The West Coast uncovered !!

After a hectic intern (though no BITSian would agree with this statement) @ Essar power Ltd, Surat for 55 days in the summer....i was exploring ways to relax for the rest of my vacation ( 16 more days !).. As i chugged my way out to Mumbai ( during my intern ...i had made 7 trips to my birth place -Mumbai ( all sundays except the 1 wen i had been 2 ahmedabad) ) ...got refreshed at my grandma's house...dashed in for a 180 buck affair of Hancock @ IMAX Adlabs, Wadala...and got prepared for one fantastic trip ahead...a scenic Konkan railway journey to mangalore..i had to catch my train @ panvel (49kms from mumbai) @ nite 2220hrs..so left wadala @ 2015 to catch a local to panvel..i had 4 pieces of baggage !! imagine boarding a mumbai local @ 2030 with 4 huge bags !! so dint wanna risk and hence purchased my "first" 1st class local train ticket of my life for 115bucks ! I was pretty confident of boarding the train with ease...but to my surprise i was forced to miss 3 locals one after the other due to the heavy crowd...these season ticket holders just filled the coaches completely...the journey to panvel from wadala was exactly 62mins...and it was alrdy 2101 hrs !!! i just left it to upparwala to help me catch my train to surathkal( 17kms from mangalore)..luckily i happened to get into an Andheri-Panvel via wadala local !! I kept prayin to god throughout those 62mins to jus gimme confidence of catching the 2220 train...As the local dragged into panvel...the express train from bikaner was arriving at platform no3...i rushed out to reach my train and finally boarded on time to breathe fresh air !! After settling the baggage issues inside the coach...i quickly slept off...

Next morning i woke up lazily at around 0800 and found that the train was 1 hour behind schedule and was halting at KUDAL station waiting for a goods train crossover..Konkan railway has this eternal problem of trains waiting for crossings since the line is single though plans to double the tracks have been surfacing for a long time..i brought out my favourite cam fone(Sony Ericcson K790i) and started shootin pics crazily as i always do :) ...Then at around 10am Madgaon was reached...exactly 1 year ago i had been to this very place on a fun trip to Goa's Colva beach...I was recollecting that fine day..The train then blasted through northern districts of karnataka...and the scenic beaches of gokharna ..karwar and murdeshwar were soon uncovered ..there were places from where the sea was visible clearly and the backdrop of hills just enhanced the beauty of that entire stretch...It was drizzling all through the day and it was time when the train pulled into Udipi station..this station is a bit different in structure...it has a gopuram like structure at its entrance( wonder how our country is called secular ???!!!)...Then the train whizzed past surathkal station not before crossing the beautiful rivers - Souparnika, Sita and Suwarna ... I got down at Kankanadi junction (renamed as Mangalore Junction)... took a local private bus to surathkal ..the conductor helped me with my mammoth baggage...My friend Karthik Balaji (popularly known as KB) doing ECE @ NITK Surathkal received me at surathkal bus stop...We then hired an auto to reach his hostel ..The campus was awesome ..buildings looked strong but were old...The toilets were a million times better than those found in NIT surat (where i had been for 2months during my intern) though water was a perennial shortage ! Never mind there was this MAGIC TAP ( as hw KB calls it)...Its an infinite source of water to satisfy basic human needs :)...We dashed into a temple right at the edge of the beach...the view from there must be experienced and cannot be described in words..The Surathkal lighthouse stood tall and mighty !..We then walked along the beach towards the NITK private beach ..It was a nice 10minute walk where we shared our school experiences..After a few snapshots it got dark and we returned back to the hostel..On the way back, i was shown most of the important buildings of the campus by KB...Later in the night we had some fried rice and noodles at the Food Court..The Food was awesome yet inexpensive ! Later in the night we chose to sit before the comp and while away time....

