Gokarna - The camper's paradise!

Chapter 2,
Gokarna
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Benaka travels, managed a single sleeper seat ticket for 550₹, driver was real good!

Around 6:30 am, I hopped out of the bus at Gokarna cross.

Usually buses go to Ankola and halt there. You will only reach Gokarna directly if no passenger drops are scheduled at Ankola.

Gokarna cross to Gokarna is at least a 5-7 mile distance. KSRTC Buses charge 10₹ and rickshaw charges are 50-100 ₹ depending on how good you speak the local language.

Getting the bus that usually plies once in every hour just after crossing the highway where the bus dropped me was a stroke of luck.

Gokarna,
A divine place and one of the most auspicious abodes of Shiva, the almighty.

Gokarna is also one of the 7 most prominent hindu pilgrimage centres.

But the influence of the tourists has made the surroundings of this divine place a disaster in terms of hygiene.

The city of Gokarna has lost the touch of spirituality as it has a hairline crack due to the mushrooming of restaurants and shops to cater the needs of the people, pilgrims and the tourists.

The land where the mighty Mahabaleshwar resides is always crowded with pilgrims from various places of India and around the world

But Gokarna is not just that city,
there are beautiful destinations which the locals keep to themselves.

Chapter 3,
Paradise beach,
The name says it all.

Swept away from the city life, Paradise beach is a jaw dropping destination that should be reached after walking and trekking approx. 2 miles from Belekaan.

There are direct buses to Belekaan but they are very few. The buses ply every 2-3 hours. But, if you want to get there sooner, an autorickshaw will cost you 150₹, again depending on your local language speaking skills or bargaining skills.

Paradise beach also has another entrance from the famous OM beach also.
I reached Belekaan by some local advice!

Kannadigas are kind at heart. We don't care if your tongue blabbers while trying to speak the local language. We may let you eat in our plate if you win our hearts!

But kannadigas can expel you from the place and keep a sharp memory of you to keep you from returning if the odds are not in mutual favours in the remote place you're visiting.

I have always felt safe within the borders of Karnataka, as I have jumped in to conversations with the locals pretty much very easily and shared few same views about how people are increasing every decade and adding to the waste of the city and polluting the surroundings with plastics!

Remember!
The first ever manufactured plastic has not yet bio degraded into the soil!
#carryyourgarbageback

After walking through the rocks and trees, when the Paradise beach is almost in the vicinity of your walk,
You can hear the waves revving to the shores and a blanket of cool air from the oceans making way into the thick foothills through which you have walked to get there!

The place is the sight of mother's love for the child.

Overwhelmed by the symphony of the setting sun and still bewildered if there actually existed a boundary that seperated the ocean's horizon and the start of the sky.

The whole of the skies capped with the cream of clouds, and the color of the setting sun adding a melody to the nature's music,
Crimson sunshine gives hopes for a better tomorrow!
But it does take away the best of what you call yours!

The waves crashing the shores,
The birds singing,
The forests swinging and moving the barks and branches for the song of the wind that came all the way long just to sweep the scorching heat off the evening sun.

The shores turned red, the skies slowly started to go dark making way for the moon to play all night.

And the best of all, the tourists started to leave.

People usually spend time in the beach here and leave in the boats instead of trekking as it gets dark.

By almost 7 in the evening, if you are lucky enough, you'll be the boss of the entire Paradise Beach staying a nomadic life!

No connection with the outside world, seas to the south, woods to the north seas to the west and seas to the east.

I was blessed to stay all night long there, alone in a human forsaken place! It couldn't get any better!

The lesser the people, lesser the chaos of thoughts.

Calm, Divine, Spiritual and a place to find and seek answers for a lot of thoughts that would want to swallow you alive.

The tent was pitched and the night was spent looking at the billion stars and a single moon and all that the mind wanted, was a horizon that it could hardly even see to believe its there!

Awaiting to get to the horizon! Where there could be moments we cannot imagine but dream.

I took a dip in the sea, swam until i felt tired.

Feeling light in the salty water going by the energy of the waves, Looking at the sky with my ears dipped in the water, listening to the wild sea waves crossing hundreds of nautical miles to meet the shore, they are all in love with,

Life took a pause and an inner voice spoke to me,
"These are the moments you route for mate!"

Once the shore is free of people, the beauty of the place just keeps getting better.

The  algae bloom of planktons glow here, on the shores.
The night has to be real dark and there should not be a sign of slight light around.

The sight is a dream for a lot of people.

After finding a lot of answers for a lot of questions! All that you're left with is a sense of satisfaction and an urge for an undisturbed and undisputed sleep.

And the best of all, It was my birthday today, 08 October.

As the nights got darker and colder, I slid to sleep.

I camped here for two days and survived on whole pineapples, watermelons and some omelettes!
And music! Especially music!

The best two days of my life spent at the sea bed! The moon grew another day old nearing its completion,

With the full moon night due in less than a week,

The nights at the shore, the sight of the moon reflecting on the tip of the ripples caused by currents stays like a flash of star etched in the memory

I woke up the first morning before sun and took a walk along the beach, with a gratitude for the place!

And spent some time reading and trekking back to refill the supplies of food and water, walking back and forth with a 20 kg rucksack can swallow half your day, of course it should include the time spent in having A chilled beer at Belekaan's Darshan hotel!

I relaxed in the restaurant for a while and walked back when it was almost evening! I did see a lot of people trekking back after the visit! I was the only trekker, trekking  back to the beach!

Spent the evening
Until I was woken up the next morning by the chat of the local fishermen.

That was a mere 4 hour sleep! But a fair one I had in quite a while!

I have always enjoyed my own company, It would taste a lie to say, solo travel is not the best of it!

Time alone with your thoughts and unwinding then in the lap of nature with enormous energy can stir a lot of beginnings in a person's life!

Your duties as a human into action.
Save the nature! Save the thoughts from breaking you! Save the energy to develop your mind!

Save yourself some love to travel again!

And, carry your food and water if you plan a stay for the night. Because once you reach the Paradise beach, there's nothing except for some pineapples and bread omelettes and just until 6 PM IST.

Do pack and bring back the garbage you carried!