We set off on the night of the 27th of December (2008) by train from Bangalore to Mangalore. This seems to be a recently introduced train (I believe the broad guage route was finished just a few months back), and it's timings are pretty useful - a night train. Nothing special over the journey... we got off at Mangalore and immediately headed for Udupi.
We reached Udupi by the afternoon on the 28th. Udupi is a pretty and silent town, with the Krishna temple being far and away the most identifiable landmark. The temple isn't very large or intimidating, but the crowd is behaved and praying there is a peaceful experience. Plenty of activity on the periphery of the temple: elephants, chariots, a dance competition.
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| From Udupi/Kollur/Murdeshwar |
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| From Udupi/Kollur/Murdeshwar |
A special mention for the food at Udupi. The idlis I had here were top class, though the dosas still do not compare to the ones I've had in places like Madurai or Pazhani. Plenty of sweet and chaat shops around, though we were loathe to be adventurous with our food so early into a trip.
My parents enjoyed another round the next morning, one I sort of slept through. After breakfast, we set out for the Kollur Mookambika temple. There are plenty of direct buses from Udupi to Kollur, and this journey too was pretty uneventful.
Kollur is a lovely place, though of late it has become increasingly dusty and hot - probably as a result of a decline in the number of trees around. The river Sowparnika passes nearby, and Kudachadri lies in the hills overlooking Kollur. We decided to walk from the bus-stand to the hotel room - not very pleasant. Hot, dusty, dry - this was not the Kollur I remembered from earlier visits. Anyway, we had a pleasant surprise near the hotel - the famous south Indian actor Jayaram and his family were there. My mom was thrilled at being able to speak to Parvathy (Malayalee film buffs will know her) and their son - my Dad and I just wanted a bath.
The view from the room was pleasant - a branch of the Sowparnika was flowing beneath, though litter from several previous tourists lay on its banks. The most fun I had was when I saw a snake swimming in its water (a long one - easily over a meter in length) in order to avoid a large mongoose on the bank. The behaviour of both creatures was fascinating, and this is probably my abiding memory from the trip.
My mother thoroughly enjoyed herself at this temple. The goddess at Mookambika is the goddess of learning, and I particularly enjoyed the small stage where young children were "coaxed" by their parents to sing. This is an extremely calm temple, with some of the best prasadam laddoos I've ever had (the ones at Tirupathi included). There was a reasonable crowd, so my dad and I restricted ourselves to three rounds. My mom went around 6 times and saw every puja there was to see on the day.
We headed down to the Sowparnika river after this, and boy is this place a mess. Strangely, the water is cool, and crystal clear, but the banks are dirty beyond belief. My strongest memory of this place is the smell and the whining of a poor dog that had been locked up in a nearby cage. If Shankaracharya ever had to visit this place again, he wouldn't believe what his divine vision had brought upon this place.
Kudachadri lies in the hills above, and is accessible only by a 3 hour Jeep journey. I was very clear that my parents wouldn't be able to sit 3 hours in a jeep on a highway, let alone a kuccha mountain road, so we decided to skip this. We hung around the temple till late in the night, before heading back to the hotel. The food here was distinctly ordinary, but at least it did not affect us in any negative manner.
We set off for Murdeshwar the next morning. Buses from Kollur take you up to the coastal highway (near Bhatkal), from where you need to take a second bus up to the gates of Murdeshwar. This road through the hills is well maintained, and very scenic. This stretch reminded me of the movie Swades, as the bus and the people in it hark back to a life that we in the cities have never experienced, for good or for bad.
We eventually reached the gates of Murdeshwar on the afternoon of the 30th. This is a strange place - one where tourism and religion mingle in a not-so-subtle way. The place would have been pristine and beautiful once upon a time, it is now crowded (the most crowded beach I've ever seen), noisy, dirty - but with a vigour/life that I haven't seen anywhere else before. This is in part because the biggest percentage of the crowd here comprised of schoolchildren. These children weren't from economically affluent backgrounds, but boy did they know how to enjoy themselves on a beach. Their teachers were having hell trying to keep them on a leash. There's boating, and the other typical beach related events typically seen in Goa. My parents had the guts to board a boat for a tour of sorts, though I did not quite muster up the courage to board a boat that should ideally seat under 30, and was carrying 60.
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| From Udupi/Kollur/Murdeshwar |
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| From Udupi/Kollur/Murdeshwar |
The temple at Murdeshwar is also a strange one - the same crowd you saw walked in those exact same clothes - but the transformation in attitude was surreal. The same children you'd seen earlier on the beach were now entering the temple in a silent and orderly queue, albeit in wet and sand filled clothes. The temple is entirely concrete based, as in contrast to the older granite temples we see elsewhere. In most older temples, you see oil lamps and some small open drains to carry away the abhishekam remnants - the lamps here were mostly electric, and open canals were visible - the first "modern" south Indian temple I've seen.
The hotel was pretty goof, and the view was outstanding. The most fun I had was when a couple of blondes started swimming in the pool beneath our balcony, though my mother quickly grew wise to my thoughts and let us out for another round to the temple.
The food: The story and climax to the trip. Our dinner on the 30th resulted in us suffering from a case of food poisoning that took me half of January to recover from (after which a round of chickenpox again laid me low). My father was luckily not affected - my mother and I though had to head through hell and back on the journey back to Bangalore. We reached the Mangalore airport by cab, flew in to Bangalore, and reached home by cab again. This was the night of the 31st, and by the time the New Year celebrations began, we were already at home and thinking the world was blowing up around us.
Summary: Peaceful trip, a good relaxing journey, not much beyond the routine - all blown up in the last eight hours.
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