Gokarna – Reaching there…
Hello, my dear readers.
This gives me immense pleasure to bring to you a description of my visit to Gokarna, a place of beaches and joy. I would call it more of a place where you go, relax, enjoy and come back with some memories that would, for sure, stay for a long time. Gokarna is a small town in Karnataka, along the coastal hilly region, unlike other coastal places in India. We went there a few weeks ago, just for a few days. I will try to put together my memories and recall the incidents that happened over that weekend, for which we were there. I am not going to write about the history or archeological importance that, without any doubt, the place has and concentrate of showing you around the place through my eyes. If you want to know more about the place just Google it or check this Wikipedia Link.
I had a holiday in office on Friday and I took one more day leave on Monday. So, we have 4 days to visit and come back. I and my wife started off from Bangalore on Friday evening. There are lots of ways to reach Gokarna, but we chose a bus ride, since they said that it is about 12 hours journey from Bangalore to Gokarna. However, upon reaching the place, we found out that it was about 9 to 10 hours journey, plus couple of hours that the bus took to move out of Bangalore. The bus ride was ok throughout as the crowd, conductor and the driver were cordial and pleasant – and horrible in the Ghat sections, where the bus was just going the slowest and driving me crazy with the hair pin turns, rough roads and rugged terrains. The moment you step into a bus to Gokarna, you are bound to find a foreigner in it. This happened both while going and while coming back from the place.
Well, we reached Gokarna at around 8 o’clock in the morning. The bus dropped us at a place from where the town starts. There were plenty of auto rickshaws waiting for the tourists there and a couple of shops, which just opened, offering you the morning tea. As people rushed towards their destinations, we thought to have tea and take it easy.
After having tea, we took an auto to the ‘Om Beach’ – the place to be, while in Gokarna. The fellow took Rs. 140 to take us there. We wanted to check in at Namaste Café, a place which is talked about augustly over the internet, but less did we know where it stands. We asked the auto driver to take us to the Namaste Café and he said that it is ‘on the Om beach’ and took us there. That was a bit tricky as we did not know where to find a hotel which may be situated anywhere near the beach.
Anyways, resting ourselves on our intuition and luck, we carried on in the auto and got dropped at a place on top of a hillock. The driver said that the auto would not go beyond this point and we need to walk down a concrete staircase, which he showed to us later, to reach the Om beach. Seeing us confused, he said that once we reach the beach, which was downstairs, we will find Namaste Café and if there are no rooms in it, there are multiple other resorts, again, ‘on the beach.’ We paid him and started walking down the stairs, as we could see the morning sea to our other hand. From the top of the hillock, the driver also showed us a place from which the entire Om beach was visible – the beach in shape of an Om! That view was so soothing that the entire travel fatigue went off like dolphins in the sea water!
Oops! Did I say dolphins? Well, we will have to talk about that at a later part in this travel log. Wait and watch - more to come!
This gives me immense pleasure to bring to you a description of my visit to Gokarna, a place of beaches and joy. I would call it more of a place where you go, relax, enjoy and come back with some memories that would, for sure, stay for a long time. Gokarna is a small town in Karnataka, along the coastal hilly region, unlike other coastal places in India. We went there a few weeks ago, just for a few days. I will try to put together my memories and recall the incidents that happened over that weekend, for which we were there. I am not going to write about the history or archeological importance that, without any doubt, the place has and concentrate of showing you around the place through my eyes. If you want to know more about the place just Google it or check this Wikipedia Link.
I had a holiday in office on Friday and I took one more day leave on Monday. So, we have 4 days to visit and come back. I and my wife started off from Bangalore on Friday evening. There are lots of ways to reach Gokarna, but we chose a bus ride, since they said that it is about 12 hours journey from Bangalore to Gokarna. However, upon reaching the place, we found out that it was about 9 to 10 hours journey, plus couple of hours that the bus took to move out of Bangalore. The bus ride was ok throughout as the crowd, conductor and the driver were cordial and pleasant – and horrible in the Ghat sections, where the bus was just going the slowest and driving me crazy with the hair pin turns, rough roads and rugged terrains. The moment you step into a bus to Gokarna, you are bound to find a foreigner in it. This happened both while going and while coming back from the place.
Well, we reached Gokarna at around 8 o’clock in the morning. The bus dropped us at a place from where the town starts. There were plenty of auto rickshaws waiting for the tourists there and a couple of shops, which just opened, offering you the morning tea. As people rushed towards their destinations, we thought to have tea and take it easy.
It is important to tell you here, that we did not book any hotel/resort
beforehand and looking at the crowd and their anxiety, I came to know that most
of them did the same. It was a bit of off-season, I believe and hence, I would
suggest enquiring and booking a stay before you reach the place.
After having tea, we took an auto to the ‘Om Beach’ – the place to be, while in Gokarna. The fellow took Rs. 140 to take us there. We wanted to check in at Namaste Café, a place which is talked about augustly over the internet, but less did we know where it stands. We asked the auto driver to take us to the Namaste Café and he said that it is ‘on the Om beach’ and took us there. That was a bit tricky as we did not know where to find a hotel which may be situated anywhere near the beach.
Anyways, resting ourselves on our intuition and luck, we carried on in the auto and got dropped at a place on top of a hillock. The driver said that the auto would not go beyond this point and we need to walk down a concrete staircase, which he showed to us later, to reach the Om beach. Seeing us confused, he said that once we reach the beach, which was downstairs, we will find Namaste Café and if there are no rooms in it, there are multiple other resorts, again, ‘on the beach.’ We paid him and started walking down the stairs, as we could see the morning sea to our other hand. From the top of the hillock, the driver also showed us a place from which the entire Om beach was visible – the beach in shape of an Om! That view was so soothing that the entire travel fatigue went off like dolphins in the sea water!
Oops! Did I say dolphins? Well, we will have to talk about that at a later part in this travel log. Wait and watch - more to come!
The entire travel log will be published in parts in the coming days.
Stay tuned...
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