"THE ROAD TRIP"

A friend of mine (name mentioned below) and I’d set on a road trip over the last weekend. Thanks to my fiancé (name mentioned below as well) who forced me to do it, as I desperately needed a break from the routine…So, there we were.
We had two options open in front of us, Gokarna and Pondicherry (both routes lying in my bag). The whole plan was to go to a place which is on the coast. Now, the choice had to be made, East or West. Eventually, we decided to take up on the west coast where Gokarna lies. So we set out on our trip at 0115 hrs on Saturday, in our beloved car (which did not pose any kind of problems throughout the journey).
Gokarna is approximately 491 kms from Bangalore and takes around 11 hours (by car). There are “Rajhamsa” buses as well, which ply in between Bangalore and Gokarna. Bus takes around 12-13 hours by the same route. The journey (both by car as well as by bus) is a tiring one. However, all the stress and tiredness disappears once you reach this beautiful place. It is very similar to Konkan, Maharashtra, with regards to the beautiful palm groves, naughty rivulets, lush green grass and the typical view of Western ghats (the ghats end steeply on to the beach unlike Eastern ghats).
Gokarna is a beautiful town in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka and is hardly 150 kms from Goa. It is famous for the Gokarna Mahabaleshwar temple. The temple is very old and attracts millions on auspicious occasions like Mahashivratri (it being a Shiva temple). The temple is very close to the Gokarna beach, which also happens to be the main beach out of the four beaches that are present in this tiny town. The beaches you’ll find here are;
 Gokarna beach
 Kudle beach
 Om beach
 Paradise beach
There is one more called the Half-moon beach, but it can hardly be called a beach (very small stretch of sand on the sea). Now, as we were on a “Road Trip”, we did not have any reservations done with any of the hotels out there. We reached Gokarna by 1130 hrs on Saturday and straight-away went to the most famous hotel, “Namaste Café” which stands on the beautiful “Om beach”. Om beach gets its name from the shape in which it is formed. It is like the “Om” (a spiritual symbol in Hindu religion) and makes you experience the divinity and solace quite aptly, once the sun sets! However, we did not get any rooms in Namaste Café (please book your rooms about 20 days in advance), as was expected as the hotel is perpetually house-full. So we had our breakfast and moved in on to the town to find an accommodation for ourselves. Gokarna International (where we stayed on the 1st day), has been the worst hotels I must’ve stayed so far. Nothing “international” about the place and you get rooms for as cheap as Rs 325/-!!! However, we just had to dump in our bags there (as we’d already planned to spend our day on Om beach) and come back to sleep. To our luck and surprise we got a room at Namaste the very next day.
We went to Paradise beach in the afternoon by a ferry which will charge you around Rs 200/- per pax, on hard bargain. Paradise is more of a secluded and calm beach with a lot of foreigners, doing what they enjoy the most…..;)(won’t get into the details here). Its best to enjoy this beach with a couple of beers, sitting on the rocks or hammocks, watching the sun set in front of you and hearing the noise of silence. It’s a nice place for meditation, though none of us were in a mood to! Went back to the hotel, prepared ourselves for some drinks, drank like fishes and then went to take some dips in the sea!!!
We left the next day at around 1530 hrs and reached Bangalore at around 215 hrs on Tuesday. All in all, it was an awesome trip. I’d like to extend my thanks to Ranju (who forced me in to making this happen) and Vikas (my navigator, without whom the way would not have been easy). Looking forward to some more trips like these…….:)
TRAVEL TIPS:
1. Do not trust google maps (all they tell you is, take a left from this petrol pump, go xxx kms, take a right from that petrol pump). Believe me, you will never find these petrol pumps
2. Always double check on what the locals say (they might take your trip and you’ll keep running around in circles….WE DID NOT RUN!!!)
3. Carry enough water with you, as the villages and towns are quite at a distance (you might not get mineral water)
4. Carry some snacks with you (which Vikas did, very promptly….:) )
5. The road up to Davangere is very nice, try to cover it as quickly as possible. After that it narrows down and there are a lot of bad patches
6. Check the gas and air pressure before you leave
7. DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE (issued in public interest….don’t take it too seriously…lol)
The route we took-
Bangalore-Tumkur-Sira-Hiriyur-Chitradurga-Davangere-Haveri-Sirsi-Mirjan-Gokarna