We often heard about the beautiful drive to Udipi and wanted to do this road trip. Wedding of our close friend provided this excuse. The distance from Bangalore to Udipi is roughly 400 kms. We had a Ford Ikon and an Alto with us. We were a gang of 8 friends including 3 couples. The journey began at 9 in the morning after gathering at Nelamangala Cross. Luckily as we started early we could beat the morning chaos that is second nature for a banglorean. To talk a few mins on our cars, Ford Ikon easily touches 140Kmph without the slightest vibration. But as it has a very high road clearance the road grip is not as good as say a Honda city. Whereas the Alto is a work horse which can go upto 100kmph with the occasional jerks. It gives a good mileage of about 20kmpl with Ac while Ikon gives about 13.
Once you are out of banglaore your
vision expands literally. Instead of seeing a plethora of cars, people and pollution you are pleasantly greeted with greenery and chirping birds. Within half an hour all the tension accumulated evaporates and you are renewed with a new vigor.
Our first pit stop was at Kamath Upchar at Chennaraya Pattana at around 12 in the noon. We had Dosa’s and Pooris for breakfast. The food served is pretty decent with good toilet facilities for ladies.
We again started on the journey, and hit sakleshpur ghat at around 1:30 in the afternoon. This is where the fun actually starts. The sakleshpur Ghat is around 20Km of winding roadfilled with hairpin bends offering spectacular views at regular points. The road upto Sakleshpur is good , but then it deteriorates. But the scenery more than makes up for it. Be prepared to confront Gas and Bauxite Ore trucks if you travel in the evening. Otherwise it’s a pleasant journey.
After the ghats there are 2 ways to reach Udipi. You can either take the Route via Mangalore or the one through Dharmasthala. The route from Mangalore is pretty wide and straight except for heavy traffic. Whereas the one via Dharmasthala is just a one lane road which is pretty decent but filled with trees and greenery and less traffic. We decided to take the one from Dharmasthala. The route is Dharmasthala –Venur-Karkala-Manipal-Udipi. Even at Belthangadhi you can either go thru Karkala or thru Venur.
The one thru Venur is pretty straight road and you get to see the gomateshwaras of Venur and Moodabhidhri and some other temples. Whereas the Karkala route is winding but very scenic. It’s like an endless screensaver. The Trees hug one another at either side of road discreetly enough to allow the sun to just kiss the road. The chirping of Birds takes you away from a world of maddening crowds and pollution.
As luck would have it when I was driving the ford at around 80kmph we got a flat front tyre. The thing that impressed me though was that at that speed thanks to “almighty upstairs” there was no jerk in the car or nothing to indicate a flat except a faint sound. It started to pour as soon as we got down to change the tyre and stopped once we changed it. Guess Murphy must be smiling from upstairs.
Finally we reached Udipi around 5:30 in the evening and checked in at hotel Kidiyoor. This is one of the oldest hotels in Udipi. The rooms are thus very spacious with provisions for 2 fans. It’s almost like a flat in Bangalore. There’s hot water, all the channels and excellent view of the city from all the rooms. The restraunt at hotel is a gem. You have to taste the Fish fry, Tandoori Pomfret to believe the tast. The Fish Fry just melts in your mouth, feels like butter and looks like it’s just plucked out of the sea.
The other hotel which is very good is the Paradise Isle. This is bang on Malpe beach. You get a fantastic view of the beach while having food. You just have to request the waiters to switch off the Music and listen to waves after waves hitting it off in a rhythmic fashion. Its just too soothing. A note at any restraunt in Udipi. Please stick to sea food fare. You don’t come to coastal area and order chicken. The food and ambience is top class at Paradise Isle.
The next stop for foddies is Sea View Resort at Kadaikal . The thing with Udipi is you get fantastic views at any hotel by the sea or river. And it gets better here with Sea view resort on the banks of river. You can have food while enjoying the fisherman goes past you in boats. The speciality here is the Kori Roti. Literally means “Chicken Roti”. This is dry chapatthi mixed with chicken curry.
After we satisfied our gastric entities, we decided to explore in and around Udipi. The first stop is Marwanthe. It’s about an hours drive from Udipi along kundapur route. The beauty of this place is once you reach it, there is a 2 km stretch of road with river on one side and sea on the other side. Need I say more? The sea is in varying colors of blue and green. It’s pretty dangerous to swim though with sudden depths and underlying currents. All throughout it is dotted with quaint shops selling tea. They have benches erected at the back so that you have a view of the sea when sipping tea.
The other place around is the turtle bay resort. This has about 20 cottages bang on the beach with basic facilities like clean beds, fan and no TV. Seems pretty popular with around 20 foreigners with Bullets hanging out at the resort. The Rate is around 900 bucks per day including Food. There are also Yoga Classes and Snorkeling activities at the resort.
After having lunch at Turtle bay we went to a place known as Baindoor. This is situated on a Hill overlooking the beach. So you get a fantastic view of the Sea and River joining together with the road cutting in between. The place has a basic cottage which is govt booked. You have steps leading down the hill where you can trek for a Km and then come down to the temple by the beach which is a fun
thing to do.
The next and final stop for the day was the beach at Kaapu. This is a pretty small beach with shops selling all kinds of chat on the beach reminding you of Chaupati. It has a Lighthouse that one can go up and gives a pretty good alround view from up there. Just go in before it closes at around 6:30 in the evening. The ticket is around 5 bucks.
After this entire excursion it was time to go for the thing we originally came to Udipi for. My friends Marriage. The food as usual at Udipi Marriages is filled with sweets and Huli ( Brinjal Curry). The best you can get anywhere.
As a last note for those visiting for pilgrimage the temple town as it is known has about 8 beautiful mathas to explore including the famous kanakana kindi at Krishna temple, wherein God turned himself to appear before kanaka. All the temples serve food in the afternoon and evening free. The food is much better than most of the five star hotels. It’s absolutely delicious.
So plan a trip 10 days after the first rains so that you can enjoy the green drive to Udipi. Best time around May end to June last week.
Santosh