How To: Kill It At The Beach In Indian Summers

We all love a good beach vacay. Am I right or am I right?! Whether it is a boys day out playing ball and getting dirty and sweaty with no shirts on or a girls gang going out on the beach to enjoy some suntan or a couple’s lazy day out, beach vacations are the best. A lot of people who face long winters many times seek out beach vacations to get away from the cold and I can absolutely see why. Having fresh coconut, building sandcastles by the sea, enjoying seafood and the sun, seems just perfect recipe for a vacation to relax and unwind. 

But, here's the Indian Summer twist to the Vitamin Sea dream. Indian Summers are hot! Very, very hot. I was just reading a thread on a travel group where someone asked if Goa in May was a good idea. Let's rewind to exactly one year ago around 26-27th May. That is exactly where I was! Right out of B Pharm, planned the perfect mandatory Goa trip after graduation. So, yes, sometimes it is inevitable that you find yourself planning a beach vacation in this scorching heat. But that's where I got your back. I have got a few essentials, tips and tricks to help you plan a smooth and hassle-free beach day trip or an entire weekend.

Top Ten Essentials For A Beach Vacation

1. Sun Screen.

This is the most essential item you absolutely must carry with you while you head out to the beach. Ignoring sunscreen on a daily basis is one thing (not good, but okay :/) while not wearing sunscreen on the beach is totally bad for your skin. Find a good waterproof sunscreen of SPF 50 with UVA and UVB protection to ensure maximum protection. Make sure to apply it liberally on all exposed parts and reapply after a few hours if necessary. I have a sunburn that is of a cold shoulder top shape and is going to last about three months so I absolutely know what I am talking about.

2. Beach Wear

Bikini, shorts, speedos, swimsuit whatever is your style do not forget to carry it to your beach trip. You might not want to swim but even the toughest of decisions are changed once seeing beautiful beach waters. So just carry it as a back-up. Try it out at home first in case it has been a while since you last wore it to ensure it is okay and fits right in all places. Another mandatory must is a plastic bag to store your wet clothes after swimming so it does not drench the rest of your bag. Flip flops are recommended instead of other shoes which might get spoiled in the sand.

3. Lounge Mat/Bedsheet/Towel

Depending on the beach you decided to go to you may or may not have beach beds/chairs etc. It is best to carry a bed sheet or a lounge mat to the beach. You can use your towel too if you have an extra one in hand. Anything you can use to lie down/sit on the beach will work. Get something larger if you are meant to share it with your partner for a date.

4. Beach Hat and Sunglasses

Admit it or not, selfies on the beach need sunglasses in them.  Period. To have this in check and also for the more important reason of protecting your eyes, carry your sunglasses with you to the beach. A beach hat is also recommended to protect your hair from the heat and keep your head cool.

5.Music/Speakers/ Earphones.

Soft music or party music, the choice is yours but music is essential while you are chilling on the beach. If you are in a group, carry a speaker or if you are on a private beach carry your earphones and blast in some tunes to match the rhythm of the beach waves. In fact, you could make a beach playlist right now after reading this article and get ready for your next beach vacation! This one down here is on amaizing discount and was voted a bestseller!

 6. Beach Ball

If your beach vacation happens to be with a group, carry a beach ball with you. You could play football, volleyball, cricket or even play with the plastic ball in the ocean. The options are endless and all you need to make that happen is a good beach ball. You can carry other games like a pack of cards. 

7. Food/ Picnic Bag

As this article is written for the masses, we need to address the fact that not everyone will be going to a commercial beach with shacks and restaurants. If your vacation happens to be a secret getaway on a remote beach in the middle of nowhere you definitely need food and drinks with you on the go. Easy options include sandwiches of all kinds, chips, biscuits, fresh fruits, sodas, beers etc

8. Summer Reads

The ride to the beach or any time during your beach vacation you may come across a situation where you just want to hang out on your own and read a book. Easy summer reads or even an audiobook can come in handy. Carry a book with you at all times! 

9. Camera

It can be your mobile camera or something advanced like a DSLR, but you will want to take back memories from your beautiful beach vacation and you absolutely must have some form of camera on you in order to make that happen. If you plan to go on a long vacation carry additional memory cards for your camera with you too so you do not run out of space while you capture the beautiful beach photos.

10. Batteries/Chargers

Carry some extra mobile battery or a backup charger/battery with you while on the go. You will be using your phone a lot, for music, photos, directions and what not. Having a backup battery option while saving you in time of need and give you the peace of mind! Do not rely on someone else having a charger or battery to match your phone. With the technology variety in the market, everyone has a different pin/plug on their phones. It is crazy out there!

PRO TIP:

You can easily get dehydrated so drink lots of water and coconut water too. That is one thing people forget to do. Remember, having water around you does not mean that you drink less water!

