Go Go Goa!

Ask a Bangalorean for a must-go place with friends – the immediate answer would be Goa! Actually it isn’t just Bangalorean, any Indian who loves to party and have fun would shout the same answer. We are a small gang of 4 people who meet very rarely in person, but spend most of our time hanging out together in Skype calls and the main reason for this is due to our long-distance friend Karttik, who is in Germany. The plan to Goa had been in our list for a long time, and the urge to implement it happened when Vj’s parents were starting to look for a prospective groom for her. Hence, the plan was ON! Meanwhile, my friends Shalini and Neha were also interested and the size of the gang increased to 6.

First step was to plan a suitable date for all of us, since we were in different regions of the world and finalized the date during the week of Christmas. Booked our train tickets way ahead in October, and yet we had WL tickets for our return journey. But we were confident that it would be confirmed eventually as we had a long buffer time in the middle. Next would be to book the accommodation. There are two parts of Goa – North and South. South Goa is a peaceful place and not frequented by visitors, but if you want to have some real fun, you should pick a spot in North. As you might have already guessed, the rates are much cheaper in South than North due to the tourist demand.  Since it was around Christmas time, we were running out of hotels and trusted Goibibo for a decent place. Finally we ended up booking in Aishwarya Guest Inn in Calangute Beach. Two major things – travel and stay done and yes, the plan was happening!! Unfortunately, we had to wait for another two months for the reality.

Time flew so quickly and it was December already. As always, there were last minute dropouts – Shalini and Neha, who ditched us. Yet, the plan was still happening. In the meantime, Vj was also engaged to Vardhu and we wanted her fiancé also to join us, but he couldn’t join due to some important interviews. Still he was kind enough to lend his water-proof cameras to capture the important moments. 

The most awaited day Dec 18th, Friday was here. After an extensive search around Bangalore for sky lanterns which we planned as a secret surprise for Vj, a shop in VV Puram offered us what we wanted. Hurried back to home, picked our luggage and headed to KR Puram where we boarded our train. The enthusiasm level didn’t go down even a bit, as conversations never stopped. Meanwhile, Vj also joined us in Yeshvantpur. Her dad came to drop her and gave us lot of suggestions for the trip. Bidding goodbye to Bengaluru, our minds travelled to the fantasy world. Karttik and myself planned a surprise cake as well for our bday babes – Vj and Sriram. Thanks again Amma’s Pastries for the amazing cake. 

After finishing our dinner, we shifted to the top berth and played cards. Vj taught us a new game as well, which became crazy in the very first round due to Sriram’s mad game tactics. Karttik – As usual, you proved to be the perfect partner! ;) Yes, we cheated a lot against the other innocent group – Sriram and Vj. It was getting late and we went to sleep.

Dec 19th, Saturday

I woke up and found Karttik still awake. Poor thing did not sleep the whole night for our safety as the teenagers in our coach were having some typical Goa fun in the train. I had prepared bread and jam the day before and we had it for breakfast. We ordered the train food as well, which was pathetic. Please, never do it! Get your packed food from home or bread would do the magic. Next, we were geared up for the most awaited Dudhsagar route. That’s the main reason for most of the tourists to choose train journey over flight or bus. We crossed tunnels after tunnels to reach the majestic falls. The train moved slowly across the bridge, but the view wasn’t something as we expected. 

Maybe we didn’t go at the right time, the water level was too less. But the teenagers added fun to the train journey as they made all the weird noises while crossing the tunnels. That took us to our college days. The sun was shining brightly and we were very scared to step out of the train. Finally, we reached Vasco da Gama and placed our legs in the party town. 

