Departure from Pune: 25th Dec
After all the trails of mail threads since July we 8 guys (later reduced to 6) were up for a trip with the location-Gokarna. Special thanks to unreachable & unupdated Geeta; we managed to book hotel rooms and bus tickets a day before departure.
((((Conversation between Geeta & Suhas a day before departure
G – Is Shruti coming to trip?
S – No.
G- Then I will not come either.)))))
Rahul informed the bus route as Nigadi (8pm) - Aundh (9pm)-Katraj (11pm). So, relaxed I and Gauri reached at Aundh by 8.45pm, waiting for Geeta. Gauri enquired at the Aundh booking counter about the bus and to our surprise the bus was not travelling via Aundh. We were expected to reach Katraj by a shuttle pick up service from Aundh to Katraj. And we were like……..we won’t make it. An uneasiness of uncertainty started to take over us, as we couldn’t make any move unless Geeta had arrived. Meanwhile, Rahul kept us updating about the Bus location (which they were traveling in) and bus route. So we planned to chase the bus to catch it near Chandni chowk and search for an auto. But no auto driver gets ready for this isolated place. By that time, Geeta arrived and again we brain stormed and finally decided to reach Katraj by 11 pm. It seemed reasonable but not affordable. So we broke the journey as Aundh to Shivajinagar by auto & Shivajinagar to Katraj by bus. And we made it there before 11 pm. As we had some time till the main bus comes, we got ourselves a cup of tea to beat the cold, which Geeta guessed to be made of some other animal’s milk than cow. People started guessing the animal to turn Geeta’s face more pale.
DAY 1:
We all woke up at our destined bus stop of Hubli around 6 AM. And to the surprise (rather shock) of “Avomin addicts”, we were told that Gokarna is no less than 4 hrs from where we were standing at. Thanks to Gauri--the only Kannada (do notice…its Kannada, and not kannad :P) speaking member of the group, who made our trip easier & more rejoice-able. We had to travel Hubli-Ankola-Gokarna with connecting buses with everyone hiding himself under the blanket to avoid the strong chill in the air.
And OH!! How can I forget those sweet yummy Cup (waati) cakes of Yellapur?
10: 30 AM
We shaded our coverings & inhaled the cold, blessed air of Gokarna.
“Hotel New Prasad Nilay” was just adjoining to the bus stand. Everyone stretched himself on bed as we stepped into our rooms. I, Suhas, Rahul & Nachiket adjusted ourselves on a double bed, while girls felt it spacious in their room as they were only 2.
Our driver was expected to arrive at 3:30 PM in a Sumo. For us to get ready, I had to request the Hotel staff for every bucket of warm water (4 buckets of them). In the meanwhile, I had collected some info about sights around Gokarna from hotel owner. And he gave us a full-fledged plan for a complete day, whereas we had only half a day left.
3:30 PM
Everyone gathered in the lobby and decided to visit temples & nearby beach. Oh wait wait wait!!
What they say???........” आधी पोटोबा , मग विठोबा”
We adhered to this idiom throughout the trip :P. We went to a HORRIBLE restaurant to taste some HORRIBLE non veg food items. Enough description of lunch. As we had some time before the temple opens, we went to the beach. It’s on a throw-a-stone distance from temple. There everyone except me opted for bhel puri at one of the stalls that made their faces sore to add to the lunch symptoms. But coconut water helped all of us feel better.
Then we went to this famous Gokarna temple, where Su, Rahul & Gauri joined the “Abhishek” queue. Nachiket, Geeta and I stood in “Darshan” queue. Which school plans a trip for school kids to a temple on a Sunday?? It stretched “Darshan” queue too long to stand with hardly some food in stomach for me. I opted to sit at a side pavement listening to “Om Nam Shivay” mantra being chanted on a loudspeaker, till everyone returned.
I opened my eyes after almost half an hour of sleep to find Su, Rahul & Gauri relaxing at the other end of the pavement. Nachiket & Geeta came after another half an hour. We moved out again towards beach shops to buy some items. And for the third time that day we risked ourselves into another restaurant. And the story repeated. Even after consuming 2 cold-drinks with it, I could not finish the Gokarna Special Maggie I had ordered. I gave up after 2 cold-drinks.
To pass some more time, we shopped/ window-shopped for some goodies. And we ended the day with the food in another Hotel at its closing time.
By the end of the day Nachiket had added Kannada word-“maadi” perfectly in his dictionary :D
DAY 2, 3 to follow...
