Cycling to Nandi Hills from Attiguppe, Bangalore!

On April-4 -2009 i got a new cycle- Firefox  'Bad Attitude'. So i booked the Government Guest House for two peole at Nandi Hills for 18th April. I BADLY wanted to cycle till Nandi hill's top.. the Tippu Drop, to test my stamina!. This thought had been doing rounds in my head ryt from my Engg college days!

 Myself and Subba were supposed to cycle on that day..however on 16th, Subba fell sick and  i decided that i will go all alone!. Through Ramakishore, i came to know about Suresh an Ex-ISRO employee currently working in Bosch. He was willing to join me!

 On 18th Morning, i started from my house in BCC Layout, Near Attiguppe, Vijayanagar at 6 AM. I hit the Magadi road-> Okalipuram and in 20 min, i was in Sampige Road bridge, where i witnessed a beautiful Sunrise.

 I took another 20 minutes to cycle till Hebbal Flyover where i saw the Beautiful birds flying over the Hebbal lake. I hit the National Highway-7 , the Hyderabad Road.

 

  I waited for Suresh from about 645 AM till 715 AM. He came cycling in his TREK 3700 bike. After some talk abt each others bikes and work, we started off.

 The Advantage for us was, for almost the whole trip towards Nandi Hills, we could cycle freely in the Service Road. I easily cycled in my 2nd and 7th Gear combination (front n rear)!

  The road was good!, it was quite easy to cycle on. Within 10 minutes we crossed Yelahanka, our discussions abt office politics, went on parallely!

  We ate some Seedless Dates in Between as well.. 

  

  We crossed the  Devanahalli Airport Entrance, it was around 830AM. We stopped  at a nearby Tea Shop and Had two Tender Coconut's each. That was supposed to be our breakfast after having cycled for about 35km from our respective homes!!

  

  At 9AM or so we proceeded towards Chikballapura, On the way we saw Tipu Sultan's Birthplace and Venkatagiri Kote. At 920AM we were at the Nandi Hills Road Junction. The base of Nandi hills was about 8-9 km from this point.  I was feeling a bit tired coz it was getting hotter every moment!

  We crossed the railway track, and we could see the Nandi Hills and Tippu Drop from the 6km distance. It looked good!. As we cycled nearer, it was getting bigger and bigger.. i started getting doubts whether i would be able to cycle till the top as i was already feeling a bit tired. Moreover i had cycled over 50 km till now.

My Previous best record was only 30 km, that too in the ULTRA FLAT Roads of Sriharikota, Andra Pradesh where i took a bicyle ride to See the First and Second Launchpad with my Good Friend Abhishek Mandal!

  We reached Nandi Hills Base at 10 AM. It was looking Big, really Big.. i mean while trekking we definetly see bigger mountains.. but in this one i would be cycling up..which i feel is a bit more difficult than Trekking up (Mountaineering is a different story!). 

  I was feelin a bit tired. However, I was also surprised that we were at the base of Nandi hills after only 4 hours of cycling from our respective localities!!!

  We had Fruit Juice and started immediately.

  The distance would be 10km to the summit, 2km of gradual uphill and 8km of Ghat section. After 1 km of cycling, we saw a famer watering his crops, he was kind enough to give us water for refreshing ourselves. We proceeded untill we got into the Ghat section.

 We started, i was in my first gear.. my goodness with 200-300 metres i felt totally drained, and this guy Suresh had immense stamina and was almost 400 meters ahead of me!

  Some how i cycled for the next 1km and met up with him, He was waiting for me.

  

  We had 6.5 km more of uphill, and the time was around 1045 AM. We had taken 30 minutes to cycle up just 2.5KM (uphill)!!! 

 He was also feeling tired, and unlike me he wanted to return to Bangalore on the same day, so we decided that he will return back to Bangalore and i will stay in the guest House at the top. We bid goodbye's to each other and he left for bangalore and reached his home at 245pm. He's got loads of Stamina.

 

  I rested there for ONE HOUR!    Coz i was afraid of getting a muscle pull!

  I was listening quitely to the chirping of birds and fluttering of Eucalyptus Tree leaves. Occasionally a Car/Bus would pass by. The people in car/bus used to stare at me and my cycle as though they were looking at  'an Alien with a man-made cycle!!!'

