Mangalore and along the coast

Just back from a runaway trip hopping along the Konkan coast near Mangalore :-)

This has to be the first trip I can honestly label as "completely ad-hoc". We had just no time to plan where to go, how to go, and what to do. I think we had about half an hour before leaving where I checked out Mangalore on the www. So, being the methodist that I am, I wrote down all the "must see" places in Mangalore - the beaches, the historical spots, the not-so-famous corners, et al.

What happened later, was that I got to tick off less than 25% of that list. But the cool part was that we got to see and experience things I never thought the list would include. As a sampler:

- A round trip boat-ride across the backwaters for Rs.5

- A piece of culture with a traditional Navratri dance where people painted themselves as tigers, monkeys, and what not!

- A train ride showcasing some spectacular sights of green forests, rainy towns, and blue, blue rivers

- A distant glimpse at the 62 feet idol of Shiva through the mist and the clouds

- Rickety, bouncy bus rides spent staring at the locals, and trying to understand what they were saying

- Calm, waveless, and almost flat beaches

- The sight of towering green mountains dipping their skirts straight into the ocean

Somehow in a holiday, it's not the names of the places that you get to see, but the little things that you experience there, that stay with you for a long, long time.

More anecdotes and pictures of Mangalore, Murudeshwar, Gokarna, Om Beach, and places en route in here.