Mangalore Udupi

Itinerary :- Bangalore to Mangalore by overnight Bus (Sugama Travels - booked via Redbus)
Hotel :- Stayed at the Hotel Mangalore International (booked via Tipadvisor)
Going Around: The hotel arranged a car with reasonable rates ( Rs 1000 for 8 hours or charge per kilometre whichever is higher)
Mangalore to Bangalore by overnight Train ( booked via IRCTC)

Details:- We reached Mangalore early morning around 8 AM. Our hotel had a 24 hour checkin/checkout facility hence had no problems in getting into the hotel.
The hotel provided us a guide book which showed which are the places to see along with the approximate distances.

Saturday :
Mangalore to Bekal Fort ( 65 kms) by car-> Bekal Fort is a huge fort in Kerala. The road condition was bad, it took almost 2 hours to cover this stretch. The ideal time to visit would be early in the morning or late afternoon. It is right on the shores of Arabian Sea and is a treat to watch if its not too hot. It is maintained by ASI(Archaeological Survey of India) and there is an entry fee of Rs 5 per person(Rs 100 for foreigners) plus camera fees of Rs 25.
One can get a good view of Arabian sea from here. It is one the perfect places to be in on a moonlit night(pity it closes after 6pm).
There is a small temple at the entrance of the Fort. Together it will take at least a couple of hours minimum to enjoy the fort and the beach just opposite to it.
There is a resort outside the fort. One can have lunch and dinner at this place. The resort serves special fish fry. The prices are slightly steep but the resort is a nice place to relax after a trip of the fort.

On our way back we went to Someshwara Beach. There is a temple at this place also. It is not one of the popular beaches for swimming. But its a nice place to sit down and watch the sea and the sunset.

Kadri park -> This is a small park. Probably a toy train used to run in the past , but there were no signs of that any more. This is an afternoon/evening joggers or lovers park.

Lighthouse and Tagore Park-> This is again a small park and has a dilapidated lighthouse building associated with it. Probably in the past one could watch the sea or sunset from here. But when we went we found it had residential apartments and a hypermarket(Spar) right next to it and it was hardly noteworthy.

City Centre -> This is right next to Spar on K.S. Rao road. It is almost in front of our hotel. We thought about going to KFC for dinner. But finally gave up the idea. We were too bored of malls.

We had dinner at a small bar cum restaurant called 'Cellar' right on K.S. Rao road. We crossed a wonderful procession which seemed like an inauguration of a shopping centre.




Sunday:
We started early on Sunday. It was our day to have the complementary breakfast. The hotel (Mangalore International) has a small kitchen on the first floor where they prepare the stuff.
We had Masala Dosa and coffee. There were other items available like Upma and idli.

After checking out of the hotel we started for UDUPI. Its about 70 kms from Mangalore, and it took around 1.5 hours to reach there.
Krishna Temple at Udupi -> This is a wonderful temple right in the heart of the city. There is a lot of innovation work going on around the temple. We went around the temple to see the different altars. Photography was not allowed in most of the inner parts so there are very few pictures.
Inside the temple building there is a small market selling all different kinds of stuff. I bought some idols made of wood.
There is a handsome elephant just like many other temples. Although the mahaut was not letting anyone take a picture of the beast I managed to take one (couldn't resist) . The elephant seemed healthy and happy.

Malpe Beach near Udupi -> This is a nice beach in Udupi. It has got a perfect slope and lots of people enjoyed the Sunday with a swim here. Although it was pretty hot even in december , there were motor boat rides, speed boat rides available. The motor boat ride was to a small island called St. Mary's Island which can be seen from the mainland.

The Malpe beach has a small hotel and some coco-huts right next to the beach. The Hotel serves all types of food , but no special seafood. One can only get fish fry at reasonable rates. The beach is quite clean and one can go and sit around in the late afternoon or evening.

Penambur Beach + Mangalore Port -> This is another beach , near to Mangalore. It has hardly got any shelters nearby. There were a few bathers but the sea was rough and the coast guard was whistling continuously to get people nearer to the shore.
We watched a huge ship cruise its way into the port from this beach.

Sultan Battery -> This is a small dome shaped structure of the size of a badminton court right across the river banks. It offers a nice view of the river.

Pabbas Ice Cream-> After a long day of sightseeing this is a good place to hangout. A decent place with decent prices this offers some very good ice cream and snacks. A good place for kids too.

Omkar Temple -> This is another temple founded by several MPs and other important persons in the last few decades. It is mainly a Shiva temple and is a nice place to go in the evening.

Our trip ended and the car dropped us at Mangalore Central Railway station. ( We had to go back to the hotel. One of our friends forgot shampoos and stuff which were kept in the reception. The Hotel was a bit old and non-AC rooms had mosquitoes, but overall its a decent hotel).