The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi

[dkamath]

Had a rocking ride on the Airavat over the weekend

What amuses me is the way the tarred surface vanishes from the road, like makeup from a movie actress'es face, after a face wash

Will it be a good idea if the miners dig their way beneath the earth, straight to NMPT?

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by Samurai

How much time do you have after the function in Mangalore?

We have all the time Sharath, we shud be ideally starting our return journey pre lunch say before 2pm.

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by dkamath

Will it be a good idea if the miners dig their way beneath the earth, straight to NMPT?

What you think they are doing now digging onlypotholes everywhere are proof for it hehhehe

[Samurai]

Mangalore-Manipal - 1.5H
Manipal-Agumbe-Shivmogga - 3H

Rest you should know.

[ravibhat]

Riju If you take Manipal - Agumbe route I suggest you stay in the evening near Teerthahalli Vihangama Resort, you will love the place, more photo opportunity as well there.

Luke has recently visited there because I read his travelogue recently. Any one of us can get you their contact details for booking.

If you plan to drive via Teerthahalli - Shimoga make sure it didn't rain too much and national highway is closed by back water of Tunga reservoir. Near Shimoga (20km before Shimoga) check If car can go to Mandanagadde Bird Sanctury which is flooded by tunga river right now.

Regards,

Ravi.

[Taz-On-The-Road]

Hey,

The Mysore-Madikeri route is the best one as of now to visit Mangalore. Drove through this stretch twice last week. Bangalore to Kushalnagar is absolutely fabulous.However, be careful about the mud humps(BUMPS!!) or whatever they are called, erected by villagers on the Mysore-Kushalnagar stretch. I narrowly missed hiting a couple of them because they spring a surprise on you. Yes, you guessed right ...THEY ARE UNMARKED!!! One of the hints is when you see one of those yellow board like things that the cops use to create a roadblock with a STOP sign on them. Some good samaritan has thankfully placed these near these self erected humps , so you can save your suspension in the night!!
Kushalnagar-Madikeri is not great though driveable. The Sampaje ghats leading from Madikeri to Sullia is pretty good(Much better than Shiradi!!!).Thereafter, it is an ok road with nice stretches followed by a few metres of potholed stretches.
Alternatively, take the Charmadi ghats which is in much better shape than Shiradi albeit very narrow.Route would be Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Mudigere-Charmadi-Ujire-Belthangady-BC Road-Mangalore. However, Charmadi is prone to landslides whenever it rains heavily. I had to return through Madikeri as there was a landslide on Charamadi last week.It saves you around 30Km compared to the Madikeri stretch. Roads are pretty ok between Belthangady and BC Road, nothing extraordinary but manageable.

[lohithrao]

Taz, thanks for that info, planning to go to Mangalore this weekend, charmadi is shorted but as you mentioned its narrow. so little scary esp in the turnings if you come across big vehicles hehe

[for_cars1]

Had been via Shiradi on 14th, it was raining throughout the day and made things worse on the pot-holed stretch starting at Sakleshpur all the way to Mangalore, took about 9.5 hours on this stretch in the rain.

I wonder how can a freshly laid road in May get eroded so fast in record time of 2 months, shame on the appaling quality of the work.

Coming back on the same road felt much better though because it was not raining thankfully.

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by for_cars1

Had been via Shiradi on 14th, it was raining throughout the day and made things worse on the pot-holed stretch starting at Sakleshpur all the way to Mangalore, took about 9.5 hours on this stretch in the rain.

I wonder how can a freshly laid road in May get eroded so fast in record time of 2 months, shame on the appaling quality of the work.

Coming back on the same road felt much better though because it was not raining thankfully.

But is the road motorable in a sedan? How big are the potholes? How many of them are there? Are they all over the place or just a few here and there?

[for_cars1]

ash_blore: But is the road motorable in a sedan?
The road is motorable in a sedan (I saw NHC, Skoda, baleno passby)
How big are the potholes? How many of them are there? Are they all over the place or just a few here and there?
Fairly wide potholes, but too deep yet, On Shiradi basically the top layer freshly laid Tar has eroded off and feels like a gravel road except on the few concrete stretches. Its not a continuous stretch of potholes, you get a smooth patch and suddenly have to slow for a pothole "cluster" and then take off again till you hit the next cluster. The stretch feels pathetic and painful yet motorable

[lohithrao]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

But is the road motorable in a sedan? How big are the potholes? How many of them are there? Are they all over the place or just a few here and there?

Few weeks back had been to Mangalore in my OHC, for now its very doable but you need to be careful on few turns thats all...but no fun driving in a sedan after sakleshpura esp cars like civic...

[rjstyles69]

Ok guys here is what I have decided on

Bangalore--Nelamangala--Tumkur--Gubbi--Tiptur--Arsikere--Kadur--Tarikere--Shimoga--Sagara--Jog --Falls ---Honnavar--Murudeshwar.

Enroute I wud stop over at the Talaguppa Railway station for a few clicks. Hope this route is doable.

[lohithrao]

Riju i thought you had plans to go to Mangalore?

[rjstyles69]

Lohith, this is just the 1st day of the road trip Mangalore is on day 4 . I know the route well from Murudeshwar to Mangalore.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Ok guys here is what I have decided on

Bangalore--Nelamangala--Tumkur--Gubbi--Tiptur--Arsikere--Kadur--Tarikere--Shimoga--Sagara--Jog --Falls ---Honnavar--Murudeshwar.

Enroute I wud stop over at the Talaguppa Railway station for a few clicks. Hope this route is doable.

Ya it is very much doable !! I hope you are starting at 4AM.

Start very early, you can try out Blr - Hebbal - Yelahanka - Dodaballapur - Dobbspet to avoid the congesionat yeswanthpur - Neelamangala. I think it can get problematic even in the early hours whne you start.

Abhi