was around 11pm when we halted at the Chandu Dhaba on the Tumkur Road as our tummy started cribbing and whining for food. We would rather say that the supper out there at the Chandu Dhaba exceeded our expectations.

There shall be two mandatory requirements for any road trip to be ever cherish able and to be etched in your memories, “1. People around you, who makes sure that you aren’t left out isolated in the entire gang and who never makes you feel aloof in the entirety of the travel” “2. The perpetual fact is that any memorable trip shall be incomplete without some Good music”. Luckily we had the above two requirements in the kitty. I am not sure if I gave a good company to the friends who came along with me, but without any second thoughts I had a beautiful company of all the 9 others who were along with me for the next two days.

Let us get back to the journey now, after the sumptuous dinner at the Chandu Dhaba, we continued to travel.  The irrefutable fact is that the number of toll plazas on the Indian highways is inversely proportional to the number of good roads we have. After having crossed some two to three toll gates within a short trot we continued to move. It was around 1 am when we halted for a tea break as the driver desperately needed a break. Ramesh was clever enough to have taken the necessary tea breaks or time outs whenever he felt, he needs one. Those small and decisive breaks which he took played a crucial role in ensuring a smooth and hassle free travel.

Saturday, 14^th December 2013,

It was 6 am when Ramesh switched off the Tempo’s engine and everyone woke up involuntarily to the sudden serenity. Every one of us had slept only in dribs and drabs.  We had reached the foothills of the Western Ghats by then. We were restrained to proceed further as the early morning fog had insinuated the ghat roads. Framed by the majestic Western Ghats we were witnessing some breath taking scenic visuals. There was a serene and settled majesty that creeped into our souls and delighted us. It stood a testimony to the Statement “Mountains are the beginning of all natural scenery”. The beautiful 60 km ride through the ghat road ended. It meant that we had reached our destination “Gokarna”. Vineeth had his Global positioning System switched on in his note 2, so as to navigate inside the town.  Thanks to the 31+ satellites zipping around the world that made us navigate bang on to the destination every time he we typed one. Kuddle beach was the first destination.

The Beach View from the Gokarna International Hotel

Every now and then life takes its toll on us. We get so busy and occupied with the day-to-day chores and just forget to live for ourselves. The top view of the beautiful Kuddle beach awakened my senses and made me realize that life is beyond all these day to day chores. After a short trek to the shore we were welcomed by the relaxing sound of the overlapping waves. The blue and the fresh Arabian Sea welcomed us. All I wished was that the 576 megapixel camera in our eyes had the ability to capture things and display it later whenever we wanted to see those. After a brief inspection to a few shacks we all settled down at the Gokarna international. The rooms were pretty visually appealing and the sea was less than 100 metres from the hotel. It was around 11.30 am when we had our brunch at the paradise restaurant. The food was pretty expensive but it was the worth the brag. We had a satisfying meal over there. Kavita’s exceptional expenditure management skills need a special mention here. She did that to sheer perfection all throughout the travel and ensured that everything was crystal clear without ambiguity. Way to go kavita, you shall be our permanent expense manager henceforth.

From the left (Hema,Swathi,Paul,Mukunth,Kavita,Udhay,Sunil,Suresh,Praneeth,Akash)

We were all set then, to have a dip inside the sea. To every one’s surprise the Arabian Sea was very shallow. We were able to walk a few hundred metres into the sea from the shore. Having been to many other beaches down south, we found this water to be very saline. There was no looking back at the shore. We were playing like kids who knew nothing other than happiness. Praneeth, Udhay, Kavita and Sunil mutated themselves into professional swimmers. They were displaying their swimming prowess to perfection. Others including me were mere spectators who were scared to go on further. I didn’t want to play spoil sport so I restrained myself from going any further. We played with the discs for quite a while inside the water until everyone became totally exhausted. I was gasping for breath on few occasions but that didn’t stop me from playing in the water. We continued to play in the water until our body alarmed us saying enough let us get back to the shore.

