Meljarvis’s Blog

Hmmm where to begin as far as i can remember we came to gokarna a good few weeks ago time now is obsolete nobody wears a watch and mine fell off in the see i only knew it was my birthday the other day as a noticed the date on the computer lol…

life has become one long chilled our relaxing day on the beach ok so here goes….

We came from hampi on the night bus crazy we arrived in gokarna at stupid o’clock in the morning and jumped on a rickshaw to om beach which is a beautiful place to start our karnataka beaches experience

arriving on om beach

we watched the sun come up and waited with a bunch of other weary travellers for a boat to take us to paradise

sunrise om beach

we managed to rope in some people to share the boat it was about 4 or 5 kms by sea so we rolled up our trousers and jumped on board it was so exciting,  

the boat to paradise

we had only heard from others about paradise and didnt quite know what to expect it was like something out of survivor as we arrived people started to appear from inside huts and beside the rocks it felt like the cheif would appear any minute with a spear i dont think i have ever been any where so isolated in my whole life it was an amazing feeling arriving and jumping in to the ocean to get to the beach….

arriving at paradise beach

we found a restaurant just setting up for breakfast so we had a kings feast which was fantastic then i scoped out the huts on the island the huts themselves dont have electric and a lot of them dont have beds they just have sand floors but we found a great one overlooking the ocean above the restaurant with a mattress on mud floor which i have to say provided us with the best 3 nights sleep we have ever had.

we made friends with the guys staying in the huts either side of us 2 of the guys danny and richard had built a mud cooker under an old tree root and set up there own little personal cafe with some old signs they found they taught mia to make chapattis and we sat around in the evening by the light of the fire listening to the ocean and the guitars it was fantastic

the bambino cafe

 and get this in paradise     THERE ARE NO MOSQUITOS !!!!! i could’nt believe it must be why they call it paradise

during our stay in paradise we went on some crazy treks on our second morning there we walked from paradise beach to gokarna through half moon beach, om beach, kudle beach on to gokarna it took about 3 and 1\2 hours with swimming stops along the way it was such an adventure as you cant just walk across the beaches you have to climb over cliffs and go through gulleys and over mountains it was crazy i dont know how far but by road its 10kms so i recon we went at least 7kms mia didnt complain once.

stumbling on a secret beach

tiny beach secret cove

walking out of paradise

walking from om beach

 on the way back we caught a boat to om and walked the rest of the way back as the sea was pretty rough and the boats are real small and mia cant swim so it seemed more sensible than risking the boat with the crazy indians

one thing we got from our day out was that kudle beach would be much better for mia as parasise is a really steep drop into the sea so if mia paddles she gets wacked by the waves and if we swim its too deep where as kudle beach has rock pools and wicked waves there were us and 7 kids body boarding today .

so after 3 magical days on paradise we moved to a really nice guest house the shiva prishard we have a hut on the roof they have 2 litters of puppies and 8 kids staying its hectic but mia is in her element

mia lovin the puppies

mia and the gang

So that only leaves my birthday we had planned to be in kerela in a house boat but as any one who has ever been to india will know sometimes india has other ideas for you so sadly we had to stay as events took a turn for the worse mark was poorly then my nan died and then there was the incident with the dead puppies needless to say plans og booking the train went out the window and when i finally got round to it we had to wait an extra week but hety who cares really we had a wicked party on the beach brought to us by glen, mark and ali who contributed by sourcing excellent sea food then cooking it in the sand by burying it and letting the fire rage ontop for 2 hours then producing top quality food

ali and glen preparing the catch

checking its cooked

mmmm cooked crab

we had the best feast and fed loads of people i have to say the crabs were sensational and the calamari just melted in your mouth

It was topped by the discovery that when we were swimming in the sea we were surrounded by phosphorescence (check spelling lol)

millions of tiny little white lights shimmering in the bubbles every time we moved the water it was breath taking we went in the sea about 6 times through the course of the evening coming out wrapped in blankets by the fire falling asleep waking swimming i have to say when i finally went to bed at sun rise i had sand in places you should never have sand it was falling out of my ears eyes etc for days after lol

it was a great night and even mia had a sleep over with the lady running the guest house so she would’nt feel left out fantastic night had by all thanks to every one for there birthday wishes thats all for know you will have to wait for markees monthly monologue

we are celebrating my 30th tonight on kudle beach with a fish bbq will update all our goings on as soon as possible sorry for the slackness in my posts

