A break is always good — lunch, sleep or travel. The last can be great if you get rid of your schedule and completely go off the grid. To do just that, we choose Palli — a beautiful village in Mangaluru, rich in greenery, fresh air and beautiful landscapes.
Reaching this scenic destination is an adventure in itself. We take a sleeper bus from Kathriguppe and the ride starts off blissfully. As the scenery in the window turns from grey to green, there are thunder showers. It is all very peaceful till we reach the ghat section. That is when everything turns topsy-turvy.
The roads, filled with potholes, make the ride rough and even the curtain rods from the bunk beds fall off.
While most locals heading home sleep through it all blissfully, travellers like us are nauseous and anxious to reach the destination — Karkala — safe and sound.
After a nine-hour nail-biting, stomach-churning journey, we finally reach Karkala at the crack of dawn, where a car from the homestay we chose, Lakshani, picks us up. We reach in 20 minutes.
Lakshani, situated in Ramchandra Farm, is in itself an architectural landmark in the area. Run by Jagdish Hegde, every nook and corner of the house is decorated with artefacts and antiques from all over the country. The home is welcoming and the food fresh and local.
After a few hours of rest, we decide to explore Lakshani and its surrounding areas. A long walk takes us through an areca nut farm, from where we admire mountains and farmlands around this homestay. Nature here is intoxicating and you see a few animal footprints in the damp mud and hear the occasional peacock cry.
If you are the procrastinating type, you can sit idle and undisturbed for hours just staring at the clear blue sky or the passing clouds.
Hegde started this homestay a year ago, as he “loves having friends over. In fact, my friends were the ones who made my home a homestay as they loved my cooking,” he beams.
He makes a perfect host and is willing to chauffeur you around to explore Palli and the surrounding areas.
Out and about
The next day, we take off to St Lawrence church. After a brief look around and prayer, we take off again to a waterfall closeby. The climb is steep and tiring, but the reward is getting to splash around in crystal-clear waters and hear the sound of the waterfalls. One has to be careful however as the area is loaded with leeches. Besides that, it makes for a perfect haven to explore. After hours of splashing about, we head off to a local homestay for lunch and stuff ourselves with patrode, neer dosas, pineapple sambhar and more. Then we head back to Lakshani for the night.
The next day, we set off to climb the Brahmadeva betta, which is locally known as Kallecchi. We hire an auto, which races across the mud road, swerving full speed at every bend and corner till we reach the base of the mountain. And then the vehicle refuses to climb. The driver forces the accelerator to full speed, but the vehicle prefers to simply slide back a couple of inches after every inch of climb, giving us a most terrifying real-life, uncontrolled offroading experience.
After 45 minutes of groaning and moaning, the vehicle finally makes it to the top, but we are disappointed. The mountain looks tame and so is the vision it offers. So we rest our hurting bones in the tiny temple on the mountain top and head back to base camp.
After another lavish lunch and a nap, we head towards Malpe beach. As we drive along the coast, we reach an area, which has a river on one side and the beach on the other. Between these two are rustic fishermen homes. We stop, soak in the view, breathe in the sea air and collect a few sea shells and head towards St. Mary’s Island.
By the time we reach the pick-up point, thunder showers begin again. So we ditch the boat ride and instead head to a local restaurant and treat ourselves to gadbad ice cream, which was originally created in Mangaluru.
Palli is also close to Kukke Subrahmanya, Dharmasthala, Shringeri — they are all just “80 kilometres from Palli,” affirms Hegde. Soon it is time to get back to IT city. This time, we decide to take a flight home. The flight is so short and snappy that even before you fasten your seat belts and settle down, it is time to land.
We promise ourselves to go back again soon, as the trip was an adventure right from the word go.