[justwheels]

About Me:
There are Summers for some tanning themselves on the beaches of Goa, and there is winter for some chilling in the snows of Himachal. I am a teetotaler, so I just love hot tea under a "tapri" with rain creating music on the tin roof of a road side dhabha amidst the hills/mountains and those wet roads. I just love the monsoons and driving through those wet forests with the nature in its pristine green.

About Martian:
Martian has just born. It’s just 1 month old. It's got the inquisitiveness of a newborn. It doesn't judge, it doesn't have preconceptions. It just lives one day at a time. It lives one km at a time. It loves to splash in the mud, sprint on tarmac. It loves to keep its friends entertained and it loves to be part of the journey, to find ones' soul.
So this time, it was time for the Martian to go in search of water. Not just any water, but water that trickles through the sky in the form of rain, the water that makes the nature look pristine green, the water that flows in the magnificent rivers, water that falls from the heights of giant mountains splashing and finally merging into the massive oceans, the water that splashes on the sands and mesmerizes the human minds. I was just a guide for the Martian, steering it through the journey of finding ones' soul.
To set the context, it was Martian's second long journey, but the first one splashing in the rain, steering through the western ghats and reaching the shores of North Karnataka. Martian's shoes had earlier been tested on the tarmac during its maiden journey to Coimbatore from Bangalore. The Martian has no caste, no creed, no religion, it’s a wanderer, but it loves to often steer in the search of its soul, of the reason of its existence and often treads the spiritual (not religious) path. At Coimbatore, it had witnessed the largest Shiva Statue at the Isha Foundation, and now it was treading towards the Shiva at Murudeshwar and gazing at the geographical “OM” at Gokarna beaches.

The Plan:
Martian does what it loves, and loves what it does. It doesn’t have to report into anyone but it’s Saarthi (Charioteer) must work to feed the Martian and family. So, he waits for pious occasions when the weekends are long enough to do soul searching. Many thanks to the festival of “Id” to have fallen on a Monday providing the much-needed soul searching opportunity. When the monsoon’s have hit and you know geography well enough to spot the beauty of the western ghats in rain, you just know your destination. It was to be Gokarna and Murudeshwar, covering Jog Falls. With In laws in town, it was to be a packed 5-member family with the Martian on the journey.
Customary thread checks on Team BHP and few posts made sure I was taking the best possible route which included fair amount of Ghats to enjoy the drive and let Martian unleash its prowess.
A hard-working Friday and sis in law’s travel from Hyderabad on Friday night meant we all were awake till 12 AM. The plan was to leave as early as possible to avoid any rush. The benfit of staying just 3 km from the NICE road ensured I would not be passing through the city to hit the Tumkur road. With all the good night sleep filled with dreams of Jockeying the Martian, we were up and running at 4:45 AM from home.

DAY 1

The path to be taken was entered in the ubiquitous Google Maps. New addition to my gadget list – VIOFO a119s was fixed and powered up. And there we started, in search of rain, ghats, spirituality, beaches and some peace from the ever busy Bangalore life.

Path taken


The Martian rises from sleep


I love early morning starts not just for their benefit of making the whole day available to you, but for the silence of early mornings. People in the car are also half asleep and me and Martian can just soak in the early morning mist and just relax our minds.
Soon we could see the horizon gleaming with the orange of the sunrise and we could see birds flying around and people rising for morning chores. We in no time had hit the Bangalore Pune highway and were cruising along happily chatting and enjoying the terrain and surroundings. Those distant rock mountains, large farmlands and smooth tarmac just made up for the sleepy start of all the family members. The much-required morning tea stop was at one of the Tolls where we tested the toilet maintenance of the tollway. Least said, it was appalling. I am always saddened by the sheer neglect of our fellow citizens to toilet use. No one for once thinks of the next person who would come to relieve him/herself. With the usual rant, we started our journey towards peace. For some reason, inspite of the forecast, we only encountered intermittent spurts of rain on the highway.
For some reason, I am not convinced as to why highways restaurants are so less in number in South India as compared to the North, when the highways are far better. Barring Bangalore - Mysore highway, I don’t find many options on others. Yes, may be the Bangalore Chennai now has some better options, but still. Anyways, the Martian didn’t need any food, its belly was full and had enough for us to reach our destination. We made a halt at Kamat Upachaar near Dhavangere and had some idli’s for breakfast. Experience – average to the most.


