PAYANIGA

An unforgettable journey

Places visited during the four day bike trip to West Coast

* The beginning
* Belur
* Yagachi Dam
* Sringeri
* Agumbe
* Around Udupi – Malpe beach & port, Bengre
* Udyavara beach
* Kunjarugiri and Pajaka
* Around Kasaragod – Ananthapura & Madhur
* Bekal Fort
* Manjeshwara & Someshwara

Route taken during the trip –

Day 1: Bangalore – Kunigal – Hassan – Belur – Chikkamagalur – Sringeri – Agumbe – Hebri – Udupi

Day 2: Udupi – Malpe – Udupi – Udyavara – Kunjarugiri – Pajaka – Kaup – Surathkal

Day 3: Surathkal – Mangalore – Kumbla – Ananthapura – Kumbla – Madhur – Kasaragod – Bekal – Kasaragod – Manjeshwara – Someshwara – Mangalore – Kudupu – Kaikamba – Polali – Kaikamba – Surathkal

Day 4: Surathkal – Mangalore – NH48 – Shiradi Ghat – NH48 – Hassan – NH48 – Bangalore

We stopped at Kasaragodu for lunch. From there we went to Manjeshwara, the birth place of Govinda Pai, one of the well known poets of Kannada literature. It was around 3.30PM & Sri Ananthapadmanabha swamy temple was closed. We had to be content looking at the sculptures outside the temple. There were lots of sculptures of snake god (Nagarakallu, in Kannada) – of different sizes & shapes. We were told that the place is well known for ‘Nagamandala’, worshipping the serpent god which is an all-night ritual.

Our next destination was Someshwara. Sun was drifting down, while we sat on the beach looking at the endless waves & munching some snacks. The beach was not much crowded as it was a weekday. While few roamed around, some more sat like us getting mesmerized by the play of the Sun & the Sea.

After Someshwara before reaching Surathkal, we visited couple of more temples – Kudupu, again a temple of Ananthapadmanabha Swamy & Polali, temple of Goddess Rajarajeshwari. Kudupu is approximately 10 KMs from Mangalore on Mangalore-Moodabidri route. Polali is around 20 KMs from Mangalore and can be reached by taking a left turn at Kaikamba (when coming from Mangalore).

Day four, we were back on our saddles for our return journey. We started from Surthkal at 6.30 in the morning and decided to reach Mangalore & then take NH48 all the way till Bangalore. First of of the journey was wonderful, riding through the twisty roads – the wonderful mountains Western ghats – Shiradi ghat. Once we crossed Sakaleshpur the road became straighter & straighter, boring & more boring. Somewhere near Sakaleshpur, Srik got a call from his office asking him to reach office as early as possible. We dropped plans of visiting couple of places on the way & rode down straight to Bangalore.

That’s the end of our 4 day ride to West Coast.

PS: And this is my 100th post :)

It was noon when we reached Bekal fort. Wrong time & season – noon & summer – to visit Bekal. The place was almost deserted, with few people here and there. After roaming around the fort – peeping into the (now closed) tunnel, observation tower – we went down to the beach. Sea in this part is a bit rough & not safe for getting into water as lot of rocks are there in the beach.

The fort – the biggest in Kerala, is close to 450 years old & spear over forty acres. Bekal fort was built by Keladi Nayakas post Battle of Taalikote. And main intention of building the fort was for fulfilling defense requirements. And in our era Bekal shot into fame again after a song sequence from the movie Bombay was shot here, so much that when one hears the word Bekal, next word which comes to mind will be Bombay.

Heat & the humidity was brutal. To add to the misery, I forgot to carry my hat that day. Just as we climbed our way back to the fort from beach, those two ladies selling cool drinks & soda appeared to us as angels. Gulped down couple of masala sodas & then headed towards our vehicle.

Continuation of my West Coast ride story.