[nma83]

Hi,

Me and 4 of my cousins planned to do the famous Beach trek starting from Gokarna beach to the Honnavara beach over the long weekend for Christmas. The plan was to leave Bengalooru on 25th morning and be back before 28th (Sunday).

Day 1 - 24th December:
Packed up things and started off from my home in JP Nagar towards Kathriguppe Malleshwaram to pick up my cousins. Was able to leave home by 5AM. On the way to Malleshwaram, heard a hissing sound from the back of the car and our spirits sank as we saw a flat right-side rear tyre . We had to unload all compactly packed baggage in the boot to get the spare tyre out and got it fixed. On inspecting the punctured tyre, discovered a nail that had gone in. This unfortunate incident had us delayed by an hour and we were in Malleshwaram at 6.30AM. Picked the last member there and we were on our way.

Fog on Tumkur road

Encountered heavy traffic near Nelemangala as expected. But after the toll gate on Tumkur road it was smooth sailing. Soon after the second toll-gate befire Tumkur, we took the left turn that goes to Shimogga/Honavara. We reached Tiptur by 9AM and had breakfast at the Kamat hotel near the bus-stand. Ordered idlis and vadas and tanked up our stomachs and started off. We found a decent looking puncture shop about 30 minutes after Arsikere and got the punctured tyre fixed. The roads until this point were quite good.
Near Bhadravathi, hit a 20km bad stretch. The road is under construction here and we could only crawl in 2nd/3rd gear. But after this it was back to normal cruising.
Our next planned stop was Sagar, for lunch. The road from Shimogga to Sagar was curvy with mostly good surface. Reached Sagar at around 12.30PM and had a nice lunch consisting of rice and sambar at an 'Udupi' hotel there. We were at Jog falls by 2PM. The road from Sagar to Jog was excellent.

Jog Falls

In this season, there is very little water in Jog. Only the hugeness of the falls can be admired. We spent a few minutes there taking photos. This is the spot where part of the 'Kunidu Kunidu' song from 'Mungaru Male' was shot.

We left Jog by 3.15PM. Stopped at the Sharavathi bridge from where the upstream waters of the falls can be seen.

Behind Jog


The work-horse and me

On the way to Honnavara from Jog, there is a beautiful viewpoint from where one can see the Sharavathi valley. This is one place worth stopping by on this route.

Sharavathi Valley

Rolling mountains

We reached Honnavara at around 5PM and checked into 'Kamat executive inn'. The odometer read 460kms at this point and close to 3/4th of the tank (37lts capacity) was consumed.
After getting refreshed, we started off to Honnavara beach. This was about 2-3kms from the hotel. On reaching the beach at 6.15PM, found surprisingly lesser crowd than we had expected (on a holiday). Honnavara beach is a great place to spend time in the water since it is quite shallow. The sunset too was an amazing spectacle.

Off into the water

On the road leading to the beach, found this KSRTC bus stuck in the sand! The sand is deceptively firm around the road and any vehicle can easily get stuck if not careful.

We walked a bit around the small town until it was dinner time. Finished dinner at our hotel and hit the sack early since we had an arduous trek ahead of us the next day.

To be Continued...
NMA

[ravibhat]

It should be interesting travelogue considerring trek adventure, I know most of the places around here and it has very nice spot.

Waiting for rest, Who guided your team for this trekking ?

Ravi.

[nma83]

Day 2 - 26th December:

Got up early in the morning and were ready to leave the hotel by 8AM after having breakfast. We packed our bags with only the required amount of food/drinks and clothes for the trek and packed off everything else into the car. The car was to remain parked in the hotel parking lot.
The plan was to catch a bus to Gokarna and start the trek from the beach there. Since there are very few direct buses from Honnavara to Gokarna, we had to board a bus to Kumta and then another one from Kumta to Gokarna. This bus journey took us 1 1/2 hours. The roads were pleasing on this stretch. We landed in Gokarna bus-stand at 9.30AM. The beach is a little distance away from here, a 10 minutes walk.
The trek route we were to follow for the day was this:
Gokarna beach - Kudle beach - Om beach - Half-moon beach - Paradise beach - Tadhadi port - boat to Barkha beach - camp there for the night.
We started towards the hill bordering Gokarna beach, the time was 9.40AM.

