Magic Gokarna

From Calangute - Goa, I took few local buses and one train to arrive in Gokarna. Leaving the rail station already met Lorenzo, Italian guy who had been in town once before and, therefore knew a little bit about the area. Thus we headed straight to the guesthouse he had stayed before, in Kudle beach.

It was a magical arrival; just my first moments in “Ganga guesthouse” and I had met such an amazing people; first Angela, then Astrid, Dinah, Maya and their whole awesome crew. Good vibe that made me feel so happy and surprised! Not enough?! Alright, there more to come! The guesthouse itself was located on the beginning of the beach, just on the rocks. What means that I would go to bed hearing the sound of the sea!

Dinner time! We all ended up eating in the restaurant attached to the guesthouse and I had an amazing cashew curry. That was also a good opportunity for me to know a bit more about my new friends, their stories and next destinations in India. And as usual, there was India connecting people! I mentioned my intention of going to Hampi on the next days and the need of a partner (s) for this mission. Immediately the smiling Dinah joined it and made me so happy!

The day after I got to know a bit more about the town and its attraction, such as the huge holy bull, holy spring water, the 150 rupees hammocks and the Prema Restaurant – they prepare amazing food, shakes, juices, everything there is perfect! Specially the Papaya Pulp with ginger, lemon and mint.

Third day in Gokarna and we decided to make a fish barbecue in the beach. We bought 5 small fresh tunas in the morning and prepared them - on a Indian style, with masala, species lime, salt – at night on the beach. Great moment with good food and beautiful company!

Ah, almost forgot to mention that I was finally introduced to the Bhagsu cake, which here is called Kudle Cake. It’s exactly the thing with different name according to witnesses. I do have to agree that the cake is amazing. Crunch base, condensed milk in the middle and chocolate on the top, then taken into the freezer for a while and ready to be eaten!

Well, only good things to remember about this magic beach. It was definitely one of the places where I could get stuck for weeks or months maybe. Once again it wasn’t easy to leave, but I felt that Hampi was already waiting for me…

Go GOA!

Finally reached the west coast of India and could and give myself the chance of tasting the sea food I love so much, spend days and days on the beach, and have some coconut water, basically perfect life!

Such a small state compared to other areas of India, Goa is full of energy and people, local tourists mixed with a lot of foreigners makes of this place a comfortable house for everyone. Along its coast of a bit more than 100km there are a large variety of beaches and one of them will enchant you!

Ah, before continue with my Goan journey wanna make a pause and mention that during the last three weeks had the perfect company of the German couple, Raffa and Mona. We’ve been sharing a lot of time together, stories, food, rooms… Amazing time, great people!

Now, will go back to Goa! Our first step into Goa was in Calangute, very busy beach, with a lot of shops, restaurants, bikes to rent, fruit and fish market and so on! Here we had a massive support of Ali, who opened the doors of his house for us to surf his couch. Great person who loves life and know how to enjoy the best of it! My sincere thanks brother Ali!

Calangute was our base during our stay in Goa and from here we rented motorbikes to go around the coast and have a little taste of different places. First we headed north and spent two nights in Arambol, calm, beautiful and musical beach. I, particularly, would like to spend at least few weeks there. We had beers on the beach, massive and colorful breakfasts with fresh local fruits, warmed up the nights with fire, had a lot of time to enjoy some good books, Raffa writing his lyrics.

After that we went south and visited few places, and out of all of them I liked most Agonda, which was very special to me. As the season is just starting, there are not many tourists, nice and cheap bungalows facing the beach, good local good and, as usual, a lot of ice cream! Once again wished I could stay there for maybe a month or more! Unfortunately, or fortunately, I have this feeling for many places while traveling around India, thus, not even a whole year would be enough here!

I wish I could bring with me all the nice and special people I meet on the way, but it’s not possible; so finally had to say bye to Raffa and Mona, what made me feel a bit sad to be honest. Nevertheless we all are in a big and beautiful mission, discovering new places and cultures. So while I’ll keep heading south towards Kerala, this amazing couple will soon fly to Iran and some other countries before going back home. Would love to talk about their amazing trip, all the stories I heard about countries and experiences they had, but would need to write a book then! Hehe Have a great journey my friends!

Peace!