Picturesque journey to Gokarna

Gokarna is a small temple town on the western coast of India in the Kumta taluk of Uttara Kannada district of the state of Karnataka. This beautiful place offers almost everything.  Be it mountains lover , close to beaches , nature lover or just in search of peace. I found Vibes of this place more attractive than any other coastal area of Maharashtra , Karnataka.

It was month-end of Feb, 2019  and i was ready for my solo trip to Gokarna from Pune. Its overnight nice journey from Pune / Mumbai / Banglore with easily available Volvo buses.
In this blog i will try to write down my experience along with generic information about stay / food in Gokarna.

 Just to cover all places in or near Gokarna we need atleast 4-5 days there. There are many small but beautiful beaches (well known for Hippies) , Caves , Waterfalls ,  Temples.

Bus from Pune dropped me at Gokarna Cross from where I took auto (around 200Rs.) to reach to city. Near to city bus stop I rented a scooty (Ganapati - 9036317219) for 500 Rs per day. The excitement of new city , that too in early morning , started taking over me. I could feel the silence there .

First day , I booked Sanskruti resort (very near to beaches), but their check in time was11 AM, so as planned I went to resort , freshened up and went straight to Kudle beach Cliff point. The view from this point is simply breathtaking.

Morning View from Kudle Cliff Top

A small trail along with this view leads to actual Kudle beach, This beach is not too big , but very clean. I could see people were there  for peace. Hippies were busy with their "stuffs" (which is easily available there). People doing Yoga , meditation , Kriyas creates those vibes for which this place is famous. There are few shacks which serve good food. (There are stay options with limited amenities and shared washrooms).

A view of Kudle Beach

Limited options for Vegetarians. :)

After spending some time there, i went back to my resort for check in.

Sanskruti Resort

It was time for a small trek. There is a famous beach named "Om" (because of its shape) and from OM beach there are two connected beaches name as "Half Moon Beach" and "Paradise". These are accessible only by trek or ferry from OM beach. But, I decided to trek and started around 4:30 PM from OM beach.

Dense trail towards Half Moon beach

I was Super excited

On the way i found this point 👇

Never ending sea

This place was amazing . I sat at the end of this point and ocean covered me from three directions. I looked down and sea waves were making me to sit here longer.

Not sure if camera is doing the justice, but this was the view which stopped me to go to Paradise beach

I wanted to be there forever. It was quite except roaring sound of waves. To my right, Sun was taking a dip into sea.

You see a small boat there ?? :)

Insane and Intense

To my surprise, i quit  the idea to go Paradise beach and just sat there, played my guitar for a while and happily returned back. Sometimes its good just not to go with the flow.
There is Namaste Cafe at OM beach which serves excellent food . This should must try if anyone going there.

Namaste Cafe

Chilly Paneer

It was a long day , but still refreshing. After a long walk on the beach i returned to resort for a good sleep.

Next day also started from Kudle Beach. White elephant cafe provides excellent food where you can sit and just relax seeing the sea.

White Elephant cafe

View Of Kudle beach from White elephant Cafe

After filling my tummy with some good food, it was time to go back to OM beach (distance between OM and Kudle beach is 2 KM) . Todays places were Half moon and Paradise beach.

A small trail starts from OM beach , and one can easily follow that trail to reach Half Moon beach. It takes 45 mins to reach there . Trek in itself is so beautiful and once i reached to Half Moon beach i was surprised to see almost no  crowd.

Beautiful trails

This is very small beach but beautiful and clean. After spending some time there , i took ferry to Paradise beach. This beach was pretty busy and i could see people with their tents.

It was very satisfied feeling at Paradise. After interacting with people doing different activities , I took return ferry to reach to OM beach again . Its take 15 minutes by ferry and provides you so many beautiful views.

Paradise Beach

Since i was back to OM beach ,so it was time for Namaste cafe again.  I spend some good hours their  with Paneer Chilly :).

Tempting

It was around 3 PM and it was time to see other part of Gokarna . Nirvana.