Starting the trek

The hills on this trek were not too high or steep. Hence for most part, it was quite easy. Very soon, we had crossed the first hill and arrived at Kudle beach by 10AM. We saw a lot of 'cafes' all over these hills until Om beach. At 10.45AM we were at Om beach. We took a small break of 10 minutes here. After Om beach, there are not much people around.

'Om'

The climb got a little tougher from here. There were steep drops by the side of the path which ended in the sea.

The next stop was at Half-moon beach. We reached there by 12.15PM. The path got more rocky after this beach. At a few places we had to explore 2 or 3 routes around the rocks to see which one was more doable.

We reached Paradise beach at 1.30PM. Stopped there for a small lunch. 'Lunch' consisted of 2 slices of bread and a bun. We also tried out the tent here.

Beyond this beach was the Tadhadi fishing port from where we had planned to take a boat. But we saw a few boats at Paradise beach itself which would take us. So we settled into one of them for a price of Rs.100 per head. It was my first experience in a small boat out in the open sea. Our destination, Barkha beach, was a 20 minute boat ride from Paradise beach. We were dropped at Barkha beach by 2.30PM.
This beach is surrounded by a steep hill and access is through the sea or the trek route which we were to explore the next day while returning. It was totally isolated and we had the beach all to ourselves!
We pitched the tent and got ready to spend some relaxing time in the water. All the day's exertions were forgotten as we enjoyed playing in the waves.

Fishing boats going to Tadhadi

Hours flew by and it was sunset before we knew it! It was a great feeling of peace and calm as we sat on the rocks watching the sun go down.

The sunset was marred by a few clouds and it started getting darker. We had to get the campfire going for any source of light since it was a new-moon day.

Huddled around the fire for warmth and hearing the unseen waves thrashing ever more forcefully on the rocks was ethereal. There was no sense of time after it had gone dark. Took out our stock of packed parathas when it was dinner time and all of us felt hungry.
It was decided that any 2 of us would stay awake to keep watch (since we were all alone). As the night progressed, the waves started advancing with the tide. The rock on which we were relaxing in the evening was half under water by midnight . All through the night we could see fishing boats moving in the sea.
It was a challenge to keep the campfire going. One of us would be scavenging for any dry wood around the place every half-an-hour. This beach seemed to be host to many campers in the recent past since we saw lot of litter around.
The night seemed to go on and on...

Day 3 - 27th December:

Each of us could get only a couple of hours sleep as day broke on us. The sights of the distant hills was a spectacle in the light of dawn.

We saw quite a few small birds on the beach once the sun was up.

By 8AM we packed the tent and were ready to leave. Our destination today was the Aghanashini village, a 1 hour trek. The route was fantastic, going over rocks bordering the mighty ocean.

Trekking on the rocks

We took our time admiring the views and reached the village by 9.30AM.
From here there is a mud-road which leads to the main road going to Kumta. We reached the bus-stop on the main road by 10AM. Here everyone called up their respective families since there had been no network coverage from the time we left Om beach.
Thus we completed one of the finest treks in Karnataka.
Actually, we could have proceeded towards south from Barkha beach and crossed the long Bada beach to get to Honnavara. But this route lacks the excitement of the one towards the north that we took.
We got a Kumta bus and from Kumta bus stand, a bus to Honnavara. We were back in our hotel by 12PM. Had a quick lunch and headed to our room for a well-deserved nap.
Everybody had a solid sleep for 3 hours and we decided that we would leave for Bengalooru in the evening itself, instead of next day morning. There was one more beach we wanted see before leaving, the Apsarakonda beach. We packed everything and left the hotel at 4.30PM.
Apsarakonda beach is adjacent to Honnavara beach towards the south. There is a deviation towards the right a few Kms after the Sharavathi bridge. A bad road leads to a temple on top of a small hill. We parked the car here and walked through a few fields to reach the beach. There is also a tiny falls on the way.