We were delayed from coming to Hampi by 2 days as the ticket purchaser was most definately on indian time but all was good…

We caught the night bus to hampi after getting a much appreciated lift from niels our german friend to mapsa bus station as always the bus was due at 8.45pm and left at 10.10 we then preceeded to drive around goa for an hour picking more and more people up we were joking with the conducter NO MORE PEOPLE PLEASE!!! he said no its ok 10 more people then we stopped he woke people got them to more places so the men were next to men not women then we drove on a bit apparently full he said one more stop we said NO MORE PEOPLE he say its ok 10 more people he was waking people rolling people over in there sleep and positioning other travellers next to them so it frightened the life out of them when they woke to find they were being hugged by a big fat sweaty russian, im glad i was a spectater and there was’nt any more room on our bed as i dread to think what i may have woken up beside lol….

We arrived at hampi bus stand at 9am having bumped ourway along may i say a much in need of serious repair road but we arrived in one piece so it was fine .

We were mobbed getting off the bus by a pack of wild 10 rupee, fair best guest house around, rick shaw drivers, after we had fought our way through the crown using only Mia’s toy tortoise as a threat to drive them back, we headed with a Michob a finnish guy we met the night before to get the boat over the river,  which was quite nerve wracking as he recounted a story from the previous week of the ferry men over loading the boat and watching helplessly as a boat load of tourists with luggage and bikes sank to the bottom of the crocodile infested lake (there are actually only 3 crocs and they live further up the river but infested makes the story more exciting)…

Michob assured us it was a different boat phew….

walking the paddy fields

We headed to a guest house he recommended which was full until today 3rd jan so we stayed with a local family for a couple of nights before moving into our thatched mud hut for 3 pound a night GET IN….

views at sunset hampi

such a result as the first place we phoned before we came quoted us a tenner

Yesterday we went to the main temple and fed the temple elephant a bunch of bananas then he took a rupee out of Mia’s hand and blessed her and mark with his trunk

1 rupee elephant blessings

then after a lovely meal in the mango tree restaurant which you have to walk through a banana plantation to get too Mia had a little sleep then we got a rickshaw to the Hanaman monkey temple which is 600 metres up a mountain i love that they put temples on mountains could you imagine in england if they put the churches on mountains how many people would actually make sunday mass lol

on top of the world monkey temple

We fed the monkeys rather quickly as they surrounded us when they realised we had food it was the most fantastic view sitting on top of the boulders looking at the setting sun with a huge fire billowing plumes of smoke up into the air straight underneath the sun while its firey glow reflected in the paddy fields below my photos dont do it justice it was like a scene out of lord of the rings when frodo is heading to mordor it was breath taking..

Our first day here we discovered of the beaten track a wicked little guest house with a giant tipi restaurant  and loads of lovely people we went there for new year but headed back just before midnight so we could see our way home as all the electricity goes off at midnight there was a big fire loads of guitars and bongos mark even had a go on the digeredoo

mark and mia musical duo

As you enter the grounds of the guest house which is surrounded by collosal boulders bigger than anything i could ever have imagined there is a ladder made out of bamboo

climbing up the boulders

which we have climbed 2 or 3 times now to watch the sun go down over hampi from another little temple right there on the rocks its such a awe insiring place

holding the boulders

 cant believe we spent a week in goa when we could have been here

festive family fun

last day at arambol beach

What can i say we had a really nice christmas we watched Mama Mia on the big screen on the beach which was brilliant Mia loved it she was trying to sing along bless.               We had a curry for our christmas dinner made sandcastles and watched the fire twirlers mia danced and had a whale of a time.

Mia and Maya christmas day sandcastles goaMia made good friends with 2 brits and we hardly saw her for hours on end it was brilliant for her as she had been so sad to leave her schoolmia with tara and lucy

Mark was very content as he found a group of lads to play poker and volley ball on the beach with what more can a man want.

mark full volley......

cooling off after volley ball goa