Ready To Go:
Our plan was to start at night of 25th July ’08 and reach Gokarna by 10.00 am. We reserved the to & fro tickets 10 days back. Train to Shimoga is at 11.40 pm at Bangalore Central. At the last moment 2 of my friends dropped out we were only 12. We slept in the train happily. On 26th morning, We got down at Shimoga railway station. Outside the station tempo is waiting for us. We already booked the tempo one week back. The tempo driver & cleaner is very friendly. They know every places there. We were travelling on NH 216. Roads are decent & good. We stopped at sagara, 70 kms from shimoga for Breakfast. Then, our target is to reach gokarna bt 10.00 am. Due to rain, our travelling become late. The feeling of lively and cheerful joy started in morning when we were passing through dangerous roads in dense forest near Shimoga. It feels really nice when you are very near to nature in early morning.We covered some of the small water falls during the journey. Climate is very chill and we were enjoying the Hindi video songs in Tempo. Finally, we reached gokarna by 12.30 afternoon. We had lunch in small hotel. We headed towards Om beach in gokarna.
First day at Gokarna:
After reaching Om beach, we quickly checked into Namasthe Cafe. We already reserved the shacks(Huts with attached bathroom) in Namasthe cafe. It costs 400 rupees per day and extra bed cost 50 rs. This Cafe is very close to the Om beach. The beach got its name because it is shaped like the auspicious Om sign.
Om Beach, Gokarna
Shack(We stayed here)
So without wasting much time, we freshened up and wanted to go to the beach. The Namasthe Cafe caretakers are very friendly. By now it was slightly raining. What a time to go to the beach isnt it? We walked through the beach while playing with disc throw, volley ball and tennis balls. We decided then to play on the beach for a while and then trekking the mountain beside the beach. We were enjoying the dances of the waves on the lap of the sea.
Playing kabbadi in the beach:
Trekking the mountain:
By that time, we were tired and need some rest. So, we went to Namasthe Cafe restaurant where the beach can be clearly visible while having food & drinks. There we have a nice time.
Restaurant @ Namasthe Cafe:
After that We went to room and freshened up. We went to mahabaleshwar temple, which is 10 kms away from om beach. By around 8:00 p.m we started walking out in the streets of Gokarna. And these tourists (ourselves) were randomly roaming around. We went to Maha Ganapathi Temple and Mahabaleshwar temple. These temples were nice. But beware of the priests at Mahabaleshwar temple though. We nicely got ourselves ripped off by Rs. 500. They were all commercial agents. So next time you visit, if you just want to walk around and nothing more, just pay the Rs. 2 and gently say I am not interested in anything.
Mahabaleshwar Temple:
Atmalinga inside the temple:
We had a nice dinner at Namasthe cafe. This is the end of first day.
Second Day(27-07-08)
Gokarna To Murudeshwar:
We started at 8.00 a.m and had breakfast at kamat hotel, kumta. By 10.00 a.m we reached murudeshwar.
At Murudeshwar:
It was already around 12 .00 p.m by the time. So we spent some nice time taking snaps and moved around the shiva statue. There we enjoyed the temple view and beauty of arabian sea.
Murudeshwar Temple
Snap at Temple Entrance:
Lord Shiva Statue & Ravana giving the atma-linga to Lord ganesha:
We had lunch at Honnovar and then left to jog falls in the afternoon. I must also say that Murudeshwar beach is not that impressive. surrounding. So half a day was enough for Murudeshwar.
Murdeshwar to jog falls:
After having dinner, we started to jog falls which is 65 kms from Honnavar. While driving by the road we had seen beauitfull water falls. I think they are called gerasoppa water falls.
Water Falls while driving from Honnavar to Jog falls:
Jog Falls:
Once we reached the place…half of my excitement was lost looking at the falls…
It was raining heavily.We started off to go down to the bottom of the falls (it was approx. 960 feet).
Jog falls:
Few members went to bottom of the water falls. The route was not that good. But somehow we managed to reach the bottom of the falls within 50-60 mins. That was the actual place to be….I could manage to go further till the point where the water actually falls into the pond….the scene was too good to be described in words. I was unable to directly look at the falls from that point….after looking at all this I was very very happy….it appeared as if this was a good enough reason to go to jog falls.
By that time, we were tired and we have to catch the Bangalore train from Shimoga. So, we started from jog falls to shimoga via sagara. Near sagara we saw bunch of pine apples selling each for 8 Rs. We ate 8 pine pineapples, taste was really good.
Pine-apples at road side:
We reached shimoga by 9.00 p.m and had fast food items like akki roti, parota, idly, dosa, Egg omlette, vada, Egg fried rice etc.... Then tempo driver dropped at railway station. We got into train and slept by recalling the memories of Gokarna, Murdeshwar, Jog falls.
That end's the beautiful trip.....