Enter the ghats:

Left turn at Haveri brought us to the road to Sirsi, a quant town on the route. Roads were good, although it wasn’t the usual divided motorway. A dual carriage way led us to Sirsi and since the morning had set in, we started encountering a bit of traffic. But soon as we crossed Sirsi, the surroundings changed. We were entering the Devimane Ghats and the sights from the turns were getting even more beautiful. Martian was enjoying every bit of the curves and splashes of rain. It was happily insulating the occupants from the outside world and we were cozy in its laps. I on the otherhand was beaming a smile across my face piloting the Martian through the twisties. I come from the land of Himalayas (my hometown being Dehradun), I often have sarcastic smiles when people talk of twisties on these ghats. Well, I know the Himalayas have their own benchmark, but these much safer twisties with rains lashing on the windscreen have some fun to it for sure.

Some snippets of the ride.






Rain god was surely knowing that the Martian needs more than a wash, and we witnessed consistent and intermittently heavy rain from Sirsi to Kumta.

The famous Devimane temple view.






The Destination:
We chose to stay at a homestay at Kumta. Kumta is kind of midway between Gokarna and Murudeshwar. We were very lucky to have chosen this homestay. We were greeted so nicely by Mr. Prakash who owns the place and the next 3 days were spent in utmost ease and having the best Konkani food I have ever had. The hospitality of Mr. Prakash is unparalleled and we thoroughly enjoyed his talks and the way he took care of us. The itinerary on the Menu was mind blowing covering vegetarian Konkani dishes to Shell fishes, crabs, prawns and fishes. Those special chutneys, neer dosa with chicken were just mouthwatering. The homestay is called “Kedige Homestay” and has great reviews on Trip Adviser also.

The homestay



We reached by 1:30 Pm at our destination and immediately hit the lunch table. Post that we all hit our rooms to take a quick nap to rejuvenate ourselves. Pst a 5 PM tea, we were ready to hit the road again. Filled up the Martian again, and hit the road towards Murudeshwar. Mr. Prakash advised us to visit a very famous Ganesha Temple on the route called Idagunji Ganesha. A very old temple, and we went for a quick visit before we started for Murudeshwar. The route takes you on the Panvel Kochi highway through very scenic views of the backwaters soaked in rain. The road is being broadened to four lane so there are quite a few diversions, but well marked and don’t cause any inconvenience. Traffic is manageable.

Murudeshwar

It was my first visit and I was amazed to see the gigantic statue of Shiva. The location just makes for a beautiful spot and the experience is amazing.




Martian found a place to rest with the spiritual Shiva in the backdrop.


We all spent some time in the temple, enjoying the views. Will let the pics do the talking now.









Reached back to Kumta by 10 PM and a hot dinner with the delicacies was waiting for us. A quick freshen up and we all sat to have the sumptuous dinner. With the rains lashing on the roof of the balcony, we enjoyed every moment of the place. Coconut trees swaying in the wind, the place was magic and soon we hit our beds calling it a day. A long drive covering ~ 550 kms, Martians legs surely needed some rest to start rolling again tomorrow.

Day 2

Kumta Beach, Om Beach and Kudle Beach

The day started with a morning walk towards the Kumta beach. Around 800 mts from the homestay, it was a walking path through the paddy fields. That smell of freshly sown paddy, rain in the air, it was an experience to cherish. I often feel how far we have gone from the beautiful realities of life to live in concrete jungles. Anyways, it was a secluded beach of Kumta, with the waves roaring and splashing hard on the sands. The sea was quite rough and the fishing season was over, so not much to spot on the beach. We had a long stroll along the whitish sands and then returned hungry for the breakfast.




We were so impressed and so much enjoying the food at the homestay, we wanted to do lunch here itself. So, we decided to head to Gokarna for the beach and later return for a late lunch. I didn’t mind driving back as I was loving the scenes anyways. And Martian never complained.

