FOOTLOOSE
Bewitching beaches
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Spirituality and beach culture have combined to create a unique ambience in Gokarn. AKBER AYUB
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Photo: Akber Ayub
Between the mountains and the sea: The beaches of Gokarn.
IT was nearly seven in the morning. Orange shafts of sunlight shot across the valley as the early sun peeked over the hills. The walls of the cottages of the Om Beach Resort glowed like over-ripe plums. Behind them, the first rays of the sun gilded t
he soaring tops of casuarinas. Like geometric designs on a fabric, amber strips of sunlight created shifting patterns on the lush green lawns.
I sipped from a tall glass of watermelon juice seated on a rattan chair inside a peaked alcove. Birdcalls echoed across the valley and raced toward the blue slice of Arabian Sea visible in the distance. As a cool sea breeze rustled across the bamboo grove, I took deep lungfuls of air, savouring the freshness.
Between the sea and the hills
Surrounded by undulating hills but affording a grand view of the Arabian Sea from its lawns, the Om Beach Resort is ideally located. Run jointly by Jungle Lodges and Resorts of the Government of Karnataka and the privately-owned Kairali group of Kerala, the resort is perched on a hillside not very far from the Gokarn Beach. Isolated virgin beaches, secluded coves and a laid-back ambience form the motif of Gokarn, the temple town 65 km south of Karwar. The drive to Gokarn, 475 km from Bangalore via Shimoga and Honavar along the NH 206 or 230 km from Mangalore along the west coast highway (NH 17), is indeed pleasant, offering woodlands and ghat sections on the former route or vistas of the sea and quaint coastal towns if you take the latter route. Buses too ply regularly from Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore and Hassan. While the Konkan railway passes through Gokarn, the nearest airport is in Panaji, Goa, 135 km away.
Low-budget accommodation is available downtown while shacks strewn along the fringes of secluded beaches like the Paradise Beach and Om Beach draw backpacking foreigners in their droves. At just Rs.150 per day, these places are a regular haunt of budget travellers; and that has created a distinctive ambience here, reminiscent of the lazy beach life of neighbouring Goa.
There are very few quality accommodations available here right now though many are under construction. However, the OM Beach resort fills that gap admirably. The food here is interesting and rather different from the other resorts in the JLR stable. Catch-of-the-day seafood is a speciality. Just beyond, terraced multi-level carpets of grass act as a perfect foil to the airy restaurant and the fine food.
Lots of activities
For beach buffs and adventure sport lovers, the resort provides ample diversion. Surfing, parasailing, snorkelling, sight seeing cruises, kayaking, water scooter rides and paragliding provide endless fun while barbeques on the exclusive Paradise Beach, accessible only through sea or trekking through wooded hills, promises a memorable time. Mountain biking and rappelling on the surrounding hills, arranged under the supervision of experienced guides, are quite popular too.
The Ayurvedic centre here run by Kairali, complete with a doctor and trained masseurs, is a must visit. Different Ayurvedic packages are on offer like rejuvenation, detoxification, stress relief and beauty care. Yoga and meditation sessions and Ayurvedic vegetarian diets are added options. A single Ayurvedic session could cost Rs. 800. The suite carries a tariff of Rs.1500 per person per night but that includes all meals and free use of all facilities and taxes.
The facilities include a sight seeing tour to nearby tourist destinations, especially beaches like Kudle and a visit to the temples. Roadside stalls in the town selling brass and copper idols and other bric-a-brac vie with shops selling beachwear and casuals. They cater mainly to foreign tourists who pick up souvenirs at bargain prices. Literally translating to “cow’s ears”, the village is formed by the ear-shaped confluence of two rivers, the Gangavathi and the Tadri.
The crowd pullers
The rivers take a back seat however to the beaches and the surrounding rugged hills. The hills and the wooded valleys are ideal for trekking and nature walks while a stroll along the many beaches especially at dawn and dusk offers an opportunity to watch the local fishermen at work as they cast the nets from the shore or beach their narrow wooden boats.
Before long, you realise that the spirituality of the East melding with the beach culture of the West has created a singular ambience here that you perceive is the leitmotif of this quaint little coastal town.
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