I had my tent with me so i planned to setup tent at Nirvana beach. To reach Nirvana beach from Gokarna city  , we have to take a ferry from Tadadi port.

Ferry ride give good chance to interact with locals.

(Google map is helpful here).
In the evening I reached to Nirvana beach and its name suggest , it was the least populated place i ever visited.

Colors Of Nirvana

Sunset at Nirvana

Best place to be in

There is Nirvana Nature resort also , where i  used washrooms and they take food order also. This resort is itself very quite. In there are few tree houses , some huts and very peaceful place. If someone is looking to get away from city , this is the place to be .

Nirvana Nature Resort

Very Quite

Nirvana is long stretched beach but don't expect anything here except peace. No shacks , no shops . Few locals doing their daily fishing. That's it .

After setting up tents , it was already dark and too dark to see. After getting some food from resort i went to the beach, relaxed and came back to my tent. Continuous  sound of waves were making me crazy.


Next day was for Yana caves. These are the mysterious caves sitting in middle of Sahaydaris .
Nirvana beach to Yana caves is a beautiful  1.45 hrs drive. The curvy roads, dense jungle , sound of waterfalls. All these were making me so happy as i was approaching to Caves. At the starting, I had to walk for few minutes and suddenly I found two gigantic rocks were standing in middle of nowhere.

Mysterious Yana caves 

First Glimpse

I had to remove my shoes as there is a temple inside that.I visited both the caves.

While returning from caves i went to Vibhooti waterfalls, which is on the way (Google maps helps here also). This fall create a natural pool and it was good time to go into that pool. It made me so refresh after long journey of Yana caves.

After all those beaches , mountains , caves , falls this was the day for Murudeshwar.
Its another 1.5 hrs good bike ride mostly on Highway. Murudeshwar is famous for having second highest statue of Lord Shiva. As i entered to the city , i could see some part of statue. It was huge. There is a small local beach also with some water sports. It took around 2 hrs to explore this place and to visit all the temples.

 This town is very sacred . That huge Shiva statue gives you goosebumps every-time you see .

It was time to return back to city. I handed over the rented scooty back and get to bus stop.
Took auto again from city to Gokarna cross (bus stop) . I never wanted to go back. I was remembering my five days of quietness and was wondering how small village can provide you everything you want . As i was approaching to stop , that piece , quietness was overtaken by pollution , horns , dust. The reality.

Kedarkantha , Most beautiful Winter Trek

Before you read anything about KedarKantha trek , first read this:
"This is a must do trek for every trekker / nature lover / adventure lover person".

It was year end festive season of 2018 and as a mountains lover i was planning  a mountain trip. I did search almost every place of Himanchal and Uttarakhand . After few days one of my colleague suggested for Snow trek of Kedarkantha. I gave a thought , googled , researched and found this image which is at the top of KedarKantha peak.

  and looking this , i ended up deciding this as my first Himalayan winter snow trek 😁.

In this article, first section is dedicated to all the information / preparation related to trek followed by my personal experience along with the group.

Registration:
There are many certified trekking groups which conduct these kind of trips. Few of them are TrekTheHimalays , IndiaHikes , AdventureNation , Moxtain etc.
I chose TrekTheHimalayas based on feedbacks i received from many friends and TTH did not disaapoint. Registration can be easily done on their website prior to about 2 months.

Fitness:
This is not a very hard trek but it doesn't mean you come out of office and start your trip. It requires some fitnesss . Better to prepare well before this trek so you can enjoy the beauty instaed of giving too much trouble to your body. At high altitudes where oxygen is less, should be very aware how your body reacts . Drinking lot of water and getting good sleep helps in these condition.

Connect to Base Village and campsites:
Sankri is base village for KedarKantha trek. It connects with Dehradun and it takes around 8-10 hours to reach Sankri. It is a quite place in foothills at an altitiude of 6400 feet.Starting from Sankri , first campsite is Juda ka Talab at 9,100ft height. Next day campsite is Base camp which is at 10,200 ft and is the most beautiful site. Final day campsite is in Hargaon (Opposite side of Juda Ka Talab) which is encountered after the summit.