Before you go, be sure to follow my super active self on Instagram where I share all my trips on Insta Stories

@timetravellingshutterbug

So there you have it, the top ten items you need while going for a beach vacation. Which item do you swear by? Is there something I missed on this list? Be sure to let me know in the comments section below. Get that head start on your summer beach body and stick to those new year resolutions. You will be beach ready in no time. And oh, don’t forget to get all your beach essentials on your vacation. 

That's all for this blog post. Be sure to leave your comments and feedback down below. Are you going to any exciting beaches this summer, if so where?

Signing off,

Nishma Khetia.

Girls On A Mission: Christmas Travel Diaries

"A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places"

-Isabelle Eberhardt.

Five girls on a mission to have the most unconventional Christmas ever. A summery Christmas, by the beach, who would have thought of that? Well, me of course. Duh! Some trips are cut short for a reason. It is because their destiny is to be fulfilled later, in a better way. This was one of those trips for me. On my last blog post Lost In The Forest With No Network: Exploring Yana Caves, I explained how my trip was cut short. Luckily just two weeks after that, I was ready for yet another trip to the same village of  Kumta. 

Mirjan fort had been on my bucket list for the longest time. It is at equidistance from both Gokarna Railway Station and Kumta Railway Station (12 kilometers). Travelling as I normally do on a budget-friendly style, we took the 7.30 am train from Udupi station and reached Kumta by 10.30 am. Although the train was jam packed due to the holidays and we had trouble finding seats, our timing was really good. After grabbing a bite from the local bakery near the station, we took a bus to Mirjan fort. The fort is just 0.5 kilometers from the highway and we easily walked up to the fort. 

There are many versions of when and who made the Mirjan fort. One of them talks of Queen Chennabhairadevi of Gersoppa (Vijayanagar Empire). She built the fort in the 16th century and is said to have ruled for 54 years. A lot of items were traded from the fort under her rule the prominent one being pepper and hence she was named as the Pepper Queen by the Portuguese.

It was an extremely sunny day but we were all pumped and sunshine was not going to come in the way of our spirit. We took a ton of photos from every angle possible. This was also the first time I was traveling with my new phone the MIA1 from Xaomi. The photos came out relatively good although the phone does not perform well in low light situation but this is a travel blog post and not a phone review :p

A little dehydrated from walking around the fort we took shelter under what literally seemed like the Tree Of Life. It seemed like the perfect picnic spot as we snacked on food and listened to good music while chatting away. After some rest and refreshment, we headed back to the highway and caught a bus to Gokarna. From the Gokarna bus stop, we took an auto and were on our way to Kudle Beach. Nostalgia hit me right in my guts as I stepped on Kudle Beach. It seemed just like yesterday when I was in my third year and had gone for my first girls trip with my best friends. It was TheTime When The Ticket Checker (TC) Caught Us and it was my first ever blog post on my blog (so many memories). The beach looked perfect. Just the way it did two years ago like nothing had changed but I knew it did because for one thing the shack where I previously stayed was closed down.

The photos in this blog post cannot justify my experience. I must insist that if you are a travel or photography enthusiast go ahead and follow me on my home planet Instagram. My handle is @timetravellingshutterbug. I post my travel updates in my Insta stories and am always writing mini blog posts related to my trips with each photo and leaving extra tips and tricks for all my followers. Here is the nine photos from this trip that I just posted and not including this screenshot would not justify my experience of this trip. So go ahead find me and follow me. I promise my comedic stories and polls shall not disappoint you.

We were starving as it was almost five in the evening and we were surviving on tea, lemonade, and one samosa since morning. We went to the Sunrise Cafe and found ourselves a nice table. I ordered myself a Hawaiian pizza to go with the tropical vibe. The crowd at the beach was perfect and everyone was enjoying the Christmas holidays. A bunch of guys were trying to balance and walk on ropes tied to trees, people were getting hair wraps, others were sunbathing and many swimming. 

 

After finishing our food my friend Nandini convinced me to join her for a swim and I gave in because the water temperature was just perfect. It was one of the best swims I have ever had. We jumped up and down with the waves like little kids. I was glad to have packed a beach dress just in case of a situation like this. It was not a swimsuit but it was an extra pair of clothing, just what you need for an impromptu swimming session!  

After the swim, I changed in the restroom of the same cafe where we had our meal. After watching the sunset, we got autos and headed for the station to make our return journey back to base. Luckily the train was a few minutes late or else we would have missed it. It also had an empty ladies compartment and we relaxed on our way back, chatting away in loud voices over the sound of the running train and the wind.

I am not going to do the tips for Gokarna because honestly there are no tips. You can go for a single day or stay overnight. It is just a place to let loose, enjoy the ocean and some good food. Travel to and fro from Manipal or by railway is cheap. I spent only 700 rupees on this entire trip and 300 of that was on my pizza and cold coffee. It is a perfect place for a quick getaway with friends. It is also picturesque and you can go off exploring. Gokarna also offers treks from one beach to the other. It is a must visit for all beach lovers. As for the Mirjan fort, my one and crucial tip would be to go somewhere just after the rains so that the fort is much greener and better for photography instead of dry and summer weather.

