"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - St. Augustine.

After missing the last years Sri Lanka trip, I was very much excited for the year end trip. Unlike previous trips where we travelled to a remote place, this time we planned ( and that was the only planning we did ;) )to drive ourslef.

For more articulated blog refer to Sharath's maricheeke or the travelogue from Nikki .

This year end trip was the most unplanned and most reposeful one unlike previous ones. Only Sharath knew that we have got a confirmed accomodation at swarga, will tell you the extent of our unplanning. The Drive to swarga was good and after couple of wrong turns (as it says swades "insaan galat hote hain, mod (turn) nahi" ) we finally reached the place just about the dinner time.

The next one and half day was more of relaxing and learning more about Coffee and related processes. The owner of Swarga, Chirag is a very friendly host who educated all of us with some information on some of the Coffee breeds such as Arabica and Robusta, their vegetation ,the complete process involved in making the coffee powder starting from picking the seed.

The evening was spent playing some gully cricket, the matches were closely fought and ended in nail-biting finish all thanks to uncanny knock from Supreeth and Rock (yes thy name is Rock ).

"Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going." -Paul Theroux

The uncertainity of our planning continued and we concluded to halt at Udupi by night, travelling via Mudigere-kalasa-Kudremukh. We stopped at Horanadu to visit the Goddess Annapurneshwara and for a sumptous meal. From here onwards the route to Udupi ( via
Kudremukh, NH-13 ) was the best we had it in out entire trip,With very less traffic and lush green environs.

The next day when we guys had the darshana of Lord Krishna and seeked his bessings for the rest of the trip :).

The drive from Udupi to karwar involved the pit stops at Maravanthe, Murdeshwara and Gokarna.

Gokarna was a bit of disappointment. We coudnt get the accomodation on Om Beach and had to appease ourself with a not-so-good lodge in the town. Later in the night we decided to take an auto to Om beach to have dinner and spend some quality time on Om beach. As the name itself says, its named after it's sea line which resembles the symbol OM . During dinner time we had an interesting debate on a controversial topic which even forced us to recall the Theory of Evollution etc. The best part was the time when we were just lying on the Beach gazing at the clear sky filled with millions of millionn twinkling stars. At this time i realised that sighting shooting stars are not as frequent and easy as shown in the Hindi Movies :).

The Mahabaleshwara temple of Gokarna was a bit of letdown in terms of sanctity and sacredness.

Next Destination was Karwar from where we were supposed to goto Goa. This is where we hit a fork, when one of Sharth's friend suggested us about the Kali river white water Rafting. We were in dilemma and had to chose between Goa and Rafting. After an hours of discussion it was decided that two days we'll visit goa n third day head towards Dandeli for rafting.

Reached Karwar by evening, and were fortunate enough to find a decent accomodation very close to Tagore Beach. I got to know from Kishore that its the place where Tagore started his journey as a poet.

"The sea beach of Karwar is certainly a fit place in which to realise that the beauty of nature is not a mirage of imagination but reflects joy of the infinite and thus draws us to lose ourselves in it." - Rabindranath Tagore

For the next three days we camped at Karwar and visited the Goa during day time. This is the third time im going to Goa and all three times I've been to altogether Different Beaches. The scenic Vagatore Beach and Chapora Fort (DCH fame) were the best part of the trip. Chapora fort is situated on a hill having Vagatore beach on one side and river Mandovi on the other. Next day it was again Go-Goa and the destination was Palolim beach in South Goa, so far the best beach i've been to.

Somehow the Rafting plan had to be dropped. which left us one complete day to drive back to Udupi/Kundapura. We started late from Karwar, had delicious meal at Kamat Upchar enroute and stopped at Idugunji, where there's a large temple of Ganesha. After a quick darshana headed towards Kundapaur. Enroute we stopped at Maravanthe, where NH-17 passes close to the beach (around 100 meters from the shore) and a stretch of a kilometer of this highway is flanked by the seashore on one side and the Sauparnika River on the other. We played a little bit of frisbee and clicked the cameras during Sunset.

Last day of the Year and the only planned thing of the trip was pending, Kayaking on Varahi river. Once we were done with kayaing we headed towards shivamogga via aagumbe. For those who have watched the famous rendition of R.K. Narayan’s Malgudi Days on T.V. this place will not look unfamiliar. Agumbe is a small village on the state highway, known for its sunset and beautiful treks it has to offer. This place receives the highest rainfall in the state.

Reached Shivamogga by night time and dined at Rakesh's place. New year was welcomed watching live celebration across India.

Brand new day of new year, was the penultimate day of the trip. The drive back was quite fun with decent roads. It was only after reaching Bangalore, that we hit the traffic jams which reminded us of what is going to be the hard truth the next day onwards!

All in all, a real nice road trip. All kudos to Nikki and Supreeth for their driving skill and the cars also deserve a word of appreciation with almost no problems throughout the trip, which made it more memorable.