 I then cycled for another 2km, and that was it.. could not cyle anymore. I got down and pushed my cycle uphill!

  

  There were a good number of Hairpin bends, and the Sun God was merciless, considering that he and i are of the same birth Star (Anuradha/Anusham Nakshatra).

 After about 1 km , again there was a level road of 150 meters, i cycled there only to find a huge hairpin bend leading to a 30-40 degress inclined road.. "Goodness me" i thought and i got down and pushed for 1 more km.

 Finally, after exhausting all my water filled with Electral and Glucose, i cylced the last 500m to reach the top!

 I felt as though my conquest was greater than scaling up Mt Everest. A lady up there came to me and asked "where are you coming from?"

  I replied proudly "Vijayanagar, Bangalore".  

 

"Oh my God!!!! ..... Son, Are you Mad and dont you have any work?" she asked.

 What a horrible reception at the Summit!!!,Grrrrrrrrrr-    I thought.

'' No, Aunty, I like cycling", I politely replied and parked my cycle at the Parking lot.

Just then i saw 2 guys in thier Merida Cycles starting thier way back! .. "WoW " i thought!

 I went to the guest house to Meet Mr Rajanna, Officer of Guest House Nandi Hills. I gave him the Guest House Reciept for a room for 2 people.

 He asked "Where is the Other Person?"

"He could Not Join me" I said

After a moment he snapped "Ohh i know you guys, you will say he cunt join and stuff like that and take the room so that you can bring your girl friend in here when no body is around, i cant give the room to you.. "

I was stunned!! Man is he crazy or what 

"Hello sir, i have booked the room and have come from Bangalore cycling, i cant go back today as i am tired ! "

He says "My boy, i have seen many people like you, Now please go away"

 He thinks i am lying and i got pissed off!

i flash out my ISRO govt ID card and Say "look Sir, This not the way things should happen, i am Central Govt Employee,  you should give me a proper explaination why you cant give me a Room"

He was Stunned "Sir, Sorry ...Sir .. I am sorry.. you can have the room, I was not aware. There have been cases of Suicide by Old men @ Tippu Drop who come here on pretext of staying alone. And also we have got some police cases where youngsters like you come asking for a Single room, so that they can spend the night here with thier GF's "

'My goodness, so thats why he was concerned .. anyways he only did his duty' I thought

'No problem sir, you can call my Parents and ask details about me' I gave my dad and mom's number. He got convinced and apologised to me and gave me a Room without calling up my DAD :) 

  I had lunch and slept in my Room, under a Creaking Fan from 230 - 430 pm.

 430pm, i had a nice bath and walked till Tippu Drop. I sat there silently. Only companion i had was my conscience!

  I loved the feeling of silently sitting there with the wind unsettling my hair and watching the eagles, flying below me!

  At 630 after Sunset i went to my Room, and meditated for 30 minutes and by 715 had my dinner!

 From 745-830pm , i wrote my personal diary. I then went to sleep. It was a chilly Night!

 I woke up to my mobile's Alram at 5AM. Refreshed myself for 15 minutes. There was a garden in front of my Guest House, i meditated there from 530-555AM, and needless to say my Mind was @ Peace! I was thinking whether the Oygen level on the hill top was 100% or what? hmm what a pure air!

 

  I left the Nandi hill top at sharp 6AM, and believe me.. i could touch a speed of over 60km. First time i used my 3rd Gear in the front.  It was an awesome feeling.. as i went down i felt all the yesterdays hard work was getting paid in this wonderful ride downhill! 

  I saw the milestone 59km to Bangalore, and i thought i hav a hard task at cycling 68km to my home!

  I stopped just before the end of the Ghat section where i could see the Sun Rise between 2 hills, one on the left being Nandi Betta!   "Wow man ..what a day its gonna be" i thought!!

  I overtook a guy in his motorbike untill i met the End of Ghat Section, i cycled non-stop till i crossed the Railway Track and hit the National Highway-7. The sight of NH-7 was a welcoming, 

The roads looked very wide, and service road looked as though the Govt built this 300 Crore Rupees road for me to cycle on it!! I Imagined that the Tax i pay to government went to this road's construction! With this imagination i cycled with PRIDE!

  Had my glucose and water , rested for 5 minutes n  i cycled NON-STOP for about 35km untill i reached Yelahanka Junction. Here i thought i will cycle in the main road, and did so. 