Next morning ( Friday) ..Kb had his classes till 1200noon..so woke up bit late and sat in front of the computer to plan for the afternoon trip...KB had some ideas of going to the world famous UDIPI temple and an island off the Malpe Beach....Hence we quickly left surathkal soon after noon...There were express buses to Udipi(40kms from surathkal) every 2mins which we had 2 board in NH-17..Special mention of the skills of these Dakshin Kannada district bus drivers...trust me they are the ones who must be hunted by the F1 companies..they are just amazingly fast at the same time with top class control of the vehicle...guess Vijay Mallya who hails from dakshin kannada must look into this talent pool for his F1 team !!! Udipi was reached in 40minutes time from surathkal ! We then walked to the temple and had a nice darshan of krishna through a small window at the back of the mutt ( the very same way Kanakadasa worshipped the Lord)...We then had lunch at the mutt itself...the food served is plain rice ,rasam
and sambhar devoid of any vegetable..but trust me it was really filling and delicious...After getting some prasadam for house ...we quickly left for Malpe Beach and reached the place at around 4pm...Our plans for of ferrying to St.Mary's Island were burried by the fact that the ferries stop operations during the monsoons...bit disappointed we were reworking our schedule for the evening...Murdeshwar propped up..but it was 100+kms from there and hence the plan wasnt viable...we then decided to drop into Kaup Beach (10kms south of Udipi on the way to surathkal)...by the time we reached kaup beach it was around 1745hrs...the beach is located 2kms off the National Highway and we had to take an auto to reach this place...All of a sudden we spotted a Lighthouse @ Kaup beach...Quickly an idea flashed our minds...Y not try climbing up the lighthouse??? We enquired worriedly looking at our watch( it was almost 6pm and we thought that after 6 people wont be allowed 2 climb up)...To our surprise , the lighthouse was open till 1830 ! We pushed in the enrty ticket of 10bucks each and hurriedly climbed the 30m tall lighthouse with the help of the never ending Spiral staircase ! 3mins later ..I witnessed one of the best views of a beach in my life..Felt really on top of the world !! Its a mind boggling experience up there...I have really run out of words to describe the fantasic view of the waves smashing the rocks and sands of the shoreline...After spending a nice half an hour up there taking loads of pics..it was time to return back to GROUND STATE literally ! We then caught few couples having a real nice time out there on the beach :) :)..Later we posed for a few snaps on the rocks...It was around 1910 and gettin really dark...we headed straight back to NITK from there...I met few of KB's close friends and then went straight to crash after a tiring day out there in the beach !

The next day was saturday and Kb was free for the whole day...So we had planned to explore Kerala sands :).... At 9 am we left for Kasargod in Kerala...Kasargod is around 50kms south of mangalore...express buses are available every 5mins from mangalore...The highway was really top class with amazing backdrop...The crossing of the NETRAVATI river was a visual delight...all along the railway track accompanied us along with the beach view...The weather was also just perfect for photography..we reached Kasargod @ around 1140hrs..We purchased some biscuits,banana and potato chips @ the bus stand and quickly got into a typical KERALA state transport bus to Bekal Fort.. This is the very same fort where Mani Ratnam picturised the famous "Uyire Uyire" song from the film BOMBAY. The video song can be viewed @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k9VWLSIGx4

It was a 30minute journey to Bekal Fort...At the entrance of the fort there was a hanuman temple named MUKHYAPRANA...after a brief visit to the temple we entered the fort premises...This Fort is very unique in its very struture...Its construced right at the edge of the shoreline...We took nice pics all through the walk inside the fort....there is one projection something like a watch tower which stretches rght into the sea...water splashes all over if u stand over there..Was imagining myself in Arvanid Samy's shoes ( though this is an impossible dream!! )...Maybe a Manisha koirala was missing :P !!! Hopefully KB dint fill in Manisha's shoes !!!...The fort looked very same to the one which was captured under the watchful eyes of Rajiv Menon 13years ago ! There were some lifeguards patrolling some deep water area and advising us against stepping into those sands...We then hiked through the rough patches of the fort facing the sea... From one point we could witness the progress of the sea waves towards the beach from a perpendicular direction( side view) since the fort was jutting out right into the middle of the sea...After loads of camera action...we decided to visit the nearby Bekal Beach Resort..we walked a long way to that resort...my friend had some ice cream whereas i was busy capturing the breezy environment around...Bekal Fort railway station is located right on the beach and it can easily qualify as one of the closest railway stations to the sea in Indian Railways though my cousin had earlier showed one such station namely Sankval (Goa) to be the closest to sea in IR. Being a hardcore rail enthusiast..i took few pics of the station and some locos there...It was 1530 and time to head back to surathkal...By changing three buses we reached suathkal at around 1845...After refreshing myself..i packed my bags and left for Mangalore central to board West Coast Express back to chennai..Since i had a bit of luggage KB helped me and came all the way to mangalore for send off...After the usual thanksgivings and photos he left the station...My train chugged out of the station and went halfway through kerala (kasargod..kanhangad..cannanore..calicut..shoranur) and major places of TN( coimbatore..erode..salem..jolarpet..katpadi ) to reach chennai the next day @ 1515hrs...Finally was in chennai after a long time...my mind went on to ask....Wow is dis chennai?? :)