Took a cab to our hotel stay in Calangute beach, which costed around 1000Rs. The cabs in Goa have fixed rates where they would show you a sheet with the cost. Also do not look out for Ola or Zoom Car in Goa. Initially we opted for non-AC to cut-down our expense, but we ended up shifting to AC as the heat waves were unimaginable. In an hour, we reached our hotel and rested for a while. We booked two rooms, but the rooms were too spacious which could accommodate lot many people easily. Refreshed quickly and stepped out as our stomachs were shouting for food. Luckily, we found a restaurant nearby which was totally decorated in red ahead of Christmas. We ordered egg fried rice and chicken starter which was really yum as we were starving. The veg guys also tried a new option – Fiery Babycorn where the food was fried and dipped in groundnut paste.

There were lot of super markets as well around the place. Went back to our rooms and rested for a while. The sun started to set and we started our exploratory walk. We did not know where we were going, but it was so much fun to walk with this bunch of people. On the way, we purchased a cute hat as well. Ended up in Calangute beach and were hunting for a place to have dinner. But Karttik and I were actually searching for an open space to leave the lanterns in the beach without affecting the shore-side restaurant huts. On this process, we walked along the beach and reached Baga beach. Baga was completely crowded as opposed to Calangute. We had dinner at a small place, and yeah! We had plain rice and fish gravy which was really yum. 

  

Back to the beach and we got a sight of few people leaving lanterns. We were excited and started experimenting our lanterns. Brave Karttik took the initiative to follow the procedure, but I directed him in the wrong way and the first one was burnt to death. Yet, we dedicated the second one to Vj and it was the best among the lot which was in the sky for a long time. Meanwhile people started gathering around us and one photographer asked our permission if he could capture the lanterns as well. Yes, we were becoming famous around the place. We left the other 3 also into the sky dedicating it to each one of us, but it didn’t withstand as much as Vj’s. After all the fun, we came back walking in the empty paths and wished good night to Goa.

Dec 20th, Sunday

It was a bright Sunday morning and who would want to wake up to it instead of lying in the bed for an extra 30 minutes, but we were on a holiday and cannot afford to waste our time. BOOM! I got up from the bed and woke my partner Vj, which became an unsuccessful mission as usual. Called Sriram’s number and woke him up as I knew that it is even more difficult to wake up Karttik – the night watchman. After our continuous torture, Vj and Karttik too stepped out to see the sunrise and we got ready for the day’s mission. Hired two bikes and headed straight to Anjuna beach after our breakfast in Sagar. While Vj and Sriram were in one bike, me and Karttik were in another. Thank you Karrtik for taking the risk and letting me ride the bike, but the police was suspicious if I am eligible to ride. And the worst part was that Vj was having our mobile and ID card and they went way ahead of us. We were stuck in the middle and just waited until these guys noticed that we were missing. Finally they returned and the police asked me to wear my helmet while riding. Everything was set and I accelerated my bike to the beautiful silent Anjuna beach which had visible rocks and small fishes and crabs. 

After wandering around for some time in the beach, we planned to head to the next beach. Meanwhile we wanted to finish our lunch as well and ended up in a small place in Anjuna beach. Filled our stomach and headed straight to Baga beach. On our way to the Baga, we got a glimpse of paragliding in Anjuna but it didn’t fascinate us though!

After quite a few struggles to find our route to Baga beach, we ended up in the most crowded beach of Goa. It was literally filled with lot of people and surrounded with shacks and shops everywhere. Of course, it had a huge range of water activities to try too. Our main goal was to do parasailing, but we also opted for Banana ride. Initially, we thought that we had to bargain for the rides, but there was a fixed rate counter (1200 for parasailing with dip and 800 without dip, around 1000 for 5 people in banana ride) Main rule to remember before coming for the ride is to leave all the luggage and the personal belongings at the hotel or in the bike as they would charge you extra bucks for the cloak room. As all the parasailing boats were busy, we headed to enjoy our banana ride, but it wasn’t as fun when compared to Gokarna. It wasn’t worth the money and I would never do it again in Goa. Since the first mission was a failure, we hoped that the parasailing wouldn’t do the same to us. Boarded into our speed boat and took our positions. They might sue you extra bucks to have waterproof covers for your camera, but don’t fall for it! We took the risk and headed to our boat which had our balloon. Despite the fun, there was fear at heart since it was my first attempt. I was asked to sit on the small rope and they tightened the belts and off I went into the waters dashing the Arabian Sea. ZOOM! I was lifted into the air and all I could witness was only silence and the sunset in front of me. The beauty that I saw at that moment cannot be expressed in words.