There was an over-bridge after the Yelahanka Junction, i cycled up and speedily came down.. a Service road almost parallely  joined this junction .. 

i crossed it and was happily cycling when i heard a loud horn behind! i turned back ..only to see a 70km/hr Bus missing me by a FOOT distance .. i felt like being pulled towards the bus coz of Bernoulli's principle!!  

  

  "IDIOT", I said to myself

  "FOOOL, MORON" the Driver and Conductor of the Bus Shouted in acknowledgment ..

  "Its high time that i believe in God" i thought!

  Cursing myself, i cycled till Hebbal. Where i had 2 tender coconuts. It was 9AM. Called my home and told my dad that i would have breakfast at home by 1030AM

 

 Sure enough i reached home by 1040AM. It was a very satisfying experience, only that i had a bit of Backache, and of course Buttock ache. 

However the enduring journey of abt 140km will remain close to my heart for all the right and wrong(Rajanna @ Guest house for his Girl Frind allegations and A bus missing me by a foot!) reasons

  

  

   Overall The Summary is

First Day

6AM ; Departed from myu home

7AM: Hebbal Lake

715AM-830AM: Devanahalli

9-10AM: Nandi Hills Base -almost 60km from Home

10AM-1PM: 10km Uphill

   On the hindsight if we leave our homes at 5AM, we can reach the NH-07 by sunrise. And Nandi Hills Base by 830AM itself.

   The whole trip can be achieved in One day itself. Hope to try it out one day!

  Next trip is Manchanbelle Dam and Toorhalli .. Anyone Interested?

 

 

  

 

MM hills to Palar via Nagamale - Forest Brigand Veerappan Area!

I wondered how Forest- Brigand Veerappan stayed all the while in the forest!

 How about experiencing the forests where he stayed in exile?

  The trek route was selected - MM hills via Nagamale to palar.

  I called up Mr Anand (9449176905), Forest Range officer of MM Hills Forest Reserve. He gave the details of the Trek, Tariff was Rs 3400/- per Batch of 6. 

  It included (each one for a batch of 6)

Trekking Fees - Rs 1200/-    Entry Fee -  Rs 600/-   Guide Fees - Rs 300/-  

 Miscellaneous Charges - Rs 400/-    Night Stay - Rs 900/-

                     This information can be found at www.mysterytrails.com.

       He told that Night food and Breakfast in the morning will be included in this amount. Also apart from Night Stay, rest of the amount would go to Forest Development Fund. The Night Stay at the Tribal Settlements would uplift them economically, he said.

 

   A trek team of 13 was formed- Abhijith, Girish,Santosh, Karthik,Vineet, Jagadish,Krishna,Guna, Vivek, Chetan, Sarvesh and myself from Bangalore. My brother Sujai from Chennai also joined us. Date was 6th March-09.

    12 of us  left Mysore Road Satellite Bus Stand,Bangalore on 6th-March-2009. The KarnatakaSarige Bus took a diversion just after Maddur Bus Stand towards Kollegal. He reached MM Hills at 230 AM on 7th Morning.

  The forest Office was near PWD Guest House, we were near the PWD guest house when we saw a Wild Pig chasing a number of Donkeys. 

I remembered a dialogue in Superstar Rajnikanths movie 'Sivaji' where he, when cornered by 20 thugs he says "Pigs roam in a group while A Lion proudly walks alone.." and then he fights back--> Kanna Panningadhaan Kootamavarum Singam Singaladhaan varum!) 

              How contrasting i thought!!!

   We were taken aback for a second.

  We had a nice sleep till 7AM at the Office doorsteps. We witnessed a beautiful sunrise

  We had breakfast at a roadside hotel. We bought some chocolates,Juice and vegetables.

   Sujai Joined us at 9:00 AM. He came to MM hills via Mettur from Chennai.

  

  We payed the required fees and filled up the required form's for Mr Anand, at his Office residence. We packed some chapathi's for lunch at Hotel Mahadeshwara.

 Mr Veeranna, a forest range official accompanied us with a .303 mm rifle.

  We started the trek at 1045 AM right in front of Male Mahadeshwara Temple. We had to walk for almost 2 km on Road till we got a muddy road junction, where we had tea. The muddy road led us to Nagamale.

