Holi weekend in Gokarna and Murudeshwar

We reached Gokarna by 3:30 AM as train was running 20 mins late. We had booked our 2 days stay at R K Beach cottage which was 12 km from Gokarna station. Taxi person asked for rs 400  but after waiting for hour and half, he agreed for rs 300. We reached cottage at around 5:30 AM and came to know that our booking is in tent and not in room. Also, staff was sleeping, so tent was to be arranged by 10:30 AM only. This cottage was having rooms, dormitories and tents for accomodation and it is right on the Gokarna main beach. As my wife and daughter lied in hammock, I took stroll around the cottage. It was so peaceful and serene with only sound of waves. There were some people jogging, some doing yoga and some just soaking rays of rising sun.

Beach hopping on day 1

We arranged for activa (INR 1600 for 2 days as it was weekend), had breakfast at cottage only and headed to kudle beach by 11 AM. Breakfast was good. Kudle beach is surrounded by hills, so you need to park your vehicle near anjaneya bhoomi which is supposed to be birth place of Hanuman ji ( not much information available on this) and walk down for 10-15 minutes to reach Kudle beach. Beach is clean and beautiful  and it was not crowded. There were many shacks along the beach. We had our lunch at Garden cafe. It mainly serves chinese and continental food. Food was great. It was  bit hot as it was afternoon, so we relaxed at cafe only till 3:30 and then left for Om beach. Road from kudle beach to Om beach has some of the best views of coastline with Kudle beach also visible from 1 point. We reached Om beach. Similar to Kudle beach, vehicle needs to be parked and you need to walk down for 10-15 minutes. While walking down, views are mesmerizing. You feel rejuvenated and at peace. This beach was little more crowded than Kudle but less crowded compared to beaches of Goa. We hopped on ferry (rs 300 per person) which took us around half moon beach, paradise beach, showed us place where river agnashini meets Arabian sea. We were lucky to spot dolphins. On the way back, ferry halted at half moon beach and we spent 10-15 minutes there. This beach is secluded and only 1 shack is there. Many people trek from Om beach to half moon beach and paradise beach. We were back to Om Beach. I took a dip in water as my wife and daughter relaxed on beach.  Watersports like banana boat, water scooter etc are available at om beach. As the sun was about to set, we bid good bye to beach and hit the road back to Gokarna town.We had dinner at Santrupti restaurant  ( earlier known as prema restaurant) ,  got Idli packed for daughter and came back to our cottage. Santrupti is pure veg restaurant.

Total expense for the day - Rs 3500 (300- taxi, 1600 - activa, 600 - Ferry, 1000 - breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and water) excluding lodging. All the expenses are for 2 people.

On day 2 , we decided to cover Yana caves and Mirjan fort but our kid had another plans. We had breakfast at cottage only and left for yana caves by 12 noon which is quite late. Yana caves is around 50 km from Gokarna. Mirjan fort was on the way but we decided to go to Yana caves first as for Mirjan fort, you need to take detour of 2 kms. It took us 1 and half hour to reach yana caves with last half an hour through forest. At some places river stream runs along. Whole route is very scenic with hills,water bodies and vast green cover.
We reached Yana caves around 1:40 PM. There is only one shop at entrance of yana caves which has bottled water, cold drinks, chips and other packed snacks. They serve maggi, omelette and watermelon also. We had watermelon and water bottle to keep ourselves hydrated. It takes almost 40 minutes to reach upto main cave which has shivling. Half route is kachha road and half is stairs. Water stream runs along and you are surrounded by different species of trees. One can spot monkeys easily. On the way there is one more cave but we did not venture into it.  Main cave has temple and way to cave is through temple only. So you need to take out your shoes. It takes 15-20 minutes to visit temple and go around cave. Actually, you are doing a pradakshina around shivling through cave. There is one shop near temple which has packed snacks and cold drink. They serve kokam sharbat with which I quenched my thirst. We carried apple and oranges throughout our trip as we had 14 month old kid. Today our lunch was these apples and oranges. We got down and reached entrance by 4:30 PM. We had topioca and banana chips. It was almost 5 PM and Mirjan fort is approx 32 Km from Yana caves. It closes at 5:30 PM, so we did not visit. Nevertheless we enjoyed our drive. We were back to Gokarna by 7:00 PM and changed our stay by 8:30 PM. We stayed at Gokarna international. We had dinner at santrupti restaurant which is open till 10 PM. We got set dosa packed for daughter. Shops as well as restaurants starts closing by 9 PM. This laidback feeling is missed in cities like Mumbai. You are not in hurry and feel each and every moment.

Total expense for the day - Rs 1450 ( 200 - Petrol, 650 - breakfast, snacks , dinner and water , 600 - lodging)

Gokarna to Murudehswar

We had breakfast at hotel only and caught bus from Gokarna to Kumta by 12 noon. There are no direct buses to Murudeshwar from Gokarna in the afternoon. But every half an hour there is bus to Kumta. Ticket is Rs 30 per person and it takes approx 40 minutes to reach Kumta. From Kumta, all the buses going to kundapura, udupi or Mangalore halt at Murudeshwar cross. Or one can take bus to Honnavar and then Honnavar to murudeshwar town. So, some bus is available every half an hour. We had lunch at hotel Kumta grand which is in bus stand only. It serves south indian food and snacks like aloo bonda, samosa and rava vada.
We had aloo bonda and medu vada accompanied with sweet lassi. After finishing lunch, we waited for another 10 mins for bus to Murudeshwar. We got on to bus to Kundapura. Ticket to Murudeshwar is Rs 69 per person and journey is about 1 hour 15 mins as bus halts at Honnavar for 5-10 mins. Bus will drop you on highway ( murudeshwar cross) and from highway auto takes Rs 30. We booked hotel dhenu atithya for Rs 1000 for 1 night. It was already 3:30 PM. After relaxing a bit, we left for temple at 5:30 PM. It is at walking distance from hotel. We were amazed by the sheer grandeur of Gopuram and Shiva statue. There is lift in Gopuram which goes to 18th Floor. It is open from 8:00 AM till 7:00 PM. Ticket is Rs 10 per person and Rs 5 for children below 10 years.18th floor offers splendid views of town, beach and of course shiva statue. As the sun was setting on setting on one side and moon was rising on another, we were awestruck. Then we headed towards main temple. Temple is open from 7:00 AM till 8:00 PM.
There is temple as well as bhukailasa cave museum beneath shiva statue. Ticket for cave museum is Rs 10 per person and Rs 5 for children below 10 years. It depicts various events related to Ravana. In one depiction, Ravana can be seen uprooting shivling. Very next statue shows 5 diffrent shivlings including Gokarna, murudeshwar and dareshwar.  Some events we cannot understand as there were no boards explaining events and background score was in local language.
Then we had dinner at Ratna sagar veg restaurant and packed idli from other restaurant for daughter.

Total expense for the day - Rs 2180 ( 900 - breakfast, lunch, dinner and water, 1000 - lodging, 230 - bus fare and auto, 50 rs - tickets in temple.