I was flying like a bird all alone, away from the human’s land and the thoughts didn’t exist long enough that the boatman pulled me down and I could see my friends shouting and taking my picture. Even though the overall ride time was only around 5 minutes, the happiness was timeless and priceless. 

Then we came back to the beach and played for enough amount of time in the beach and headed back to our hotel. Refreshed and had dinner at a nearby restaurant and bid goodbye to the awesome day as we were tired after the rides.

Dec 21st, Monday

As usual, I was the first one to wake up and disturbed the rest of the group. We managed to hire a car from the same hotel and used it for the entire day. Before taking the car, ensure that the diesel is filled to full and note down the readings. Bargain the rates and make a deal clearly at the beginning as they might cheat you easily. Meanwhile, we had our breakfast at Shri Sagar – Yummy Dosas and Puri and filled our stomach. Our day started in Dzire and we thought we could use this day to visit places that were far away. Fuelled the car and sped to Old Goa, which was famous for churches. Our first halt was at Basilica of Bom Jesus, a UNESCO world heritage site that had the body of Francis Xavier. It was very silent and peaceful as we entered the church, apart from the tourist crowd and the church was well decorated for Christmas. 

As we moved around, we glanced at the history of the church and there is a museum inside the church as well if you want to get the complete picture. Took a lot of photographs and we were deciding for the next destination. It was already around 3 PM and hunger panic started. Struggled a lot to find a good restaurant on our way to Dona Paula beach, and finally ended up in the usual Dominos. Yet, the pizzas also tasted good since our taste buds were dead and thanks to Vj and Karttik for that additional choco lava cake which made my day! After a good lunch, we headed to the famous beach where many shootings have taken place. 

It was truly an amazing spot and the sunset view was out of the box! Undecided about the next destination, we were wandering around the roads of Goa shouting to loud music in the car and dancing crazily. We did not bother about the past or the future, we were living in the present. Then someone got a weird thought to accelerate the car to Arambol beach, which is at the northern tip of Goa at 7PM. Being the sceptical me, my mind started to think of all the probabilities and possibilities and the risks associated with my crazy friend’s plans, yet my voice had no sound. We were driving across villages and invisible roads with Sriram’s dying phone’s GPS. 

The phone was about to die and we had a wedding girl in our car! Thank God, people realized it finally and my voice was heard. I know it would have been fun and mad to ride with these people, but I wasn’t ready to take the risk (Well, that is me and my friends know it very well :D) Took a U-turn and traversed back the same path and reached our hotel little early. Googled a lot to find a really nice place to have food and nailed the list to ‘Zuperb’. It had a simple open ambience with small number of tables. While we were playing the battery-operated candle, the hosts walked to us and started a nice conversation. Oh ya.. You could ask for anything and they will get it ready for you. If you were looking for what to order, the owner would get your interests and serve you the food in your mind. That place became a memorable one for all four of us, because of the conversations and the laughter that we had! Clock was ticking and the roads were empty, yet we were having the best times, because we knew that this time wouldn’t come again as Vj would be married the next time when all of us meet. I can’t describe that moment, it was a mix of all the emotions – fun, laughter, tears, happiness, satisfaction, crazy, sad and name everything. We were discussing about all our moments together and how we wished that this trip could persist forever. Bidding goodbye to the superb Zuperb and the amazing hosts, we drove our car back to the hotel and bid good night to Goa.

