This trip was a workcation. So we (my wife and I) worked for a day from the sylvan settings of Kuteera homestay, and then did some more sight-seeing around Mangalore the next day.

The highlights of these two days were the food and the beaches.

Coming to the food, I have to mention an interesting experience. We had ordered in typical Mangalorean cuisine on the day we were working. The food was delicious, but spicy. I was soon sweating profusely. This lasted for about 20 minutes. But the surprising thing was that this cooled me down. Until then, I was really feeling the effects of the heat and the humidity. But once the sweating abated, I felt much more comfortable, as if my body had attuned to the different setting. It just goes to show how local cuisines have evolved to perfectly match the environment.

The next day, we headed to Mangalore city, and had lunch at Pabba’s Ideal Café. This is a modern café, located within a mall, so there was ample parking. The food was delicious, especially the ice-cream that Pabba’s is well known for.

We then headed for Sashitlu Beach, a few kilometres to the north. As with many other beaches in this region, the beach is scenically located where the river Nandini meets the Arabian sea. The scenery is stunning, as is the drive along the narrow tree shared road on the strip of land with the sea to one side and the river on the other.

The beach itself was clean and deserted. Once again, the kids had a great time splashing in the water and running on the sand.

The reason for our trip to Mangalore was primarily to attend a family function. The venue of the function was the Kudroli Gokarnanatha Temple in the heart of the city.

The temple is spread over a large area and looks quite beautiful. It also has decent parking space and a good function hall. We did not get to see the temple proper, but had a good time attending the event and enjoyed some traditional vegetarian coastal cuisine.

After lunch and checking out of our hotel, we headed to our stay for the next 3 days – the Kuteera Homestay about 10 kilometres to the north of Mangalore, just off the main Mangalore – Mumbai highway.

The homestay was exactly what we were looking for – a traditional home with the owners living on the ground floor and the first floor given out to guests. The first floor is a large one-bedroom with a fully functional kitchen. The courtyard is filled with mature trees and plants, giving it a wonderful ambience. The location is also perfect, just about a kilometre away from the nearest beach – Hosabettu – which is where we headed to, immediately after freshening up.

The beaches on this part of the Western coast of India are incredibly underrated. Golden sands flanked by trees, clean warm waters, incredible sunsets – pick almost any beach in this region and you are more or less guaranteed to get all of the above. Oh, and you will mostly be sharing the beach with only a few other people, so you get to enjoy it peacefully.

Kids had a great time splashing in the warm waters till sunset and then we headed back to the homestay, stopping at a supermarket along the way to pick up groceries for the next couple of days.

Our first road trip on 2022 was to Mangalore, to attend a family function.

The day started with an adventure. I usually hire a car from Zoomcar for long drives. On the morning when I was to receive my car (at home), I received a call from them stating they cannot do home delivery and asking me to pick up the car. This usually is not much of a problem, except that, in this case, the car was in Hoskote, a town about 30 kilometres outside Bangalore. I had to take an Uber inter-city ride to pick up the car. Thankfully, I found the car without any issue, but on starting, found out that it had almost no gas left in the tank. I had to find the nearest petrol pump and pay that the car does not run out of gas before reaching the pump, which thankfully it didn’t. The result of all this drama in the morning was that it was 8 am when we finally left our home, while initially we were hoping to leave by 6.

I took the route via Nelamangala, Hassan, Sakleshpura and Shirady Ghat. We stopped for breakfast soon after crossing Nelamangala. The place was busy, but the food (and coffee) was decent. Our next halt was for refueling at a pump close to Hassan. We stopped for lunch at The Ossoor just before Sakleshpura. I would definitely recommend this place if you are looking for a good lunch option along this route.

I had been warned that the Shirady ghat route was not in great condition, so I was prepared for the bumpy roads that followed. But it was not that bad, and we were soon on good roads again, journeying down the Ghats into the coast of South Kanara. The change in weather was very obvious as soon as one entered the plains of the coast. But, for a person born and brought up on the coast, this was a pleasant sensation.

It was after 6 pm that we finally reached the hotel where we were to spend the night. After refreshing ourselves, we went for dinner to a local restaurant that was recommended to us by the hotel owner. It was a typical regional eatery, very busy, and the food was decent.

I didn’t expect that it would take this long to complete this trip report. In the meantime, we have completed another road trip! But more on that later.

After relaxing at our hotel in Mysore the previous evening and enjoying a leisurely start to the day, we headed out to Mysore Palace. This was not the first time we were visiting the Palace, but it continued to amaze. Crowds were a bit lesser, due to Covid, and we were able to enjoy the wonderful sights at leisure. We also enjoyed a quiet stroll around the Palace grounds, where we spotted a camel!

After lunch at a nearby restaurant (nothing great), we headed to the next popular attraction of Mysore, its zoo. From my limited experience, this is easily one of the best zoos in the country. It was the middle of the day and a bit warm, but we still had a good time.

The last halt was one of those serendipitous ones that make unplanned travel such fun. The zoo was crowded, and the parking lot was full, so we had to park at a car park a few minutes away. This park was in an open ground, parts of which were taken over by what can be called a ‘ fun fair’. There were a variety of rides for kinds, and there was no way my kids were going to pass this opportunity by! This also meant that I got to enjoy a ferris wheel ride!

Our day (the last of the trip) ended with another good dinner at our hotel restaurant.

After 4 relaxing days in Coorg, we checked out of our unique Treehouse and headed to Mysore, where we would be staying for the next couple of days.

We took a long route towards Mysore as we wanted to drive through Nagarhole National Park. The first part of the drive that took us through Siddapura, Pollibetta and Gonikopalu was simply stunning. Along the way, we passed through the Tata Coffee Golf Course and a beautiful lake surrounded by thickly wooded slopes (didn’t note the location of this lake). We reached Kutta at the outskirts of Nagarhole around lunch time.

Kutta did not have any real ‘restaurants’. So we ended up having lunch at a ‘mess’ – literally a few tables in a hut. Food was simple, typical Keralan fare (Kutta being very close to the Kerala border). While my wife and I were familiar with the food, this was something very different for my kids. But, to their credit, they ate without any fuss.

After lunch, we visited a local bakery for some pastries and coffee. We also ended up buying some very tasty and reasonably priced sweets and savouries.

Stomachs satiated, we entered Nagarhole National Park. I was looking forward to this section of the drive. But, other than some Spotted Deer and Langurs, we did not see much wildlife. The drive, though, was pleasant.

We reached our destination in Mysore by early evening and spent the rest of the day at out hotel – Emerald Clarks Inn.