The monsoon is here so are our trekking plans. The funda was to go to a place where none of us have been before. The plans were being formulated from a long time though, the reason that the four inmates of Gurukula and the rest of the seven of us were to go together leaving no one behind. The rains had cut off many routes this season so we settled in for a beach trek after considering various alternatives and many deliberations. Next was the stretch to be considered. We decided to start from Gokarna and end in Haldipur near Honnavar the next day.Heading further south we climbed a small hillock to reach the Om beach which was at the other side. The top resembled more of meadows, with cattle grazing all over. Half way while descending the hill we happened to see the Om beach which was quiet outstanding. The natural formation of the Om shape was a rare sight to see. I had missed this beach the last time when I had trekked the other side of Gokarna cause of my leg injury. Crossing this beach took quite a while for us. At times we had to take off the shoes so that they don't get wet wherever small streams were flowing into the ocean. There was another Hillock at the end of this beach. The actual view of the Om was seen from here. Ascending slowly on a beaten path which is a common passage for the villagers, we happened to encounter cattle. This was at a place where the path was at the edge of the hill with a slope on one side which leads to the ocean. A small wrong move would just mean a dive into the ocean. Though a few of us were scared to take the step we managed to cross the hurdle.
Half moon beach was waiting for our arrival as we were the only souls on it. The roaring of the waves were only trying to match the speed of the wind. The weather was all cool and pleasant as the clouds refused to move away providing us a blanket of shelter throughout. The drizzle was an icing on the cake. It was just mild which still kept our clothes dry. Drona was very excited to get into the water but Srinivas used to pull him just at the right time. He kept him busy all day. Each of us were walking at our own pace, some looking at the sea, some fishing for some shells, some lost in talks and some totally lost in thoughts. Nevertheless none complained as none were in a hurry.
Further up the coast line we made it to the next beach called as the Paradise beach. This was indeed a man's paradise. Just a perfect setting to have a small house on the beach side with a small private beach. You have the right company and your life is made. It was noon, so we decided to have lunch and then continue our march. We settled in a small coconut farm and started with our meals. The owner was delighted to host us and gave us tender coconuts which reenergized our otherwise tired bodies; of course at an exorbitant cost. Resting for a while we started moving out of the paradise to reach Belikan village. The rest of the journey was more or less the same with hillocks separating the beaches. The size of the beaches also varied from a few meters to a few kilometers. Kirubaile was a dead end for us. If we had to proceed further we had to hire a boat to cross Anganashini River. Looking out for a boat man in the village was tough. 
Once they saw the urbanites, they quoted a very high price to take us to Barka beach. The actual journey on the boat was for 5 mins. But the preparation for it took more than an hour. We had to push the parked boat into the water which itself took quite a while. We too had to show our strength in pulling and pushing the boat along with the villagers. The boat man had agreed to drop us on an adjacent beach to Barka beach reasoning that it's dangerous to go there since the tides are high. We had to accept whatever offer he made and got into the boat finally. Once we were out in the sea we did realize that the boat man was right. The swaying of the boat testified the boatman's claim. Getting off the boat we bid adieu to the boatman and his associates. Our walk continued. This area has hardly seen the movement of people. I believe other than the trekkers, the localites hardly come here. The rocks and boulders on which we were to climb in order to move ahead were damp and slippery. Slow movements were made with care to avoid slipping. Another hillock stood in front of us. Finding a path took a while and once we did, we were glad to move. On top it was a beautiful meadow with lush green grass. It was too tempting to take a nap on the natural bed. Instead we settled to rest for a while. It wasn't surprising to see a Fort on top. Which king would afford to lose such a scenic beauty?
A while passed and it was time for us to reach Sangam beach. We had decided to camp here. To look out for an ideal place to camp took us a lot of time. We checked in a village if they would allow us to utilize the Government school premise to spend the night, but none gave us an optimistic response. A small discussion among the team gave a clear mandate that it's best to move out of the village and so we did walking further ahead. In one of the many coconut farms which run along the coast we decided to camp. There was a house adjacent to the farm. We sought there help for cooking and they offered us their kitchen itself which surprised us. A quick bath freshened us and then dinner was cooked. On the beach side, under the tall coconut trees amidst the darkness with dim light surrounding us, cool breeze along with the rattle of the waves, we had our dinner.
Day 2 started late as the breakfast took a while. The people at the house offered us breakfast. Hot idlis kept flowing into our plates as we hogged them. Unpitching the tents, we started our day 2 march around 8. The walk on the rest of the beach side gave the warm up required for ours legs to climb a small hillock. Once we descended we approached Magodu beach. This beach is ideal for a camp ground as there is a well and a stream. The beach did end again and as usual there was another hillock ahead of us. Most of these were slippery due to heavy moisture on its surface. Honnali village was the next landmark we crossed. It is located along a small beach side. Another hillock later we came across backwaters which again needed a boat to cross. But we decided to call in for our tempo traveler to transport us to the other side. We were dropped off on the other side and we continued our walk to Dhareshwar beach. This stretch is another long one; it took time for us to reach the huge hill on the other side. 
En-route we found carcasses of many dolphins and the bones of a whale, the size of which we couldn't imagine. The kinds of bones which we saw were much taller than any of us! Dhareshwar hill was probably the highest in this stretch. It wasn't that difficult to climb it though. Descending was a little jittery cause of the slippery ground, the soil used to simply give away causing us to lose our step. Negotiating the descent, we dropped at Ramanagindi. Yet another hill was spotted a little ahead. By now our legs were all used to the multi terrain of sand, water, soil and hillocks. Getting this hillock was even more challenging as it was more slippery than the previous one. We could see Haldipura beach much before we got down. This too was almost the same size of Dhareshwar beach. It was a long walk of another 4 to 5 kms at the end of which was Karki village. Our transport was all ready and waiting for our arrival. We could see the vehicle at a distance and were about to reach when it started pouring. This time we weren't spared as we were all wet by the time we got into the vehicle. I was somewhat spared cause of my umbrella. This marked the completion of the beach trek.
Overall the pleasant weather made our trek very easy which otherwise would have been a tough terrain given the humidity with no shelter anywhere nearby.
More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/sunilbabuvk/GokharnaHonnavarBeachTrek20090831#
Getting there: Buses head to Gokarna from Bangalore during nights. Its a one night journey.
Food will have to be carried along & carrying tents also would be a viable option
