5/16
So for those of you who don't know, almost as soon as I
arrived in India the charger for my laptop broke. Since I had no way of opening my pictures, I
had no way of sending in any blog posts.
So for the next little while I am going to try to go through the
pictures I took while in India and write up some posts. I hope you can bear with me while I select
and write these up. I hope you enjoy.
After Varanassi and Thrissur I headed to Gokarna in South
Karnataka. The train ride there was of
course long and hot, but it was an overnight train so I got to sleep and
arrived in town a few hours after noon.
Gokarna is a beach town that is somewhat famous for tourism both foreign
and domestic. It is a beautiful area
with several beaches and a small rural area surrounding. It was nice to see the
way the rural people in India live.
I spent just about every day there in the mornings sitting
on the beaches, and the afternoons walking around town doing some shopping or
walking through the rural regions of town. The beaches there were quite
beautiful, most of the people stayed on the main entrance areas to the beach
leaving the rest of it nearly pristine.
The second day I made the trip over to Om beach by foot. I didn't realize that it was five kilometers
away when I set out but it was a nice several hour walk. The rock formations surrounding the beaches
were interacting with the surging in the ocean by sending sprays of salt water
feet into the air with an unending noise of the surge in the background. On the main part of the beach there were
several small bars. The one I stopped in was run by a French man who was more
than happy to keep the beers flowing.
After half a day of drinking, eating great curries, and a Lassi for
dessert I head back to town for some shopping. Since it is the off season for
foreign tourism I was able to get what I consider some really good deals on
gifts and souvenirs.
The final day in town I decided to take a long walk down the
beach. After about an hour of walking I came
across a small fishing village built right on the beach. As I walked up there were a group of men
bringing in one of the large seven person fishing boats out of the water. As I got close they waved me over and in pantomime
told me to start pushing with them. I being the pushover I am went along with
it. We pushed and shoved until the boat was close enough for the locally made wooden
winch to hook up to it and then helped as the winch slowly pulled it up the
beach. I admit being a little
disappointed when I wasn't offered any coconut rum or something for my pleasure
but they did ask me to come back in the afternoon to push it back in the water.
I am afraid I didn't make it.
I enjoyed my time in Gokarna quite a lot, it was very
relaxing and quiet. It was not common to find small places in India to just
enjoy but I am glad I made it to Gokarna and its beautiful beaches.
Two forts seen from the train
Walking to the beach in Gokarna
Om beach Gokarna
Sled used during holidays
Gokarna Beach
Temple and holy water
