A weekend Getaway to Gokarna - The Best of all Worlds

If you want to get an impression of Goa and yet want to escape all the hustle and buzz that Goa has to offer then Gokarna is just the place for you. Bob Marley would have been happy today if he would have known that there is a place in India where he is literally worshipped in every way. From food to festival, music to mood, everything about that place was telling me to just sit back and relax. It was my birthday and my friends and I decided to escape the not-so-surprising surprises and treats-in-pubs and go away to the serene beaches of Gokarna. Not only was I blessed with some beautiful beaches once I visited the place but it offered me a place where sages and bohemians dwell side by side blissfully. So rightfully, the best of all worlds.

Now a little about the geography, Gokarnais a small temple town on the western coast of India in the Uttara Kannada district of the state of Karnataka. The main temple and deity is Lord Shiva, who is also known as Mahabhaleshwara. Gokarna is primarily a temple town where people visit for pilgrimage. I mean, that’s how it originally was. But that concept has been transformed by the arrival of more and more foreign tourists every day and as a result of which this place is gradually becoming popular amongst the youth. But the town reminds me of Malgudi days. It is approximately 10hrs journey from Bangalore. There are no direct flights available and train routes are really complicated. It’s best to do an overnight bus journey. Take a sleeper bus and go off to sleep and before you know, you’ll be there. There are many hotels and resorts for accommodation. If it’s an off-season then you may get on-spot booking in the hotels which are located on the main road, but it’s far away from the beach. But if you want a sea-view then I would suggest that you book well in advance.

We started on a Friday night, reached there on Saturday morning, boarded the bus back to Bangalore on Sunday night and reached home again on Monday morning. In this short stay of 1 night and 2 days, I am sure I’ve seen almost all the places that Gokarna has to offer me, “almost”. I can’t for any of my trips say, that I saw everything and visited every place. Something or other is bound to be missed. So there was a Mirjan fort and a Shiva cave that are not at all a sore to the eyes and you can check out these places of interest. But since time was a major constraint here, we had to stick to the plan of having as much fun as we can while avoiding the unnecessary stuffs.

Coming back to accommodations, we were a little concerned with the safety issues as we were four girls going to a beach tour and it is India. But when we finally got there, we were so glad! No matter how short the lengths of our pants were or no matter how small crop tops we wore, we were always and always overdressed this whole time. In most of the beaches you would mainly find very less natives and mostly the visiting foreigners. And we were so glad to be overdressed all the time which meant nobody would look at us at all and we can roam freely all around. And the hotel was awesome. The room was clean and hotel staff was very nice. And the surroundings were so peaceful, and surprisingly there were no Indian guests in the hotel apart from the four of us and, here is the best part, you get to have a private awesome beach of your own. I loved this hotel and would recommend this to everyone. Oh! The name is hotel Devasamudra and I am completely and most ardently in love with it. There are other beach hotels and resorts near Kudle beach which is also a good place to stay at. I would suggest everyone to book prior to the vacation, it’s easier that way. And you would be spared of that extra headache.

Anyway, coming back to the trip, we stayed there for a night only which was enough time to cover up most of the places. We travelled the town in autos because neither of us was skilled (at all) to ride on scootys. Book a scooty guys…there are several places from you can hire on a day basis. Ask the hotel staff, they’ll be able to guide you. On the first day, we decided to visit all the beaches. Now I still have no idea what our private beach is known as. The place is known as Kariyappa. And there is just one resort there, so no one bothered to name it. We first went to Kudle Beach and from there visited all other beaches in the boat. So forget about the autos and take a catamaran ride. It’ll be refreshing and you’ll get to see all the beaches. 

So first, we started from Kudle beach, and then went to Om Beach and the Half Moon Beach. The last one was the smallest of all and least crowded. I don’t know if it’s true, but apparently, there’s a story behind it. Some crew member of the boat let it slip that a few years ago, some tourist was raped and murdered on this beach and after that, no one really visits here a lot. As a result, all I could see was a few tourists having fun without worrying about the glaring of the Indians at all. And admit it or not, in India there are a few places where, if a girl wears a bikini then people won’t stare. And undoubtedly, this is one of those.

After the round trip, we returned to Om Beach and wanted to visit the very famous Namaste Café. But it was getting late and we were very hungry and then dive-into-the-sea part was left as well. And we discovered that the best of all was our own little beach right across the hotel. We first finished our lunch and the dove into the sea, head first and then fun into the sea. We spent hours, doing nothing, worrying about nothing and not giving a damn about rest of the world. It’s nice when men don’t stare at you lustily and girls don’t give you judgemental looks. And it was really nice interacting with them. You get to know so much, about the people, the places, their adventures and experiences. Many tourists are here for months and you feel like they’re more native to the place than the locals, because they’ve seen both the parts of the parts of the world, the eastern and western hemisphere and when asked, they can tell you so many things about the world. We met this British couple who have been travelling the world a few years after their marriage because they discovered their true calling. I really wish, I could be like that.

Anyway, in the evening we visited the Namaste Café because of two reasons. First of all, the café has a very nice reputation of being the best place to hang out and chill in the evening. And the next one was we wanted to have good seafood. And in both ways I felt that place was way overrated. Now, I don’t know whether it was just a wrong evening but the place looked quite ordinary to me. I mean you can have as much fun as in any other café. We quickly finished our dinner and went back to our hotel where chilled beer was waiting for us. We changed back into casuals, sat by the sea and had the best time in a very long time. It was so relaxing. One of the hotel staff brought out the guitar and asked us if anyone of us could play then we would play the bongo along. We had a great time thereafter. We played many songs, sang and danced along the tunes of various songs. I was definitely getting the feeling of being not in India.

Next day, after finishing our breakfast (and did I mention that we got all kinds of cuisine in our small little restaurant), we went shopping. The shops were a blend of western casuals and ethnic wear and the part that I loved the most, was that, amidst the clothes and jewelries and palazzos and bandanas, they had a wonderful collection of books from all over the world. Not just English, but a rare collection of French, German, Dutch books were to be found on the shelves and were sold for 50 bucks or so. Just seeing it brought a huge smile on my face. So, needless to mention, we brought a lot of stuffs. You just need to be good at bargaining and that’s your key to a successful shopping spree. After emptying our pockets we went back to our hotel to have our lunch. It was time for us to return now.

I will always remember Gokarna as an oddly wonderful blend of all cultures. The town reminded me of Goa and Malgudi days at the same time. It’s a spectacular weekend getaway and I would request all to visit this place at least once. I mean, if you are planning on visiting goa at least once in your lifetime then give this a try, I’m sure if you are not the unluckiest person on earth, you will have a gala time there.