Eco lodge

We slept in and then had to carry bicycles up the stairs from Om Beach in the heat.

Ferry to cross the river from Tadadi fishing village.

Saaras view.

Waiting for the fishing catch to come in.

Nice views on the top of yet another hill in the heat just before discovering Jason got a flat tire.

Turned out that getting a flat tire was pretty lucky. When we stopped for a cold drink the waiter told us about a nice little Russian beach resort just a few hundred meters from the cafe. So off we went and ended up staying for a few nights. Such a great place!

The beach was so beautiful and clean with white sand..the same beach we saw from Om Beach.

Sergei the Russian designed and made all the huts and eating areas. One of the best parts was being able to drink the tap water.

Saara enjoying ocean views while making riisipuuro or rice porridge.

There was no butter in the village shops but Ghee was a good substitute.

Turned out very well. Chef hard at work.

Our first attempt at hand washing much easier and cheaper think i will get Saara to continue doing it.

Restaurant and view from our window.

Heard this very disturbing squawking noise and found out it was this frog's desperate croaks. In the end the frog got away. I would have bet against that happening. 

The next morning people were erecting a funeral pyre. A 90-year-old man died  in the night and according to Hindu traditions was cremated. No one was sad or crying. They have a different view of death and they believe the soul will move on to another life. We were encouraged to take pictures and to observe their rituals. We talked to the nephew of the deceased and he informed us that this is where the cremations usually take place and after the ashes are scattered into the ocean.

After two or three hours the fire went out. 

Our hut

geeky J with his headlamp haha

We could have spent a lot longer in this place but decided to go on since there is many more places to discover..

Gokarn and Om Beach

The bike ride from Honey Beach to Gokarna was only something like 20 km or so but it was so hilly. Especially the last bit just 6 km from Gokarn town to Om Beach was a massive uphill.

Took this little boat over the river from a fishing village

Jason says this is the work site safety officer..haha

We had to walk our bicycles up the hill for most of the time from Gokarn to Om Beach. And it was hot.

In the end we made it all the way up and had this beautiful scenery.

Sunset at Om Beach

Around the peninsula there are a couple of beaches. We walked to Halfmoon Beach just about 20-30min walk away from Om Beach over the hill. In the distance we saw this beautiful long stretch of white sandy beach and wondered if there's anything there. Nothing according to the Lonely Planet. We planned to go and see for ourselves with the bicycles.

Another 20 min walk from Halfmoon there is Paradise Beach. This beach didn't have any huts or restaurants because the Karnataka state law doesn't allow any permanent structure on this area. There was just some hippies camping out in their self-made tents. Apparently there was some huts and restaurants before but sometime this winter the police or someone came and forced them to close and knocked the buildings down.

So many doggies on Om Beach

Our room

The locals seemed to love to roll in the sand.

There was so many cows on the beach

Like many beach places in India, this one didn't have an ATM and we were about to run out of cash. This required a trip to Gokarn town. It was also nice to see more of the town because so many hindu pilgrims come there.

Om Beach was a nice break from biking, just relaxing. Met some very nice people there as well :)

Honey Beach

After a long day of throwing color at Karwar we cycled towards Ankola. When we got there everything seemed to be closed and there was no accommodation to be seen. We were asking people where to stay and some Indian guy told us Honey Beach just about 4km away has a restaurant and lodging as they call it here. Turns out it was more like 14km but a lovely find, we were happy.

Set our tent up on the beach and camped for the first time in India. And it was free!!

Breakfast potturieska, or aloo paratha

Besides us there was just a Swiss couple and a Swedish-Irish couple and a few Russians for the first days. What a great place!

There was no sunshades around so we made our own.

 

 

We had a fresh water lagoon by our tent for showering..

Was hard to leave this place but we moved on eventually after three nights.