From the Right (Mukunth, Vineeth,Sunil,Akash,Udhay,Praneeth) All Excited before the dip into sea :)

After a short rest, we were all set for the spectacular and the stupendous banana ride. I must confess that it was a one heck of breath taking experience in our life. Our air boat will be tied to a motor boat and we will be taken some 300 odd metres into sea at about 60 kmph and we will be jostled from our boats. It was until this moment I came to know the sheer importance of a life jacket in my life. Yes we all experienced a life threatening, Bone chilling and Spine tingling Archimedes principle of buoyancy. “Any object, wholly or partially immersed in a fluid, is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object”.  After the Incredible banana ride, we played some beach football and beach volley ball. It took some time for everyone to get their teenage and the childhood nick back. At once we all got the form back, we were exhausted and we got back to the hotel.

The Breath Taking Banana Ride

Wheee...  Gosh ....It was indeed a Spectacular Ride

After an hour of rest and snacks we dressed up and got ready for the evening walk along the shore. Vineeth turned a part time photographer by then; he had taken some beautiful captures. The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed. Without any second thoughts, Vineeth had captured some beautiful and mind blowing images. Those images by itself shall narrate a plenty of memories for the ages to come. Paul had then arranged for a camp fire later that night with the aid of Suresh (worker at the Paradise Restaurant) who was ready to help us out for the camp fire. We all had a breezy walk along the shore, witnessing many foreigners enjoying their stay at our country by singing and dancing happily. Camp fire was all set followed by more than 2 hours of dinner at the shore with the sea breeze. Would you ask for more? Life seemed really beautiful for those 2 hours.

An Elisha Vineeth Capture :)

Everyone turned nostalgic and was asked to share their love stories. All were cornered; no one had a chance to escape. You either had a story or not, but you were supposed to at least cook up something and narrate in front of everyone. Echoes faded and memories flashed, one after the other everyone started narrating their beautiful and their painful past. The rest were keenly observing the narrators past. We all came to know that everyone has a beautiful story teller in them. It was 12 by then. Time ran in a jiffy just like our past. We were off to the hotel room. I believe we all had a sound sleep that night.

Campfire Unleashed :)

Sunday, 15^th December 2013,

The Front View of the Gokarna International Hotel where we stayed.

Next morning after having the breakfast at the Gokarna restaurant, 7 of us( Kavita, Udhay, Praneeth, Hema,  Swathi , Vineeth and I)started to Mahabaleshwar temple. Rest were busy sleeping.  

I was taking few snaps of the beach in my mobile until I was stopped by a foreigner from Poland who told me to take snaps of the clumsy shore as well. He was telling how people have made a real mess of this beautiful place by throwing plastic bottles and covers just like that. I felt ashamed for being a helpless Indian when the foreigner told so. It was time, once again for Vineeth to unleash his photography Skills before we started the temple. We went to the temple and we were made to do the rituals on our own. Money played a crucial role in making us see the God quite earlier than the others who were waiting in the Queue for hours together. After all money is everything, God isn’t an exception. You need money even to see him faster. Swathi, Kavita and Hema went on for a shopping until Ramesh went on to pick up Paul, Sunil and Akash. It was around 12.30 pm when we started to jog falls.

And this is where we stayed :) 

The all dejected gang at the  water less Jog Falls :(

After a horrible lunch at the Kamat hotel which elevated the stature of Tami Nadu and Andhra food even higher. We reached Jog falls around 4.45 in the evening. We did a strenuous trek just to witness that water wasn’t there at the falls. But that didn’t stop us. We went on to take enormous snaps so as to cherish those for a life time. Who knows we may never come again to this place. We started around 6 pm from Jog falls. En route to Bangalore our next halt was for supper at the Shimoga district. We had an extremely scrumptious dinner at the Bright restaurant as suggested by a local auto driver. Bangalore was some 271 kms from there. It was Ramesh heroics all the way from there. There was no looking back we landed Bangalore by 3 am.

There ends the beautiful and an Exhilarating two days at “Gokarna”. Thanks a lot Paul, Swathi, Kavita, Udhay, Hema, Praneeth, Vineeth, Sunil and Akash for these 2 most amazing days in my life.  "It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice." You guys were indeed so very nice to me and I believe that I won’t be spared or left behind for any of the future trips that shall be on your cards.

Post Scriptum:

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his pillow and bed. I did realize that awesomeness after this beautiful trip. please do take a sun screen lotion whenever you travel to a beach from now on.