We're in Paradise. Literally

We took a train up to Gokarn, and arrived safely after a day's travel. After battling touts who wanted to charge us 400 rupees to get to the beach, we landed in the sand with our heavy backpacks, and set out to find a place to stay. Backpacking on a beach in barefeet... in the dark. Only in India. Well, possibly not ONLY in India, but it was an experience none the less.

Still mornings at Om Beach

We got a beach hut at a little place called Dolphin right on the middle point of Om Beach. Om beach is so named because it looks like the Om symbol - kind of like the number 3. They set us up in a hut with a sand floor, walls made of woven palm leaves, and a bamboo skeleton. It had a fan, light and powerpoint, so everything we needed. They rebuild these huts every year after the monsoon. Not very soundproof, but they're right on the beach, and I woke up to the sound of the surf every day.

Sunrise at Om

Gokarn is still a pretty undeveloped place. It's got about 7 restaurants along the whole beach, and each one has a selection of these coco huts. Other than that, there are no shops or anything, and there's only (recent) road access to one end of the beach. I doubt it'll last this way for long though. Apparently Varkala was like that 10 years ago, and now look at it! We've spent our days on the beach, reading and swimming. Despite piling on layers of sunscreen and keeping to the shade except to dry off from swimming, I've managed to get burnt almost every day we've been here. Sigh. But I'm looking scarily brown for me! My fair dutch skin is slowly looking a normal shade of tan. Who would have thought!

Walking to Paradise

Paradise Beach

Glen and I went for a walk south along the hills and beaches, and ended up in a place called Paradise Beach. And man, it really is paradise down there. There's no road, so you can only get there by the small track (which requires you to rock hop a good distance) or by getting one of the local fishermen who sit around Om Beach to drop you down there. There are two restaurants which rent huts or hammocks for people to sleep in. It's only a tiny beach, about 20m across, and bordered by boulders. But it's beautiful. The pictures I have just don't do it justice. The atmosphere there was amazing too - some people seem to stay the entire tourist season, and know the locals well. Wish we'd found the place earlier, and spent a few nights there. Sadly, time was running out on us, so it wasn't worth the effort of getting our packs down there. Still, we passed on the word to people arriving in Om Beach.

Paradise Beach

The food here is awesome too. We heard on our first night that the place to eat was called Dragon, situated at the far south of the beach. They had fresh fish brought in that afternoon, cold Kingfisher beer, and an old charcoal bbq. We got grilled tiger prawns, and kingfish tikka. Amazing. Soooo good. And you could never replicate it back home, because half the flavour came from that bbq.

Today we head inland to Hampi on an overnight bus which we've repeatedly heard is death. People have told us that it's like travelling 13hrs down a very unkempt dirt road. They've told us that their bus has crashed on the journey (and that this seems to be unnervingly common). They've told us to take the train at all costs. Still, the trains were booked out, and everyone says that Hampi is worth it. So we're getting the overnight bus tonight. Needless to say, we don't expect to sleep.

See ya'll on the other side!

written by

Capto on February 8, 2010 from Gokarn, India

from the travel blog: Two months in Limbo

Send a Compliment

Hi Margaret I am following every blog, rapt. You seem to be having a totally fantastic time! Haven't you even lost anything yet?
Love, Mum

written by Lesley on February 15, 2010

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