Mobile Networks and ATMs:
Mobile networks slowly dies after Mussoorie and should not expect ATM after Dehradun. So should be well prepared with cash. There is a P.C.O. in sankri with broken BSNL networks.


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Day 1 : Journey started in early morning from Dehradun station , where one of TTH member was there to greet us and provided the tempo traveler till Sankri Village. Being solo I could easily got a window seat and was looking curiously to other fellow with whom i was supposed to spend coming days.
Dehradun to Sankri road journey is very beautiful alongside Yamuna and Tons river. We stopped in Mussoorie and Purola Village for breakfast and Lunch.
Coming from Pune I was already feeling the cold . After 8 hours of hilly roads we reached to our hotel (named as Trek The Himlayas) and we our rooms were already allocated. There we met with our trek leads, we completed all the formalities and briefing , had good dinner and slept.Since we all were tired , we slept early.

Day 2 morning 7:00 o'clock : I went to balcony of hotel with a cup of tea . This morning was very beautiful. Snow caped mountains infront of us , only sound of Tons river and few birds . Temperature was hovering between 2 to 5 degrees maybe .  Everything was so beautiful there.
We all were so excited and started our journey for first campsite Juda Ka Talab.
For first timers ,It was challenging ascend of around 5 hours . On the way we witnessed first snow of trek.

First Snow

Much needed Maggie Break

We halted at Maggie point and started posing for photos. By this time I became familiar with 21 strangers 😊.
After a long ascend of around 5 hours, we finally reached Juda Ka Talab campsite where a frozen lake alongside our tents was waiting for us.Temperature was around 2-3 and everything was covered with snow.
This had to be one of the best campsite of TTH.

Frozen Juda Ka Talab,  Few dared to walk over that :)

We played few games there to get used to with temperature . Made snow man :)

Need to work harder for Snow art

Precious

There I had few talk with group member during evening tea , then soup and followed by some delicious dinner and songs and stories to end a beautiful day. Initially it was not that easy to get used to with snow and low temperatures. I couldn't sleep properly. Bones were freezing in the night even though i had few layers of thermals. Whole body was covered but still we were shivering with cold. I said to myself "Welcome to Winter trek :) ".
Then i saw a guy with  his tripod at midnight in mid of snow at temperature of around -3 degrees to capture these images.

Magic images captured by Shaurya

This image already speaking thousand words

He was Shaurya, One of my new friend. His dedication to his photography was really motivating.

Day 3 Morning: My fingers got numb while completing morning duties. Every touch with water was felt as current to body. Thanks to TTH team, they provide some hot water, which i used to drink and wipe my face. Everything was so memorable but torturous 😊.
It was the day to reach our base camps covering about 2 KMs in 3 hours, so it was a bit relaxed day compared to previous one. We started from Juda ka Talab around 10 AM and reached to base camp around 1 PM . In between we witnessed frozen waterfall , beautiful snow landscapes , Pine trees. It was most scenic route of the trek.

Beautiful patch to cross

Everything was Frozen

Almost at the base camp

This campsite provided a view of all snow caped peak in-front and behind us a snow mountain which we had to cross next day to reach the peak.
I think this was the best place to get profile pic.After relaxing we had lunch , then took some rest and we all were literally lost in nature by now.
My group had amazing talent, few were singing, few busy with their DSLR setup , some dancing , few story tellers. It was really a great experience to be part of that group.

View from base camp

Nothing else matters

Next day was summit day and we had to start early by 3 AM, so it was a quick shut down for day 3.

Day 4 Summit day : At 2 AM we got a call for tea , 2 : 30 AM was Maggie time and 3 AM. We put our crampons and were set to conquer the Kedar Kanth peak.

Thanks to head torches

From base camp to peak it was around 4 hours ascend and most magical ascend we could ever had.
We started to climb the mountain behind our camps and we walked and walked and walked ....
I had experience of night trek (Kalsubai) , so i was confident about my pace and stamina . With small steps we reached half way point. By this time it was not that dark. As the affect of night was melting down , we all could see the peak . I got goose bump at that time.

