Let me start by bickering about the picture that has been put for Mangalore. While Mangalore is a coastal area much like Goa, with its own share of beaches, swaying coconut palms, and warm people, the picture is of the MRPL (a grotesque factory that has come up on the outskirts of the city a couple of years ago!). Hey, dont get me wrong. I am not complaining against the guys at MS who put that pic. Sadly, over the last few years, Mangalore seems to be synonymous with that huge pile of ’civilization’ that goes by the name of MRPL. I crib because I was there when a hole was torn into that green carpet of forest. A hole that kept getting bigger and bigger, and out of it emerged this....this...well, enough said!
Mangalore, as a city is neither as big as Bangalore, nor as advanced. It has a laid-back style of its own that runs off on to its people.
Needless to say, I guess, I was born there but moved out when I was about 4 years old. Ever since then, every trip to Mangalore has been something I have looked forward to. Even today as I think of Mangalore, I get very excited. There is some charm about it that draws me there.
There are a couple of beaches that you can visit when you are there--Ullal, Panambur, Sultanbatteri. There are several beaches outside of Mangalore too that are quite beautiful! These are on the way to Udipi. There’s Maravanthe, Malpe...you could keep going...perhaps driving up towards Goa. You pass by a whole lot of beaches right upto the Goa border where you find Palolem!
Then there are temples...but I wont say anything about them, as I am not an authority on these! Udipi is however said to be where most of these temples lie! Then closer to the Goa border is another famous temple which is surrounded on three sides by the sea!
There are a few pubs in Mangalore too...but these just about qualify as pubs!
I would also suggest that if you go to Mangalore, you drive up to Chikmagalur, Kudremukh. These places are up in the hills as opposed to the first drive I told you about...down the coastline! Up the hills you pass across tea plantations (in Kudremukh) as well as coffee plantations (Chikmagalur side). The hills are covered in dense vegetation, and if you are lucky you may even spot elephants or wild buffaloes!!
There are several buses (the bus transport is really really good there...but the roads can be mean and winding!) that take you up into the hills or down the coastline...but if you want to take things at your pace...and if you can afford it, take a taxi!
Well...in ways, Mangalore is like Goa...the ’laid-back’-ness, the food, the sea (I still prefer the sea in Goa, though!), the palms (they speak a different language from the ones in Goa when the wind blows thru them!!), the language (konkani)...but somewhere it seems to have lost that little something that Goa has!! It is indeed a long lost cousin of Goa...very long...and very lost!