Dec 22nd, Tuesday

Wishing for another extra day in Goa, I woke up and packed my luggages. Booked a cab and headed to the airport as Vj had to catch a flight to Mumbai. The other 3 musketeers wandered around Vasco da Gama and did some shopping and boarded our train at 3 PM. Since our minds were full of memories, we did not talk much but went to sleep thinking about all the good times which soon became good old times. And thus, a wonderful trip with my mad people ended crazily. 

Makalidurga - Memories to cherish

If you are in Bengaluru and if you are a trekking enthusiasts, then you would have definitely heard about this group BTC - Bangalore Trekking Club! I have always wanted to trek with this group and the opportunity came to me in August,2015. Grabbing my bestie Vijayalakshmi (vj) to register, we were finally set to go on this trek. We got permission from her mom the previous day in CTR, while having their yummy masala dosa and Mysore bonda. The food indeed helped us to convince her mom!

Woke up early at 5am on a Sunday morning and got ready for the trek. Vj's mom took extra effort to prepare our breakfast and lunch, thanks Aunty! Since we were asked to be at Cantonment by 6.45am, we planned to leave the house at 6 and we did. This was our first trek with BTC, and we didn't know anyone in the group. Ashwin directed us to come to Platform 3 and there we were! We looked out for a group dressed up in typical trekking costume and found one. Hoping that it would be the BTC group, we tried our luck and it worked!

Our train was already in the station and we took our seats. It was a passenger train to Vijayawada which starts from Cantonment every morning. I highly doubt if people would go all the way to AP in this train, but I noticed that it was mostly used by localities who move between villages for selling their stuffs. Our group size increased and we started mingling with the group. That's when we met a chatter box Vikram, our favourite thatha and the bond happened so quickly because he was a Tamilian. We had our breakfast (chapatti) as soon as the train started because we were warned that the train will be flooded with people in the coming stations. The slow moving passenger train finally halted at our destination point Makalidurga and we hopped out quickly as the train won't stop more than two minutes.

The station looked very remote, we could hardly see people around and the majestic mountain was right in front of us. After a quick round of introduction, we started to walk along the rails and took a slight deviation into the bushes. Being a first-timer to BTC and treks, the enthusiasm and thrill exponentially increased as we moved forward. While a little kid was happily climbing, munching all the chocolates every 10 minutes, he motivated us indirectly. As there was no proper route (not sure if we got deviated), the path was little scary at certain places, yet our organiser Ashwin and an experienced trekker Dev helped us cross the barricades. Even though my mind was asking me to rest as I was gasping, my heart asked me to move on. Well.. the heart's technique worked! With multiple short breaks, we reached the top of the hill. After all, the view from the top was worth the effort.

The history behind Makalidurga dates back to the Vijayanagara times, where the hillock was used to conduct army trainings, which was finally ruled by Kempegowda. The top of the hill had a small Shiva temple, mostly visited only by the local people. We finished our lunch quickly to escape from monkeys stealing our food and rested for some time. Then the real adventure began on our descend. We lost our path and our organizer Ashwin suggested one route while our new-found friend Dev suggested another. We trusted Dev in a hope that we would meet the rest of the group soon, but that never happened. We didn’t know if we were lost in the middle or moving in a completely opposite direction, but we were just hoping to reach the base. Amidst all these, Vikram got a leg sprain and he was struggling to walk. Ashwin was trying to reach us through our mobiles but alas, there was no network coverage. The other group was also worried about our safety and we were also unsure about the trail.

A small deviation which we took just for fun became an adventure, but it was worth it. We reached the base much ahead of the entire group as we did not take even a single break on our descend. We waited for more than an hour till we met the rest of the group. We were confident that a ban is definitely waiting for us from Ashwin, but he was kind enough and ignored us. Being my first trek with BTC, it taught me lot of things more than trekking. I learnt how to interact with people and trust them and tackle unexpected situations. Bidding goodbye to the group, we boarded into the train and headed to Bangalore. While the good bye was only temporary, I knew that the new-formed gang would definitely stay in touch. And it would be a surprise if I tell that the overall expense of the trek was 30Rs. (15Rs * 2 for the train travel) If only I had stayed back in Bangalore on Sunday, I would have definitely spent more than 100Rs. 

