We arrived in Gokarna in the wee morning hours of December 25th after traveling through the night on a night sleeper bus. Yes, you can get a bed on a bus here.

When we arrived we and many others were taken to Om Beach being told that there are lots of spaces available. We found that this was not true and with it being so early in the morning decided to take a rickshaw in to town to see about getting a place to stay there and then looking around after a few hours of sleep.

We found space at Shastri's Guest House and was happy to have a place to lay our heads for a few hours before heading over the mountian and looking for a spot on Kudle (Koodlee) Beach.

After a few hours of sleep we walked through the town to the end and found the beach which was more on the dirty side with garbage etc around. There were a large number of visiting Indians at the beach and in the town. We had to ask a couple of times which way we went to find Kudle Beach and finally we located the correct trail and up and over the mountain we went. Takes about 20 or so minutes to walk the path.
And of course it was a beautiful and hot day.

We went to a few spots and found that there was really nothing available on the beach and we were thinking that we might have to move on. But we got luck and ran in to a couple from Australian who told us that the Canadian couple beside them were talking about leaving the next day. So we headed to the bungalows that they were staying at and talked to the employees/owners? of the La Pizzaria and told them that we were hoping to be able to move in to the Canadians spot. It all worked out and the next day we were going to be down on the beach.

Christmas Rene called his mother in Canada and with the time difference it was dark out over here in India and morning time in Surrey. She was very pleased to hear from him since we have been keeping in contact with her through the internet.

But with it being dark out and us staying in town we had to walk over the mountain in the dark to get back. By the time we made it the town was already shut down and dark. There were a few men wandering around but other then that it was pretty bare.
Got back to the guest house and headed to sleep. Well, Rene slept and I got bitten a few times and woke up scratching. I was thinking it was bed bugs but I am not sure if it was or if it was just mosquitos. I am sure hoping for the mosquitoes. The next morning Rene found me sleeping on a bench in the room since I was concerned about the beds. And after that we were up, packed and on our way to Kudle Beach.

We moved in to our little bungalow later that afternoon and remained there for 8 nights. It was very basic, had a bed, 4 walls, fan, window and door. The bathroom was shared along with the cold (but nice after a hot day) showers. We thought of it like camping and really we did not mind. We would not have thought that we would be staying in a place like this but we enjoyed it and would actaully go back again.

To be continued.