Historic Trip I - Yana

As there is nothing new or interesting I m doing nowadays except my work ... I keep going back in time space every now and then , thinking of putting up a post in my blog (which is overdue ) on my Yana trip. ( one tag , tagged twice is also pending ..will have to do next ) So here it is…

If you haven’t heard , what /where Yana is, it s a remote place in the heart of forests of Western ghats. Nearest town from here is Kumta ( around 30 km , Karwar District ). It is known for some natural rock formations and caves.
One has to have determination , love for nature to enjoy this place. If not , better not visit this place !!

It was more than a year ago , probably in October 2005 our ( historic !!! ) trip started to yana on a sunny day . Thanks to some lazy souls , who got up only at 8 am and we left manipal at 9.30. The journey was not so good ( rather was bad ) as condition of NH 17 we traveled was at its worst . But it was compensated by beautiful views all the way to Yana.


Maravanthe Beach near Kundapura

River Haladi near Kundapura

It was my second trip there. So I was the guide this time. Earlier an year ago , I had been there on bike, and we went upto the foothills that time. This time was different though. We went in 2 cars . As it was still rainy season , after getting into the interior mud road to Yana , we were unable to drive further. Before this point we saw some isolated houses, one tea shop and couple of bikes returning. It was past noon by then. We decided to start walking . I was not sure how far is the walk. Very soon , one by one our group members got tired and only 4 of us were walking. Other 5 went back and slept in the car ! lazy souls ...

Our walk started here


To make things more exciting and challenging ( those who backed out will not agree with this ) it started raining heavily. If you have ever seen the rains in ghats , you will know what I mean by heavy rains. Within no time we were drenched fully. And soon muddy too ! We didn’t encounter a single person till we reached the foothills. To be frank , i was feeling a bit eerrie throughout :)

Just before the pouring started !

The brave four ... ( taken while returning )

Atlast , after around 6 or 7 km , suddenly at a turn we were at the foothills and facing tall rock peaks. The view is breathtaking. One can not imagine or explain it . You have to see to believe it . The tallest peak is called Bhairaveshwara shikhara, and stands 120 meters high. Next one is called Mohini shikhara. This was supposed to be the the place where Lord Vishnu made Demon Bhasmasura turn into ashes.There is a small temple and a water stream at the foothills. We climbed up the stairs , going into the cave between the rocks, came out from the other end of cave. Except pujary of the temple , whole place was deserted .

Rock peak I

Rock peak II

Rains had stopped by then and it was getting darker. With this background and sounds from wild increasing , the place had started looking mysterious and scary. With no delay , we started walking back. It took less time now to walk or probably we felt so because we knew the distance , and it had stopped raining. Our friends were waiting for us in the cars and needless to add here they were extremely bored . We had planned to go to beach on the way back. Though we couldn’t go to beach , the extra clothes we carried were of help. We had to get rid of blood sucking leeches from our feet and legs also.

It was 8 pm when we started , and we had dinner at Kumta. I don’t have to mention here that we all HOGGED !! After that all I remember is sitting in the car and getting up in Manipal !!! The bad roads ,rains , my friends rash driving , nothing disturbed the sleep.

Overall it was a memorable trip ….trek in heavy rains , the place ,the arguments we had whether to return midway or walk … Due to rains , we could nt capture many photos , still my friend managed to take few.

Today after more than a year , most of us have left manipal , and we dont know if we ll ever meet again . I m glad I have the memories of those times in these photos and in this blog. I want them to read and refresh their memories in this blog whenever they want to ......ofcourse others too are welcome .

So till I get back with details of our other historic trips, you all have a great time and enjoy maadi. Knowing my frequency of updatin my blog , that gives you a month or two :)

( p.s. I prepared this draft almost a month ago ..but couldnt publish it , as i could nt upload the snaps properly.Irrespective of wherever I tried to put them , they were getting uploaded before the begining of text.. So this time , I uploaded the snaps first , and added the text in between . Took a long time to complete it . Can anyone help me with this ? )