Cave exploration in Antargange

College life came to an end and landed in a job in Bangalore. Life was running smoothly, but something was missing. Life was monotonous. Despite having everything, it lacked something and it took some time to find that ‘something’. I came back to Bangalore in July 2015 after my internship break and I decided to not to waste my time or life. Everyone knew that Karnataka is famous for treks and adventures, but I didn’t get the right set of friends with similar interests. I can’t blame them, but my best friend Vj ditched me and went to Antargange when I was on a holiday. 

That triggered my conscious and I decided to go on my own without waiting for any support. While I was looking for trekking groups in the internet, Neha also joined me and we registered in Thrillophilia for a night trek to

Antargange on July 10, 2015. Yes, our first trek in Bangalore happened to be a night trek.

Well, I have always had difficulties in convincing my family about these treks and trips and this time was no exception. So, I called my Dad on Friday before leaving for the trek and politely told that I was going on a trek with Neha. As usual, he became scared, but didn’t have an option and let me enjoy the fun. Me and Neha packed our stuffs and got ready for our first adventure. We got a bus to Marathahalli as it was one of the meeting points. Unknowing about the trekking group and our co-trekkers, we were having typical girls conversations at 10PM in Marathahalli. 

Finally, the van came around 10.30PM and we met our organizer. Our first step into the vehicle and we were happy to notice that there were girls in the group. There were few school kids lined up at the last row and four colleagues from the same office were also in the group. Throwing away the fear, we rested for a while as an adventurous night was ahead of us. As we passed Kolar, we could witness few mountains and the van started to ascend. We were asked to not to shout and disturb the localites as we might get into trouble if anything happened.

The van came to a halt and we were asked to take a stick and sleeping bag along with us. Since it was our first night trek, the torch lights were out and the adventure began. We walked across few boulders and reached the main cave. Gathered our bags and other items in a small area and stepped inside the cave. It was completely dark (that’s implicit as it was a cave) and the path was very narrow. There were times when we had to crawl or glide between the rocks. We walked inside the silent space and halted at one point, where we started to hear mild sound of water somewhere far away. That’s when our guide told us that this place got its name as ‘Anthargange’ because it is believed to be the source of Ganges, but reaching that point is a difficult stretch as the place was inhabited by wild animals. So, we clicked few pictures and planned to get out of the caves. 

After few struggles, we got out and looked at the bright stars. We were lying under the moonlight and looked at the lighted city in a distance. Being away from the city and the polluted environment gave a relief that made us to stay back in the place for a very long time. Once everyone were out of the cave, we walked across a flat land and found a place to sleep until dawn. But it was time for campfire and people were narrating their stories till the fire went off. Since my friend Neha wrapped herself inside the sleeping bag, I also tried to sleep for some time but it was of no use. I woke up around 5 AM and thought about what I was doing. Everyone woke up around 6 AM and we learnt to roll our sleeping bags and headed back to the van. 

Halted in a restaurant for breakfast and slept nicely on our return travel to Bangalore. With lots of memories for the future, we got dropped in Marathahalli around 10 AM and thus came an end to my first night trek. Thanks again, Neha!

Gokarna ~ Mini paradise away from the world!

Well! To start off, I admit that I am writing the trip experience a little late (very late actually!), after a year to be precise. I cannot assure you with accurate details, but this trip had been close to my heart for multiple reasons and hence this blog! The main reason for its attachment is that I and my friends organized it completely without anyone’s help and second, it was a girls-only trip! 

It was our internship days in Bengaluru. We wanted to step out and travel somewhere and that somewhere became Gokarna. After an extensive research about this place (Thanks, Neha!) and with some experience shared by our colleagues, the mission “GOKARNA” started. Finalizing the dates and deciding the number of potential people who would ‘definitely’ join us in the trip, was the most difficult task. The dates got pushed for multiple reasons and it ended up on March 21 & 22, 2015. Booked our travel tickets (KSRTC Airavat Rs.800) and accommodation little ahead as it was our first girl’s trip.

