Beach trail walk experience . .Kumta Gokarna in November 2016

KUMTA _ GOKARNA BEACH TRAIL + CAMPING on 26th and 27th  November 2016 with Tattva Adv

entures

The journey started with few of us boarding the train at CST and the rest at Thane. Some enterprising ones (Rahul Raina)  out of necessity reached CST coupla hours early sending the rest into a tizzy doubting the actual train departure  time . . . 

Train journey commences with usual set of selfies . .dhamaal . .masti . . .(duly subdued because of the other passengers :D )

We reach Kumta the next day morning and after the mandatory local bus journey  . .reach the first beach Vannali  . . After the intro round and the oohing and aahing at the beauty of nature the trail starts . . . . .

As the day progresses . .the beaches pass us by . . or rather ..we pass by/through the beaches . ..  The route typically . .consisting of walking through the beach enjoying the breeze and water . . .ascending the intervening hillock and then after a breathtaking view of the next beach descend to the same . . . This description does absolutely no justice to the beauty on display nor the time well spent on photography (self and others) by ALL participants   .  

Kadle , Gudeangadi ,Nirvana and finally  Aghnashani - Tadadi Port ( Boat )  . ..we sailed (!!!) into the rest place for the night . . . – Balekan

Albiet bit late for tea  . . . .  we gorge on samosa and tea . .with the expectedly unexpected  rush/line outside the functional primitive wash room to freshen up :P

After the  late tea and snacks and a impromptu jamming session with guitar and all ( special mention of Jaal and Yashwant for their mime/dance)   . . . time to put up the tents . .The rookies and the experts get together to a fun filled session of putting up the tents. The cresent moon shaped formation of the tents . . ..with the LED strips and the blue shimmering tarpaulin all  together created a surreal atmosphere. 

Dinner . . . . Then snooze/slumber time for few and games time for majority  . . . . With the waves and the excited voices forming a lovely jugalbandi the night stretched into the early hours of Sunday morning . . . .  The energy level of the awesome twosome Jaal and Sai ensures that within  hardly a hour of winding up  .  .everyone is treated to a Suprabhat of Trance Namah Shivaaya  :D

Day two brings with it new experiences of mobile washrooms (organic!!! ) and an early morning post breakfast energetic dance session . . . . . and we are all set to move  . .. again . . . .  We start with Paradise  Beach . . . . Move on to  Small hell (!!!)  . . . .and then Half moon  . . . . . .

As we move on to the most eagerly awaited  Om Beach . . . justifiably more time was spent at the top photographing rather than the actual beach walk. . . . . .   Lunch at Kudle . .and then finally Gokarna . . . .  To lend the spiritual touch to the whole experience there was the unexpected bonus of holy water at the Gokarna Shiva temple . . . . .

A nice auto ride through the smooth roads of Gokarna  . . and we are well in time to catch the late lateef Matsyagandha Express . . . More opportunity for games at Gokarna Station . . .  Boarding the train in a rush making sure nothing is left behind and expectedly crashing to bed / berth early rather than playing through the night . .we reach back Mumbai well in time with pleasant memories and the ring/roar of the waves still ringing in our ears . . . .

If I had not done it myself, I would never have believed it possible to cover 11 beaches in a trail walk at Karnataka with the added bonus of camping at night  . . . . . . .at Karnataka over a weekend  . . .  .with train travel at that . . . . For the curious . . .the cost of this fabulous experience was INR3400/-