We headed straight to OM Beach, called so for its geographical shape in the form of an OM. The ride was good and roads were well laid, narrow yet manageable traffic. Parking near the beach was slightly an issue but we found a good place eventually. The place was beaming with people and the only café on the beach – Namastey Café was overflowing. There are stairs that lead you to the beach are slightly steep for elders, but manageable. The beach has a part which is very rocky and another part which has the sand. With the sea being rough, it was difficult/dangerous to enter the water. We perched on a few rocks and enjoyed the views under the dark clouds.
A few pics to stop me from my long narration

[justwheels]

Day 2 continued

After being almost drenched in a quick spurt of rain, we headed to Kudle Beach. This one is actually right on the other side of the cliff that leads you to the OM beach. Tricky to find parking here too as it was weekend, we had to climb down again to reach the beach. Unlike the Om Beach, the stairs are in-existent here and the walk is steeper and longer. Elders with issues will find it difficult.
Kudle beach is a flat beach and is bracketed by two cliffs at both ends. It has a few shacks which were all overcrowded. To be honest, Gokarna is no Goa, so the shacks are part shady and very less in number. By this time, the sun was out an we had a free run on the beach. Sea was rough but since there weren’t any rocks, people were enjoying the waves.
After spending quite sometime at the beach, we decided to head for our lunch all the way back to Kumta. The drive was great with intermittent rains and through greenery, backwaters and all that was so scenic that we were spell bound. A late lunch and an evening of chai pe charcha, and we were ready to hit the road towards Gokarna again, however, this time to visit the Mahabaleshwar temple at Gokarna beach.
The road to the temple gets quite narrow in the end and you will be astonished to see tempo travelers taking 90 degree turns in those bylanes. However, Martian wasn’t sweating and taking all that I gave it. Slush, roads, potholes, tarmac, it just gobbled all. The temple parking is decently sized and is at the beach front. We parked and headed to the temple to find a large line. It took us 2 hours to reach the sanctum and take the blessings of the deity.
With all of us tired enough to hit the bed, we started back and reached at 10:30 PM back to our homestay. We had completed our stay and the next day was check out day. However, we had more to do as we were visiting Jog Falls on our way back, so the excitement had not died. Neer Dosa and Konkani chicken treated us for dinner and we gobbled all of it no time. Time to hit the bed now and energize the body for tomorrow. Martian on the other hand was smiling on our human capabilities and sarcastically telling me, bring it on. I just said, good night mate.

Day 3
The journey to Jog falls was a scenic 66 kms from the homestay. We started post a sumptuous breakfast and after finalizing the bills, that I was astonished to see (we paid 17500 for 5 people for 2 nights 3 days with all meals included), we set for the Jog falls.
Rains greeted us all through the journey and we all including Martian enjoyed every moment of the ride.





The arrangements at the Jog falls are quite good on the opposite side. Although viewing gallery is available from both sides, one of the sides has good facilities, and has a better view. Will share some pics of the massive falls. Although it wasn't in its full glory, the few streams that were roaring through the heights of the cliff and surely made for a great view.





Post the Jog falls, we pushed towards Shimoga to find a good place for lunch. We found a place called Spice Cafe and had a decent lunch. Post that we took the road towards Chitradurga to join the Bangalore-Pune Highway. It was an uneventful journey post that. Martian was cruising effortlessly and munching the miles.

We never realized how fast the three days went by and when I reached home, the odo had touched 1260 kms for this trip. I had no complaints from the Martian and it supported me with the best of ride. I was all smiles with my decision to get my Martian as my partner in crime.

Martian gobbled up these kms with a decent mileage of 17.5 kmpl. More than happy with that and I hope it will improve post the first servicing. The Goodyears performed well and I didn't face any issues with traction. Overall it was a wonderful trip and the rain soaked trees and roads just made it better.

Soul searching will continue and Martian will keep hunting. THe next trip is going to be a big one - around 6000 kms traveling all the way to my hometown Dehradun from Bangalore. Till then, enjoy the pics. Hope you all could manage my long narration and enjoy the trip.

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[noopster]

Glorious photographs, justwheels! We had done this road trip from Bangalore back in 2004 as a bunch of newlyweds. This brought back some nice memories.

Was able to go back only this year, kids in tow, to Om beach and Kumta, where we have some family ties. There is a nice Jungle Lodges resort in the hills en route Om Beach where we spent New Years'.

Good luck with your Doon trip- that should be another helluva travelogue to look forward to!

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by noopster

Glorious photographs, justwheels! We had done this road trip from Bangalore back in 2004 as a bunch of newlyweds. This brought back some nice memories.

Was able to go back only this year, kids in tow, to Om beach and Kumta, where we have some family ties. There is a nice Jungle Lodges resort in the hills en route Om Beach where we spent New Years'.

