Let's start with why Udupi. Instead, let me tell you why not Udupi. Udupi is coastal town in Karnataka which is rich in history, culture, cuisine and nature. Udupi is one of the ancient towns of India, which is now growing fast with a modern touch being Manipal located next to it. Not many people know about this place, but is a must visit place if one is in Karnataka. The Krishna temple over here is a famous one which was established in the olden days. Udupi has its own local cuisine, both in Vegetarian and Non-vegetarian. In veg one can try the veg meal and the famous masala dosa and other breakfast items. In non veg one can try kori roti and chicken sukka, neer dosa and chicken ghee roast etc. In short the city has something to offer for all sort of travellers.
Initially we thought of going to Mangalore, but it got changed as I found that Udupi had better things to offer than Mangalore. My hubby n I were free for this weekend and hence the impromptu plan.
How to reach: This is around 350 KM from Bangalore. So, we took the overnight bus. This is the most convenient mode of transport. There are trains as well, but one will need advance booking for that. Bus costed us ₹900/- per head.
Mode of transportation in the city: The public transport is really good here. One can take city buses to go to any place. There are bike rental services available as well, but only in Manipal. And those have to be booked in advance, else you won't get it.
Where to stay: There are many budget hotels available here. One can either book beforehand or just walk in to any of them. We just walked in to one named Hotel Krishna comforts . Here we paid ₹ 1800/- for A/C room for a night. The hotel was near the main bus stand Udupi. The room was spacious and decent.
Day 1: Sri Krishna matha-> Malpe beach-> St.Mary's Island-> Street shopping
We reached in the morning at around 7. As we had not booked our hotel and started looking for one near the bus stand. After visiting 6-7 hotels, we found a good one and decided to check in @ Hotel Krishna comforts. Then we got fresh n up quickly and started our venture. We had breakfast @ Hotel Santi Sagar- the famous masala dosa from the place where it was originated. Our initial plan was to take a bike on rent to explore the city and hence we enquired and got to know that bike rental services are available @Manipal. So, we headed towards Manipal on a local bus. We searched at many places as advised by the locals, but failed in our quest. We saw that time was passing and we were just traveling here and there. Then one local guy suggested us to use public transport. Then we went to the Krishna matha-. It's in walkable distance from the bus stand. There are three temples in the same campus:- The main Krishna temple, Chandramauliswar temple and Ananteswar temple. Near the entrance there were the Chariots kept. We went inside all the three temples had our darshan. For the main temple the darshan is done through a window. There is a story behind it. One of the God's devotee was barred to enter the premise because of his caste. So he decided to stay on the side of the temple and pray. Lord Krishna was so impressed by his prayers and dedication that the temple wall broke and a hole was formed, so that he could see the God. Later on he was allowed to go inside. But to remember the devotee and the miracle of Krishna, darshan is done through the window only. Here they serve prasadam every day for everyone in lunch and dinner. There is a pond in the campus which was closed from all the sides.
After darshan, we decide to go the coin museum near the temple. It was a unique museum having collection of coins from different era like Cholas, Pandyas, Mughals, Hoyasalas, Britishers and all other rulers who ruled all over India. I wondered from where have they collected all those. They had currency notes of different countries. I got to know about the Indian history of currency notes. And, before Narendra Modi, demonetisation happened twice in India during 1946-British era and one by Morarji Desai. Earlier they had 10000 and 5000 currency notes, which were removed from circulation. They told us how to recognise which coin is made in which place, they call it mint. Earlier in India, coin production was not enough and hence they used to import from other countries. So, wherever they produce the coin they put a small logo for recognition. There were so many new things to learn there. It's a small space, but very much informative.
It was lunch time already. We found a hotel nearby(Hotel Cafiya) for lunch. We ordered Pomfret fish thali. And it costed us only ₹350/- per thali.( Yes, you read that right, 350 only.) It was completely worth the price. Trust me, I have eaten fish in many place, but the fish which I had there was simply delicious. So, you can call Udupi as a food lovers' paradise.