March 20, 2015, Friday:

The excitement was at its peak. Packed our luggage and headed to Majestic in an auto. Boarded our sophisticated KSRTC Airavat and got ourselves ready for the next 10 hour journey across the Western Ghats. It was a complete roller coaster ride as we went uphill and downhill throughout the journey. Finally we reached the Gokarna bus stand at 9 AM.

March 21, 2015, Saturday:

Hired an auto to Om Beach where our accommodation was booked. We got the glimpse of Kudle beach across the cliff on our way to Om beach. With all the excitement, we took our first steps into Namaste Café. We had booked a double bed room (800 Rs.) and 5 bed room (2500 Rs.) and the rooms were not bad as expected. While the 5 bed room had a concrete appearance, the double bed room was an individual thatched hut. Refreshed quickly and headed out for breakfast. 

The hotel themselves owned an amazing restaurant with the best menu. Tired of idly and dosa, it was time for some English breakfast :P Ordered from a range of pancake varieties to omelettes to fruit juices. The café was also located at the right spot, overlooking the beach. Mash potatoes were too yum that we went for a second one. Chocolate pancakes, honey pancake, fruit pancake and they had a lot of varieties to try. After gulping as much as possible, we headed towards the beach.

As the weather was too hot (March and its heat!), we did not want to get into the water in the mid noon and get tanned. Bargained a lot with the boatman and reduced to 1000 Rs. for 6 people to travel from Om beach to Paradise beach. Into the blue environment, we surpassed Half Moon beach and reached the paradise. As the name rightly says, it was truly paradise. A silent uninhabited island with some countable foreigners (so called hippies), who camp for few days and move to the next paradise.

We could not spot even a single shop or house, it was a mini world, away from the human’s jail. We sat there silently looking at the waves and hearing to the nature’s music. A foreign lady woke up from her sleep and started singing to her guitar’s music. Then she went for a swim deep inside the ocean and rested a while reading her favourite book. She was just living her life in the process of discovering herself. I wished I could be like her, but think about our society and all your wishes would go into thin air! 

Around 3 PM, we decided to leave the paradise and move to the next heaven. Initially, we thought of trekking to half-moon beach, but things didn’t work out as expected. Since it was the time around new moon, the water was too ferocious and splashed the rocks. We got an advice from a hippie that the trekking path would require extra efforts to swim across the ocean and cross huge rocks. At that very moment, we wished there were guys in our group who could have helped us cross the path. Still we didn’t give up, we tried walking but few in the group were scared. Having only girls in the group, we got to think about our safety as well and thus we ended up in the same boat which brought us to the paradise. Since there were other passengers too who wanted to move to the other side, we were lucky to get a glimpse of the Light House and God’s Own Beach. Yes! Indeed there are so many beaches around this place, which I am definitely visiting in the next trip.

Back to Om beach and our favourite Namaste Café, we had seafood platter.

As per the name, it had a huge variety of boiled fishes with French fries and boiled veggies. Even though the latter didn’t seem interesting, we finished all the fishes and then headed to Kudle beach. We took a small path opposite to the restaurant, which people told that it will lead us to Kudle. Trusting their words, we walked across plants and open grassland and finally ended in a crooked downhill to the beach. 

First view of the beach and the sunset took us through the majestic beauty. We sat in a restaurant drinking juice and admired the sun. I wanted to head back to Om beach before it gets dark, while others wanted to stay back. After some rounds of convincing and photo shoots, we headed back to our home beach. Had fun time playing in the water. The dark fell and the water became ferocious and the crowd count started to reduce. Due to safety concerns, we headed back to room and refreshed. Finished our dinner with yummy desserts and made some nice conversations with my girls.

