A Date With the Coast

(Cross-posted here.)

To explore more of Karnataka I set off to Mangalore with colleagues for a team member’s wedding on the evening of January 25. We took a sleeper bus from Bangalore. The bus was far from what was portrayed on the website of the bus service but the journey was just about decent. After a long night's ride in the cold with no bed sheets and bad roads after Hassan, we reached Mangalore the next morning. Our colleague, the groom received us at the bus stop and took us home. His family was warm and welcoming, very simple yet sweet.

The place where we stayed was calm, serene, quaint and beautiful. After a shower we explored the city. We visited a store of local handicraft articles followed by a cashew shop where we all bought cashews of different kinds - cheese coated, honey sweet, pepper roasted. Then we headed to Ideal Place, known as the best ice cream parlour in Mangalore. We dug into flavours like Gudbud and had Falooda which didn't turn out to be as enticing as expected. Our next stop was an architectural marvel, the St. Aloysius Chapel built in 1884. The walls and ceiling were painted in two techniques: Fresco and Oil-based. Artist Anthony Moscheni from Italy takes credit for this marvellous creation. The central row of paintings on the ceiling depicts the life of Aloysius Gonzaga to whom the College and Chapel are dedicated. The floor is made up of brick that gives a 3-dimensional effect.

Next on the agenda was the Gokarnatha temple also known as Gokarnatheshwara temple built in 1912 for the Billava community which was not permitted to enter other temples. The area is dotted with temples of Shiva.

It was hot and sultry by afternoon. We decided to try vegetarian Mangalorean food at a restaurant. After having Neer Dosa, we went back to relax a little before leaving for the wedding and the reception at the church. Cake and wine in hand, the wedding revellers raised a toast to the newly-weds and set off to fill their stomachs again.

We hit the sack by midnight and set out the next morning to St.Mary’s Islands, Malpe, Udupi in a hired SUV. After a comfortable drive of about two hours we reached Malpe beach and boarded the ferry that reached the island after half an hour. Nature was at its best once again; we had fun jumping  between the rocks - while I slipped, fell and bruised my back - playing in the water, collecting shells and screeching at the sight of an approaching crab, not to forget clicking away at each other. How we wished we had carried spare clothes!

On our way back we stopped to visit the Sri Krishna Matha and other temples at Udupi. The idol at Krishna Matha temple is dressed in diamonds from head to toe and is allowed to be viewed only through a window. The plan for rafting and canoeing had to be dropped due to constraints of time. We bid a quick adieu to the groom’s family before an even quicker bite of chaat at a stall, to make it just in time for our bus back to Bangalore.

I had always wanted to go an all-women trip with my best buddies. Though that is yet to happen, this trip with my women-colleagues was indeed pleasant and fun!

Gokaranatha Temple

Malpe Beach

The place where we stayed

St. Mary's Islands

Beach at St. Mary's Islands