Kumta to Gokarna trek trail is one such activity which is combination of walk on the golden sand, climbing through the lush green hilly terrains, rock hopping in the sea, staying in the beach staring at the stars and a ferry ride across the river.
My name is Raghu, an IT person by profession and a traveler by passion. This is my first blog in which I have shared my first beach trek experience. Hope you enjoy it.
Kumta to Gokarna Trek is a two day trek which is mainly divided into two parts.
We were a group of 7 amateur traveler for whom this was the first trek. After few research we listed the things that need to carried and packed our bags and left Bangalore on Friday night. Kumta can be easily accessed by public transport. We can book an overnight bus from Bangalore to Kumta in any day of the week with a mere charge of Rs.600-900.
After a 9 hour journey, we reached Kumta at 6.30am on Saturday morning. First thing we did is finding a hotel to freshen up and get ready for the trek. Near Kumta bus stop there are lot of budget friendly hotel (Hotel Anupama) which provides basic facilities to freshen up.
After finishing our breakfast, it was 9am when we check out of the hotel and started the trek.
Our trek start point kumta beach was at a distance 4km from our hotel. The best option was to take an auto to reach kumta beach and start the trek on time. But being too enthusiastic we decided to walk 4km and start the trek.
Exploring the streets of kumta we started walking towards the Kumta beach and reached the start point at 10.30am. Before even starting the trek we were 90mins behind our planed itinerary .
On day 1 we were supposed to walk through and cover Kumta, Vannalli, Mangodlu, Kadle, Holanagade, Aaviksha, Baada, Gudeangadi, Hubbanageri and finally Nirvana beach where we had planned our stay. On day 2 we would start from Nirvana and walk through Nirvana Cliff, Cross Aghanashini river, God's own beach, Tadri light house, Horizon Cliff, Paradise beach, Small hell beach, Half moon beach, Om beach, Gokarna Cliff and finally reach the end point of the trek Gokarna Beach.
As we started walking by 11.00am we reached Vannalli beach. Vannalli is a beautiful fishermen settlement village where one can witness the daily routine of the fishermen life. As we entered the beach there were a lot of colorful fishing boats and the fishing nets laid on the shore for repair. Also here one can see the fishes laying on the rocks under the hot sun to dry and preserve it. Seeing all these beautiful scenes the photophile of our group started taking photo in which we missed the track of time. It was 12.20am by the time we left Vannali beach.
Next was the Mongodlu beach which was hidden inside two hills. This is one such “Virgin” beach which is untouched by public. Also this beach was inaccessible via roads, the only way to access this beach is by walking through those hills. As we started walking through the hill we witnessed tiny streams which were flowing through the hills.
The last part the hill was filled with huge boulders which was a bit riskier to cross. The surface of the boulders were very smooth and slippery.
Apart from the risk factor it was a beautiful experience hopping through the boulders. It was mid afternoon when we reached Mongodlu beach. It was a mesmerizing view staring the ocean sitting in the untouched beach under the scorching sun. Again our photophile,s become active missed the time track. We left the Mongodlu beach at 2.00pm which was 2 hours behind the itinerary. To cover the lost time we decided to skip our lunch and started walking towards our destination. From Kadle beach till Nirvana it a flat terrain filled with sand. Walking through the sand was much easier in the initial stage but later on we realized the difficulty of the terrain. We were supposed to cover 7km in 4 hours. By 4.00pm we were able to cover only 2.5km and as we skipped our lunch everyone were exhausted. Still we had 4.5km to cover in 2 hours which was not possible. So we decided to Stay over night in Gudeangadi beach and survive with the food and water which we had kept for our lunch and a tarpaulin sheet and few blankets which we had carried as a backup. Also we had carried a small vessel and few packets of maggie in case of emergency.
We managed to pitch a tent with tarpaulin and using the available things around also gathered few fire woods to start camp fire and prepare maggie once it darkens. By 5.30pm we finished our work and sat in sea shore witnessing the beautiful sunset in the Arabian sea.
Unfortunately the food which we had kept for our dinner was spoiled and we were left with no food for dinner. In the map we saw a small village called Gudeangadi which was 300 meters from the our camp. So we decided to look for some food in the village and luckily there was a small hotel in that village next to “Kanchikamba Devasthana” (Temple). We rushed to the hotel to see if there is anything available to eat but again our bad luck the hotel was closed. (The hotels and few shops in the kumta Nirvana trails will be closed by 4.00pm). There was a small provision store near by where we bought some biscuits and returned to the beach in the hope that we can atleast prepare maggie and have for that night. As time goes the pace of the wind started increasing and at some point our tent couldn't withstand wind. By this time we realized that the decision of staying whole night in the beach without any facilities is a blunder and decided to move back to the village and stay in the bus stop or government schools for that night. We were all exhausted and everyone in the team was very hungry as we had already skipped the lunch and the biscuits which we had were not enough to replenish our energy. With zero hope we again reached the hotel and asked the owner weather we can use their gas stove and vessel to prepare the maggie which we had carried with us. The owner was so kind hearted that he agreed and he himself prepared it.
It was so relaxing when we had that first spoon of piping hot maggie after a very stressful day. In the meantime we explained everything to the hotel owner and told him that we were planning to stay in the bus stop or school for that night. Listening to this the hotel owner suggested us to visit the temple and ask for accommodation facility there which would be safer. It was already 8.00pm when we reached the temple and we had no hope that there will be someone in the temple at that time but luckily there were two people who belong to the temple authority. We reached to them and explained everything and asked for the accommodation. They asked our ID cards and address proof for verification and asked us to submit a written letter in order to get the accommodation facility. After all the procedure by 8.40pm we were finally settled in a stress free place where we can stay that night. Before sleeping we replanned our day 2 itinerary in order to complete the trek. As per the new plan we were supposed to start our day 2 early in the morning.
The next day when we woke up it was already 8am and we all were very sure that if we will not be able to complete the second half of the trek in the available time. So we decided to abort the second day trek and took a bus to Aganashini. Aganashini is one of the virgin rivers in the world which starts from ‘Shankara Honda’ in Srisi Taluk and ends in Arabian sea unobstructed. (Avoid private ferry drivers who charge thousands of rupees saying they will take you on a private ride till Om beach). There is a public ferry service offer in Aganashini to Tadadi port with ticket charges lesser than Rs.10 per person.
We reached Tadadi by 12pm and from there still we had 12km to cover which had hilly terrains. So we decided to take an auto to Gokarna and spend the rest of the day in Gokarna beach and the temples. After visiting the temple we enjoyed in the beach till 5pm and then got freshened up and headed towards the bus stop.
We had our return bus booked on sunday evening 7pm from Gokarna to Bangalore. On Monday morning 8am we were in Bangalore.
Things we learnt in this trek:
