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Old 8th June 2011, 11:51   #1
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Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Hello fellow Team-BHPians :-)

During the third week of june i was planning to drive to Dandeli for my honeymoon;-)
This would be the first long distance drive for my Lady. I'd be driving in my Optra Magnum which was driven off the Kropex showroom on Dec 4 2010, as few of you might be aware of. The car has clocked till date 7K kms. I've cherished very kilometer the car has covered till date. Including my first time drive to Goa!!!
Today, i call out for your guidances in helping me make a pleasurable trip to Dandeli.

Few things i'm looking for:-

1. Most important- Best Route from Bangalore
2. Best place to Stay once we touch down at Dandeli
3. Places to see there- (recommendation from those who have been there)
4. All your free suggestions n ideas to make it a memorable trip.

Thank you :-)
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Old 8th June 2011, 12:04   #2
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Great choice of place Akkiben, especially at this time!
Though I have not visited yet, this is where I plan to stay when I visit (August/ September) . A couple of friends had been there/ liked it and recommended the place to me. IIRC fellow bhpian Fauji also had good things to say about it
Bison River Resort and Wildlife Resort, Ganeshgudi

However you may want to look around a bit more, in case your expectations from the place are a bit different. Do put up your experiences of the place, hopefully a full fledged TL; it will certainly be useful for future travellers
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Old 8th June 2011, 12:12   #3
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

First of all Congrats on getting married buddy.

Bangalore-Dharwad - NH4
Dharwad-Nigadi-Haliyal-Dandeli is best and safe route.

Best place to stay would be Forest Resorts. Please check for the availability in advance. Bing for contact nos.
www.dandelitourism.com/+91-9448408844
www.dandeliadventure.com/9845733053
www.dandelitour.com/+91-9886911255

Not much of sight seeing around this place except for Doodhsagar falls which I am expecting it to be in its full glory now.
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Old 8th June 2011, 12:14   #4
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Is June a good time to be in Dandeli? I think most activities like white water rafting will be closed due to rains?
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Old 8th June 2011, 12:24   #5
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Unless you really want to drive, why not take a train instead of driving? The drive would be 7-8 hours i guess and you'd lose two days just in driving. Instead there are overnight trains which are far more convenient in my opinion.

I had been there with my family in January this year and had a really good time. We stayed at Jungle lodges and resorts(govt owned). The staff was friendly and service was good. And the food was also really good. But the rooms are nothing to write home about, quite shabby and drab really (the place is a bit old so). There are a few newer private resorts opened as well and they will probably be better. Bison river resort and Hornbill river resort are two of them. There is one more next to them i think, i forget the name. Another advantage of these two is they are downriver and close to the rapids. If you want to go rafting then its right next door to those two resorts. Else from jungle lodges its 15 km away.

There are lots of things to do. Jungle lodges organised everything for us, and it was all included in the package. We went on a nature walk on the first day, it was ok. Just a small trek through the forest basically. We also went to this place called Syntheri rock which is a huge boulder, with a river flowing by. Its nice and scenic, worth a visit if you havent got anything else to do. We also went on a trek from the Old Magazine house up the hill. This takes you up to the top of the Hill which overlooks the Ganeshgudi reservoir. The view from the top was fantastic! Highly recommend you go up there to view the sunset. Another place we went to was the Cavala caves. Theres a small shrine inside, and the caves stretch for kilometres into the hill. To reach the caves its a nice trek through the forest as well. We didnt venture too far though as it was quite claustrophobic and hot/sweaty. And of course we went white water rafting which was great fun. A must do if you're into adventure sports. Last place we visited was Crocodile point. As the name suggests there are dozens of crocodiles which rest near the small islands here. They periodically throw meat into the water to attract the crocodiles. Apart from all these there are a few other places around which you can visit, some hills/temples,etc.

But we had gone in the first week of Jan and so the weather was fantastic. Really cool and misty almost all the time. In june it will be hot and it would probably raining as well. And if its raining quite hard the river might be flowing fast and rafting may be suspended. Best to call up and check on this.

Hope this helps
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Old 8th June 2011, 12:38   #6
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Great choice of location.

I had decided the same location for my honeymoon, but that was more than 4 years back.

The best way to travel is NH4 all the way till Dharwad and then Haliyal road from there.
Again train would be an ideal way to visit this place. You can hire taxis for local travel.

We stayed at a very nice resort at Ganesh Gudi, about 30kms from Dandeli.
It was called Hornbill resort. The last time I called them, the managemnet was taken over by someone else and the phone numbers that I had were changed.

The resort is located right next to Kali River.
They have cottages along the river.
We stayed in a tree house. Having reached at night we did not realize that the river was flowing right below us, but we could hear it. The tree was actually on the river bank and had bent towards the river. The tree house did not have any window towards the river and just a curtain.
Great view of the river from that place.

You can do some river rafting and visit a natural jaccuzi in the river.
There are also some trekking opportunities and some early morning jeep drives to see some rare bird species. And to add to it, some great food.

Hope this helps.

Some links

Photo of one of the tree houses
http://www.hornbillriverresort.in/html/rr3.jpg

Hornbill River Resort Dandeli

Hornbill River Resorts, Dandeli, Karnataka, India, white water rafting, rafting,river, Kali,jungle, jungles, Shripati Bhat, Treehouse, Rock House, Tents, Cottage, Clustered Cottage,Watch Birds, Safari, Wild Life, Sanctuary,Dandeli Wild Life,Ambeli, J

Last edited by neon_daytona : 8th June 2011 at 12:41.
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Old 8th June 2011, 13:35   #7
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Thank you people for the all that you shared with me. Feels so nice to see you all happy to hear about my trip plans. Thank you for my advance wedding wishes :-) appreciate it.

One Question: Why most of you are suggesting "TRAIN" to reach there.
Is is cause of the distance by road that you all are recommending train?
I always prefer my wheels as far as possible. Feel handicapped without my car or Bike :-P

Is the approach roads to the either of the resorts bad or lets say "Jeep Territory"??? Please let me know.
Looking forward to more ideas and suggestions.

Thank you :-)
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Old 8th June 2011, 13:39   #8
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

The route is straight forward.
NH4 all the way till Hubli. Take the Haliyal road, go past Haliyal and on to Dandeli.
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Old 8th June 2011, 15:27   #9
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akkiben View Post
Thank you people for the all that you shared with me. Feels so nice to see you all happy to hear about my trip plans. Thank you for my advance wedding wishes :-) appreciate it.

One Question: Why most of you are suggesting "TRAIN" to reach there.
Is is cause of the distance by road that you all are recommending train?
I always prefer my wheels as far as possible. Feel handicapped without my car or Bike :-P

Is the approach roads to the either of the resorts bad or lets say "Jeep Territory"??? Please let me know.
Looking forward to more ideas and suggestions.

Thank you :-)
Train would be a better option purely because you save time and avoid getting tired. You could take an overnight train and get the whole day to do activities. And on the return as well you could take the overnight train and be back to normal activity the next day. Since the drive is so long you would pretty much lose the whole day driving. Even if you leave really early, say 4 am, by the time you reach it is 12 noon and then you would probably be too tired to do anything for the rest of the day.

The roads to jungle lodges is ok, you can mange in a car. Just for going around dandeli town you can use the car but if you want to go sightseeing you will need a jeep for sure and all the resorts have jeeps of their own which they use to take you around.

Besides it will be hot and may also be raining so june isnt the best time to go do Dandeli. Suggest you go to Ooty or Kodai instead.
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Old 8th June 2011, 15:50   #10
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Akkiben,

Dandeli is an amazing destination and has been on my to-do list for a long time now. June might not be the best season though, given that it'd be rainy/hot/humid all at the same time. Also, rafting plans might go for a toss (if you have any) depending on the rains. But, all said and done, it should be worth it.

As for the route, I agree with what other have suggested - Dharwad - Nigadi - Haliyal - Dandeli. If you are game for some adventurous driving, you can come back via Anshi NP onto NH17 and then drive back to Bangalore via Shimoga.

Have a nice trip!

Last edited by cool_dube : 8th June 2011 at 16:02.
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Old 8th June 2011, 15:54   #11
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akkiben View Post
Hello fellow Team-BHPians :-)

During the third week of june i was planning to drive to Dandeli for my honeymoon;-)
This would be the first long distance drive for my Lady. I'd be driving in my Optra Magnum which was driven off the Kropex showroom on Dec 4 2010, as few of you might be aware of. The car has clocked till date 7K kms. I've cherished very kilometer the car has covered till date. Including my first time drive to Goa!!!
Today, i call out for your guidances in helping me make a pleasurable trip to Dandeli.

Few things i'm looking for:-

1. Most important- Best Route from Bangalore
2. Best place to Stay once we touch down at Dandeli
3. Places to see there- (recommendation from those who have been there)
4. All your free suggestions n ideas to make it a memorable trip.

Thank you :-)
a) Go by road. It will give you flexiblity and also allow you to see nearby places. On the way back you can visit beautiful temples at Lakkundi near Gadag - a small detour from Hubli. The road is straight forward and should not worry. It is not tiring and should not take more than Sx and hours drive.

Lakkundi - Lakkundi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

b) Try Bison river resort. We stayed in its sister resort in Kanha and it was excellent. Bison River Resorts in Dandeli, Jungle Resorts at Dandeli, Ganeshgudi, Karnataka in India

We planned to go here but had to cancel at last moment.

You can see my review of their Sister resort Wild Chalet in Kanha here

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...h-kanha-5.html

c) The resort will take care of Safari. River rafting will not be posible due to monsoon. Take good binoculars as you will be able see Hornbills in the forest

d) Also see if you can visit Supa dam which is closeby 20 Kms. It is a beautiful sight.
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Old 8th June 2011, 16:03   #12
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by radiokidb View Post
Train would be a better option purely because you save time and avoid getting tired. You could take an overnight train and get the whole day to do activities. And on the return as well you could take the overnight train and be back to normal activity the next day. Since the drive is so long you would pretty much lose the whole day driving. Even if you leave really early, say 4 am, by the time you reach it is 12 noon and then you would probably be too tired to do anything for the rest of the day.

The roads to jungle lodges is ok, you can mange in a car. Just for going around dandeli town you can use the car but if you want to go sightseeing you will need a jeep for sure and all the resorts have jeeps of their own which they use to take you around.

Besides it will be hot and may also be raining so june isnt the best time to go do Dandeli. Suggest you go to Ooty or Kodai instead.
You have a point there about the long drive and then recovering from it, which takes away the precious time that we could use to see around the place. About the place now being not so favourable to visit...well, I'm kinda sad to hear that. I appreciate your alternate suggestion for Ooty and Kodai. Given the two Kodai seems good, as i've not been there My other plan was to drive along the coast line of Mangalore and visit some nice beaches, including St.Mary's island and then some time at Gokarna and so on! What do you all say? Drive along the coast line. I've heard its raining in Mangalore now and the sea is wild :-P Lend me your views Thank you :-)
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Old 8th June 2011, 16:12   #13
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Akkiben View Post
You have a point there about the long drive and then recovering from it, which takes away the precious time that we could use to see around the place. About the place now being not so favourable to visit...well, I'm kinda sad to hear that. I appreciate your alternate suggestion for Ooty and Kodai. Given the two Kodai seems good, as i've not been there My other plan was to drive along the coast line of Mangalore and visit some nice beaches, including St.Mary's island and then some time at Gokarna and so on! What do you all say? Drive along the coast line. I've heard its raining in Mangalore now and the sea is wild :-P Lend me your views Thank you :-)
Dont ever think of west coast now. It will be raining cats and dogs and you can't enter the sea and enjoy beaches. If you don't want to go to Dandeli, then try Kodai. It is the best bet. Stay at Villa Retreat which many BHPians have recommended. You can book overnight bus to Kodai from Bangalore.
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Old 8th June 2011, 16:14   #14
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

Well Akkiben: if you have plans of Mangalore, May I suggest Gokarna. Paradise beach is really good and also you can check Lotus Resorts ideal place for honeymooners because it is not crowded like ooty.
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Old 8th June 2011, 16:24   #15
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Re: Honeymoon drive to Dandeli!!!

I'd love to drive to Gokarna. I'd take a beach any day :-) Now What Fauji says worries, avoid beaches during the monsoon :-(
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