March 2, 2015 
UDUPI to OM BEACH. 199km
Nirvana Cafe cabins 1300Rs ($20.50)
Fan, cool shower no AC, wifi extra

Storm Didn't Get Us
 
Today, our route took us north on highway17. Dark clouds ahead of us kept dissipating or moving east by the time we got closer, leaving wet roads and puddles in their wake while sparing us.

In Kundapura we stopped to get an oil change. 
 
Continuing, we paralleled the coast but only for a few short miles, around Turtle Bay, did we actually see the turquoise waters of the Arabian Sea. Still, the scenery was varied enough. And as long as we were riding, the temperature was bearable. 

We crossed many wide inlets and one bustling fishing harbor on the opposite shore prompted us to detour into the village of Honnavara with hopes of finding a seafood restaurant. No such luck. There were pitiful fish for sale in the market near the dock where a half dozen people had meager catch spread out between muddy puddles and in the searing sun.
 
Nothing on offer larger than spelt or small haring. We continued to the outskirts of the town and found the "Family Garden" restaurant where they served a pretty decent chicken kebab and veg rice in a fan cooled garden setting. 

 
Gokarna Dreads 
 
And by 3:30 pm, we arrived in the coastal temple town Gokarna. We knew we had arrived on well trodden hippie trail when we saw more dreadlocks than we had seen since Kao San road in Bangkok. It had a nice vibe. We like the hippie vibe;)

No....Babu

Then a weird thing happened (hang with me)...
We were searching for the cutoff to Om Beach when a guy on Enfield stopped and asked us if we were looking for a hotel. We told him we were looking for the road to Om Beach. "I stay at Namaste Hotel, right on the beach. A great place. Follow me"." We'd like to go to Nirvana Cafe Cabins," Dave said. The guy motioned for us to follow. So we followed this "Good Samaritan" along a winding narrow but newly paved road to Om beach, so called because the two coves are shaped like the Sanskrit "Om". 
    
 
Near the beach, we parked the bike against the advice of our Good Samaritan who parked his Enfield inside the gate of Namaste Cafe. A middle aged woman walked up and our " friend" introduced her as his friend Lisa. She told us she was staying there and it was lovely. I asked her where she was from and she told me she's from Italy and volunteered that she bought the Enfield for our " friend " so that they could travel through India. Nice lady. On the way down the steep path, our friend asked Dave what his name was, Dave told him and asked his name, "Bapu the Baba". Unbeknown to me, Dave had thought to himself that this Good Samaritan reminded him of the obnoxious "Baba" we met on the overnight train from Bhubaneswar to Chennai. We took him for a con artist, scammer, in short an undesirable. Dave said "Don't you remember us? We met you on the train to Chennai," Babu acknowledged that he was on that train and Dave's mention of it seemed to spark his memory. I don't know how Dave remembers faces like that. And once Dave told me, I too pictured the guy clearly and how he annoyed us. We got the feeling he was trying to scope us out, to see how we rated on the gullibility scale. 
 
Before I knew of our mutual past, he started to annoy me when he didn't leave us alone and followed on our heels as we checked out the different room options. The 1000 Rs room was a suitable, clean and spacious and would have suited me fine. But Dave still wanted to walk the km or so along the beach to check out Nirvana Cafe and accommodation. If truth be told, he didn't want to be near Mr. Babu. 

 
Two Days in Nirvana
 
The coves are lovely but it was a long hot schlep through the sand. In the end we landed a simple raised cabin with fan, cold shower and little porch. No sea view but we could hear the waves and the restaurant served decent food. Dave paid a room boy to help him fetch the luggage from the motor while I sipped cool fresh lemon sodas in the restaurant. We welcomed the cool shower and enjoyed our elevated porch to watch the birds and butterflies. We played cards and sipped rum spiked lemon sodas while we watched the sun set in the Arabian Sea.
 

March 3, 2015
OM BEACH 

Buffalo and Volleyball

It was easy to wail away the day in this peaceful little cove. We took short walks on the beach. But most of the time, we watched the buffaloes and cows and the people frolicking on the beach. Late afternoon was the time for beach volleyball. No one seemed to be alarmed by several large signs warning about the dangerous whirlpools claiming numerous lives every season. It lists the fatalities for the last 5 years.

Small groups of local men cruised the beach, their eyes almost popping out of their head as they ogled the foreign girls in bikinis. 
    
We spent a lot of time at the great covered Nirvana restaurant terrace. We enjoyed the tasty food and drinks and made good use of their wifi.