Kawar beach - Between a rock and a watery place

The main attraction of Karwar is the beach. On one side the western ghats tower over you. You can see the Konkan railway train precariously passing on these mountains. On the other side is the Arabian sea where the hot orange sun cools himself by slowly immersing himself into the waters there. No wonder Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore was impressed and inspired by this place.

We went to the Karwar beach that evening. We saw a strange sight there. We were standing at beach waiting for the water to careess our legs. The waves came and splashed against us. When the next wave came, the wave front would die a couple of feet before us. The next round would see the wave dying a few more feet before us and after a few mins the wave front was ending atleast 10 feet before us. It was as if the sea was withdrawing itself. In due course of time, the wave front would come forward till our feet and the cycle would repeat. The effect of tsunami. It felt as if someone had taken hold of the globle called earth and slowly rocking it.

The beach was quite clean and we had a good time there. We would see some ships anchored at a distance and the lights of the ship glow when it became dark. There were some municipal people monitoring the situation near the beach and cautioning the people not to go in too far into the sea. There was also some cultural show going at the beach. Some school kids were dancing and we watched it for some time. The whole setting on the beach was very nice, with the wind blowing from one side and music from the other.

The next day morning we started for Devbagh beach. This is a property of Jungle Lodges. If you dont get a reservation there, you can do a day trip to Devbagh from Karwar. I had paid for a half day trip at their office opposite the hotel I was staying (Hotel Badra). You need to go to a small jetty from where a motor boat will take you on the Kali river and deposit you at Devbagh. We went to the jetty and saw that the Kali river was boiling. See the state of the river Gayathri wanted to turn back and not take any risk. The boatman didnt make it better either. "I have never seen the river like this sir. Heard some huts along the banks were washed away yesterday night. All these due to the tsunami". Added to this we had to wait for some time for the boat to arrive from Devbagh. All these led to escalation of anxiety. Finally the boat arrived. As it took us towards Devbagh we felt as if was bobbing up and down too much. Anyway we arrived at Devbagh and went to the beach. The long strech of sand here is very clean and they provide the beach umbrellas and chairs to relax. Given that the tsunami had stuck the earlier day and the waves were behaving unpredictably, they didnt allow us to get into water, though we managed to get our feet wet !! There were no water sports either. The whole atmosphere at Devbagh invites you to just hang up your boots and relax. The cute cottage, the long stretch of the beach, the pine trees all around and the seclusion make this an ideal place for honeymooners and for those who want to rejuvenate themself. On the way back, Kali river has subsided quite a lot. That evening we went to the Karwar beach again. Well, there isnt much you can do at Karwar than go to the beach !!

Udupi, Sringeri and Hornadu - A short pilgrimage

The next day morning after breakfast we started our drive from Karwar to Udupi. The NH17 is a great road to drive. It follows the west coast all the way from Trivandrum to Karwar. The sea is always around 1 to 2 kms away from the road. Unfortunately the sea never is seen from the road except at Marvante. At Marvante for some distance the sea comes along with you. I made a mental not to come to this place sometime in the future (hasnt happened yet). On this road is Murudeswar, where the imposing Siva statue can be seen from the road. I saw it and went in to see it from near. It was hot at the beach and we had a darshan of Siva from the car. This place with the giant statue of Siva on the beach and the mutistoried hotel nearby is very impressive. I am sure it gets quite crowded during the season. We did see a lot of people on the beach even though it was close to noon and hot.

We arrived at Udupi at lunch time. By mistake I took a wrong turn and ended up at Manipal. I didnt realise the Udupi and Manipal were so near. I mean you just step out for a walk at Udipi and you are in Manipal !! Anyway we reached our hotel, had lunch and relaxed. Which meant we slept. The evening was spent at the Malpe beach. This is around 7 kms from Udupi. Here too the waves exhibited the same tendency as at Karwar but to a lesser degree. This was also a very clean beach but a bit crowded. Since it was the christmas vacation time, there were bus loads to school children at most places that we visited. The were some college going kids as well here. Ranjani and Harini enjoy being at the beach and they enjoyed themselves at the Malpe beach. They also had camel rides here, which for the kids, was a thrilling affair.

