Trip to Mangalore

An invite for a family function in Udupi from my in-laws side on a Friday, in the month of January, set me planning for a weekend trip. The tickets booked by train both onward and return journeys. I had purposefully booked a day journey ticket for the return. “What are we supposed to sitting in the train the whole day?” asked Megha, my wife. Yes, that was a difficult one to handle, with a wry smile I said, “You won’t be disappointed with the journey, trust me!!” So the plan was simple, depart Bangalore on Thursday night, reach Mangalore go to Udupi, attend the function, come back to Mangalore on Saturday morning, and travel by day train back to Bangalore. The day before the departure, due to some unforeseen circumstances, the function got cancelled. My wife, a bit sad on the eventuality, started unpacking the luggage. Unable to bear the saddened look on Megha’ s face, I thought, What is that I am going to lose, anyway I had booked the train tickets, and had got the approved leaves as well, So how about one day trip to Mangalore?? Everything was ready, I just needed to look for a hotel to stay overnight on Friday. Without much thinking, I told the idea to Megha, who gleefully accepted the invitation. 

With the hurtling night train, breaking the silence of the night, Megha and me, set on our journey to coastal town. Although the duration was only for a day, I was glad that we dint cancel the ticket.

The first look at Mangalore railway station gives a feel that we have entered a village; the approach road to the station also resembles any rustic setting of a sleepy Western Ghats town. Go up the ramp of the approach road, and lo, the bustling city in its entire youthful exuberance opens up in front of your eyes, as if opening a Pandora’s Box.

Unplanned trips are always sticky situations for me, although nothing unpleasant eventually happens, I almost hate surprises. By nature, I am very skeptical about backpack trips, and unless I have all the boxes ticked for the bare minimum necessities of the trip, little worries would always keep haunting me. This prelude was required for the simple reason “accommodation” in Mangalore, was not booked, and hence all my little beads of worry started forming wrinkles on my forehead.

Auto rickshaw drivers in that city are god sent and they double up as middle men for tourists looking for decent hotels. Unfortunately, there was a conference going on in the city, and as per the one driver that we had hired, all the hotels were booked. Wrinkles increased on my forehead, and in that sweaty city, my search with Megha, a little worried, continued for more than an hour, for a decent accommodation. Finally I hit upon Hotel WoodSide. The receptionist initially said that the rooms weren’t available. However, looking at Megha standing outside with our luggage, she felt a bit sympathetic, I guess, and offered an A/C room for double occupancy(The gender sympathy, helped me, had I been a bachelor, I would have been brushed aside vehemently).I dint even bother to negotiate for the price, a sense of relief for having got a shelter. I paid the advance to the hotel, paid a little more generously to my messiah for the moment, the auto rickshaw driver who had shown me the shelter.

Freshened up, we hit the road, looking for breakfast. Coastal towns, have sweaty weather throughout the year, and end Jan was almost nearing summer time, and even at 9 in the morning, we felt the sun blazing hot. So I started the stroll in the lookout for a decent restaurant. The stroll for me appeared a desert trek for Megha. A few 100 meters and the argument over the choice of restaurant to have breakfast began, and in that summer, it was supposed to be “heated”. Husband and wife, should always disagree at least on some things, that’s the norm of life, after all what is life without little argument? I dragged her anyway, until her cheeks turned from pink to red!!! Danger signs flashing to stop looking further and sit in a nearby moderately decent restaurant. It was one of those Kamath restaurants. We dint have much choice, or rather dint have the patience to look into the menu card. We ordered masala dosa, and Mangalore buns and devoured it without much talk in-between, an indication of our hunger.

