This year I had plans to travel to my dream destination but thanks to the pandemic, that plan went downhill.
I came across the app meetup while exploring something related to my work. I was pleasantly surprised to see the travel groups and immediately joined them. I started getting emails about the trips and I wanted to explore it.
The email that I received from Backpackers and City Freaks (BCF). about the Gokarna trip caught my attention and I immediately asked a friend if she would like to join. Thankfully she said yes.
Before the trip I had butterflies in my stomach as I was excited as well as nervous. Nervous because of the virus and travelling with new people.
We were getting updates regarding the trip on the day. We reached the bus station and met our facilitator Azam.
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The journey started and we first reached Hubli. Changed into fresh clothes at a hotel and had our breakfast. We then started towards Gokarna from hubli in a tempo.
The journey was fun as we played ice breaking games like naming games and then antakshari etc. We now remember everyone’s names 🙂
After a while I could see the coconut trees, water bodies and mountains. I was excited as I knew we were approaching the beach.
The beach was surprisingly clean. It was refreshing to be with nature after so long. We spent some time on the beach clicking pictures and playing with the waves. We then started towards Kudle beach.
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After walking some distance, we reached Kudle beach. This beach had very few people. We all had our lunch at a restaurant next to the beach. It was peaceful.
After spending some time there, we started for Om beach. We had to walk a considerable distance.
Om beach had those vibes – it was colourful, had a lot of rocks, and a perfect view for sunset. We had to walk on some rocks for the sunset view but it was worth it.
Later we started for Murudeshwar, we reached it in 2 hours. The shiva statue in all its glory welcomed us. It was surreal. Fun fact – it is the second largest statue of Shiva in the world.
We got to the homestay, freshened up and had our dinner and went for our much needed sleep.
The second day began early around 6 am. We got ready to visit the temple. The beach was close to the homestay and we walked that path to reach the temple. The temple was beautiful and less crowded. Thank god! We had good darshan and went to the top floor of the Gopura to view the town from top. There were mountains, beaches, trees and people.
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We went to the Shiva statue, it had a mini cave that explained the story of murudeshwar. After this, we had our breakfast and headed back to the beach.
We hired speed boats that took us inside where we could swim. Sadly there were jelly fishes there. We were in the water for some time (where there were no jelly fishes) and came back to the shore and then started for Vibhooti falls.
Vibhooti falls – this was the best part of the trip. I was really looking forward to this place as it was my first waterfall experience.
As we entered the place, we could clearly hear the sound of the water gushing. The path to the fall was a bit difficult. There were plenty of trees and it looked like a forest. Once we were there, I was awestruck – such a beauty. We changed and got into the water. Water was cold and there were uneven rocks. My feet kinda hurt. After sometime, all of us managed to get to the waterfall.
The water was refreshing. It tasted heavenly. Immersing in freshwater has healing effects and I felt that.
We then had maggi for lunch and started back towards hubli and then to Hyderabad.
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Overall, I was a bit unsure in the beginning as I have never travelled with an organising group. I realised having someone look after the itinerary is a good idea and hence travelling with BCF was indeed a good decision.
With BCF, I have the confidence to travel solo as well. I was fully present in those moments, I feel rejuvenated and ready to take on the world 😀
Notes from BCF:
We organize this trip every weekend through out the year except during monsoon. You can follow us on Instagram for regular updates. Insta ID –bcf.official. For more info on BCF upcoming events visit us here. About logo, you can read here.
Article by Kanchan. Thanks a lot to Kanchan for penning down your experiences from the event.
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