Last minute planning
Long weekend, old friends along with family, an urge to drive down to the coast - all of the above resulted in a furious few hours of homestay search on Gmaps. I always wanted to explore the coast line around Udupi and a few posts/threads here about Kodi Bengare piqued my interest. My search was focused around Udupi - Kundapura stretch and I stumbled upon Adigara Angala
(Adiga’s Beach Homestay) located a few kms from Koteshwar. A quick phone call with Mr Adiga and stay was no longer an issue.
Plan was very simple - drive to the homestay, explore the coast, visit murudeshwar (few friends hadn't been there), get back home. Decided to avoid Charmadi as I did not want to spend hours behind tankers & buses and hence decided to drive down via Belur - Chikmagalur - Sringeri - Agumbe - Goliangadi. I always thought that Aldur - Balehonnur was one of the best stretches of ghats in Karnataka that one can drive. Someshwara - Goliangady is another beautiful stretch of twisty tarmac - fast curves and minimal traffic. Abundance of tree cover and the silence all around makes it a very pleasant experience. A friend of mine once mentioned that driving to him was like meditation - the focus on road ahead and single minded thought of moving forward making it a liberating experience. While I don't fully agree with him, If I was to drive & meditate, the road through Someshwara sanctuary would be a prime candidate in my list.
6 am start on 26th morning, we made good time and were able to cross Agumbe just after noon, even after a 45 minute breakfast stop at Swathi Delicacy. Lunch was delicious neer dose and veg meals at
Hotel Mayur, Someshwara. Don't miss the Kokum juice if you happen to stop there for a bite. By 2.30 we had got off NH66 after crossing Koteshwar and entered the narrow lanes that would lead us to so many interesting places over the next few days.
Adiga’s beach village homestay
Nestled in between small farms and other village styled homes, you enter a different world once you step into the homestay. The homestay is a 90 year old home which has been refurbished and tastefully beautified. It still retains its old world charm as the layout hasn't been compromised.
Central courtyard Rooms The darkness within
Thick columns support the beams and the door frames and windows are still old old wood. The split doors have a small link chain that can be used to fasten a lock. For us, this was simple, elegant and comfortable and the ladies who manage the homestay during daylight hours welcomed us with some piping hot filter coffee that hit the spot. The courtyard has a small platform where we spent a lot of time sipping coffee and stretching out.
Kitchen Light play Parking area
They serve simple and delicious home cooked local delicacies and over the next few days, we ensured that we did full justice to the fare. The three standout dishes for me were mango chutney/sagu that was served with the puttu like rice cakes, cucumber sambar and the potato curry/sagu. Unfortunately they were unable to serve
pathrode as it was not the season for the leaves.
Delicious breakfast!
Do note - Adiga’s homestay has a
Veg only No Alcohol policy, which Mr Adiga makes very clear during the first interaction.
My own private beach
We spent 26th evening at
Beejadi beach. Clean (if you ignore all the plastic that is washed ashore from the sea), quiet and secluded, this was the perfect place for us to end the day.
The other Murudeshwar
27th was spent driving to and from Murudeshwar. The less said about the road conditions, the better. It took 2 hours to drive 70 kms from the homestay to Murudeshwar. The only pockets of joy were the few minutes spent at maravanthe and
this isolated stretch of sand that
abirnale had discovered sometime back. I would have loved to watch the sunset from this stretch of the coast but shuddered at the thought of trucks/buses barreling down the 2 lane with high beams on. Hence drove back for 2 painfully agonizing hours and spent some time lazing in the courtyard of the homestay.
Maravanthe Sand snakes Marching ahead Kodi Lighthouse
The original plan was to drive down to
Kodi Bengare and watch the sunset but after the 4 hour torturous drive to Murudeshwar, we really did not want spend another 2 hours on the road. The homestay manager mentioned a lighthouse nearby and hence we decided to visit the same.
Kodi beach and Lighthouse turned out to be another surprise package as we had to drive on an arrow straight road with the sea on one side and coconut tree lined homes on the other. On the whole it was another evening well spent, far from the madding crowd.
Beautiful road I say! Beach view from Lighthouse River view from Lighthouse Vertigo
Kodi beach did have more footfalls when compared to Beejadi beach and I guess the lighthouse is the primary cause for the same. We also did happen to see a few couples having their pre wedding/post wedding photo shoot at the beach. The grooms today do have to jump through a lot of hoops to keep their better halves happy.
The next day morning, we decided to drive further ahead from the lighthouse and explore the end of the road. The road ends at a construction site where a couple of walkways are being constructed. Not sure if these will be thrown open to the public, similar to the one at malpe. On the way back, we spotted a peacock strutting along the seashore looking for its morning snack.
Michelangelo's seat Breakfast strut Homeward
We decided to take the same route as we did during the onward journey. After a very hearty breakfast, we bid adieu to our hosts and were able to make good time till Chikmagalur. Belur - Hassan was a prelude to the mess that we would encounter on Hassan - Nelamangala stretch. Hassan - Yediyur usually takes me 1 hour but we ended up spending close to 1hr 45 minutes on this stretch. All tolls were clogged and Fastag lanes were a free for all. Stopped at Swathi delicacy for a early dinner and decided to get back home via Magadi. Surprisingly Kunigal - Magadi - ORR was such an easy drive with minimal traffic. We only got stuck for a few minutes in Magadi town and about 5 kms before ORR, we ran into Bangalore traffic.
On the whole a much required break and old friends for company only made it so much better. After being tossed around by a few potholes on the narrow lane to the homestay,My better half commented that - “every good place that we have been to has had bad approach roads”. I have to agree with her and hope that in the future I encounter more bad approach roads.
Thanks for reading!