The Gokarna solo trip
July 2021 — The holy beach town tucked right at the north west corner of Karnataka offers a refreshing gateway to cleanse your soul.
After my resignation from job, I was waiting for the lockdown restrictions to come down in Bangalore. Except a few places, the government removed the inter-city travel restrictions from July 5th. I could take a rented 2 wheeler to travel but like always, I prefer the cheaper public transport. The entire July month being at my disposal, I quickly listed the places I want to cover in Karnataka before heading back to my hometown — Kolkata.
I selected Gokarna as a random choice. Private bus network in Karnataka is outstanding. I got a ticket for Rs. 800. Although I was contemplating, whether to go in bus or train, I settled for the former one because the train seat availability was in RAC and I didn’t want to risk my journey which was scheduled in another 2days. Although for return, I got a confirmed train ticket from Gokarna. For stay, first I thought of booking it once I reach there, but I changed my mind and booked a stay in advance in TripprWorld Gokarna. I chose a bunk bed in a 6 bed mix dorm. Booked it for 2 nights which costed me a total of Rs. 800. This is the first time I chose a hostel stay in Karnataka due to the good experience in Himachal, albeit that was a different hostel chain. The main reason to go for it was ofcourse the cost.
Cost Breakdown
Bus to Gokarna — Rs. 800
Train to Bangalore — Rs. 440
2 nights stay in hostel — Rs. 800
Bus ride and breakfast on 1st day — Rs. 85
Lunch, snacks and dinner (1st day) — Rs. 250
Scooter rental and petrol (each bike) — Rs. 300 + Rs. 200
Lunch and dinner (2nd day) — Rs. 400
Ferry ride (both ways) — Rs. 20 + Rs 20 for scooter
Lunch, snacks and dinner (3rd day) — Rs. 250
Total — Rs. 3,565
Come 7th of July, I reached the Yeswantpur depot of Seabird Bus Agency. That area also hosts top bus agencies, so the place is usually crowded most of the time. But this time, the place was almost empty. Then, I realised that it was a weekday which is the most likely reason for the emptiness. The bus reached before scheduled arrival and started calling me to reach early. The bus journey started just 2 minutes shy of 9 PM. My sleeper seat was clean and I quickly settled there. At 10 pm, the bus stopped for dinner. I already had it before leaving my place. The rest of the journey was smooth. At 7 am next day, the bus reached the drop point for Gokarna passengers. The name of the place was Madangeri. I was the only one to be dropped there. The bus then continued towards Karwar.
Quick tip — It is better not to book a bus with a drop point in Madangeri. Beacause, it is 12 kms from Gokarna main place. And the public transport only resumes at 8 in the morning.
I didn’t want to wait for an hour, so I started walking towards the railway station which was 1 km from Madangeri. Unfortunately on reaching near to station there was hardly any transport. I continued walking for another 3 kms. Finally I got a bus till the main bus stand. I check the location of my hostel in my phone. It showed 1.5 kms from the bus stand. I was exhausted and hungry. I grabbed a quick bite at a local eatery. Some hot tea to rejuvenate the soul and I was already ready to walk. One of the reasons, I chose to walk instead of taking an auto rickshaw or a rented bike which is quite popular in Gokarna just like in Goa, is because I wanted to explore the town.
Once I crossed the market, the town was mostly clamour-less. Except a few shops and the long winding road, there was only endless lush green vegetation. I went past two big hotels, evidently devoid of much tourists mainly because of two reasons — monsoon is an off-season and the fear of infection. Occasionally, I saw foreigners running their errands. Some on cycle and a few walking. They must be staying there for a long time, I thought. I could hear the sound of sea waves after some time. Google maps showed a 100 meters of walk on Sand to reach the hostel.
The hostel was situated hardly 20 meters inside the beach and offered a sprawling view of the mighty Arabian sea. The hostel was mostly on open area. There were five small private cottages. Except that all were four bed / six bed / eight bed dorms. A smily Srijit introduced himself as the manager and informed me that the check-in was at 12 PM. I did not want to wait 3 hours in the reception. After keeping my luggage in a safe place, I started walking in the beach with the intention to explore Kudle beach. Online Map showed 40 mins of walking trail.
