Travelling tales 2- Murudeshwara and Karwar

Ever since we have been to Murudeshwara and Karwar,do not remember exactly to how many friends we have suggested to visit these two wonderful places.I remember first time we visited Karwar and Murudeshwar in the year 2006 and afterwords almost every year have been to these two amazing places again and again.We fell in love with the serenity ,crystal- clear green water and flour like soft sand of the beaches at first sight.After that,some dozens of trips happened and dozens of tales wrote on the mind ,of the same route and same place.Here i am going to share one such  traveling tale which belongs to these two "Perfect for vacation "places.


Travelling tales 2- Murudeshwara and Karwar
 For a long time,i was contemplating to explore some more unexplored parts of the Northern Karnataka as every time we have been  taking same route to reach Murudeshwara and Karwar,i.e NH4 from Pune to Hubli and then SH63(via Kalgatti-Yellapur-Ramangulli -Adsur-Ankola)connecting to NH17(Ankola to Karwar  or Ankola-Kumta-Honavar- Murudeshwara).


https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=pune+to+karwar

This time we decided to take a different route from Yellapur( Yellapur-Sirsi-Siddapur-via Jog falls-Honavar-Murudeshwar)  just perpendicular to SH63 ,( Take left from police station towards Yellapur bus stop ,you will hit SH 93). As i was fascinated to explore one unknown destination -Sahasralinga( (means hundreds of shiv lingas) on the way to Sirsi,some 40 km away from Yellapur.The place is on the banks of Shalmala rivers where you will see some one thousand Shiva lingas carved on the rocks.Road was surprisingly in a very good condition,though a bit narrow.This route is certainly more scenic  and greener surrounded by tiny hamlets and jungles.It took us almost one hour to reach Sahasralinga from Yellapur.We were amused to see so many lingas together in the water.(some home stays are available around ,if you like the place and want to stay here overnight.

                                                      Sahasralinga

                                                    Hanging Bridge near Sahasralinga

We planned to move on after spending half an hour there.Our next destination was a temple in Sirsi (Sonda)-Marikamba,15 km away.It took roughly 20 minutes to locate the temple as we got confused in a lane.Well.......all i can say that it is really very simple temple. There are couple of good restaurants like Panchvati,Satkar,Shivani in the Sirsi town(It is advisable to have lunch here or in yellapur as soon after this place dense thick forest starts with no option for food up to Honavar).


 By the way, here are few good places to eat on the way-

McD- on Kolhapur bypass(with washrooms)
Ramdev Restaurant(Belgaum)
 Shanbaug Hotel-Yellapur(Almost in the end of Yellapur)
Sapna restaurant(Ankola.v.tasty and cheap)just near the round about.

 RNS(Murudeshwara, sitting over the sea)



Our next destination was 63 km away, Jog falls.Except few patchy sections, road was in a very good shape .We got bit confused with few stretches ,but with the help of locals, we clarified our doubts and went ahead.On our way,we caught some magnificent glimpses of Gerusoppa  valley and water reservoir from a machan. On reaching jog falls,we got very disappointed as falls did not appear very impressing because water was very less .Though we spotted a bunch of  Art students making sketches of the falls.


 

                                                                 Jog Falls

                                                          Gerusoppa Valley

                                                         Gerusoppa Valley

 We decided not to stop anywhere till we reach Murudeshwara that takes another 2 hrs from here (final Destination)as we were in dire need of a cup of tea now.From Honavar onward NH17 starts but this time stretch (from Honavar to Murudeshwara) was really bad ,bumpy(may be due to rains) and almost non-moterable.Car was literally crawling,a real test of patience.Finally we saw sea waves welcoming us which apparently took away all the tiredness we experienced through the journey.And the decent and comfortable rooms of RNS further added charm to this place.we ordered a tea pot as soon as we reached in the room.The best part of this hotel is you can enjoy beauty of  the sea sitting in your ac room having a cup of tea/coffee without being affected by outside temperature with a reasonable tariff just 2000 rs per night(bathrooms with tub). As all rooms of RNS are sea- facing nevertheless,view from right side rooms is much better .

Let me discuss a bit about the place.Murudeshwar is a very tiny town established by the group RNS (Hotels,Colleges,schools even petrol pump)touching sea shore.Murudeshwar has four major attractions:a temple (with a huge garden,statues,idols,a lift and many more things...),123 feet tall Shiva statue and breath taking beach and of course lovely, authentic cheap food (What more one can ask for?...).

RNSresidency(White Bulding)

Temple


 Grand statue of Lord Shiva



 

 
 
Coming back to my tale,next day we spent enjoying beauty of the place and our stay.As we had one more day to rejoice,we headed to Karwar(roughly 2 hrs) i.e again driving on NH17 in opposite direction towards Goa.Karwar is another charming sleepy town with all basic facilities and very few hotels(actually a navy base,a port town), hardly few km away from Goa.We always prefer to stay in Premier residency inside the Karwar town as it offers comfort,cleanliness safety and tasty food so did this time too.(Premier residency has two hotels facing each other,both are good)if you love sea food ,then Shwetha lunch home and Amrit hotel are the best .
You can also try Udupi cafe near hotel Bhadra on NH17 itself.




Beach ship museum park

 
Karwar Beach

Tagore Beach
Attractions and activities-Beaches(Tagore beach as Rabindernath visited  the place in  1882 and dedicated a full chapter to this place )Devbagh beach,Majali beach,Karwar beach etc,a small fish museum, Beach ship museum park, dedicated to Indian navy,houseboat in backwater and many more. As i always wanted to see all allies of the town, this time we drove on narrow,but beautiful lanes inside the Karwar which added on to few more sweet memories of the place.