March 22, 2015, Sunday:

It was Sunday morning and who would wake up so early at 6 AM and the answer would be ME! :D

Being an early riser, I was super excited to take a walk across the beach in the early hours. In no time, I woke up the entire group and helped them to witness real happiness. As we walked across the beach with the sun rising behind us, there was silence everywhere other than the rhythmic sound of the waves. There was absolutely no one around and it looked like a private beach. We saw two foreigners doing their yoga and here we were doing nothing. After having some peaceful time, we headed back to the café and had our fancy breakfast.  

While we were thinking what to do next, why not try the water sports? Remember that Gokarna is not like Goa! Finally after few calls, we got our water ride owner and negotiated a rate of 700 per head for 3 water activities – water scooter, bumper ride and banana ride.

Out of the three, I was super excited and eagerly waited to try the last one! Since it took some time for the crew to pump air into the banana, we thought we would finish riding our scooter into the ocean. It was mad! They let us ride our own scooters, with one guy behind us to assist in case of unforeseen situations. When we were almost nearing the shore, the guy behind us took control of the scooter and did some dangerous stunts, which was super thrilling and brought the fear out of us.

Meanwhile, the bumper ride was getting ready and this time, two people could travel together in a bumper boat. The boat was connected to a speed boat which dragged us in a crazy manner into the ocean. With a lot of bumps and getting hit in our bums, we headed back to the shore and got ready for the final big ride – Banana ride! 

I got to know about the ride from the internet, but the rest haven’t seen what it is too. The ride got its name because the boat was in the shape of a banana. Again, this was also connected to a speed boat. We held our hands tight to the banana and set our expedition into the ocean. In no time, there was a sudden push and we didn’t know what happened. We were inside the water and our boat was lying in a corner. After spending some gala time singing and dancing in the middle of the ocean, reluctantly we got back to the banana and reached the shore. We had our second drop in the shore and we settled in the ocean. 

I would say that the banana ride was a game between the people in the banana and the speed boat. We would have one person at the trail end of the banana from the speed boat’s crew, who will try to tilt the banana and push us into the water. But we should try to put our force in the other direction and control the tilt. While these are something that I learnt from the internet, just don’t follow the rules and do what you think at that moment but never hold your hands to the boat if you got dropped into the ocean! Life jackets are there to save you. 

Had the best mid sun bath and got tanned crazily, but it was worth it! We lived our moments, forgot ourselves and had a mad time together. Since it was time for our check-out in the hotel, we got an extension of half day by paying extra 400. Refreshed and bid goodbye to the silent paradise. Took an auto and headed back to Gokarna for a nice fish meal at a small house. We got this information from a random blog and it was worth trying it. The fish was amazing and our stomachs were totally full. You do get veggie thali as well! We mentioned about the place to the auto driver and he took us to this house. After our meal time, we kept our baggage at their house and headed to Gokarna beach. 

We wanted to visit the temple as well, but we did not have time. Did some random shopping and headed to the Gokarna beach for sunset. This beach was completely opposite from the rest of the beaches, it was over crowded and dirty. It was very similar to Marina beach. We headed back to the house quickly, bought some buns for dinner and reached the bus stand as our return bus was scheduled to leave at 7.30 PM (too early!) Bidding goodbye to an amazing weekend, we dozed off with lots of happy memories.

For others who are about to plan your next trip to this paradise, ensure that you have one extra day to visit the Murudeshwar temple and its amazing list of water sports activities. It is very close to Gokarna, but you need to spend one whole day there. Do not expect Gokarna to be like Goa! You cannot find liquor shops or pubs, yet you can buy alcohol if you pay some extra bucks. Vegetarians can also survive in Gokarna because we had grass eating people in our group and they loved their food. And yeah! If you are planning to do a girls only trip, do it right away, because we did it! 

People who made this trip super amazing – Vj, Subi, Neha, Shalini, Priyanka and myself - Shamili