[14°31´16”, 074°20´47”]
Km today: 755
I don’t know why but when I wake up today I am in a bad mood already. I don’t get the 2 chai I had ordered and paid last evening (one I wanted in the evening and one in the morning but neither of them came) which is making it worse. I quickly pack the bike and roll down a hill to start Omtatsat and quickly find out he is in a bad mood too – no starting. I am dressed warm for morning time ride so I start to sweat a lot when pushing him up to the petrol pump with the help of an Indian guy. I am expecting too much all people will help me so nobody cares for me first. When I start trying to change the situation a mechanic comes soon. He changes the spark plug and tells me to go to enfield wallah in swagat – 20km wrong direction but what to do, I can fix the mainstand there too.
At the temple I take no more look in the morning as I am too busy. The coil needs to be changed and a little before lunchtime I pass the temple again back direction to the highway. In the evening before I checked the map and found one route passing a hill station. It is late already so I decide to skip it first but then the traffic on the highway is really crazy. Like in an Indian city but at speed of more than 100 km/h! After 36km a sideroad leads to the hillstation and as I am completely done already I stop and eat a little before I take it.
Passing an alley of banjan trees I start to enjoy the ride immediately. There is still a lot of traffic as Mahabaleshwar (the hill station) is famous at Christmas holidays amongst Indians but much more shanty. Road is amazing mountain road – many nice curves and proper pavement, perfect to be taken by motorbike. I enjoy riding too much so I can´t stop often to take pictures – I just cannot make myself step on the brake…
When arriving at the hillstation I see people at the street selling some red fruits. I stop there and see it is strawberries! I eat ½ kg on the spot, the taste is amazing! Sweet but much more fragrant than the ones at home. I have to think about Lina (my exgirlfriend) who loves strawberries at midsommar – now it is midwinter!
Going down the hill on the other side it becomes hot for the first time. Different than at daytime in Rajasthan now I feel I am in an area where it doesn’t get cool at all. The air feels different in areas like these, probably the humidity has raised a lot too. Down the mountain there is much less traffic but the road stays amazing. Even when I come back to a smaller highway the road remains awesome and the traffic ok – I simply enjoy riding. At sunset I have done only 250km – half the way to Goa.
I am still in good condition so I get some great food and decide to go on. Street is good and traffic is not that bad. I learn to ride at night: If driving a low gear I have enough light no problem. The sound of the engine is not as pleasing as in high gear but what to do sometimes safety is more important than the amazing sound of a low turning bullet engine. I try to stay behind trucks or buses as they protect me a little from the light of the upcoming traffic. Soon I enjoy even riding at night.
At 4.30 I arrive in Anjuna. This is the place where it all had started some years ago. I came here from the airport by taxi so here I touched like Indian soil for the first time in my life. First I want to get a chai at the beach. I check several beachside restaurants but all they offer is beer, wine and whisky. I want to buy a bottle water but for the demanded 30 rupees I can get proper lunch everywhere on the road. I turn around and leave. I didn’t like the place when I was here the first time and it seems like it has become worse. It is only 250km more to gokarna where it is supposed to be nicer – I am still alright so I hit the road. When the sun rises I am close to Agonda. I have something like a déjà vu and suddenly remember the town I am just passing has been the first town I have ever been to in india. I remember some really nice people from Agonda who took me there because of a problem with the camera I had here on my first india trip.
Soon I pass the border to Karnataka and suddenly stop in front of an amazing landscape. Kali river meets the sea and what I see is really astonishing! The sun being still pretty low to my left rises above the mountains. On the other side of Kali river there is a big tropical bamboo and palm forest and to my right there is more pure nature where Kali river forms little lakes and islands making a slow ÜBERGANG to the land. Everywhere is different kinds of blue and green. Even though I should go on because I am slowly getting tired I take a long break to take pictures and to enjoy.
Less than an hour after leaving that place I pass the road to gokarna without recognizing. 10 km later I ask some people and they send me back. Should this be a sign? I was already suspicious because too many people telling me about this place. I go back and when I finally arrive in Gokarna my worst nightmares seem to become true.
Nobody offers rooms so I ask some police officers who are standing on every corner. They are not at all ready to help and soon somebody sends me to Om beach for accommodation. On the way there one of the police officers I have asked for a hotel before stops me and asks me for the papers. I give him my international driving license but he doesn’t even want to see. He only wants the insurance and the cycle papers which he knows I will not have if the bike is rented. It is my bike but the papers are in Pushkar. I had these with me all the way from Europe and nobody ever asked me for them – either when I travelled Himachaml Pradesh this spring on Omtatsat…. He says something about problem and fine. I give him the 800 rupees he wants and he asks me if I want receipe. Yes I say and he goes away. 5 minutes later he (policeofficer Naik – at least that was what he said) is standing around the corner talking to somebody else. I ask for the receipe and again he asks “You want receipe?”…. “Yes” I repeat – this game happens one more time before he finally gives me note with my name and the amount but not his name written on it. I ask for his name and he says “Naik” covering the shield carrying his name with his arm. Actually there are people starving themselves to death in india to protest against corruption like this.
Gokarna is full of really crazy tourists so I check Om Beach. On the way there suddenly I can´t change gear anymore. I stop the engine immediately and roll down back to Gokarna. Gear oil is finished – the mechanic who did oil change in Puna did not close properly so oil was leaking. We put in oil and I am happy everything seems to be fine. Getting 3rd gear is a little hard but we will see. I go back to Om Beach and decide to check for a proper enfield mechanic later. I want to leave Gokarna. Om beach is a few kilometers away and there is a big car and motorcycle park full of vehicles. Accomodation possible but I have to pack my stuff and carry all down a long stairway to the beach. Bike I would have to leave here. I star to sweat as I am still fully dressed in long underwear and pullovers for the night ride. Now it´s above 30° so I put on dhoti and kurtha again having no idea what to do.
What to do in india if you don’t know what to do? Ask the rickshaw driver of course! And there were plenty. I ask one of them for a nice peaceful beach and he knows immediately what I want. 5km away I will find. After 5 km I stop in a very small town at a place with “Hotel” written on the house. The owner is from kerala and we start talking over a cup of chai. He has just bought that place and is building a hotel and doesn’t know any in town. 3 km further maybe at the end of the road. I go there and find a beach called Belekan beach its paradise! First beach since Greece and I love it! From one end to the other it takes me 5 minutes and soon I find the only guesthouse here. The two huts available are already occupied by a few guys from Bengalore but the owner offers me to keep my luggage in his house so I can sleep on the terrace! JAI HO! What an awesome place and in fact my own private beach with a tourist infra structure only a few minutes away! After a 24h bikeride I have chai and food and soon fall asleep finally – in paradise!