This ride was done in Feb 2014. A routine ride to Sirsi on a temple visit combined with a visit to the coast. Any ride through the western ghats, one thing is confirmed "Peace of mind".The ride though WG has always been a healing factor for me, most of the times in the rain.

Day 1 : Temple Run
Started the ride from Bangalore around 4 or so to reach Sirsi for Brunch. Few buns and Upma hogged. Reached Sahasralinga post Sirsi. Sahasralinga is a very peaceful place by the river Shamala. History has it that the lingas in the river were built during the times of Sadashivaraya, the King of Sirsi. Literal translation Sahasralinga means a 1000 lingas. It is believed that the King built so many Lingas to please the Gods and have children.

Few Pics from Sahasralinga




















Even the guy who spent days carving these magnificent structures didnt bother to etch his name anywhere, these idiots were in urgency of carving their own


This bridge cut shorts the distance to Sonda by 3 kms or so.






The only Hangout in Sonda


One of the bridges on Sonda-Yellapur route.


Day 2 : Head to the beach
Left Sonda the next morning after breakfast.Post Yellapur is where the conflict of choosing the destination for the day started, given the options Goa and Gokarna, Mind Says Goa, wallet says Gokarna. So I reach this Junction post Ankola, stop by a tender coconut guy, It was like the "she loves me , she loves me not ' kind of decision making, had 4 tender coconuts and with a heavy heart got rid of Goa from the confusion. Then thought of trying some other than NH17 route to Gokarna. The shop guy suggested the Manjaguni jetty route. Fond of ferry hopping, decided to do that. But the decision was not that good . the Manjaguni jetty is a very small ferry crossing, and the bost that is there might be older than vasco Da Gama's . The width of the boat is such that my rear fender was slight out of the boat

Yummy seafood waiting by the beach


Post lunch went to Ombeachand was shocked by the way people had spoilt it with thrash. Also happened to meet one of old classmates, who had been to Gokarna with his colleagues.

Few Pics from Om beach










Returned back to my room on kudle beach for sunset and what a view .....




Different moods on the beach




There was this group of foreigners who started to play music by the beach as the sun was slowly going down. They had come to India and learnt to play Indian Musical instruments. They sheer talent of playing them got every soul on the each to encourage them. The strength of the audience kept on increasing by the minute. Finally around 7.30 or so, everybody dispersed only after congratulating the musicians for the entertainment provided.











Few stalls put up by foreigners on the beach










Ended the day with some awesome seafood again only telling myself to be back on the beach for some Yoga sessions the next morning

Day 3 : The head back Home Day
Got up by 5.30 or and went for a walk on the beach. Packed my stuffs and started from there. Wanted to cover Murudeshwar as well but the pleasure of riding on a newly laid NH17 gave it a miss. Wanted to take the coastal route all the way till Mangalore and then return to Bangalore. On one of the hydration breaks, opened up my phone and saw a thread started by @strider about a food joint near Aagumbe, run by one of his friends. So thought of reaching Aagumbe and giving him a call to get the exact location. So took the Kota-Halady-Someshwar-Aagumbe route. Just the kind of roads i would love to traverse. Good roads with hardly any traffic that you can hear the birds chirp. To my luck, the ghats were freshly laid too. Once i reached Aagumbe called Ajay to get the location. Dumb me, had crossed that place 12kms back. Stomach growling for some food, stopped by a small hotel in Aagumbe to satisfy the hunger.

Lunch at Aagumbe


The doorbell of my house rang at around 8 o clock in the evening after clocking some 1100kms.

Ride Safe, Ride long Ding dong