Trip to Gokarna

One of the best trips we planned during my clollege days was to Gokarna. It was an impronto trip. On 20th Mar 2008 seven friends decided to visit this beautiful place about which we had only heard. We had no idea what to expect and what it would be like. We hired a Toyata Qualis in the evening and started on the journey@ 11 in the night. We had packed lots of snacks and drinks as the drive was long and we had no plans of sleeping. Personally i was carrying Half a bottle OLD MONk Rum and soft drink for the way (Although i had to buy another Quarter when we were 3 hours into the journey).
We were 4 guys and 3 girls (excluding the driver).
We were to reach Gokarna by 9:00 AM but at 4:00 AM disaster struck and the Clutch box of the car went for a toss. We were stranded in no mans land with no map, no guide no food. Suman and i talked for a while on a sand heap and wandered into the area looking for some civilization. After some searching we found a under construction bus stand not very far away from where the car was. At around 6:00 AM there was movement and we enquired about the closest village around and found that we were near Sakleshpur. We managed to sleep for a while till it was dawn and the driver took the car inside a small road that led to this village. Here we freshened up (The freshening up part would be sensored as we had loads of trouble finding a toilet ). We then had breakfast (Omlette and Parota; They were yummm!!! and we were hungry). Once done we asked the driver how much time it would take before the clutch box was fixed. We were shocked to hear that it would be ready by 1:00 PM. Hearing this we asked a few localites for directions and asked if there was a functional bus stand around and whether there was a bus to Gokarna. There was an affirmative YES from them. We walked to the bus stand which was around 15 minutes away and asked about the next bus to Gokarna and it was revealed to us then that there was no direct bus to Gokarna and we would to travel to Ujire from where we would have to take another bus. Half our day was already over and we were still lost. The road to Ujire was horrible. most of this time we were sleeping but at times we all used to get up when the bus ran over a pot hole and our heads almost touched the roof. Suman who was sitting next to me banged his forehead to the rod he was sitting next too. All the others were sleeping with their mouths open and drooling from the sides of their lip (it looked like a ready to erupt volcano). By the time we reached Ujire it was almost 2:00 PM and we were hungry again. We went into a restaurant very close to the the bus stand and ate some horrible tasting food of which half was thrown. We all smoked and headed for the bus stand in Ujire. Here we enquired and were shocked again as the people told us there was no direct bus to Gokarna and we had to go to Karkale. Frustrated and abusing the driver we got into the bus. Oh yes i forgot to mention. Once the car gets ready the driver would call us up and we would tell him where we were and he was supposed to come there. Finally he called and told us that ther vehicle was ready and we told him to start coming towards Gokarna (We told him to come through Ujire and Karkale).
The route from Ujire to Karkale was breathtaking but we could not stop as we were in a private bus. At Karkale we were again told the same thing that there are no direct buses to gokarna and we would have to go to Udupi from where there are lot of buses and local vehicles to Gokarna. Again abusing and cursing the driver we got into another bus which brought us to Udupi. by the time we reached it was 6:00 PM and our car reached Udupi at 7:00 PM. We decided to freshen up and have something before we head for Gokarna. There was a sigh of relief as we could finally smell Gokarna. It was Friday Evening and we had to get back to Bangalore on Sunday morning and we had already wasted one full day travelling and had not yet reached our destination.
We started at around 8:00 PM. At 9:30 i saw smoke coming from the rear tyre and told the driver about it. he stopped the car and checked. The Rear left tyre was as hot as molten metal and we could smell the rubber burning. All the garages were closed and we had to wait till morning 9:00 Am (Saturday) for it to open and another 2 hours for the car to be repaired. This was another setback and we thought we would never reach Gokarna. We all decided to head to a hotel and go back to Bangalore the next morning. We stayed at Hotel Ashraya, I think this was in Bhatkal. Here we had amazing food and to drown the pain of not being in Gokarna I had Old Monk Rum (LOL!!!). During the night we all were discussing what to do as coming this far and not doing what we were supposed to do only meant that once we got back to college, people would laugh at us. Finally we decided that no matter what we would complete the trip no matter what. We called up the reception and asked them for Local cab drivers contact numbers. We called a few and asked a cab at 4:00 AM. Suman, Meena and I didnt sleep at all and were watching television and then later went for a walk where the police came and told us to get back as the area was dangerous and infested with naxalites.
The new cab arrived at 4:30 AM and we we started moving at 5:00 Am. We confirmed and re confirmed with the driver whether this cab would break down or not. He first took us to Murudeshwar beach which also has a very beautiful Shiv Temple and a big Statue of Shivji. We visited the temple and wet our feet in to cold waters of the beach. Finally and Finally we headed for Gokarna (now we had started calling it the dream destination). The road to Gokarna was narrow and the view was beautiful. The car had to go over a hill and then come down again to reach Gokarna and the view from above the hill was breathtaking.
We reached Gokarna at around 11:00 AM and booked 2 shacks and went straight into the waters.
Gokarna is also known as mini Goa as the sight is almost similar to the ones in Goa. There are shacks, forigners, fishermen, dogs and of course local rowdys.

We played in the sea for around 4 hours and finally came out as we had to leave for Bangalore. We had a bath and changed into fresh clothes and were hungry. We went to this place called Namaste cafe, i had Rice and Prawn curry. A must try at this place. We ate food and left by 5:00 PM. We reached the hotel where stayed the previous night and told our Qualis driver to come there. it was 8:00 PM. We had food at Ashraya and started for bangalore at around 10:00 PM. We all slept off as soon as we started and woke up at 12:00 as it was my birthday.We had to reach on Sunday morning as there was a big surprise waiting for me. A really big surprise indeed. We reached at 9:00 AM, paid the driver and thats how the trip ended.

Jist:
Travel time from bangalore to Gokarna: 8:00 to 9:00 hours (by car)

Best route:
Bangalore --> Tumkur --> Arsikere--> Bellur --> Kudremukh -->Kaarkala--> Udupi --> Gokarna

Total cost: Rs. 2200 per head (all inclusive)

Number of days: 2 days 3 nights

P.S. Pics will be uploaded soon........