That's all for this blog post. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please feel free to share your comments and suggestions. Also if you have any travel destinations around Karnataka that you want to suggest go ahead because I am a self-proclaimed Karnataka Travel Ambassador. The tourism department needs to start paying me now :p Go follow me on my very public Instagram profile. Until next time, have a great January and stick to those resolutions!

Signing off,

Nishma Khetia.

The Time When The Ticket Checker (TC) Caught Us!

There are very few of us who can say that they have not had any funny travelling experiences when it comes to using the Indian railway. If you have not had the chance of such an encounter you need to do so immediately! 

It all began when my three friends and I planned a one night and two days trip to Gokarna. I knew something was bound to go wrong because nothing good happens when you bunk classes (just kidding :p). We missed four classes on Saturday morning as our train was scheduled to leave Udupi Station at around 7.30am. All of us were dressed in our beach dress and ready for the two hours journey ahead.

Sipping Chai at Railway Station.

Friendship Goals <3

 
Gokarna was a beach town located in Karataka state in India. It was not very far from Manipal and thus made it ideal for weekend trips. The train ride was not very eventful but things got exciting as soon as we reached our destination and got a taxi to take us to Kudle Beach. There was a cliff from where the view was said to be spectacular so we climbed up with a dog following us. One of my friends decided that it would be our pet for the two days that we had in Gokarna. It was a long walk up but it was worth the view. We soaked in the afternoon sun as we sat there for a while and clicked a few photos. I was using my Sony Cybershot Camera. The cliff looked down at Kudle beach and we could not wait to get down and soak our feet in the water.

Our Shack :)

Kudle beach had many shacks along with restaurants which gave out rooms for rent .After asking around at a few places we selected a Bob Marley-themed shack. We were starving since we had not had any breakfast that morning. The restaurant setting was perfect as all the tables were placed in the sand and faced the beach. They had a lot of items on the menu in terms of food but all we wanted was pizza. As we were on a holiday we went ahead and got banofee pies.One can only get beer on the beach and the option of other alcoholic drinks being available are rare. We enjoyed our delicious meal while soft music played in the background. 

 The evening was spent on the beach swimming in the warm waters and playing on the sand. The sunset that evening was magical and the sky was on fire. I had never seen anything like it before. 

The Sky on Fire!

My friends also tried the famous Magic Lassi. I had a sip of it and it tasted like banana milkshake but it was so much more!

For dinner we had lasagna which was out of the world. A local guy who taught surfing tried to strike up a conversation starting with the common drink Old Monk but we shooed him away saying it was an all girls trip.We went to lie on the beach after dinner. The clear sky was filled with stars and we lay watching it. We did this for a bit before we were disturbed by dogs and had to go to our rooms. We called it a night since everyone was tired.

TO TAKE THE GOKARNA TOUR WITH US CHECK OUT THIS VLOG BELOW

The next morning we all were starving, again. One of the best things I loved about Gokarna was hands down the food. I ordered some pancakes and orange juice. We went to the beach one last time before packing our things and going to the main town area. Gokarna is a mix of two extremes. It is full of temples and religious people and the other half is into smoking weed and getting high.The streets were full of small shops that sold items of leather and other clothing for tourists. We were too broke to buy leather purse so we just took some photos of them instead.

The Shutterbug Life

Our train back to Manipal was at 3pm and we reached the railway station one hour early. It was so hot that afternoon that all the leaves on the trees were standing still while we sat on the bench drenching in sweat and drinking cold mango juices. 

Finally, the train arrived.This is when things got weird. Our tickets were of the general class and we could not see any general class coaches in sight. All we saw were sleeper class and we had no time so we just got into one of the empty coaches. We knew what we had done but if we got down again the train would leave us and we had no idea where the general coach was and if it was even there. Everything was fine for the first hour of our journey. Four stations before Manipal the Ticket Checker decided to pass by our coach and asked for our tickets. At first we pretended to be asleep. And then showed him our tickets. On being questioned about what we were doing in sleeper class (which by the way was totally empty and we were not harming anyone) we said we had no idea of the railway rules. He obviously knew we were bluffing and asked us to pay a fine. We said we had got no money and he then shooed us away asking us to go to general class.

The general class happened to be one, just a single coach in the entire train which was the last one and it was fully crowded. All of us were squished and stood there elbowing other people and being elbowed back for the next hour. What I failed to understand was why did they make just one general class on the train and if they knew that was the situation why did they have to sell so many General class tickets until there was absolutely no space to breathe?

Our Gokarna trip was absolutely fantastic on the whole and this funny ending was just a bad cherry at the top that did not matter in the end.