When cousins get together after a long time, you can be assured of some mischief and trouble! Well, we had the same zeal when we decided to take an impromptu road trip to the beach. Since we were in Mangalore, it wasn’t like we lacked options. We finally settled to drive to mid-city and then decide on the options. (Yes, my ancestral home is almost 30 mins drive from the actual city.)
Story of how we reached Sasihithlu beach
It was the day after Easter. The sun was blazing above and frying us beyond our capacity that even our sweat glands were clogged with salt! (True story, could literally have made money by selling the salt out of my pores.) So, we decided to crank up the stereo and take my humble Alto 800 to the beach.
The drive on the highway was a mix of emotions. Mainly because of the varied song requests from the back seat. We had to listen to a jukebox of romantic songs, trance music to hardcore techno all in a span of 45 minutes. And once we reached the city, we decided to wing it and drive to Sasihithlu beach almost near Suratkal. (All because of one recently-turned-18 cousin who was excited to go as far as possible from home — I get’em feels.
What to expect in Sasihithlu beach
As we neared our destination, we decided this was the best choice as we drove parallel to the coast for almost 2 km taking in the beauty of the waves. Some places the waves shot up high and others were mellow. We were in awe of the homes so close to the coast that a small upsurge in the water level could literally drown the entire home.
We finally reached Sasihithlu, paid our parking fees and entered the beautiful beach coast flanked by trees on both ends. (Don’t ask me which trees, because I really don’t know.)
The beach was very serene. I’m not sure if it was Monday or if the beach actually saw lower footfalls, but we were thankful to have the beach all to ourselves. (Hardly 15 more people in the premises.) While some of us soaked our feet in the water, others climbed up the rocks to click great pictures—absurd selfies and non-candid-yet-candid shots.
Since this is an estuary, I was actually curious and tasted the water
(sheepish expression) to see if it was sweet. (Who is thinking of Narnia? Nope, definitely not me.) We spent an hour enjoying the peace and serenity of the space and even put some food into our system.
The not so great adventure of Sasihithlu
When we decided to get home, bam! My car’s front tires got stuck in the sand. We tried to shovel it up, use a board to support the tire and even tried pushing/lifting it up, but alas, nothing worked. Finally, some people came to our aid and helped us. We got some rope that washed over on the beach, (maybe part of some fishing nets, not sure) and towed the car out with another car’s help.
Definitely not the sunshine and roses experience, but we reached back home covered in sand, sweaty as hell but happier than ever to have had this adventure.
What we learnt?
- Keep some rope in the car, just in case.
- Definitely, don’t park on the sand.
For more pictures, visit the Gallery.