Towards the end of last year, a few friends and I decided to explore the South Indian state of Karnataka. Some folks in the group were planning to migrate to other countries, and others going back to school. This was the one big party before we all went our separate ways. There was little hope of meeting everyone together again and very little hope of traveling together for 10 days. The trip began with almost zero planning. The idea was to figure out the travel plans along the road.
We rented two cars and started our ride on a Saturday evening, three days before Christmas. The first stop in our journey was Kodagu, better known as Coorg. Kodagu is a hill district on the Western Ghats, with thick forests, rich wildlife, and world-famous coffee. Madikeri is the district capital and the principal town. The district lies between the state of Kerala on the south and Karnataka on the north. We reached our Airbnb around 2 in the night and crashed on whatever we found.
The next day started with a heavy breakfast, complemented with some of the best coffee I have ever had. Our first stop in our "itinerary" was Abbey Falls. It's a cliched waterfall, which gets a lot of tourists every year. We spent the afternoon exploring the areas surrounding the waterfalls. The aim was to get away from the crowds. The evening plan was a night trek, which involved a 3 km trek in a thick forest in complete darkness. Of course, we had a guide with us. It wouldn't be wise to let loose a bunch of concrete jungle citizens in an actual forest. The night trek ended with some rabbit hunting. Most of us choose to avoid, more so because of fatigue rather than any love for animals.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, we resumed our expedition. We checked out some other places around Madikeri. One of the prominent places in Kodagu is Raja's seat, a beautiful garden on a hilltop. The view from atop is very beautiful and one can see all the different hills that make up the Kodagu district. By afternoon, we started the journey to our next destination, Mangalore. The drive down from Kodagu mountain ranges was beautiful. It started raining too, disturbing the serenity of the hills, and creating an aesthetic marvel. So much so, that even the lazy ones started to volunteer to drive. -:)
Mangalore is a port city in the Arabian Sea. It is one of the earliest places where European merchants landed via sea, the first being Vasco Da Gama in 1498. Unlike him, we reached Mangalore, via road, at around 6 in the evening. And this is the place beyond which we had no plans. We spent some time looking for hotels, till we found a cheap hostel for the night. At 200 a night, it wasn't all bad. For starters, we had running water in the bathroom. But that's where the luxury ended.
We spent Christmas Eve at St Aloysius Chapel. Italian Jesuits built St Aloysius Chapel in 1880 and painted the interiors in 1899. The upper arches depict the saints of the Church. The lower arches depict Jesuit saints and the sloping ceilings depict the Apostles. Some of us attended the Christmas service, while others were busy devouring the rum cakes.
The next day, on Christmas day, we traveled to St Mary's Islands. St Mary's Islands are a set of islands in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Udupi in Karnataka. The subvolcanic activity led to the formation of the island more than 88 million years ago. The only way to get to the islands is via a 6 km ferry service from Malpe. The ferry ride is a different experience altogether. One can find people partying and dancing on the boats. We joined the people dancing at the deck and did not shy away at all. We spent the afternoon at the Island's before resuming our nomadic voyage on four wheels. Our stop for the night was at a hotel 20 km south of a small town called Bhatkal.
Next day, Boxing Day, we started early for the temple town of Murudeshwar. Murudeshwar is a temple town from Hindu mythology. It is famous for it's Shiva temple and the world's second-tallest Shiva statue. The statue depicts Shiva sitting in meditation, with his back to the Arabian Sea. Some devout believers went inside the temple. By afternoon, we were traveling again, this time towards the coastal town of Gokarna.
The drive to Gokarna was scenic, the roads sandwiched between the rocky Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. We reached Gokarna around 2pm and spent the rest of the day at the different beaches around Gokarna. Gokarna is another temple town, and a popular holiday destination, with many isolated and unexplored beaches. We spent some time at Om Beach, named so because of the protruding land mass giving it an "Om" shape. Some of us bought some cheap souvenirs, before proceeding to Half Moon Beach. The only way to reach Half Moon Beach from Om Beach is by navigating a tricky climb over a small hill.
It was every bit worth it though. We were all alone at this beach, left with the vast sea all for ourselves. If you have been to other Indian beaches (I look at you, Goa and Kovalam), this is a pristine experience. We spent the evening playing frisbee volleyball at the beach and floating in the ocean. It was only after sunset that we realized we had to navigate back the treacherous terrain, in the dark! Thankfully we found some fishermen, who gave us a ride on the motorboat after some haggling over the fare. The dinner was at Kudle Beach, with some wonderful seafood and some fine quality rare herbs (wink wink). The dinner went late, very late into the night and by the time we came back to our rooms, sleep was the only thing on our minds.
Next stop in our journey was Dandeli. Dandeli is a town famous for its Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kali Tiger Reserve. The Wildlife Sanctuary is home to Panthers, Elephants and various species of birds. We had planned to visit the Kavala Caves. Kavala Caves are tiny in dimensions. One has to climb around 400 steps to reach the entrance and then climb down. There are prior permissions required from the Forest Department for visiting the caves. We had to skip it and move to the next item in our "agenda" - rafting in the Kali river. The usual rafting trail stretches for about 12 km which starts at around 9 am. We missed it, so we had to settle for the smaller trail of about 5 km. The trail has grade 2 and grade 3 rapids.
Three of my mates bounced out from the raft, and we sprang into action. One of the fellow rafting groups caught hold of one of them. We chased down the other guys, one of whom was floating on his back as per the instructions. The last guy found a rock and climbed on top of it and stayed there till we reached him much later. The rest of the day was quite uneventful. Nothing could follow this.
We left Dandeli late in the afternoon for our final stop at Hampi. We stopped at a small town called Haliyal for our dinner at a roadside hotel named Hotel Baburao. Baburao is one place with some amazing food and the world's best lime soda. After a ravishing meal, we resumed our journey towards Hampi. We reached Hubli at around 11 pm and decided to stop at Hubli for the night. After searching for a hotel for some time, we found a place, and we decided to end our quite eventful day.
The next morning we resumed our voyage to our final destination. We reached Hampi by 3pm in the afternoon. Hampi is a beautiful ancient city from the Vijayanagara Empire. At the height of its fame in 1500 CE, it was the world's second largest city after Beijing. In 1565, a coalition of Muslim cities attacked the Vijayanagara empire. They destroyed the city and it has been a ruin ever since. UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site in 1986. The Tungabhadra river separates the city into two areas- the older ruins and the new "Hippy Island".
We spent the evening exploring the newer part of the city and then climbing the Anjaneya Hill. There is a temple on top of the hill and it has a breath-taking view. The climb to the top is about 600 steps. We enjoyed the sunset and took some mandatory wanderlust pictures before coming down. Our Saturday plan was to explore the ruins of Hampi. The plan included the Virupaksha temple, Underground Shiva temple, and the Vittala temple. Vittala temple is famous for its musical pillars. The pillars produce the seven musical notes when hit at the right spots. It is also famous for the stone Chariot which is also found on the back of a fifty rupee note.
We left Hampi by 6 in the evening. We stopped at Anantapur for our dinner. We were famished and devoured the food like hungry animals much to the amusement ( or derision?) of the hotel staff. We reached our homes late Saturday night, exhausted by an arduous trip. Along the way, I found out that Liverpool thumped Arsenal 5-1. What a way to end the year!