 It was damn hot, and we could see people selling buttermilk on the roadside for Rs 2/- a glass. Occasionally refreshing ourselves we proceeded.

  

 The scenery was more like a peaceful Village with a quiet hilly background. With cows, Buffaloes wandering like free souls. People here knew Kannada and Tamil very well.

 There were many pilgrims going to and fro to visit the holy Nagamale temple. 

The going is literally ‘uphill’ to the 10 villages of Tulasikere, Indiganatta, K. Kane, Padsalanatta, Mendere, Nedaganane, Nagamale, Kokware, Toukere and Doddane, for there is no road connecting them to the MM Hills.

After about and hour walking beside the countryside we reached Tulasikere.

We refreshed ourselves there and then proceeded. The terrain was becoming a bit steeper, untilwe reached a viewpoint where we clicked a few pictures.

After about another hour we reached Indiganatha village. The village inhabitants welcomed us.. we had trekked about 6km i guess. It was a silent village where the buildings were made of cement and brick. I was wondering how??? then i got the answer when i saw 30-40 donkeys roaming. They had to do a "Donkey's Job" 

 We had our packed chapathi's and chutney as lunch in a tea shop at Padsalanatta village beside the village well...

 After about an hour's rest,  by 2:00pm we proceeded towards nagamale. We passed Mendere and Nedaganane villages where we saw Stepped Farming Agricultural Lands. I was happy seeing it, as it refreshed my 10th Std Basics. People used firewood for cooking food. Rarely i saw kerosene stoves as its difficult to transport LPG's here. 

   

 However, deep in my heart i was longing that i live in such place where there is peace in abundance. The people were loving in nature and nature loving.

 On asked about Veerappan .. Mr. Veeranna replied " he used to frequently visit the people of this village. He was a robin-hood for them. He used to come for Assembly elections campaigning for the local MLA.

   Occasionally he used to give money to these poor tribal villagers so that he wins their trust, as he would need their help due to his exiled forest life.

   He killed one Police Officer in these forests ... because he was accused of mis-behaving with the tribal women...

  Saaaar, he was just a normal person who killed TUSKED elephants and chopped Sandal Trees for a living. Unfortunately, he was dragged into state level politics, which cost him his life"

    

     I was surprised that people viewed him differently here in the forests. But i could not digest the fact that a Forest Officer defended him as a "NORMAL person who killed Tusked Elephants and Smuggled Sandal Tree logs"

  Finally, we reached Nagamale village by 5:00 pm. We dumped our trekking bags in the Room the villagers had built for visitors and proceeded to clamber the hill for a temple darshan.

  It was a small temple with a good scenic view beside it. We hoped to see a good sunset.. and man man.. we were not disappointed.

  We called it a day..clambered down ..and camped in the allotted room..where we slept on the floor. During the night stay ..the whole group members were united in pulling my leg with teasers. Villagers offered us tasty Sambar-Rice and Buttermilk. They had electricity. However the villagers for their basic needs or to Vote had to goto Male Mahadeshwara Hills. They hadtheir own school for their children's basic education though.

  Next day morning myself, Jagadish, Sujai and Santosh accompanied by Veeranna's Son went up the hill to view the sun-rise. We again were not disappointed. 

Behind the temple, at say 4 km distance we could see River Cauvery goings towards Hogenekal.

 We had breakfast of chitranna , had tea and proceeded towards Palar. From Nagamale you cangoto Palar via a wild animals infested route or towards hogenekal falls. We chose the former as we had been to hogenekal earlier.

  

 This route was very beautiful and scenic. The forests were thick. There were huge hills standing majestically. We crossed a serene village called Parasalnatham.

  Then Mr Veeranna showed us the cave hideouts of Veerappan and his aides. 

  He even narrated an incident where he was captured by Veerappan and was let off, after a day as hostage. Probably, thats why he had a soft corner for Veerappan  

 The path was very beautiful and we crossed a few hills and clambered down the valleys. We were also able to spot a Leopards Foot Mark, which looked fresh. 

   We made our way though the thick and thorny forests, while i was anxiuosly looking at the tree tops .. looking for a leopard out to pounce at me and hold my throat! 

Fate though, gave us another chance.. we could'nt spot it..probably the leopard spotted us and thought "Eating Cholesterol filled homo-sapiens is bad for my health and i must feast on Goats/Rabbits which is healthy"

After a hot mid-day's trek we reached Palar by 1PM. Officially this was the end of the trek.

