Ink on Paper: Travelogue: Of beaches,a beautiful resort and some temples

In keeping with our resolve to travel regularly for a change of atmosphere, to explore new places and for the sheer excitement that it offers, the husband and I set out on our voyage along the beaches of the Konkan coast. He took up the roles of trip planner and executor, was at it tirelessly through the trip and I must say did a brilliant job. For my part, I did what was a truly mammoth task by my standards. I cooked dinner and breakfast for our train journey. Considering the fact that I am a complete amateur at cooking, making aloo parathas, idlis and tomato chutney in a span of three hours was an accomplishment I couldn't stop raving about for days thereafter :) Now over to the trip.

We had planned to stay at a beach resort named ‘Sai Vishram’ located in a small coastal village called Byndur. The resort is completely vegetarian and non-alcholic. This makes it an ideal place for family holidays. Proximity to a chain of famous temples (Mookambika, Udupi and Murudeshwar) is another advantage. We were able to cover these places en route our return journey.

As we entered the reception area of the resort, the beautiful interiors done with wood in an ancient looking style immediately caught our attention and impressed us.We were then escorted to our cottage. Each of the cottages has been built in a unique style and is a combination of artistic interiors and cozy comfort. They also have a couple of very well made tents closer to the sea shore. There is a beautiful Shiridi Sai temple within the resort premises and this gave a very peaceful and secure air to the place. The lawns and flower gardens are not completely tended with some parts left to nature. Nevertheless, they added to the overall ambiance.

Snapshots of the resort

After a short noon siesta and lunch, we set out to explore the beach. We smiled with pleasure at the sight that welcomed us. With the dancing sea water sparkling in the sun as far as the eyes can see, the exemplary clean shore sand that pulled our legs in as we walked and comfortable chairs with overhead umbrellas, the scene was set for complete leisure! You could just sit there and watch the sea for hours ..

After basking for sometime in that heavenly setup, we refreshed ourselves with coffee and snacks and then set out for the most awaited part – the beach activities! We started off with kayaking. This was my first go at this sport and it was such an exhilarating experience. Sitting in a small boat and rowing in the big ocean, heading towards the sunset with the sea rocking the boat – We enjoyed every bit of it.

Kayaking in the sea - a silhouette

After kayaking, we looked up the options and settled for boogie boarding. Sai Vishram has a bunch of very well trained life guards. They took great effort teaching each one of us to balance the body over the boogie board, launch ourselves with an oncoming wave at the right moment and glide to the shore along with it. The husband was quick to learn and had a whale of a time doing it. And I .... Lost balance during the very first try and fell headlong into the sea water gobbling a good amount of it, sat coughing by the shore like a wet duck and chose to stay there as a spectator for the rest of the evening L But even that was good fun. I sat down with legs stretched out and allowed the waves to hit me completely from head to toe observing the sun light gradually dimming around us.

Post that, we settled on the shore and watched the sun set. The golden orange light that it cast over the sea was so mesmerizing. I leave you with a some pictures of this most beautiful feat of nature.