Peninsula Tour – Goa -Karnataka coast

The road trip continues. From Hampi, it was Goa. To attend a wedding and rest and recover.

We drove down from Goa to Gokarna, via Karwar and Yana. Reached Karwar at noon and we were disinclined to get on the beach. It’s been hotter than we anticipated. We proceeded towards Yana. As the road to Yana curves upwards, there a a stunning panoramic view of the beach.

It takes a couple of hours to reach Yana. The road winds through lovely forest land and turn into dirt roads, especially closer to the destination. It was great to drive in the off-road mode. After bad roads and some trekking, we reached the rocks. Pitch black in colour, the rock and caves are made of karst limestone. There are two distinct peaks and one of them has a temple and caves. The rocks look like large jagged bits of coal and are approximately 400 ft tall.

It may be a good idea to carry food and water for a trip to Yana. There are some basic stalls which have chips and soft drinks, but eating facilities are thin on the ground and pretty basic. We had a very tasty porotta curry meal at a very small roadside stall about 19 km from Yana, next to the Achave Police Post.

Gokarna is about beautiful beaches. Each cove has a beach named separately. Very clean and well maintained. Rocky pools dot the area closer to the shore. The shoreline has small eateries and a few sellers of odds and ends including braiding hair with beads.

Between Gokarna and Murudeshwar, lies Honnavar, along the banks of Sharavati and close to the estuary. Here, there are mangroves that have been preserved beautifully. A long boardwalk has been built around the mangroves, dotted with information about the flora and fauna that exist there.

In contrast, Murudeshwar is a crowded temple town. The gopuram of the temple and the Shiva statue dominate the landscape. We landed up in the middle of a jatra and that entailed walking through a village fair. Very crowded, very noisy and very very colourful. There is so much happening on the beaches. Water sports, para sailing, jet skiing and even zorbing.