   There was Palar River,which was a small stream of 2 feet depth.

 Barring my shorts, I excitedly unclothed myself  and jumped into the stream. Water tasted different.. and When i got up, i realised that my whole body had become GREEN in Colour.. 

"Sheeeesh , what is this .." i wondered aloud

"Its Elephant Dung.. its all over the stream" another guy said.

"Oh goodness, .... anyways, probably it must have some ayurvedic benefits"  i thought, trying to be optimistic even though it sounded ridiculous. I had jumped in a place where i think a particular elephant loves to dung regularly.

 We found a relatively clean place and took bath.

We travelled by a Jeep to 'Gopinatham' a small village beside which there was a huge hill called  Katri Malai. We caught a bus to Mettur. Sujai left for Madurai.

In Mettur we saw that, Stanly Reservoiur was not full. We caught a bus to Dharmapuri. We reached Dharmapuri by 7 .  Karthik and Girish left for bangalore, immediately.

Rest of us, had our LUNCH and caught a private bus at 10:00pm and reached bangalore by 2AM.

FAQ.

Q.  Now was it a tough trek??

NAAAAH... it was a 5 star trek! ..

Q.  Was the scenary good etc?

Ya kind off.. Rainy season would be the best time!!!!!

Q.  Any suggestions??

Yeah- One which can be done without a guide.  Beginners would thoroughly enjoy it! Chk out google maps.

Q. Any specific thing that you liked a lot in the trek

 Yeah..this foto ...     

Beach Trek - Honnavara to Gokarna : 13-14 Dec 2008

On completion of my Kumara parvatha trek on 29-30th 2008, i wanted to do a Beach Trek very badly.. i thought it would be good to Trek on a Full Moon Day. So the dates were fixed as 13-14 December 2008.

I started browsing for some good Beach Trek spots in Karnataka..
The most popular one was Gokarna to Honnavara trek. I consulted my ISRO-TREK team members ..Darukesh and Manu who suggested me two good route's
1> Karwar to Gokarna Beach Trek
2> Honnavara to Gokarna Beach Trek
I and my friend Abhiram chose the latter one as there was enough information in the form of Blogs for the Gokarna to Honnavara Trek (exact ulta path).
The usual season for a beach trek in the above two spots is between November-January.

So a trek team was formed.. we were 7 of us : Abhiram, Girish, Santosh, Karthik, Vishnu(myself), Bhatta, Madhukar.
Madhukar actually traveled from Pune and joined us at Honnavara .. 5 of us left Bangalore at 930PM by a Rajahamsa Bus and reached Honnavara next day morning at 930AM ..solid 12 hours.. Bhatta had already reached there at 830AM. We refreshed ourselves at a Lodge and had our breakfast in the Hotel Nearby.
Our plan was to start the trek at Haldipur ..a sleepy fishing village 6km North of Honnavara on National Highway 17. We got into a mini Van at 1045 AM which dropped us at Haldipur Junction (for 3 Rs/- per head) which comes immediately after 'Keregadhdhe Krishnashrama'.
We proceeded towards the haldipur beach, which was about 2km walk from the main road.
There was road till the beach and beside the roads were paddy fields..which had a few migratory birds.. Girish got triggered and Out came his Nikon D90 (D-SLR) ..click click click..
We had to cross a bridge which was built to ferry travelers across a wide stream of water canal!
We reached the Haldipur Beach at 11AM.. the beach was a clean stretch of Sand .. It was a hot Afternoon! We saw 2-3 eagles flying over our heads. Seeing it, Abhiram quipped 'the eagles are expecting us to faint and die coz of sunstroke .. i think even eagles know that it not right to trek @ Noon under the hot sun' ..we all laughed at his joke and started the trek!
The beach was clean. There was an Island majestically poised, surrounded by the seawater and was about 100-200 m from the shore. It was tempting to swim across to the Island like Swami Vivekananda did at Kanyakumari.. only difference was that he knew swimming & i did not and he had the guts to do it and i didnot have those :) [maybe in future i will..]
We had to cross 2 hills northwards from the starting point to go to the Dareshwara beach stretch. We started slowly, but steadily on the Haldipur beach towards our first obstacle which looked like an easy climb. As we started moving towards the first hill, we saw lots and lots of crabs, moving here and there. The beach looked deserted but for 2-3 boats lying abandoned on the shore. We took almost 45 min to reach the base of the first hill.
I and Bhatta went and explored the path to cross the hillock which looked a bit slippery. Meanwhile Santosh spotted a Snake behind the rocks on which he wanted to sit..and he called out "Russels Viper" loudly.. i then started feeling uneasy to explore the hillock for a path ..i wondered 'who knows what lays beneath the shrubs and rocks!'