Gokarna offers one of the best beach trek experience in India. As I follow the trail, it took me through an old temple, the stairs inside the temple hiked up to a hill to the lush green meadows and then descended to a patchy terrain. The cloudy weather though produced sweat, it was better than the brazen heat. Soon I reached Kudle beach. With virtually no one at the beach, I could only hear the waves crashing at the rocks. It was meditative.
I came back to the hostel by 1 PM after spending a few moments there. While returning, I took the temple road which starts from the Gokarna main beach. Devotees came to perform the last rites for their loved ones. Sweet shop, Tattoo parlour, dry spices shop were doing their brisk business. In the hostel, maggi came to rescue my hungry stomach. Post lunch, I checked in and I was showed a bed in a 6 bed dorm as per my booking. The dorms were made of plywood. A plastic wrapper was shrouded to protect the ply from rain. But that also made the entry and exit to the dorm, a hassle.
The noon humidity made it difficult to sleep inside the dorm. Even under the fan, I was sweating. The weather was in sharp contrast with Bangalore. I ditched sleep to hit the road. After a brief walk, a found a cozy cafe. Vaibhav cafe had no other customers during the time I was there.
I ordered some evening snacks and lime soda. The gobi manchurian was delicious. I was full after that. It was 7 PM already so I headed back to the hostel. In dark, I found it difficult to spot my hostel. The reception area was buzzing with music and a few people were there chatting. There I met Kavyakar, a solo traveller from Lucknow and Soumya who came with her sister Ayushi for a leisure trip from Bangalore. We three got connected instantly and planned to visit Om beach together the next morning at 6. We decided to rent two bikes in the morning.
Next morning, we faced some issues regarding bike rent which pushed our departure to 9.30 am. Finally, through another person, we booked two bikes for Rs. 300 each. We reached the main beach to collect our bikes. As a security, they kept only one original identity proof. We filled petrol from a nearby petrol bunk and started our journey. Maps showed the route to Om beach was 7 kms long. Curvy roads accompanied by cool breeze welcomed us. It took hardy 15 minutes to reach the parking area of the beach. From there we had to descend 300 metres to the rocky beach. From the parking lot we could see the change of colour of water where the sea meets ocean, it was surreal.
We clicked a few pictures sitting on the rocks admiring the beauty. Kavyakar showed his creativity in photography. The popular Namaste Cafe was a few steps inside the beach. A waiter informed us that they will start lunch service from 1 PM which meant another 30 mins. I and Soumya went for a beach walk while Kavyakar attended his online MBA class.
Post lunch we continued our journey. We asked a Coast guard for the route to Half moon beach and Paradise beach. Although he directed us but also cautioned that the trail involves slippery rocks. We entered the bushes which led to a tiny hill. We reached a view point where we got to capture the OM shape of the beach behind us.
The vegetation grew thicker as we hiked. We saw a few trails. Not sure whether all these meet at the same place or not we followed the right side which was near to the sea. Soon we reached a area where we could see sky and sea. We walked through a narrow ledge and again entered dense forest where we met a couple who were contemplating whether to continue their journey to the Paradise beach. They informed us that Half moon beach is just a few steps more. We asked them to join us for the journey further, which they did. Half moon beach was a very tiny beach without any visible soul nearby. Five of us progressed our journey to the Paradise beach.
As we were informed, most of the patches to the Paradise beach involved pointy and slippery rocks. We met another group who were returning. They told us that there were two ways, one is through the rocks and the other through the jungle which will take some more time. It was already 5 PM, we decided to go the rocky way. To be honest, we didn’t dangerous as such, but yes we had to trade caution in the trail. Finally within 30 minutes we reached the Paradise beach. Expect one local person and a few covered shacks, the beach was virtually empty. A local guy by the name Mahendra informed that the business here starts from October when a few agencies come to install makeshift tents with cafes. We spend half an hour there experiencing the calmness of the sea at the sunset hours.