Good luck with your Doon trip- that should be another helluva travelogue to look forward to!

Thanks noopster.
Yes checked out the jungle resorts , but mine was a last minute plan so that wasn't a possibility.

Surely looking forward to my doon trip. Have done half of that trip last year uptill sagar in Madhya Pradesh. This time it will be all the way till doon. Excited as it's just 13 days left for that one to start.

[siddarthab]

Lovely narration and excellent photographs Debashish !!! Thanks for sharing.

Warm regards,

Siddhartha.

[procrj]

Thanks for that crisp TLog justwheels . Looks like you missed Yana, which is also distinctively beautiful. Havent been there but swsumit's Tlog does make one want to chuck everything and drive down there.

Sirsi/Kumta/Gokarna has been on the wishlist for a while now and hope to drive there this monsoon. Looking forward to your doon trip TLog. Drive safe!

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by siddarthab

Lovely narration and excellent photographs Debashish !!! Thanks for sharing.

Warm regards,

Siddhartha.

Thanks a lot.

Originally Posted by procrj

Thanks for that crisp TLog justwheels . Looks like you missed Yana, which is also distinctively beautiful. Havent been there but swsumit's Tlog does make one want to chuck everything and drive down there.

Sirsi/Kumta/Gokarna has been on the wishlist for a while now and hope to drive there this monsoon. Looking forward to your doon trip TLog. Drive safe!

Honestly I wanted to do Yana, but could not squeeze in the plan while going and return was towards Jog Falls. Have read Sumit's Tlog and indeed have added that to my to do list. Leaving something to come back again

Hoping for the best for my Doon trip. That one will be a lot of drive and lot less place hopping. Do plan to visit some places around doon. Lets see how it goes. Thanks for the spirited thumbs up.

[ampere]

The river view amidst the mist is one of the most invigorating sights one can feast upon.

And the charm of driving through the 2-lane roads which are deserted winding through a green avenue of mixed plantations; not to mention stopping where you want to; To explore a curios location! That fresh smell of rain with a kettle simmering at a roadside shack and tea just about to boil and ready to be poured to the glasses!

Now that is monsoon and that is a vacation!

[venkatt1800]

Terrific travelogue, justwheels ! The rain soaked pictures were glorious. This is the first time i am hearing about Kedige Homestay and the reviews seem great too. What is the cost of stay per day for a single room or is it economical when staying with big groups?

[srvm]

Originally Posted by justwheels

Thanks a lot.

Honestly I wanted to do Yana, but could not squeeze in the plan while going and return was towards Jog Falls. Have read Sumit's Tlog and indeed have added that to my to do list. Leaving something to come back again
....

Wonderful travelogue with great snaps

Next time, you could also try visiting Apsarakonda beach near Honnavar, not far from Idagunji Ganesha Temple. Beautiful spot to enjoy sunset.

[justwheels]

Originally Posted by ampere

The river view amidst the mist is one of the most invigorating sights one can feast upon.

And the charm of driving through the 2-lane roads which are deserted winding through a green avenue of mixed plantations; not to mention stopping where you want to; To explore a curios location! That fresh smell of rain with a kettle simmering at a roadside shack and tea just about to boil and ready to be poured to the glasses!

Now that is monsoon and that is a vacation!

Brilliantly put ampere. Really, nothing beats a monsoon ride and tea in a roadside shack.

Originally Posted by venkatt1800

Terrific travelogue, justwheels ! The rain soaked pictures were glorious. This is the first time i am hearing about Kedige Homestay and the reviews seem great too. What is the cost of stay per day for a single room or is it economical when staying with big groups?

Thanks a lot. Yes Kedige was a last minute find for me too. Te code quoted on TripAdvisor might be higher. You can call up Mr. Prakash directly (number is available on his own website). I paid 1500 per day per person including breakfast and dinner. Lunch was 350 per person but almost unlimited. Additional person was charged at 1000 per head.

I am sure you can negotiate with him in case of a larger group. It's not a hotel, but my experience was great.

Originally Posted by srvm

Wonderful travelogue with great snaps



Next time, you could also try visiting Apsarakonda beach near Honnavar, not far from Idagunji Ganesha Temple. Beautiful spot to enjoy sunset.

Thanks mate. Yes I have heard great reviews about that beach. We wanted to go there but couldn't fit it in the plan this time. Noted for the next time for sure.