Gokharna Beach trek

I was all excited. Three pass outs of Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were going on their first trek all on their own. No guides, no one to organize, it was just the three of us. It was very thrilling since this was something which I was going to do for the first time ever. Narayan had done these kind of treks before unlike Anirudh and myself. He took charge and prepared a plan before we left. We had two options, either to start from Ankola and proceed towards Gokharana or vice-versa. We decided to start from Ankola for the reason that it would be easy to get a bus from Gokharna. The first trek entirely on our own and that too a beach trek. I was just waiting to start.

Friday night we boarded a bus which dropped us off some where near Ankola the next day morning. We had to board another local bus which took us to Ankola which is very close to the shore. Once we got down the bus we checked with the villagers for the way to the shore. One of them guided us and then we were there. The majestic Arabian Sea stood in front of us. We were waiting for it; we started our walk with the sea on the right of us which meant we were heading south. We just walked for ten minutes and we started feeling the heat. It was very sunny. October Sky was crystal clear. Walking on the sand isn't easy as done on normal ground. As we take a step, the sand would sink which meant it required extra effort. I couldn't stand the heat anymore. I took my umbrella out. The shade provided by it was very helpful. Otherwise the sun would have had a good day by sucking out all the water from our body. En-route we found many fishing boats which were being readied by the fishermen. We happened to interact with a few and learnt some stories of the sea which were mind blowing. Every now and then we crossed small villages which were on the sea shore most of whose livelihood was fishing.

As the day went by we were more and more eagerly looking for some shade which we could hardly find. It was a long path with no shade any where in sight. Though we found some plantations along side the shore, we couldn't reach them as they were fenced. We had little option so we decided to proceed further. A lot of shells were found all along the way. We spotted a few crabs too. Sadly we found a few dead fish also. Every time we entered a village we checked with the villagers how far was our first halt, the name of the village which I forget. They promptly used to give us directions for the bus stand. It used to take time for us to tell them that we were there for a trek and would want to walk the stretch, they would stare at each other. There expressions conveyed just one thing, "you guys are crazy". They don't understand the plight of the urban lads, how much we crave to get into such patches to walk around. Yes, that only an urbanite would understand. Finally we reached our halting village by little over noon. We checked with the locals for some shelter as we weren't carrying tents. They gave us two options: 1. Indo-Denmark collaboration office; 2. Govt School. We proceeded towards the Indo-Denmark office as one of the village folk said it would be ideal place for us to stay and we would like it. He sold it well. Listening to him we headed that way. It was at the end of the village. Fishermen were stitching their fishing nets as it was still early evening. They enquired about us and they said they would leave by nightfall. We walked around the place for a minute and then the three of us looked at each other. Just one thing could be read on our faces – 'lets get out of here'. It was stinking hell of fish. I wonder how they manage to work there. We just informed them and moved out of that place. We were back to the village and then reached the school.

A quick bath felt so good in the scorching heat. We had nothing to do so were just loafing around the village. A lady had a small tea stall just opposite the school. Three of us gathered there and had rounds and rounds of tea with some biscuits and returned back to the school.

It was a Saturday, all the village kids gathered in the school to watch a movie in the TV. The number was easily above 50. Once they were done, the women folk of the village gathered at the school. We were wondering what they were upto. Surprisingly, we realized that they had gathered there for a weekly meeting. All of them were self – employed and were helping out each other, say something like a group of individuals working together. It was something which I had unheard. India is indeed moving forward.

Day 2, we started towards Gokharna. Here we had to climb a small hill and deviate a little as there was no route which we could take along the beach. A while later we reached the other end of the hill where we saw a river joining the sea. How do we cross it? Well, good question. Of course we can't swim across. We had to walk almost a kilometer along the river bed away from the sea to the ferry point. We spotted a ferry leaving as we reached the assembly point which we happened to miss by few seconds. Now we had to wait for almost an hour as we had no other option. Meanwhile Anirudh picked up a water melon. That would be our breakfast. We boarded the ferry as soon as it arrived and within a few minutes we were on the other side of the river. Getting into a farm we had our breakfast – water melon. Today was nothing less, it was the same heat and the water which we were consuming was no where helping us. One more village was crossed and then an estuary came up. It looked very small but as we went nearer we realized the actual size of it. It was easily some 20 feet. How do we cross this? It looked easy but when we got into the water we could feel the high current. The current could drag us easily with our rucksacks on our back. We looked out for some boat to cross, but couldn't find any.

Twenty minutes went by and we had no solution to the problem which stood in front of us. Various alternatives were thought of but were ruled out. Finally one seemed to work, hence we decided to test it. Anirudh was the tallest one, 6 feet something. He would carry the rucksack on his head, Narayan would hold him for support and move along with him. I would move along to hold them just in case if they fall. It was a tough job. One sack was picked up and then the attempt was made. All the three stepped into the water, the high current could be felt as the sand underneath our feet just vanished and we felt the feeling of sinking. Slowly we moved withstanding the current and finally we made it without drenching the bag. We were all so happy and relieved. Two more rucksacks were left, each time we crossed it, it was more challenging than the previous attempt. Finally all three rucksacks were moved on the other side safely without drenching them. Now, it was time to relax, we got into the water in the estuary and spent some time.

Small star fish were spotted very frequently in this patch. The rest of the journey was more or less the same. It was only getting hotter and hotter as every hour passed with the sun showing no mercy. At certain point of time the heat was unbearable and we decided to take a break. The coconut trees gave us some shade as we relaxed and watched the never ending sea. By noon we were in Gokharna. We checked into a hotel, dumped our rucksacks and headed towards Om beach. It felt so nice to walk without the rucksacks. The sun finally was kind enough and bid a nice good bye while setting down.

Ideal time to trek this patch would be monsoon season which would avoid the heat. We heard that it's a frequented path but couldn't find any trekkers through out.