Returning back from the beach, we headed to the famous Krishna temple at Udupi. The temple structure is not like the traditional temples of Tamil Nadu. The way you see the idol is also is also unconventional. You the see the idol through a small window. (There is a story associated with this). I know that some people are disappointed when they see a small idol and that too through a window. Both Gayathri and I liked the atmosphere of the temple. It is paradoxical but there was some sort of serenity here though the whole area was crowded and noisy. We sat there for some time to soak in the atmosphere and we promised to ourselves that we will visit the temple again the next day. The temple has an elephant and we saw it outside the temple which made the kids very happy.

Since I had been driving for long streches, I decided to give myself a break and hire a cab to go to Sringeri and Hornadu. The cab driver came in later than we had asked him to. We started to Sringeri. On the way was Agumbe. It is a short ghat section but very steep. We stopped at the top to have a view of the surounding area. As usual with most hill top views the surrounding mountains were covered in haze. The sunset view is supposed to be great from here.

We arrived at the Shringeri temple around noon time. The temple is on the banks of the Bhadra river. We went to the Sharadhamba sannidhi. This is a very well maintained temple and the place is calm. There were some children learing the vedas and the sound of veda recitation always brings in some untold joy and peace. After the darshan of Sharadambha we went down the steps to be on the banks of the river. There a lot of big fish here which are fed by the devotees. The kids were happy watching the fish thrash around in water when some food is thrown. We had our lunch at the temple. Most of the temples in Western Karnataka provide food for the devotees. Here is the first time that I observed rasam being served first and then sambar !!

From Sringeri we left for Horanadu. The drive through Kudremukh was wonderful and I was sure I was going to come to this place again, which I did. (I had written in detail about Kudremukh and Hornadu in my earlier post). We had a darshan of Annapoorneshwari at Horanadu and came back to Udupi in the evening.

Next day morning was a visit to the Udupi Krishna temple, evening at the beach. The day after we left Udupi for Bangalore. While climbing the Sakleshpur ghat we could feel our car grunting and groaning and going up the ghat with great difficulty. After we got down the ghat, I opened the bonnet and peeped in, as if I knew all about cars. I had no clue what to look for and as can be expecetd found nothing wrong !!! We came to Hassan and I took the car to a mechanic. He found out that one of the cable which goes to the spark plug was faulty. Out of the three cylinders in the car, only two have been firing !!! So we had climbed up the Sakleshpur ghat with only 2/3 power !! Should appreciate the Maruti 800s sturdiness. The mechanic changed the cable and now it was a different car altogether !! We stayed at Hassan and visited Belur and Halebid, where the sculptures were mind boggling. That afternoon we left for Bangalore.

The drive from Hassan to Neelamangala was smooth and we came to Neelamangala in quick time. As usual the drive from Neelamangala to my house was a nightmare. Welcome to Bangalore !!

Glory of the Eastern Himalayas - A trip to Sikkim


When I told him that I intended to go to Sikkim for my summer holidays my colleague gave me a gem of an advice. He said, "Most of the travel agents would want try and pack your holiday with Gangtok, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Dont fall for it. Go to Northern Sikkim". I took his advice and oh boy, did that enhance my enjoyment of the whole trip !!!

The travel agent I spoke to in Bangalore gave an itinerary which did include Darjeeling and Kalimpong !!! Deciding to do this on my own, with the help of the favourite travel adviser, the World Wide Web, I searched for hotels in Gangtok and also the agents in Gangtok who can arrange for the North Sikkim tour. I was to realise much later that I had hit pay dirt !!! The hotels were good and the Gangtok agency had arranged an excellent North Sikkim tour. (www.sikkiminfo.net is a good place to get info about Sikkim)

The same colleague same me another advice which led me to do lot of shopping in Gangtok. That is a different story which I shall relate as we go by.

