I planned for a Two days trip to Gokarna after looking at all the blogs assuming that I will be able to cover all of Gokarna & also some nearby places. But I was wrong ! This place is where you actually need a little more time to spend & just coming for trek as a backpacker doesn't really make sense. Having said that, it doesn't mean that I didn't have my share of fun ! I had an amazing time, although there were a few issues that I faced, but that just made the trip more adventurous than planned !
DAY 1-
Easier & faster way to reach Gokarna from Mumbai is TRAIN, Matsyagandha Express which runs through out the week was the best option so I booked myself a ticket. It departs from LTT at around 3:20PM & reaches Gokarna next morning at around 4:30 but it is usually late.
Gokarna Station is really clean & tidy .As you alight at the station early morning, it is usually dark & the station is quite isolated from the actual Gokarna town. I reached at around 5AM and since there were no auto's available, I waited until dawn. You may find a few people(tourists) smoking joints outside the station as well .( Just in case you need to know !)
If you think that the trip would be cheaper during the winter , you would be taken by surprise! That's actually the time when local people make money. Since my hotel was already booked,I din't have to think about my accommodation. So as soon as I could see the first ray of sunshine I asked an auto driver to take me to Gokarna Beach, for which he asked for Rs 500 for 10 Kms. Since there was a guy waiting for a rick to travel in the same route, we shared the rick .
Early morning ride from Gokarna station to Gokarna beach was simply beautiful ! I chose to go to Gokarna Beach since I had no other place to go that early in the morning & also since I didn't have my own vehicle and wasn't sure about the other beaches at the first place.
There are a few temples which you can visit near the Gokarna beach area in the radius of 300-400 mtrs for which you may have to stand in a long queue. As I was short of time I didn't visit any & started searching for a rented moped/Scooty.
I had my breakfast at a really affordable price near one of those temples & found a couple of places where I could rent a scooty. As it was a peak tourists time, they charged Rs 1000/day for a scooty. Gokarna is not Goa so you can't really expect cheaper rates for two wheelers & petrol price.
This is where my real adventure started. Since I had planned to explore few places near Gokarna as well, first place in my list was - VIBHUTI WATERFALL.
Vibhuti Waterfall is an amazing place to visit,it is somewhere around 35-40 Kms away from Gokarna Town. I couldn't wait any longer to get started so as soon as I got the scooty at 8:30 AM. I started my journey from the town to Vibhuti Waterfall. This is may sound stupid but I actually chose this place since I din't really freshen up after travelling in the train & nothing could be better than having a bath under a waterfall!
Riding the scooty amidst the jungle & greenery all over is just an amazing experience! You may find many small rivers during the ride to the waterfall & if you are anything like me you would want to dip in that river atleast once! I reached Vibhuti waterfalls by around 10 AM and had some me time in the truest forms since there was no one around at that time. Just me around the sound of water flowing & birds chirping. It was simply beautiful! I did see few boards around that said SAVE THE LEOPARD which caught me off guard and I would be lying if I said I wasn't sacred! But I thought today was definitely not my day to die :D :D :D.
As you walk down the stairs you reach one of the most beautiful Waterfalls. Clean & warm water, I couldn't really ask anything than this for an early morning bath. (I din't use soap while bathing, again just if you needed to know :p)
I spent a few hours there before I could start off for my next destination. I made a few local friends there who helped me swim as I was little skeptical of swimming in that water on my own plus I didn't really know how to swim . But yeah I did it & now as I am writing this blog I can proudly say that I now know to swim!
So it was time for my next Destination - YANA CAVES
YANA CAVES - It is a two rock monoliths or hillocks, surrounded by thick forests and streams(Copied from internet ;-) ). An IMPORTANT NOTE - While making the plan to Yana Caves, please do not go by Google Maps as it will not show you the direct way from Vibhuti Waterwalls. Although there is one which is of around 10 KM.
As soon as you reach the gate which i reached by 11 AM, you have to park your vehicle & go inside for about 1 KM. There is a temple from where you actually enter the stairs for the cave so you have to keep your shoes outside & move ahead. I had never seen such big monolithic rocks. Although I had seen once in Hampi but it was nothing as compared to this!.
From here I had plans for Murudeshwar for which I left from Yana caves & had my lunch. While going to to Murudeshwar mid way I realized that I would be short of time as it was almost 60-70 Kms away from Gokarna. So as a sudden plan change, I turned back my scooty & start heading for Mirjan Fort. While headed towards Mirjan Fort I came across this very scenic or I would say picturesque view.