He was able to take a snap of the snake somehow.. it was a bit blurred and we could make out the outline of the snake's body in the picture.

After carefully crossing the hillock laden with bushes and rocks..we came to a 300-400m long beach, we saw a Coconut farm beside it. It looked inhabited
We went inside the farm, and the kind landlady there gave us water, we filled our water bottles. Unfortunately the workers in the farm were not there else we would have got a nice treat of Coconut milk (for a small price, of course). We rested there for about 15-20 minutes. It was 1230pm by then.
We proceeded towards the next hillock , and climbing this one seemed easier than the previous one. So we started..only to realize that the path had lots and lots of ridges/rocks along the path.
Carefully we crossed the ridges and we came down to a small clearing where we rested. Santosh was feeling De-Hydrated, so we rested for 30 minutes under the shade of the huge rocks.
30 minutes were filled with silence.. by listening to the waves crashing on the rocks around us.. it was a much needed relaxation and a relief under the hot sun ...beside the beautiful Arabian Sea!
We resumed our trek uphill .. From the top we could see the whole stretch of Dareshwara Beach. We had to get down, and there was some sort of construction going on the hill. There were some workers, we took directions from them to get down the hill.. There were man-made steps to get down. We got down to the beach ..
It was a splendid stretch of about 3 miles or almost 5 km. After walking for about half a km we met some fishermen there.. it was already 215pm and we were famished. So we took directions from them to go to Kumta and moved towards National Highway-17. We had Soda in a Tea Shop.
We caught a bus and went to Kumta Bus Stand at around 3pm and had a nice tasty lunch at a Vegetarian Hotel for Rs 20/- per plate. Then we bought some Appy fruit Juice and took 2 Auto's for Kumta Beach @ 40 Rs each.

It was 445pm when we landed on Kumta Beach. Had we not taken a deviation at the entrance of Dareshwara Beach, we would have had to walk about 5km and cross a small stream of water to reach the point where we were presently about to resume the trek!

There were lots of Rocks laid along the beach.. i guess it must have been to prevent sea waves during new moon/full moon days. It was a very shallow beach..so migratory birds were present looking for fish and crabs to feast on!
We had to cross two more hills.
We climbed up a hill ..as i turned back to check whether all of us were there..i saw Girish still in Kumta beach..coming slowly.. i gestured him to come fast as i wanted to view sunset peacefully from a good viewpoint ! ..he came up to me.. i asked him why he was late and he must be fast..he merely smiled and showed me the photo he had captured of the birds and its reflections.. my jaws dropped! Bird and its reflection were taken superbly by him in his D-SLR! i have added only 2 of those here. Each of these birds were at least 15-20 m far off and were moving ..
We saw a ruined building.. and a thought came as to whether we must camp here itself..as it was geting dark fast! We decided against it as we had at least 30-40 minutes before the sunset.
So from atop the hilll where we were expecting to view the sunset..we got down to a fishing community and walked past (actually we almost RAN) the 500m long beach where we saw
many kids and youth playing cricket. As we were running along the beach, the sea water was occasionally wetting my hunter shoes.. it was as if the Sea was telling me to look at the western horizon.. at that instant i saw the horizon and there it was.. the beautiful Sunset.. We watched the sun set over the west for close to 15 minutes.. It seemed to me that Beautiful Sunset symbolizes the satisfaction that a man gets after a hard day's work!
We clambered on to the top of the hill. We thought of camping on the hill itself, however Karthik was feeling a bit un-easy camping there as he had seen many people around the beach..he was of the opinion that it was not safe here.. so the team decided that we shall camp on the base of the next hill and we rushed forward.
Myself and Girish searched for a way and it was getting dark. We had to make way into a series of Bushes ..it was totally dark we moved with our torches. I was in the front ..and it was a bit steep and filled with lots of dense bushes ..i was feeling a bit un-easy as the thoughts of encountering the snake kept cropping up in my mind.. after 15 minutes we came to a clearing..we could see a 200-300m long .. silent and quiet beach.. the decision to camp here was UNANIMOUS!!
The small stretch of Beach was between 2 rocky shored hills, i was wondering whether the gap between the 2 hills was formed millions of years ago so that Our team could camp here on 13-Dec-2009 AD! .. It was a perfect spot! , there was a farm beside it as well! We made sure our camping area would be as far as possible from the High Tide as it was a Full Moon Night.
We set up one tent Bhatta and karthik decided to sleep inside..rest all slept out.

