Hi friends! Hope you all are doing great... :)
All the hard working men in Bengaluru (b’coz I am staying here & the getaway is closer) and even those staying in other places must be tired of recurrent complaints from their wife and children about being confined in the “Char Diwari” of their house and not going anywhere as their busy schedule doesn't permit. Even the girls are tired of running away from executing the numerous plans they have been making to escape the daily monotonous routine due to distance and safety issues. I have an answer for all your excuses. Trust me you can do this flawlessly as i did with my husband, 1.5 yrs old toddler and my sister. Get your travel shoes ready and pack your bags for a beautiful and budget friendly weekend getaway.
Note: It is a very detailed pictorial description. For the highlights, just stick to the bold texts.
Gokarna is a town on the Arabian Sea, in the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka. A popular pilgrimage destination for Hindus, it’s known for sacred sites like Mahabaleshwar Temple, which has a shrine dedicated to the deity Shiva. It has beautiful beaches, temples, lovely resorts and many adventurous water sports. My itinerary is as follows:
Day1:
The journey started actually a day before, when we got into the bus at about 09:20 pm from Bengaluru. The bus was comfortable & the road was also good except when we were about to reach the town. It continuously kept twisting and turning as the roads are very curvy & have many blind turns. We reached the bus stop very early in the morning at about 7:30 am. You will see many auto-rickshaws lined up to take you to your destination. However, we thought of renting a bike to loco-mote around at our own convenience. To our surprise we found one right beside the bus stop. While my husband was going through all the formalities of renting a bike, we went to the paid public bathroom nearby to freshen up. It was surprisingly pretty clean. By that time we were quite hungry. We found a local restaurant a few steps away and decided to try it as we had no idea about the place. It was full and we had to wait for our turn. Every minute of waiting was hard because of my naughty kid who was running away repeatedly out of excitement as well as the heavy luggage. It was about 10 am and the sun was already shining bright. Finally we took our breakfast and headed towards our resort.
The Sanskruti resort was about 1.2 kms from the bus stop. When we reached there, we felt so proud of our decision. It was so appealing... themed around Kannada culture as the name suggests. They had beautiful cottages inside out, two swimming pools separately for kids & adults and their own restaurant. We took bath, changed, geared up & started for our first exploration, Om beach.
💥💥💥Ways to reach Gokarna:
1. By Air: nearby airport- Bangalore,Mangalore
2. By Road: Private/State transport buses from Bangalore (9 hrs)
3. By Rail : Nearest railway Station-Ankola(20 kms)
💥💥💥Places to stay: There are hotels,resorts & many private properties. Book well in advance if you are booking for a weekend.
Day 1: Om Beach
On our rented scooties, we left for Om beach which is just kms away and it took us merely 10 to 15 mins to get there. With ample of parking area, we had no problems for parking. and then came the flight of stairs that you have to climb down for the beach. It ain't a big deal while climbing up but if you have luggage, it might be a bit tedious. At the beach, the beautiful beach facing restaurant, Namaste Cafe, provides you with delicious food options that you can enjoy after the heavy workout of climbing down those stairs. We ordered for our all time favourite, chicken biryani and something different, prawn lasagne (which i would recommend to people who are looking for something unique and love sea food). It was the perfect time to be on the beach, with the sun shining bright over our heads and soothing blue water of Arabian sea. Om beach is a mixture of rocky and sand beach. To each, it's own.
We were quite tired after traveling, we decided to take some rest and enjoy at the resort. As it was the valentines day,we celebrated it at the pool & a nice dinner date at the restaurant.
Day 2: Paradise beach,Half moon Beach & Dolphin view point
We slept like babies after an adventurous as well as tiring day. Next day, greeting the sun in the morning, we had our breakfast at out stay. Then we headed towards the Om beach because we got rides from there to other 2 beaches as they were inaccessible via road. You can trek to the Paradise and half-moon beach through the jungles and hills. We hired a ferry for Rs 300 per head, to visit the other famous beaches, namely, Paradise beach , the Half Moon beach and the Dolphin view point. We were able to sight a few dolphins on the way. Oh! they are magnificent and should be captured in your memory because they are swift enough to not be captured by your camera. A disclaimer: The boat doesn't stop at any beach. Yes, shocker!!
We headed back to our room to checkout from there as we had our return ticket the same day at 08:20 pm. We handed over the keys a bit late but the Resort's staff were very accommodating. We zoomed to Kudle beach to spend rest of our day there.
Day 2: Kudle beach, Gokarna
It really takes a "Jigra" to go down the pool of stairs to reach the said beach. PS: don't take too much luggage with you if you really wanna enjoy unlike us who had all the checked out luggage with us. However, my eyes sparkled & all the fatigue vanished as soon as I entered the beach and spotted......a variety shop loaded with vivid beach wears, toys, sunglasses, bedsheets, jewelry, Gokarna fridge magnets and what not!!!! The prices are a little above the usual (as expected). I bought few souvenirs from there and we chose a beach facing restaurant. We enjoyed the amazing sunset view while sipping our drinks. People were playing frisbee, football, volleyball with an accuracy of professional athletes. All of this combined with the hustle bustle of the beach after sunset, made the trip worth it.
We were famished and decided to have our dinner before boarding the bus back to Bengaluru which was scheduled at 8:20 p.m. Had amazing fish fry at Fishland near the busstop, boarded the bus and reached Bengaluru next day morning.
With that, I think I have convinced you guys sufficiently to pack your bags and head out to the beautiful Gokarna this weekend. I hope this very elaborate blog will give you a clear idea of what can be done within two days. If you're one of those who likes to see a lot, you can for sure squeeze in a lot more in these days. For us, with a kid, we had, all in all, a very fulfilling trip. Thanks to my partners!
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#Gokarna #ThatLongWeekend #Valentinesday
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