We started our journey back hoping to reach Om beach before dark. But due to the overcast, it was soon dark. We used phone flashlights to navigate our way through the dense bush. We lost our way a couple of times but eventually made it to the end of Om beach by 7 PM. We were very exhausted and sat at the beach for some time chatting. By that time, the clouds made their way to a star filled clear sky. It was spectacular. Just the sound of waves and the stars in the sky felt like a dream.
We bade goodbye to the couple and left for the hostel with our scooters. On our way, we had Dosa in Gananjay Restaurant. The next day would be our final day in Gokarna, so we decided to catch sunrise in Ankola. This time, Soumya’s sister Ayushi would also join us. We filled petrol and reached our hostel by 11 PM.
At 5 AM next day early morning, we met at the hostel reception to start our journey. It was still dark, we reached the parking lot where the beach meets the road. Google maps showed 9 kms. With 3 kms remaining, we stopped at a point where we had to cross River Gangavali which is a backwater. The construction of the bridge was not yet completed so we were left with only one option, Ferry. A tea stall just opened then, the owner told us the first ferry leaves at 7 AM. We wondered how to spend the one hour. After sipping hot tea, we agreed to go to nearby viewpoint. Once we reached, we found that it was an abandoned dock where people come for fishing. The place offered a great vantage point of the river — sea convergence with the hill as a backdrop.
We took some nice dawn-lit photos before going back to the ferry point. As we reach, we saw people already queuing to catch the first ferry of the day. Along with our scooters, two more scooters were also onboarded. Soon, the ferry was full with atleast 15 people and four bikes. The motorised ferry took around 10 minutes to drop us at the other side of the river. As the workers off-loaded our scooters, we made the payment. From there, we reached Belambur beach.
The road to the beach went through the settlement of fishermen whose day starts at 4 AM. The time we reached the beach, most of the fishermen were docking their boats. As we spent some moments there, we saw the fishermen releasing their fresh catches from the net. Mostly prawn, big and small filled their buckets. Those will go to the nearest fish market.
Photography done, we dumped ourself in a small eatery. We had Idly, dosa and banana buns in breakfast accompanied by another round of hot tea. We went to catch the return ferry. There was only one ferry which runs to and fro. We were told that due to rain there was a delay in the onward journey, though it was just drizzling. After a 20 minutes wait, we finally onboarded the ferry with 6 bikes and even more people than last time. We were afraid of catching the covid infection, as barely a few people were wearing masks.
After the ferry ride, we went straight to our hostel. We all had exceeded the check-out time which was at 10 AM. We quickly packed our luggages and left the hostel. I had a train to catch on the same day, but my friends wanted to stay in Gokarna for another day and leave for Jog falls the next day. Kavyakar booked three beds for himself, Soumya and Ayushi in Rambler hostel which was just 1.5 kms from there. We reached the hostel and parked ourselves in the reception area.
I and Soumya went to return one scooter, while we retained the other one. We also checked the bus timings for the ride to Jog falls. The KSRTC bus operator person told us that the first bus leaves at 8 AM every day from Gokarna to Kumta and then change another bus from Kumta to reach Jog falls. The entire journey might take 3.5–4 hours.
We returned to the hostel post lunch. There were wifi issues which the owner tried to fix. Ayushi tried to manage her work on a mobile hotspot. Some quality time was spent together there, chatting, learning guitar and playing carrom and chess. My train journey was scheduled at 6.30 PM. I asked Kavyakar to drop me at the bus stand from where I could catch a bus to the GOKARNA ROAD station. He was humble enough to offer a drop till the station itself which was 10 kms away. We clicked some final pictures together. Before leaving, I thanked them for giving me a wonderful experience.
I reached the platform a good 45 mins before the scheduled time. Thanks to the traffic-less roads of Gokarna. The train timing was true to schedule. I hopped to the train and located my seat. Before boarding, I picked up some banana chips for dinner. The train journey was hassle free. At dot 7.30 AM, it reached Yeswantpur station.