There is the peak

Magic started. When we looked at that peak we never thought it could take that much of effort to reach at the top but as we were getting closer to that, looked like peak was running away from us. Minute by minute we were taking some heights, feeling the lack of oxygen, stopping almost every 15  mins walk and meantime I realized why this is said to be the most beautiful winter trek.
Sun started to smile from left side , the snow caped mountains became golden , horizon went orange then blue .

I though of that Trident of Shiva image again , i smiled , increased my pace . It was just 80 - 100 meter distance between me and that Trident . I turned back and saw this.

Simply Breathtaking

In the way there were stacks of stones

I finally reached at the top. It looked like i was at top of everything. 13 peaks were visible including Swargarohini , yamunotri , Bandarpuch . All were snow caped. I saw that Trishool , clicked a photo , had some biscuits and cake. Sat down their and thanked to almighty and got lost.

Lost

Peaks of Yamonotri , Swargarohini

We congratulate each other took group pictures with our trek lead who motivated everyone to climb even in difficulties.
I forgot all those numb fingers, sleepless nights , lack of oxygen , current of cold water. It was all about 360 degree view from Kedar Kantha peak.

That was it

It was time to return back . we chose other side of mountain to go down. As expected, we all took  a natural snow slide to get down. It was fun. It didn't take much time to reach half way back.
I was descending alone and was so happy and satisfied. Smiling all the way.

Thanks to my gears

We reach to our base camp around 11 AM, had rest . After lunch and individual stories of everyone , we started towards our last campsite Hargaon.

Last Night In tent

Hargaon campsite

This site is close to Juda ka talab. As descending is always tricky and got trickier in melting snow. By 5 PM we reach to our last campsite.

Day 5 Back to Sankri :  It was all about descending that day. This was our last day of trek . We reached around 1 PM to Sankri . Got good bath 😊. Had lunch. Took rest. It was time to celebrate our success. So we partied and danced till night.
All was good.

Day 6 Back to Dehradun :  We had to return to Dehradun . We started sharp 7 AM and crossed those hilly roads by listening some beautiful local songs.
My train was at night so with my two new friends we stayed in a hotel for a while .

The only thing i could say about this trek , all those pictures and words don't tell you the the full stories. You should do this trek at-least once in lifetime.
As they say, you go alone but come with many friends .
Image of Trident at 12,500 ft will always remain as it is in my heart.

Everest of Maharashtra, Kalsubai (Night Trek)

Month of April may not be the best for day trekking in Sahyadris because of too much of Sunshine, but it's open the options for overnight camping and night treks.

So, one good day I received the message on my adventure group about night Trek that too "The highest peak of Maharashtra, Kalsubai".

Without any second thought I was in for this.

It's summit is situated at 5400 feet . Bari village is base to start the Trek , which is about 6km from Bandhardara.

So I packed my bag with instant energy stuffs and start the journey from Pune station at 11 pm.
Journey from Pune to Bhandardara is majestic and it's leaves you in the middle of some highest ranges of Sahyadris. And night journey in private bus with strangers is always exciting.
So we reach to the base around 0130 had a little introduction with group followed by description of trek. There were few members in the group who've been to Kalsubai around 6 times .

Without any delay we picked up our torches and started towards the peak.
At the beginning it was looking easy but as we continue we came to know it's going to take some efforts .
There are small landscapes in between where we were taking small breaks and looking at the sky and as expected there were millions of stars were visible . I have never seen such star filled sky before . We all were amazed with that view.

There were few patches where we had to crawl (actually we took that path by mistake and that's the thrill of night Trek) by holding our torches in our mouth and using hands to climb.
It was fun but tiring also.

There was continuous sound of insects and breeze which was keeping all of us excited . We walked ,rested walked ,rested ...again walked in the hope of sunrise and visibility of peak.
It was around 0400 and first glimpse of ray was about to come.