After having the superlicious lunch, it was time for beach visit. Beacause beaches are better visited in the afternoon. I always plan the trips accordingly so that I do the local sightseeing in the first half and beach in the second half. We started for Malpe beach by city bus. Ticket price was ₹17/- per head. It took around half an hour to reach there. But, it was too sunny to even enjoy the beach. We went to the ticket booking counter to St.Mary's island immediately. There was a rush and they were not accepting the booking for anyone. So we waited for a while and got the tickets( finally). The ticket cost is ₹300/-. The island was visible from the beach, but took around half an hour to reach. This is a picturesque island. As per the history Vasco da Gama set his foot on this island first while coming to India and he named it as Saint Mary's island. This island is well maintained and clean. This reminded me of the Phra nang cave beach of Krabi, Thailand. Many people are not aware of this hidden gem. Even I was not aware of this place earlier until I saw a picture of my friend posing in this island. This is a beautiful island with unique lava formations. One can easily spend hours together here. We walked around the island for an hour and came back to the Malpe beach. Malpe beach has white sands and is beautiful. But this is a crowded beach filled with the locals. There was some function going on at the beach. We were lucky to witness that as well. We spend our evening at the beach. They have water sports activities available here. Then we came back to Udupi and spent the remaining part of evening in shopping at the local market. Now it was time for dinner and we wanted to try some local cuisine. I had read that the famous cuisine here is neer dosa and chicken sukka or ghee roast. We searched for a restaurant named Anupam and walked in to have dinner. We ordered neer dosa and chicken ghee roast. The food was yum. We enjoyed the meal and called it a day.
Day 2:- Delta beach-> Malpe sea walk-> Kapu beach-> Krishna matha-
We got ready and had the Udupi famous masala dosa for breakfast again and started our journey. First we visited the Delta beach. This was little far and took around an hour to reach and the ticket costed around ₹20/- per day. This is a beach in Udupi with the backwaters. The road to this beach was scenic as there was sea on one side and river on the other. So, one could just imagine how fun the journey would be. In between there was this road and the houses of fishermen. There were many fish godowns here. There were huge pile of coconuts and the coconut shells. The view was just amazing. We went till the end and then the bus stopped. There was no proper way to go to the beach. You would hardly find anyone in the beach. It was almost empty. We spent some time here and then came by bus to the main bus stand. Even though it's an empty beach, buses are frequent to this place.
Then we decided to go to the Malpe beach walk. To reach here one has to take bus to Malpe and then walk to the beach walk side. There was a ship docking yard here. There were many ships here. You could see many fishermen here. There are boats going to St Mary's island from here as well and they charge ₹250/-. The beach walk was nice. We saw many crabs and birds near the beach walk area. This place had a splendid view, however it was noon time and the sun was at its peak. So, my energy got drained out. Somehow we manged to come back to bus stop and then back to Udupi again. We had lunch at the same restaurant as the day before. We had veg thali this day. It was delicious again.
Our next destination was Kapu beach. So we boarded a bus for the same. To go here, we had to take an intercity bus, not the city bus. The bus dropped us at the Kapu township. We booked an auto and went to the beach which costed ₹40/-. I was amazed by the view of the beach. This beach is famous for the light house. The light house timing is 4PM -6PM everyday. We went to the light house immediately. It had just opened then. The entry fee is ₹10/-. We climbed up without any further delay and the view from the light house was a sight to behold. The beach, the boats, the rocks: everything was just wonderful. It was super windy up there. One can just stand there and enjoy the view for hours together. But unfortunately that's not possible practically. So, we descended and sat down near the beach for some time and played with the waves. Then, we started back. I wanted to be back in Udupi by evening as we went by bus. Again we took auto and bus to reach back to Udupi.
It was only 6 and we still had three more hours for our bus back to Bangalore. So, we decide to spend the evening at the Krishna temple. When we reached the place it was dark already and we saw there was a golden chariot standing outside the temple. We understood that something was going to happen. So, we found a bench inside the campus and waited for the chariot festival to begin. Then the festival began. They placed the idol of the lord in the chariot and started pulling it around the temple. There were many foreign devotees as well who were pulling the strings of the chariot. I was delighted by the sight and the thought that the foreigners also have faith in our God. This was a rare sight. They burnt something and did some rituals which we witnessed. There was a positive energy in that place which would make you feel good. And then it was bus time and time to say goodbye to Udupi.
It was a good experience. Let me know if it was helpful.