We had gone to Hyderabad to visit my parents during the summer vacation. The summer of 2006. From Hyd we flew into Calcutta. My good friend, Subbu, had arranged for accommodation in Calcutta. He had also invited me to his house. The hospitality of Subbu and his wife Shobana is something that we cannot forget. After having dinner at his house, we went to the Sealdah station from where we boarded the 'Darjeeling Mail'. This goes upto a place called 'New Jalpaiguri'. In case you want to fly in from Calcutta, you need to fly to Bagdogra, which is very close to New Jalpaiguri. The train leaves around 10 o clock in the night and reaches New Jalpaiguri after 8 o clock in the morning.

New Jalpaiguri is the place where you will land when you want to go to Darjeeling or Gangtok or Kalimpong. You will need to take a bus or some sort of road transport from this station to get to any of the places I had mentioned above. We opted for a Tata Sumo type of vehicle (it was called a different name but it was a Tata vehicle and looked very much like the Sumo). The driver turned out to be a very nice chap. The rate varies depending on the season and when we went in April it was the season. So it is a no-brainer to guess that the rates were high !! I think we paid around Rs.1400 for the trip.

The trip to Gangtok takes around 5hrs or so. The land is quite flat for the first 15 to 20 kms. After that the mountain section starts and it is a drive to savor. When you get to the mountain section the Teesta river joins you and comes along with you almost all the way to Gangtok. Imagine a drive where you can constantly see the river flowing in the valley for close to 50kms !!! You cannot take your eyes off the scenery around you. I thought it was probably the best ride on any ghat section that I would get. I would be proved wrong later !! On the way we saw the Sikkim-Manipal Institute of Technology. What a place to have an education institution!! Standing almost on the edge of a cliff and the Tessta flowing way below, it is a location which dreams and postcards are made of. My wife asked me, "How can people here study? It is such a wonderful place". Nature at its distracting best !!

The vehicles which ply from New Jalpaiguri are generally West Bengal registered vehicles. They are not allowed to ply inside Gangtok. So they get to a taxi stand, which is very crowded with all sort of vehicles, and drop you there. You need to take another taxi from here to reach your hotel. It is a bit of pain but you have no choice !!

I had booked myself into a hotel called Sonam Delek. The hotel is in a narrow road. The external facade isnt very attractive but the hotel is a good one. The rooms are neat and the charges are quite attractive. I got a 4 bed room for around Rs.1100/- per day. The added attraction of this hotel is that their restaurant is very good and both the breakfast and dinner were very tasty. (The manager here, called Tam Ling, had stayed in Bangalore. When I had called him from Bangalore for the hotel booking he tried speaking to me in Kannada, with a Nepalese accent. I couldnt make out what he was saying till me told me, "Sir, I am speaking in Kannada". Normalcy was restored) The staff was helpful and so was the manager. They arranged for the trip to Tsongo lake, about which I will talk later.

After lunch and some rest, we decided to go in the evening for a walk along the most famous road in Gangtok. You guessed it, M G Road !! We went there after 6 o clock and it started getting cold. My colleague had told me that late April will be quite warm and I didnt need any warm clothes. Oh boy, was he _wrong_ !! We walked on this road and had chai in one of the shops there. A slow drizzle started and the temperature dropped further !! Now the complaints of 'feeling cold' started coming in from my wife and kids. And here we were without any warm clothing whatsoever !! Added to it someone there told us that the cold will get worser in North Sikkim. So we did the most sensible thing that can be done. We shopped for sweaters. The guy in the shop told us that if were going to North Sikkim, we might as well buy some gloves and monkey caps. It would turn out be a great advice. The rain had intensified by then. So we had no choice but to take an auto to our hotel, which was quite close by. Had a nice hot dinner and went to sleep.

The next day would take us to the amazing Tsongo lake.