After few more minutes we saw a dark orange line at the horizon which was getting lighter and wider every minute . It was the most beautiful sunrise I could see and we were also able to see the peak by now and beleive me it was stll in the sky somewhere after climbing few hours :)

They have made ladders towards the end so it was not that tricky to cross the tough patches.

Around 0730 we reached at the top and the happiness of conquering the highest peak could be seen at our faces. I was lost there I took a round and the mesmerising views of Bhandardara was fascinating  and the wind was so fast, it was almost impossible to hear each other .

After staying there for about an hour we all were set to descend and it was the most difficult part of the trek . The sun was getting brighter and we could feel the heat as well.
There are few shops in the middle selling. Lemon soda which was must in that heat . I was too tired and every single step was socking energy from me. Somehow we all managed to get down safely and on time around 1400.
After reaching base , I turned back and starred that gigantic mountain which I just conquered. It was a proud feeling .
After having delicious Pithla Bhakri at base village we returned back to Pune with sweet memories of this beautiful trek.

Andarban , A Dense forest

Monsoon and Sahyadris is a great Romance. Lush green valleys ,surrounded with multiple waterfalls, fresh air and place to be in if you are nature lover.
Andarban is always in my checklist in every monsoon and I found a group which was organizing this trek. So, without any delay I was up for this.

We started at 0600 hours from Pune station.  Andarban trek starts from the pimpri Dam in Tamhini range. At the beginning of this trek, there is a trail going into the Jungle along with dam and we have to follow that. Crossing this dam is itself a thrill and gives you a glimpse how the next few hours are going to be. We crossed that bridge around 1030 hours. Then our group of 25 trekkers had introduction with each other and we all were ready to start.There was sensation in the air...It was raining..

Starting Point Of Andraban

After introduction, we started towards Bhira dam (which is at the end of the Trek). It was total of 13 KM trek (Pimpri to Bhira) ,in which 7-8 KM is almost a walk and then descend towards end. This route is surrounded by , one of the most beautiful Kundalika Vally views.

Beautiful view

After  walking few KMs in the nature , there was a water stream which we had to cross.We all were hearing the sound of this stream way back and were amazed by its grace when we saw that ... It was raining...Water was chilled but who cares, it was time to take a dip and get lost in the nature.
After walking few more KMs  we found a huge waterfall creating a natural pond and yesss we all were in that pond within 5 minutes :). We had amazing time there. Sitting and get absorbed in the charismatic waterfall leaves you with one of the best moment of this trip.

Natural Pond

A small but beautiful water stream

Kundalika Valley View

Jungle is waiting.....

After crossing these falls and streams,the actual forest starts.The sound of insects , birds ,and the waterfalls were jamming together and the trees with heavy thick wood were the audience of this show.
It is that dark that you wont realize weather its raining or sunny light outside. All you see is green leaves and huge trees. We were covered with greenery of these trees...It was raining...
We continued to walk and walk and walk. Throughout this walk ,at the left side we had Kundlika Valley view which is definitely one of the most beautiful part of Sahyadris.

Thick wood forest

Suddenly, the cover of green leaves goes away and we were in the middle of plateau, This green color..just wwoooww..
It was raining....
We all were hungry. There is a small village nearby, where we got some good food . That village name  Tikri and a beautiful passage starting from plateau was connecting to this village and while I was walking in that natural trail, I was asking to God to not put an end on this path. I could have walked miles there. It was that beautiful...but that passage ended in that village. :)
 We stayed there for a while. Had awesome Maaggie and corn. and were ready for a descendant.

Lunch time

Descendant in rain is a tedious task . We all were going slowly but still we were falling again and again...It was raining...
Finally around 1700 hours we reached near the Bhira dam. but wait...its not the end.
There was a small river to cross but due to heavy rainfall it was outflow. Thanks to our group coordinator.With the help of their equipment, we crossed the river safely..It was raining...

We were at the end of the memorable trek with beautiful memories of waterfalls , water streams ,pond ,  dense forest walk , green plateau and friends.
..It was raining  😊