After resting for 1 hour, we saw the 'Full Moon' Rise at about 730-8 pm. I and Abhiram then decided we shall explore the path on the next hill for next day morning's moonlight trek. So we both trekked in Total Darkness with our torch lights as the hill itself was blocking the moon light completely. We trekked in a path that was originally present and the waves were crashing on the rocks below the ridges. Slowly and steadily we walked..and lo and behold we reached the other side of the hill in merely 20 minutes. We were relieved!!!

We came back and informed our buddies that a path is present. Then we had our rotis, with pickle and chatni pudi. Bhatta,Madhu,Girish, Abhi and Santu got a good idea..they set up a campfire using firewood ,dried cocunut and dry grass and made a hot mixture or chow chow of the following ingredients: Water, Dates, GoodDay Biscuits, 5 Star, KitKat, Cashews, Dry Grapes. Believe me..it tasted superb!!
We chatted for about 30-40 minutes. Madhukar was at his usual best, cracking jokes. Karthik was meanwhile snoring in the tent!
Finally we decided to call it a day . I laid down to sleep.

I saw a flying Meteor in the night sky filled with stars and constellations. I saw one Low Earth Orbit Polar satellite/Remote Sensing satellite... i could obviously not recognize which one it was (though initially i wrongly assumed that it was ISS).. then i saw Venus shining brightly.. there was total silence in the beach but for the waves crashing silently .. it was a pleasent experience.. i turned to see the moon which was shining brightly in the east! Girish took a photo of the moon in his D-SLR using a tripod! .. we did not feel like taking our eyes away from the moon!
I zipped up in my sleeping bag.. and laid down on my foam sheet .. i then closed my eyes .. and was feeling like sitting on the moon watching chandrayaan going around us.. and i woke up ..it was 4AM in the morning.. moon was visible over us .. slightly towards the west! ...There was a bit of morning breeze. We had a very good sleep no doubt.. i did some warm up exercises

We started at 5 AM sharp and crossed the hill to our left.. we landed up in the longest beach we had seen till now in our trek. It was about 7-8km long i guess. We saw another hill at the north which we had to cross to view the Agnashini River meeting the Sea. Once we cross Agnashini river by boat, we would have to trek another 1km to get Half moon and paradise beach. This was Our plan. We started walking slowly but steadily.

There were some houses in between, and lots of fishermen were staying there. They were surprised by seeing us, i too was surprised why anyone would be awake by 5 AM. Only then i realized that they were awake for their nature calls.. And for about a 2km stretch there were people answering their nature calls.. we moved a bit away from the beach water and started walking more towards the sandy shore, as we did not want to offend their privacy. I was wondering whether this was in any way the longest loo in the world barring indian railway tracks..

Of course even we had to go for our respective nature calls, behind bushes :) on the sandy shore .. water was available in plenty ..thanks to Arabian Sea!
After about 3 km walk Our legs were aching a bit, we rested on some huge rocks. The moon was shining brightly towards the west direction... For a second i thought whether it was a cloudy day with sun shining dimly! A jet plane's trail was visible in the sky.. we saw some flying meteors on the clear sky.. Slowly the dawn light was emerging .. the hill we crossed an hour ago was looking small..
After another 2 km walk we could sense that the Sun rose.. we could not see it. There were lots and lots of birds .. giving their morning calls.. Sea gulls were in plenty. The photo below is of a bird which was found hopping in groups .. i could not recognize its name..pls do let me know if you know about it.
Then on proceeding towards the huge hill we met 2 guys jogging in their track suits. They stopped us right there and asked where we were from. They introduced themselves as Coastal Gaurd police, we showed our ID cards and moved ahead.

