In search of peace...

In times of Go Corona, here I am with yet another experience of my life which would change the way people look at solo travelling.

Gokarna, a small temple town in Karnataka, attracts major tourists from southern part of India and outside of India.

It is known to very small number of people and I should mention while I am typing this that I would want it be less known. When you will be there you'll know. it very well follows the idea of less people, less..you might know it by now.

Ah yes! I didn't travel to Karnataka directly. My initial plan was with my family to Goa, a party place for chill and good vibe. So, I just thought if I'm going so close, why not to plan a trip further. So, I had everything planned, but my family wasn't really aware of the plan.

So, when it was time to leave Goa, we called taxi to airport and I called one for Madgaon station, from where I was supposed to catch a train. Yes, I traveled to Gokarna on train, and you can see what view I had all the time, it was a perfect lush green motion picture.

So, the distance between Madgaon, Goa to Gokarna is 2h 36 m via train and I was up for it and ticket costed me 125 INR. I know what you are thinking of. Well, I travel on budget, mostly..

So, after I reached Gokarna railway station, I took fair priced auto to a place called Kariappa Katte, where I had booking done for a hostel stay. Yes, the best part about solo travelling is hostels. I stayed for 3 days at the hostel called "Trippr Gokarna" and the picture just above this was my view for days I stayed.

To tell you, this place is 2 hrs away from Goa, but is exact opposite of it, this place closes at 7 p.m every day, at the time I visited.

So, you enjoy all afternoon, visiting more and more beaches, it has to offer and at night, you sit by the beach, under the starry sky and feel the breeze and peace. The place gets so dark that you can see phytoplankton near the shore. Yes! Phytoplankton.

What are they, you ask? Microscopic bioluminescent organisms that live in water and cause it to flicker like shining stars, and from a distance, make the water look like it glows.

The most essential part of beach life is Sunrise and Sunset and I absolutely loved how I saw it there, couldn't take my eyes of it. Each day I would see colors so bright and vibrant, accompanied by dogs.

And that is not it, the hostel life I mentioned about, its essential part of a solo traveler's journey because here we meet people from different places and walks of life and we share and share and share.

For me, its the best place to learn and know. You make friends, a little ice breaking and you act like you know that person since ages. Sleeping on bunk beds, having music sessions at night, having maggi at 2 am with sea breeze and magic in the air.

The Sunrise for which I woke up at 6 am on the very next day of my arrival at this beautiful place. You'll  find people doing Yoga, running and the best part was all the people there were very focused on the cleanliness of the beach. So, that you stay in peace from all ends. The hostel Trippr have adopted cat and dogs and are very friendly.

I visited Om Beach and Kudle beach on a hired scooty, the beaches are not very far from the middle beach where I stayed but I found the middle or main beach to be the best one.

I didn't have company on the first day but had it on the second day. Yes, I made friends and we planned to take a scooty trip to Vibhuti falls and Yana caves. Oh god! what a beautiful journey, the scenic view on both sides of the road, cool breeze, green covers, I wished journey should never end.

We trekked to vibhuti falls, its atleast a kilometer long trek, people say its 500m its notttt! The view, the water and peace surrounding it. After which we made our way to Yana caves. A journey always comes with surprises, we faced one too. Yes, the rain, we are in south, its all windy and pleasant and not raining, not for long. It rained when we were about to start our journey, we thought we would make it. We didn't have food and we were just continuing our journey and we witnessed slopes, sandy roads and all sorts of difficulty one faces while riding in rain and we had no cover to stay for a while. 

It got really rough and we thought to make our way back from it, I still can't forget the journey on return on those slopes, again, I was just praying that we don't slide and comeback in single piece, and what followed was even magical.

We could see a small restaurant open on our way back, it had authentic thali lunch and oh god! It seemed like the prize we won on dealing such harsh conditions. You see there is nothing more or less, things come in packages always. It was a journey to find peace and all I prayed that I come back in single piece.

I would truly cherish this one and the smiles reflect that we made the journey awesome together, for a person who travels solo, finding companions on journey, is like treasure. Peace out.