Western Karnataka Coast - Gokarna and the amazing OM beach

"It will be a very small ghat section. Maximun 15 to 20 mins. Not more. There is no need to worry". This is what I told Gayathri. This was our first major road trip, with or without the whole family. I had decided to go to Gokarna and Karwar. Gayathri was pretty apprehensive about the Ghat sections along the way. My in-laws were also apprehensive and lot of ideas were floating around like hiring a cab or hiring a cab etc. That is why I gave gyan to Gayathri that the Ghat section was very small and there was nothing to be worried about !! I had no clue about the ghat section but I was sure that I had to drive and I had to take my car. The Gerasoppa ghat would be more than 50 kms and took close to 2hrs to cross but what a beautiful ride it would be.

My friend Andy had been to Gokarna and he was very impressed with that place. I was oscillating between a South India tour which would take me to Tanjavur, Nagapattinam, Tituvaiyaru, Tiruchi etc or a Karnataka West coast tour to Gokarna, Karwar and Udupi. Hearing Andy tell me about Gokarna, I decided on the later. It was the Christmas weekend of 2004. If you havent realised the significance of my decision to go to West Coast, you will get to know as we go along.

We started very early in the morning. The earlier night I felt my Maruti misfiring but the garage guy said not to worry. We left at 5:15 hence got to Nelamangala quite soon and hit the Tumkur toll road. It was a wonderful road. Andy had told me that the road is as good as a US road and that he didnt believe it when his friend had told him. Well, I didnt believe Andy until I saw the road. It's a great road but to be fair to our highway guys they have laid such roads in many more stretches like Hosur to Krishnagiri and then all the way to Chennai. That's progress.

We stopped for breakfast at Tumkur. I had all along associated Tumkur road with the Pune highway. So at Tumkur I saw the map and started going on the Pune road towards Sira. After going almost 2.5 kms I realised that my destination was NOT Pune !!! I did a U turn came back to Tumkur and proceeded on the Shimoga road. We got to Shimoga just before lunch time but decided to have lunch anyway. I didnt want to cross Shimoga without having lunch. After lunch we started from Shimoga and as we got out of Shimoga, I stopped the car, folded the back seat of Maurti and made my kids lie down. They happily slept for a some time and woke up only when we got near Jog.

We stopped briefly near the diversion that takes us to Jog. I didnt want to go to Jog since that would delay me and I wanted to be out of the ghat section before it got late. At the point you can see the river running. Had tea is a small 'dabba' tea shop and proceeded.

The Ghat section starts after Jog. What a ghat section it is !! I loved it and Gayathri hated it since she starts getting motion sickness when we go on Ghat section. It was full of twists and turns, lot of hairpin bends and steep climbs. All the way, the scenery was fantastic all around. I would look at the scenery and exclaim to Gayathri, "Wow. Look at that !!!". She would always reply back, "I look at that. You better look at the ROAD"!! I could understand her anxiety as the roads were curving and you need to be on high alert. I dont know how many mountains we crossed but we did cross a lot of them. It would look as if we have come down and the ghat section is done with, when the next mountain will appear in front of you and the climb would start again. Again you will come down only to start climbing again. After some time Gayathri was fully frustrated, "When will get to level ground". Everyone was hungry and tired and wanted to get to a hotel fast. It took us almost two hours to cross this section.

You hit the town of Honavar after your final descent. You almost will run into the Kamat Hotel which is bang on the coastal highway NH 17. It was a no brainer as to where we should stop. My car by itself went into the Kamat parking lot !! After refreshing ourselves, we drove to Gokarna. We arrived there after 6 o clock. I had booked us in Hotel Gokarn. Not a very great place but the best you can get in Gokarna.

We went to the temple that night. As soon as you get there, the priests will surround you and tell you that they can do lot of pooja's for you. For a price of course. Since one of my friends had warned me about this, I told them, "Thanks but no thanks" and went in only for the darshan. the temple has many legends associated with it but somehow seeing all the priests running after people, I really didnt get a great feeling here. We had dinner at Prema's hotel on the beach and came back to sleep. Tomorrow will be our day at the beaches of Gokarna.

We came to Prema's hotel for breakfast and then went and stood at the Gokarna beach. It is a nice beach and was lonely in the morning hours. In the evening you will see lot more people. But you dont go to Gokarna for this beach. You go there for the other beaches. The Om beach, Paradise beach etc. We went and bargained with the boat guys, who have motors fitted to their boats. They will take you into the ocean and then to the Om beach. You can trek a small hill and get to Om beach as well. Since my daughters were small, we decided to take the ocean route !!

Om beach is fantastic. Even though there lot more people due to vacation, still you felt it was lonely !! You feel that you have the whole beach to yourself. Since not many people come here, it is neat and the water a lovely hue of blue. The water is shallow and you can happily swim here, which I did. Ranjani and Harini were lierally rolling the water. Though the sun was shining brightly, it wasnt too hot. It was an ultimate place to relax, to swim and to enjoy yourself. The boatman, though had agreed only for an hour, seeing us enjoying here was willing to wait for a longer time. It was with great difficulty that we tore ourselves from this place and started back. On the way back we spotted a dolphin and that was a bonus.

We came back to the Gokarna beach, had our lunch at Prema's hotel, came back to Hotel Gokarn and check out. I then drove to Karwar and checked into Hotel Badra there. We switched on the TV and it was then we got the news. The same time as we were at the Gokarna and Om beaches, the East Coast had been devastated by the terrible Tsunami !! It was shocking to see so many people lose their lives to the Tsunami.

The shadow of Tsunami would hang over all the beaches for the next few days.