Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Backpacking through the Western Ghats – Day 9 (the last day): Kodachadri Hills to Maravanthe Beach to Kundapur

The last 2 days that we spent at Kodachadri hills were pretty eventful. I woke up slightly late in the morning, but felt much better. Even the fever had come down. After a sumptuous hot breakfast, I felt even better.


So, me and my friend got ready to begin my descent. We had walked about 2 kms when I started feeling uncomfortable again. It looked like I hadn’t recovered completely. We retraced our way back to Kodachadri, where we got a lift from a tourist on his jeep. He was kind enough to drop us at Kollur. We had our lunch at Kollur.


From Kollur, we caught a bus to Kundapur and then another bus that took us to Maravanthe Beach.


Now, Maravanthe Beach is really special to me owing to its uniqueness. If one were to stand on NH 17 (National Highway 17), on one side of the road would be the Maravanthe Beach and the Arabian Sea and on the other side would be the Sowparnika river. So basically two types of water sources (fresh and saline) on either side of the highway.


Maravanthe beach is also known as the poor man’s beach and is a favourite spot with truck drivers. Though, this beach is one of the prettiest on the Malabar coast. A lot of eatery joints are present around this beach that offer mouth watering sea food.


The waters around Maravanthe are a great place to spot turtles, dolphins and underwater sea life. Snorkelling and scuba diving are very popular here. Turtle Bay Resorts, 1 km away from the main highway and the Maravanthe beach and Soan holidays offer a great holiday experience along with the provision of adventure activities.


My health started feeling wonderful the moment my eyes sighted the Maravanthe beach and my nose smelled the salt in the breeze. As soon as we stepped on the beach, we removed our boots. It was fabulous to walk barefoot on the beach after walking in heavy boots the past 8 days.


We did some walking, mild jogging, some crunches and then put this exercise to great work by snacking at the nearby shack. Sleeping on the beach with the evening sun shining on our faces and with our bellies full was very close to a heavenly experience for us.


As it got closer to sunset, we started watching the changing colours of the sky and the sea. More people started coming into the beach. A lot of interesting kids playing in the water grabbed our attention for a while.


As it got close to dark, we dusted ourselves and started on our last trek – the 13 km stretch from Maravanthe Beach to Kundapur, where we had to board our Bangalore bound bus in the night.

Total Distance Trekked: 16 Km
Trekking Time: 4 hours

Overall, 162 kms (+20% uncalculated trek) covered by foot in our 9 day backpacking expedition through the Western Ghats. 

To view the entire set of photos, click the album below.
Backpacking through the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

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2 comments:

  1. wow! 9 days of total bliss it must have been. I had covered chikmagalur circuit early this year and it was awesome. Still waiting to reach Kodachadri though.
    the bus journeys and the heavy backpacks might have been problematic and kudos to you guys..
    Marvanthe beach photos have come real nice.
    Nice adventure and western ghats are worth exploring for months together i feel! :)

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  2. Right on Neelima! Yes, it was total bliss...the bus journeys and backpacks were fun...I wouldn't call them problematic...if I can't lift heavy backpacks at this age, then I guess I can't later :-)

    Glad you liked the Maravanthe photos!!

    Have a dream of walking from Kanyakumari to the Sahyadri end of Western ghats for 3-6 months...lets hope that day comes soon!!

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