With this song stuck in my head for years and years together, Bombay had taken up a spot with Roja for one of my favourite songs. I hadn't even known this song was shot at Bekal, until I compared photos when my friend offered this information to me. So much so for favourite song!
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| Enroute ...near Chikkamangaluru |
I traveled to Mangalore, on a long weekend, but it was sprung upon me as a surprise, so I had no plans in place, nor had I ever even googled about Mangalore before so I was really walking in the dark into this trip. The drive was long and we spent a good 8-10 hours driving to Mangalore from Bangalore and my (driver) friend was exhausted and we didn't venture out to see much of the town that day. We sat at a near by beach late at night ( 8pm) that day, just unwinding with the sound of the waves, because we couldnt see anything at all.
The following day we went to visit Bekal fort on my insistence.
Mangalore- Bekal distance is approx 65 Kms with a travel time of 1 hr 30 minutes give or take 15 minutes and traffic conditions. After a simple breakfast on the way, we left for Bekal Fort ( Kasargod). Do remember that you cross statelines from Karnataka to Kerela. I can vouch for the sheer difference in the view as you move into Kerela. ( I have added links below for information about the fort itself)
Arriving into Bekal Fort the first impression is, its huge! It took us an hour just to walk around the ramparts of the fort and we didn't even really spend a lot of time exploring things. If it wasn't crazy hot I would have happily spent more time there, looking at the waves crash into the beach. Fortunately the fort has been well maintained. There are good maps and directions posted all around. Refreshments were a god send to us in the sweltering heat. The view from the lookout point that goes into the Sea, with the beach on two sides is Ah-ma-zing and not to miss!
Future visits
The two things I will look forward to on a future visit ( if and when it happens)... I have heard that they may soon be having a light and sound show at the fort, so that's number 1! Personally although I haven't tried this, but I also hear that camping is allowed in a coconut grove in Bekal Fort and that's another. Two mighty good reasons to want to come back!
Reference Websites
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| A promise to come again |