We left for Gokarna on 16th morning by state roadways. Nearest bus stand to Sharavathi Adventure camp was Kargal, a small town with only one direct bus to Gokarna at 10.30am. We were dropped at bus stand by Camp van. The journey uptill Honnavar was thru western ghats and then it was coastal road along Konkan coast . We reached Gokarna around 2pm and checked in Zostel, a backpackers hostel chain in India.
First impression of Zostel was that we made a mistake booking here as it was a dormitory with 3 bunk beds in a small room and a sharing bathroom . We requested for lower beds as it was not possible for either of us to climb up. There were 4 other young guys in the room, two Indians and two from Scotland. We reconciled soon because we had booked here with a view to see backpackers life in reality. Location was great, on a hillock , overlooking Gokarna beach. We rested for some time and went to beach in evening.
Next day we went to Murdeshwar, a beach town around 2 hours drive from Gokarna. This place had an old Shiva temple with atmalinga based on a mythological story from Ramayan. However it became famous tourist destination after a local businessman and philanthropist, R N Shetty built a huge Shiva statue here. This is the tallest Shiva statue in India with Gopuram twice as tall as statue. There is an elevator to go on the top floor of Gopuram from where the view of statue and beach is breath taking.
Next day we went on beach trek to adjoining beaches . It was s difficult trek as the coastline here has hilly terrain. You have to climb up hillocks and go around , then climb down thru rocky path. We could cover only Kudle and Om beaches as we became tired and could not go to Paradise and Nirvana beach south of Om beach. I had swim at Om beach, which is well known because of it’s arial view makes sign of letter Om in Hindi.
Next day we checked out from Zostel and hired a cab to take us to Yana Rock Caves and Vibhuti waterfalls , which were around 70 km towards east. Later we went on our way to Goa and had a night halt at Karwar, a city on border of Karnataka and Goa.
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