It was quite a long time since the last long bike trip in May 2011. A real opportunity came along when Srinath, my school friend and bike mate to the Laddakh trip in 2010, suggested a bike trip to Gokarna in the last 10 days of December 2011. I couldn't wait. And I didn't expect 9 more people to be joining us either. Totaal awesomeness
So this "RAW" trip was scheduled for 5 days: 24 - 28. But before going further, lets explore a bit into "RAW". Its something people forget about themselves over time... as life and people keep you "civilized". Raw is the true nature of things without dilution, corruption, makeup or build-up (TR-style rhyming!). RAW is explained succinctly by the following 2 pictures.
With salutations to our Captain for involuntarily agreeing to be the mascot of RAW, let-us-the- start-off.
DAY 1
Me, "Velakku" Srinath, Ajith, Hari and Vandana on 3 bikes, PK, Vivek and Dwara in 1 car left Bangalore at 7am from Velakku's house. Though we took different route to reach Shimoga, we lunched together at Shimoga.
RAW fist Velakku
Me and Ajith showing a RAW fist
We also went to an off-season Jog Falls at 5pm, which had only 10% water falling, if it can be seen in the background:
Vandana, Me, Ajith, Velakku, PK, Vivek
So we reached our hotel Kumta at ~8pm, settled, ate, talked, slept, full stop.
STORY of GOKARNA
In the old days, Pandavas and Kauravas were having a beach volleyball match. Karna was the star player who was thulping Padavas left-right-center! Some hippy tourists were searching for Goa when they heard the beautiful apsara-cheerleaders shout "Go-Karna!, Go-Karna!" and so they understood that this place was Gokarna and not Goa. This is the real history behind the name.
DAY 2
Ajith's sis, cousin and friend joined us: Madhu, Nimmu and Ramesh respectively (sounds like thesis language!). We wasted no time in the early morning of 11am and hit Murudeshwara for water sports.
LADIES and GENTLEMEN... presenting to you the latest and greatest yet... the subtle and stylish... rock solid... MOTOROLA DEFY+
Respect! It is also my fone, saar!
Raw gang: Hari, Vandana, Madhu, Nimmu, Ramesh, Ajith, PK, Vivek, Velakku
The Mighty Lord watches over
We did water scooter, banana ride and para-sailing. Some excerpts:
We lunched, headed back to Kumta, rested, headed to Om beach by 8pm. Yes... THE Om Beach!
This is a secluded beach where grass is greener on the same side... where a class of people head to and have a good time... with the food, beaches, music also. We stayed overnight at a "fully-booked" Namaste Cafe, thanks to Vandana. Namaste Cafe has one of the best foods served in the world catering to a variety of cultures... Indian, Italian, Chinese, Continental, Russian, Israeli etc. as equally diverse and hippy was the crowd.
We had nice long walks on the beach and lovely time with our good old friend Johny of the Walker family. We also played some 100 old pipers.
DAY 3
Breakfast Club@Namaste Cafe
The day was awesome... some of us trekked to Paradise beach, while some came by boat. Let the pictures do the talking:
uTake myTake
Yo Boys!
Y Nimmu cry?
Remember "Kadal Yeruma, Kadal Panni" ?
Ultimate Star Ajith
After all the fun we had in the sea most of us headed back to Gokarna in the evening, while Velakku, Ajith, Vivek and Dwara stayed back for taking some dusk photography. Madhu, Ramesh, Nimmu had to catch their return bus that evening so they left Gokarna by 5pm. Me, Hari and PK paid a visit to Mahabaleshwar temple and soon afterwards we picked Vandana to head back to Kumta. The boys who stayed back at Om beach took some of the best pics ever:
"Whattay pics I say...
To buy, 500 roobees you pay!"
- Thirukkural (translated)
DAY 4
The boys back in Om Beach stayed at a nice RAW cottage and came back in the morning and rested in Kumta. While Me, PK, HnV paid a visit to the great Kollur Mookambika temple. I didn't take a picture of the temple but this one is from wikipedia:
So we went back, relaxed, played cards, slept. Vandana had to catch bus so she left that night.
DAY 5
All of us got up early by 6am and got ready to leave. I learnt that Kumta is supposed to be a haunted town, as shown by this tree right outside the hotel:
We had breakfast and started at 7am and came back to Bangalore by 5:30pm via Hubli-Chitradurga-Tumkur-Bangalore route.
THE END
(and so... the RAW begins)
