Road trip to Gokarna

Road trips are just mind-blowing crazy! You just take your car/bike and get started. You can just wait at any spot you feel like, enjoy the beauty, take photographs for your Insta followers, and travel at your own pace! So was our road trip to Gokarna.

We did a lot of road trips as a couple. But after having two kids, it was a long while since we had taken the last road trip and we both decided to finally take the plunge! The plan was to take a road trip to Gokarna in coastal Karnataka. The beauty of coastal Karnataka was in my bucket list. So, finally it was the time to go to the trip that I had planned many times in my mind. We started early in the morning at 5.00 a.m.

It was a long journey with both our kids. So, we had done some special arrangements for it. We had put a mattress on the back seat so that kids could sleep comfortably. This really made the kids feel totally at home during the entire journey.

Road trip to Gokarna

Gokarna:

This was our base stop. From here, we went to Yana and Murudeshwar while finally moving to Karwar. While Murudeshwar is already covered in a separate blog, we will see rest of the places in today’s blog.

Gokarna is called as the backpackers’ paradise. We could spot so many solo travelers and groups of girls backpacking. In Gokarna, people love to go beach hiking. There are about 5 beaches in Gokarna. The Kudle beach, Om beach (which gets the name because of its shape which us just like Om), Half-moon beach (which again has the shape of half-moon), Paradise beach (which can be reached only by a hike) and Gokarna beach which is near the Gokarna Mahabaleshwar temple. You can start your trek from Kudle beach and then traverse the mountains to reach the other beaches. The beaches are absolutely clean and not very crowded. Like Goa, Kudle beach also has shacks to stay near the beach. Do try the food at Namaste Cafe or any Namaste restaurant. The taste of the sea food and the pasta that I had here is still lingering in my mouth.

Yana Caves:

Yana is India’s answer to the famous Batu caves at Malaysia. A road through a dense forest takes you to the caves. This journey is a beauty in itself as much as are the caves. There is a waterfall on the way. The waterfall was flowing strong with cold water even in the month of June. The kids had a blast in the water. The waterfall flows all the way along the road. Its sound of is surely music to ears. You occasionally see monkeys along the way and you realize that you are now in their territory. A trek for about an hour and you reach these beautiful caves! There’s a Shiva temple at the bottom and when you traverse the caves you actually are doing a “parkirama”. What a beauty the caves are!

Karwar:

Karwar is a hidden treasure. Go for island hopping and you have about 7 islands to explore. We visited just two. Devbagh Beach resort, on the Devbagh village is one excellent place to stay. It looks like an island but is connected to Goa on one side. The beach is so beautiful and clear that you feel like staying there forever!

Kalika Island

This island was earlier used as a burial ground for babies until Kalika Mata murti was found. Now the island has a big statue of Kalika Mata and 8 temples of Mata.

The Kali River which flows from Dandeli merges into the sea. You can see the sangam point with calm river on one side and waves of the sea on the other.

Kurumgad Island is famous for Lord Narsimha temple and also has an option to camp. Lighthouse Island has a perfect view from the top of the lighthouse.

At Karwar, you can laze around at the Tagore beach which is named after Rabindranath Tagore. The beach is beautiful and turns into chowpatty in evening. The warship museum of INS Chappal is on the beach. The beach also has an aquarium and a rock garden. Rock garden displays rock sculptures and has life size statues of tribals and depicts their lifestyle.

Don’t forget to savour the authentic Karwari fish!

Girls, do you love going on road trips? What is your favorite memory of the road trips you’ve been on? And if you’ve never been to one, please plan one immediately. You can go only for the weekend, no need to book an elaborate holiday as well. But, do experience the freedom and joys a road trip gives you! Trust me, you’ll love it!

Happy travels!!