Sunset at Apsarakonda

It was time to leave and we were on the highway towards Kumta by 6.10PM after tanking up at a BPCL bunk near our hotel. Decided to take a different route through Kumta-Sirsi-Haveri to avoid traffic and bad roads near Shimogga in the night. Just after Kumta, there is a right turn towards Sirsi.
The roads were in good shape till Sirsi. We hit Sirsi at 8.15PM. From Sirsi to Haveri, the road deteriorated. The road was narrow and there were huge drops on the shoulder. I tried to give way by getting off the road to a truck once and it was painful. Didnt want to repeat it and forced the bigger vehicles to give way from then on.
We reached Haveri at 9.30PM, stopped for dinner at a Kamat hotel there. Left Haveri by 10PM and handed the wheel to my cousin. From here it was the NH4 and we didnt have to worry about road conditions (except a few diversions). The next stop was after Sira at midnight for some refreshment. We were able to cover 150kms in 2 hours at some point!
Eventually we reached Bengalooru at 3.30AM (on sunday, 27th). Fortunately there were no jams near Nelemangala. After dropping of my cousins I was home at 4AM.

Statistics
Car: Getz Prime 1.1
Total Distance: 960kms on the trip-meter
Fuel consumed: 1 1/2 tank approx ~ 56lts
FE: ~17kmpl (0% AC)

Thanks for reading,
NMA

[nma83]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Waiting for rest, Who guided your team for this trekking ?

Ravi.

Hi Ravi, one of my friends had done this trek before and he was with us.
Posted the rest of the story just now.

Thanks,
NMA

[snaronikar]

Appears to be good travelogue. It is has started well. The masala for great travelogue has started right from the day one. The water appears to be shallow as many people are inside water.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

The masala for great travelogue has started right from the day one. The water appears to be shallow as many people are inside water.

the real beach masala has yet to come.

waiting for more masala.

btw, why that ksrtc bus was heading to beach rather than bus stand?

[ravibhat]

Hi Ashish,

That KSRTC bus belongs to Tumkur or near to Bangalore area, hence might have gone for school trip or some picnic to beach and got struck. Its common scene in beaches and ghats outside vehicle get stuck/topple because of lack of experience and over confidence.

Regards,

Ravi.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

might have gone for school trip or some picnic to beach and got struck.

earlier, i thought in the same line but there are some ladies on road at left side of bus. so, its not school trip. it may be hired for family picnic.

bty, is there any beach in karnataka for drive on sand?

[nma83]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

That KSRTC bus belongs to Tumkur or near to Bangalore area, hence might have gone for school trip or some picnic to beach and got struck.
Regards,

Ravi.

That bus had some sort of banner in front, must have been hired by an organisation.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

bty, is there any beach in karnataka for drive on sand?

The beach at murdeshwar. You can drive your vehicle here on the sand

[lohithrao]

nma good one...

these pics and travelogue tempting to take off to the west coast..........

[nma83]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

these pics and travelogue tempting to take off to the west coast..........

The coast of Karnataka has so many pristine beaches. One would really want to keep going back for more.

NMA

[ravibhat]

Excellant, having visited most of the beaches you trekked along (although I still should do trekking from one to other beach one day, it would be more fun like what you did) you did great JOB.

You are right about Baada (Kumta) beach to Honnavar, except dhaareshwara area where you need to climb hills (here hill climbing can be avoided I feel but cant remember) every where its plain beach you need to walk so it would be boring.

ApsaraKonda is also sweat place except for bad roads I feel.

Few places you covered between gokarana and Kumta have difficult hills, good that your team covered it without difficulty

Congrats again!

Few beaches near Ankola and Karwar one can do driving.

Regards,

Ravi.

[nma83]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

ApsaraKonda is also sweat place except for bad roads I feel.

Ravi.

Thanks Ravi, Apsarakonda is the most charming beach I have seen. Been there twice and never felt like leaving the place. Some photos of that.

NMA