Part V - In Mangalore and Return

In Mangalore
After reaching mangalore around 10 a.m in the morning, we were thinking what to do? As expected, nothing was planned for this leg. Lots of things to do though. First and the foremost was to try was a train reservation to bangalore. Folks told me that the bus journey is horrible and should be avoided. But well we couldnt be choosers at that moment and decided to just book some reservation and try our luck. As expected, it was on waiting list. Once that done, the next most important thing for the hungry souls was breakfast. Went straight to taj Manjuran without realizing where we are headed to. Ordered some idlis. I am not sure what special were these but 2 idlis definitely cost me Rs. 180. :-) Just so you know I am not a miser. But I cannot justify certain things too.

After breakfast, we decided that we will not roam around to all the places possible. Rather, we wanted to go to one place where we can peacefully sit. Without knowing whether we will get peace or not, we decided to go to Kadri Manjunath temple. As we got down the autorickshaw, we started looking around to see where is Kadri Manjunath temple that was so much talked about in travel books. It was a small gopuram from outside. We looked at each other and thought what a hype this could be.

BUT WE WERE WRONG. This was a huge complex inside. That explained why this temple is talked so much about. There were many temples inside this complex. And it was not crowded. It was peaceful. It was like the playing compound of a house that reminded me of my grandparents house. We slowly walked around, visiting each and every temple in the complex, resting under the trees wherever possible. Some of the beautiful aspects of this temple were :

• No restrictions on cameras and camcorders
  
• Not crowded
  
• Peaceful
  
• Lots of shades to take rest
  
• Awesome free lunch

After lunch, we rested in a shade inside the compound for some time and went into the contemplative mood. Soon it was time to get back to the railway station to check our reservations were confirmed or not.

As we were stepping out of Kadri Manjunath temple, we were thinking that may be this has been the best place we have visited. Where there was so much of peace and tranquility. And we thought, no visit to Mangalore could be complete without visiting this blissful place.

Return
Well!!as we were expecting, we could not get our reservation confirmed. So rather than waiting long, holding hands of TT, greasing his hands, we thought we would rather come back by bus. And guess what, we got the last two seats of the last Airavath bus that was available from Mangalore to Bangalore. Holiday return rush huh!! And man that was one painful bus journey. Throughout it seemed to me as if the driver was on a suicide mission with all of us rallying behind him :-) No it was not fun. All the body parts went for a toss. My wife's sandals skid and went to the front of the bus. There was this AC exhaust or somethign that was right under my leg. And throught the night I would step on it, burn my leg , wake up and then go back to sleep. :-) Believe me, that was not fun. So go for a train if you can.

Summary

• Overall fun trip. But tiresome
  
• If you visit Mangalore, make sure you drop by K M temple and spend some time here in introspection
  
• If you are returning to Bangalore, return by train.
  
• This travelogue ends here. If you are planning a trip to the regions I have shared my experiences with, please feel free to contact me if you need any more information. Adios on the travelogue till my next travel.
  
• Keep reading this blog for other topics and my intelligent view points :-) Yeah Right!!