Tummies full, we ventured into the city. What do you do in a coastal town? Go visit the beach. It was already 1030, with the scorching sun above us; we decided to go to the Tannirbavi beach. I was sure, that by the time we reached the beach, it would be noon. However, the sands and water would make us forget the sun, I felt. Also, Megha, who had a stupendous experience playing in the beach waters in Chennai just couple of weeks before this trip, readily agreed at least to touch base with the salty waters of the Arabian Sea. So we went to the beach, the approach to the beach itself, very strange. It has a huge row of pine trees forming a wall of barricade masking the view of the sea from the road. As you walk through those pine trees, you would not even sense the presence of a beach, anywhere near, except for the rumbling of the sea waters, and all of a sudden almost at the exit, a panoramic view of the entire beach unfolds :). I had expected the beach to be deserted, and so it was. Megha ran to the waters, like a small kid, and almost got drenched in the waters :). I had to drag her back, almost, reminding that we dint have clothes to change, if we got wet!! A few snaps, and a long stroll along the beach with the waves gently washing our feet,(Megha dint mind the stroll this time though!!) we were soaking ourselves in the glory of the Arabian sea, when the sun started to get too hot to handle. We ran back to the comforts of the bus that would take us back to the city bus stand. Caught an auto there, and rushed to our then temporary comfort home, WoodSide. We dint bother to go out for lunch, and called in for room service. The sun was too hot to venture out, and being tired, both of us hit the sack for a quick afternoon nap. The nap extended up to the evening and by the time we got ready, the clock had stretched its arms wide, exactly in opposite directions, 6 PM!!

Window shopping time!!I deliberately took her to the road, which was supposed to be our destination for a dinner with a surprise menu. Megha loves ice creams. So, I thought why not treat her with a dinner of ice creams!! I had a place in mind that would serve ice creams, and lots of it. Yes, it was Ideal Ice cream parlor. An ice cream binge was what that followed, and Megha loved it!! We started off with American Choconut, followed it up with two servings of Banana Split and Dilkhush, and finally ordered Gadbad and Dry Fruit Cocktail J. We had gobbled at least a month’s quota of ice creams; needless to say Megha was delighted with the surprise treat!! Heart filled with happiness and stomach filled with ice cream, she was grinning ear to ear, and had a look of appreciation for me in her eyes. 

We hit the sack that night after talking endlessly throughout the evening, about everything in Mangalore, the place, the weather, the cost of living, the people!! The next day was the supposed day journey, which I had promised Megha, to be memorable. The Ghat section from Kukke Subramanya right up to sakaleshpura, offers breath taking views of the Western Ghats, and the train travel, doubles up the excitement. There are 58 tunnels in this section, and just as we come out of the tunnel, the breath taking view is divine. The speed of the train is very slow in this entire section, and hence the distance of 52 kms takes nearly 3 hours. 3 hours of amazing panoramic view of the majestic Western Ghats!! I guess it is for this sole purpose the Indian Railways run this train. Take a bow, Indian Railways, you’ve done a great job!!

With a heavy breakfast and lunch packed in a nearby hotel, we bid adieu to Mangalore. Megha was all excited about the journey, with high expectations after all that I had bragged her about the majesty of Western Ghats. Fortunately, we had got the window seat and she was overjoyed because sitting next to the window, would offer her the best view of the Western Ghats, according to her. Little did she know that there was another surprise coming her way after a few hours of our journey. Just as we reached Kukke Subramanya, I got up from the seat and dragged her to sit on the steps of the entrance/exit door. “Illi koothkolodha?” All sorts of expressions anxiety/happiness/fear showed up on her face. I just smiled and said, “Idhu innu maja irathe baa koothko enu agalla, naan hidkothini” (This will be much more fun, don’t worry, come sit). I held her tight and both of us managed to sit on the steps of the door. The next two hours, I guess, was one of the most memorable experiences of train journey for her. Two reasons; girls are never allowed to sit on the steps of the door in a train, when unmarried. After marriage, if the husband is a sophisticated corporate, he would puke at the idea of travelling in a train, leave alone sitting on its doorsteps!

The atmosphere in the train during those two hours of journey is simply unbelievable and is almost as the one in a cricket stadium. Although the decibel levels are not so high, it is definitely vociferous!! The oohs and aahs once the train comes out of the tunnel and while entering the tunnel, the jaw dropping expression at the depth beneath the feet, the awe stuck looks at the huge mountains, is indescribable. Experiencing all this sitting on the doorsteps of the train, is simple awesome. Showered in this new found excitement, Megha was elated, and so was I.

The journey after Sakaleshpura is quite a paradox to the exciting journey till then. Finally we reached Bangalore at around 7 pm in evening. Fun filled, rejuvenating and definitely worth spending more number of days is what I describe this Mangalore trip as. Definitely worth a second visit!!

A[V]I