Beach Trekking

  Gokarna, Karnataka, India
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

 
A beach trek @ Gokarna along the Golden Route
 
Sitting idly in Mlore over a weekend is one thing I hate the most - especially when there are so many wonderful destinations near by which are still unexplored. So, on May 3rd, 2008, we packed our bags and set on a journey which was to become one of the most beautiful and exciting trips we ever had. It was a small group, only six of us - Arathi, Saraswathy, Abin, Sukumar, Vasanth and me. 
    
Some details about the temple town
The destination this time was Gokarna (around 225 KM from Mlore) - a small town in North Karnataka on the banks of Arabian sea. It is a sacred place famous for the 1500 year old Mahabaleswar temple (Atmalinga  - Ravana - Ganapathy story ). Our plan was to trek through the 4 famous beaches there - Kudle, Om, Half Moon and Paradise. These 4 beaches are separated by small cliffs. The hike is not that long or strenuous, but quite interesting one (this route is called Golden Route). For accommodation, we have two choices - either stay in a hotel in the town or in a resort/shacks available in the beaches. From Mlore, the route goes like this: Mlore - Uduppi -Kundapur - Honnavar - Kumte - Gokarna. If planned properly, Jog Falls also could be covered as part of this trip, but we couldn't make it.
 
What we saw in Gokarna - very narrow streets, lots of cows roaming around freely on the roads, old fashioned houses (resembled the ones in Kerala), many sanyasis, temples, coconut trees and fantastic beaches.
 
The journey starts
 
We had decided to start from Mangalore at 11 AM on Saturday - but Abin and Sukumar were late by about 20 minutes. Sukumar was busy in the morning trying to come up with a new moustache-beard style while Abin was roaming all over Mlore to get a good cap (and finally ended up buying one for Rs.400/-). Well, we started by around 11:30. The road was not good for a few kilometers, but after that our driver-ji was in action - his driving was a bit rash and everyone's concentration was on road all through the journey. J Sukumar made some funny comments and requested the driver to go slow, but after a few minutes he was again driving the same way. We played dumb charades for some time - girls Vs guys. Arathi and Saraswathy selected some tough movie names for the guys and it was great fun.
 
Lunch was at Kundapur. I ordered N.Indian meal and immediately Abin changed his order to a S.Indian meal (I always want to try something different in the menu and have a knack of selecting the worst item. Abin has been a scapegoat many a time. So these days, he doesn't dare to try the things which I order). When the waiter kept on bringing new dishes to me, I think he regretted about his decision. But I didn't even get a chance to taste the Gulab jamun or ice-cream which was part of my meal. Abin and Suku took the responsibility of finishing them. J
 
We didn't stop anywhere after lunch. Just continued the journey listening to the Himesh songs (we had no other option) which the driver had selected.
 
Reaching the temple
 
 By around 4:30, we reached near the Mahabaleshwar temple. We visited the temple first. Many sanyasis approached us and asked whether we would like to have some poojas, but we managed to escape from them. The temple is not maintained properly - I have always felt that Kerala temples are the best in the world (just a personal opinion).
Kunkumam being sold in the shops outside the temple
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Horrible comments about the trek
From the temple, we went to Om. The aim was to get some information about the trek route. The drive up the hair-pin road was really scenic - Western Ghats on one side and the beautiful Arabian sea on the other side. We stopped at one place to enjoy the scenery. And finally we reached Om beach. There were a few restaurants there and one by one, we went inside each of them and enquired about the trek route. The feed back we got was really discouraging - every one told that the path from Om to the other two beaches is risky. There used to be boat rides to Half Moon and Paradise beaches, but now it's off-season so everything is closed. We were still optimistic and decided to have a stroll on the beach. On the way, we met a group of people and Abin approached those guys and asked whether they had been to Half Moon and Paradise. They just had a trek to Half Moon and Paradise and this is what the guys told us - "Don't try to go there with girls. You guys can do it, but girls could get scared with those steep cliffs and the slippery rocks." He then looked at me and commented that he is not underestimating girls. Hmm... what to do? I asked him whether the route is facing the sea. He continued,"Yes, it's rocks on one side and sea on the other. If you make one false step, that's it. But in between, you get some fantastic views that you would Thank God for bringing u here. There are 6 people in your group, right? Well, you may come back with 2-3 people less."  I was really upset. If we can't go for the trek, then having travelled 5.5 hrs would become a waste. I wished Vinu or Sree were with us - then I wouldn't have felt the burden of decision making. Also, they could balance care and optimism really well.
 
[PHOTO_ID_L=sunset.jpg] Sun set time at Om beach

Setting Sun and the Rising Stars
 
Anyways, we decided to give it a try the next day. If we feel, we can't do it; we would come back, that's it.
 
The next task was to find a place to stay. There were lots of huts and small resorts near the beach, but we decided to stay at a hotel in the town itself. We went back to the town and stayed at a hotel there. Dinner was plain dosa and fresh lime soda at a small restaurant near by. Then we all went to sleep. We decided to start from the hotel at 5 AM the next day morning.
 