So my Third destination of the day, MIRJAN FORT.
I reached around at 3 PM at the Fort, had a few glasses of Lime Juice. The shopkeeper there were really nice .As I had a huge bag with me, he asked me to keep the bag at his shop , as he rightly pointed out that roaming around with that bag inside the fort could be tiring. I kept my bag there & moved to the fort. This fort is actually a best place for Pre-Post wedding photo shoot.
It was already evening and since I had traveled a lot through out the day , I thought of going back to my hotel .But then since my hotel was close to Kudle beach I thought of going there. I had not expected the beach to be crowded but the place was fully packed & since I was tired , I changed my mind & went back to my hotel. So now the sudden plan cancellation for Murudeshwar turned out to be in my favor. The hotel that I had booked was not there , although I could see it on the maps & the booking site. After a 2 hour conversation with the hotel booking company, they asked me to look for another hotel on my own & confirmed that they will pay me back.
Luckily I didn't really have to look much, I found a hotel & freshened up. Multiple food joints are available in the town, you can go as per your wish, I went to a restaurant which was right in front of my hotel. Food didn't really taste as good as I was hoping for but that is how my Day 1 ended.
Day -2 :
As soon as I got up I looked for a place to have breakfast. While having my breakfast I started planning for my Day 2. Till now I didn't really explore the beaches of Gokarna, for which Gokarna is so famous in the first place!! This was the day where I had planned to have my lunch & dinner at different beaches.
Kudle Beach & Om Beach:- So I went back to Kudle Beach, and since everyone on their blogs have written so much about this beach, there was no chance that I was going to miss it. And if you go to Kudle beach , you will definetly come across Namaste Cafe. Everyone talks about Namaste Cafe so much that who ever comes to Gokarna wants to visit this restaurant atleast once! But since it is recommended in every blog, you can imagine the crowd here. There was no place to sit. And therefore, this place didn't stand out as per my expectation. So I decided to walk down to Om Beach which is just next to Kudle Beach & a walking distance of 5 mins on the beach itself. After walking down to the Om Beach, hunger really striked me hard, so I went to the last restaurant at OM Beach i.e. Sunset Point . As soon as I saw this place I could actually picture myself sitting there & chilling.
This restaurant is right in front of the sea and they have some amazing food at reasonable rates. You can keep your luggage out here & can go for a swim. Restaurant people are very trustworthy & helpful. They mostly serve beer at the same price which you get normally outside.
While having my lunch I asked the waiter the distance for Paradise beach & he said that the place was about 1 or 2 Km from that restaurant.Since it was close & I had plans for camping at Paradise beach, I started heading towards it.
Paradise beach:-
It is a jungle walk from Om Beach to Paradise and you may find people on the way, going there or coming back from there. Before reaching Paradise beach you will come across the most scenic view you can ever imagine.
So after walking for around 15-20 Mins, I reached the place called Paradise Beach . This beach is a very small one but much better than Kudle beach & less crowded and therefore I totally recommend this beach to visit .
As soon as I reached the beach I started setting up my own tent but then localites asked me not to since cops round up was happening & they don't allow tourist for night stay. And this was happening because New Year's eve was just around the corner. So I had to pack up & left for where I started off from Om Beach, yes that's Sunset Point ;) i stopped there for an hour or 2, had couple of beers soaked myself in the beautiful ocean water, chilled for sometime watched the sun go down & felt the fresh breeze on my face(This feeling gets more intense when get a little high or i would say Happy High).
And then i headed for hotel & picked a couple of beers for myself. This time I found a local bar & restaurant for dinner. And that's how my Day-2 ended.
Day-3 :
This was the day I had to catch the train back for Mumbai. Before catching the train I thought of roaming around the streets of Gokarna. And found some amazing art on the street.
The hotel owner where I stayed was really helpful & supportive. Usually the checkout time is 11 Am, but he gave an option to extend the check-out till 2 PM with no extra charges & I happily agreed. At the end I checked out at 2 PM looked for a rickshaw ride back to Gokarna station.
As I reached the end of this book that I read through out this trip, my Gokarna trip ended with countless memories and many scenic views that I will treasure for a lifetime!! I also happened to meet a few people during this journey with whom I instantly connected & who are now a part of my Insta family. www.instagram.com/tanmay_lemoriya/