We reached a fishing village, where we filled our water bottles. The villagers were anxious to know where we were from, because we were strangers and alien to them. They were anxious due to the recent Terror Attacks in Bombay on 26/11/2008, where the terrorists had used Arabian Sea as a gate way!

After befriending them, One of the villager pointed to me and jokingly said that they doubted us mainly because i was looking like a terrorist coz of my long unkept hair and Dark Glasses!
We took directions from them and Started climbing up the huge hill, it was very very slippery. Loose Gravel made sure that we slipped frequently.
After a realy tiring climb, we reached the top which was full of dried grass. We turned back to see the 8km path fully visible..
Ahead We saw the AGNASHINI RIVER MEETING HER PARTNER..The SEA!! It was an amazing sight, we could see lots of Boats coming from Tathadi and Gokarna going towards OM/Paradise beaches. There were some lone boats fishing in the sea. Lots of birds, - Sea gulls,Eagles were to be seen in the clear Blue Sky with Blue Sea below.
We rested here for about an Hour or so. We took lots of Photos! We had some snacks. We were a bit hungry. We slept for about 30 minutes as well.We then wanted to go to the base of the hill to catch a boat to Tatdi. We proceeded and there were only grass everywhere so we had to find a path. I got pricked by a sharp thorn ..which pierced my leg going through even my boots.. The path was tricky and occasionally we got lost. We met a localite who directed us to the boats on the hill base
We got to the base of the hill. The river was gently splashing its water on the shore.. I tasted the water to re-affirm its saltiness.. We directly went to Boating colony, the boatsmen charged us Rs 3/- per head for a trip to Tatdi.
There was a pungent smell of fish in Tatdi port. Santosh showed me a blue coloured Jelly fish..
We then had Lime Soda in a hotel nearby. Instead of proceeding towards Half moon beach we thought it would be better to have lunch at Gokarna and return here. We caught a bus to Gokarna, took a single room in a lodge near the Bus stand, had lunch in a hotel nearby. There were lots of foreigners, roaming in the streets of Gokarna. I was wondering if Gokarna was famous for its Shiva temple.. coz the ambience of a religious place was absent

Madhukar had to leave for his hometown Mangalore, We bid him farewell and he left for the railway station at 3 pm.

We took bath, and proceeded to OM beach. Auto fare was Rs 100/- per auto to and fro OM beach was looking beautiful, its name derives from its Shape like the Letter OM in Sanskrit.
There were lots of Bikini clad foreigners .. i was wondering whether this was India..becasuse i saw Bikini clad women for the first time (had seen them only in movies!)
We had some roadside Bhel-puri and a nice cup of tea in the Beach hotel.
Bhatta, Girish and Abhiram decided to chill out in the OM beach. They had lots of fun there.

Myself,Santosh and Karthik wanted to see the Half Moon and Paradise beach. We trekked up a small hill beside the OM beach. I saw some syringes fallen here and there..

En-route we saw a lonely tree standing on a hillock behind which we could see the Sea extending to eternity..we halted there for 20 minutes. We could see the Half Moon beach and Paradise beach from this point!
Half Moon Beach and Paradise beach was looking beautiful..we could see Agnashini River meeting the Sea, there were some ferry boats as well in the Sea. All in all the scenary was pleasing!
Actually coming back to OM beach was a bit tricky as there was a point where we had to cross a steep region along the corner where there was direct drop of about 20-30 m into rocks, where the sea was crashing it in the form of waves.
We clambered downhill carefully back into the OM beach.. We missed Madhukar.
Meanwhile the other three had enjoyed the beach waters in their own way.
We got back into our Auto's and for Gokarna. We packed off from the lodge. Bhatta did not have a return ticket, and he was able to get one in our bus itself.
The Non AC Sleeper bus left for Bangalore at 7pm.. we endured a bumpy journey in near Shimoga, where roads were very bad. We befriended 2 Americans in our bus, asked them lots of questions about Obama,Bush, McCain etc..

I slept tight .. dreaming about the whole Trek . Morning i woke up at 645, We reached Bangalore at 7 AM.

On my way to my house in BMTC bus number 61A ... i recalled the sunset that we witnessed day before yesterday.. it was fresh in my mind
I said to myself.. I will back to Gokarna Once again.. from KARWAR though!!