I was getting all nightmares that day - We are going through a steep cliff, we can see the sea below... the rough waves... slippery rocks...
 
Sunday Morning -
 
Saraswathy got up very early that day (by around 3:30), thanks to the mosquitoes in the room. J By the time she finished her bath, Arathi and I also got up. At 4:30, we gave a call to the guys and made sure that they are also awake. Abin got ready by 5 and went out to see whether any restaurant is open (and his comment is that "Samayathu food kazhichillenkil mummy vazhakku parayum"). He came back saying that a tea shop next to our hotel is open. So we had our breakfast at 5:30 early in the morning - which consisted of tea, idly and spicy sambar. By the time, we finished our breakfast, the town also was awake - we could hear Suprabhaatham from one near by house, the newspaper boy went past us in his cycle and some women were walking in the direction of the temple with lots of flowers.
 
Our hotel manager told us that the trek route starts from the Ganapathy temple which we saw the previous day. So, we started walking in the direction of the temple. On our way, we saw a shop selling caps. Sukumar, Vasanth and Saraswathy wanted to buy one and we stopped there. The shopwaala said it's 50 Rs. for one cap. Sukumar started to bargain and Abin was commenting "It's only 50/- right? Why do u want to bargain". Sukumar selected a cap with "Commander" written on it and all through the trip he made sure that his cap is also visible in all the snaps. J
 
We found the trek route from the Ganapathy temple and started walking up-hill from there. It was 6 o' clock by then. We reached the top of the hill and then we could see the sea clearly from there. But there were roads going in all directions, so didn't know which route to take. Finally we saw a small hut on top of the adjacent hill and one sanyasi was standing outside. Abin and Suku shouted loudly "Kudle beach..." Then that man pointed to the direction of the beach and asked us to go that way. We thanked him and started walking again. Sukumar made a comment that sanyasis were the first trekkers in the world. So, who was the first person who trekked to these 4 beaches -> it's Swami - - -
 
     Kudle: sun was just rising when we started off
 
The trek route to Kudle was not that difficult. But some dogs began to follow us - there were only 2 when we started. But their family also joined us later. Finally it was like 5 dogs following 6 of us. We got some sticks on the way and used that to scare them, but they kept on coming towards us.
 
We reached Kudle beach by 6:30 and stopped there for some time for photo sessions. The beach was very neat and beautiful. 


 
OM - The awesome beach
We resumed the walk since we wanted to finish the trek before noon. Then started climbing the cliff to Om beach. By 7:15 we reached Om. Om is the most famous among the 4 beaches and the most crowded too. There is a resort here (but expensive) and several shacks which provide accommodation. This beach is shaped like the spiritual symbol Om and that's how it got its name (tried to take some pictures from the top of the cliff which reveals its shape, but I couldn't do it properly).
In half an hour we reached the other end. Now started the exciting part of the trip.
 
        At the Awesome Om beach   
The exciting journey to Half Moon
 
The route to Half Moon beach from Om was the best part in this trek. We had to cover a small hill. The route is very narrow and one side is facing the sea. The view of the sea from this route is amazing. Clear blue waves hitting the rocks... Lot of trees...
 
Finally, we covered that hill and at the bottom we could find a cool drinks shop - The board was interesting "Welcome - www.halfmoon.org". J So, we are on right track. We unpacked our bags and had some fruits and water.
 
Half Moon beach was a deserted one. We climbed on the rocks there and took some photos.
 
   Trek route to Half Moon
 
Next - to The Paradise beach.
 
We covered two plain hills, one sea-facing route and now it was a different target - Rocks. "The road to heaven is not that easy and so is the route to Paradise beach". We had to cover some rocks to reach the beach. But it was not raining, so the rocks were not slippery at all. We all did some circus along the rocky path and finally reached a place where we felt we had to walk through the water. But then, we discovered another path through some shrubs and finally got down and set foot on the Paradise! (It was around 9:45 by then)
 
The beach would have been great prior to the time when people started coming there. We could see lots of plastic bottles thrown all over the place. Felt very sad seeing that. There also we found a small shop and bought some pepsi (we all wanted to have something cold). Also we had bread with apple jam and chilli cheese spread.
 
We had thought of getting into the water at Paradise or Half Moon - but both were kind of deserted, so we felt it would be better to reach Om and then play with the waves. We started back covering all those beautiful places again and reached Om by 12. And the next one hour was spent there. 
 
        Journey to Paradise beach
 

Our driver was waiting for us near Om beach, so by 1 we went back to the hotel. We all took bath and then started back to Mlore. On the way, we had lunch and then it was 'Bye-bye to Gokarna". We played anthaakshari for some time to escape from the horrible songs which the driver had played.
 
Reached Mlore by 8:30 at night.
 
So that was the end of our Golden route trek.