[Minardi]

Mobile connectivity is an issue on NH63 especially between Ankola and Yellapur.

Udupi to Kolhapur took me 9 hrs including three breaks of half an hour. So Satara-Udupi will take 10.5-11 hrs.

I reiterate that the Kundapur-Mangalore stretch is very unsafe to drive after sunset. And more so when it rains. If you are unable to touch Mangalore before sunset, stay at Udupi. There are some nice hotels. One recommendation is Hotel Kediyoor.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by Minardi

I reiterate that the Kundapur-Mangalore stretch is very unsafe to drive after sunset. And more so when it rains. If you are unable to touch Mangalore before sunset, stay at Udupi. There are some nice hotels. One recommendation is Hotel Kediyoor.

Thanks Minardi for the inputs. Will surely keep your point in mind. As of now, my estimate is that I should be able to reach Udupi by around 5 pm. Depending on the weather condition, will decide whether to stay at Udupi or move on to Mangalore.

[Sandy28]

Is it advisable to drive Pune-Satara after dark? Original plan was to start from Ahmedabad by 4.00 am. But wife is not sure if that early woudl be possible considering that we need to get our 2-yr old son up and ready. So in case I start late, I will accordingly reach Pune late. I would like to break for the day at Satara unless it is not advisable / safe.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Is it advisable to drive Pune-Satara after dark? Original plan was to start from Ahmedabad by 4.00 am. But wife is not sure if that early woudl be possible considering that we need to get our 2-yr old son up and ready. So in case I start late, I will accordingly reach Pune late. I would like to break for the day at Satara unless it is not advisable / safe.

Absolutely no problems driving Pune-Satara at night,it would be like driving in town traffic(you would find that many cars on the road)but make sure you start from AMD as early as possible.What we do is we just bundle our 2yr old into the rear seat and let her continue her sleep!

[Sandy28]

That is what i too was planning to do. Anyways i will try n start as early as possible. Trying to convince wife for 5 am :-)

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

What should be my target to end day 2? Ankola? Kundapura? Udupi? Accordingly, pl advice suitable hotel for night halt.

As stated, Kundapura has only Hotel Sharon. Drive for another half hour and you reach Manipal (off the Highway). Plenty of Mid range places for students' parents here. Or Udupi, being a pilgrim center. has plenty of lodges. Mangalore is another 2 - 2.5 hours away. (on NH17, you measure distances in hours, nor Kilometers).

Kediyoor is a good place at Udupi. There is also some Moti mahal or something. Good food at both places.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

As stated, Kundapura has only Hotel Sharon.

There was another hotel at Kundapura during 2007. I don't know still it exists or not.

Hotel Hariprasad [FONT=Arial]08254-234988/230566[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Hotel Sharon[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]08254-230823-826, 230623[/FONT]

[SajiNSalin]

Best wishes for your trip. Now that the rains have started in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the drive should be cool, but drive carefully. Better to start as early as possible since the traffic picks up if you delay and it will be tiring. Do report on the road conditions.

[Sandy28]

Thanks BAckSeatdriver, Coolclouds and SajinSalin for the inputs. Am eagerly looking forward to the trip. Cant wait for 17th now. Will surely report on the road condition and other trip details once I am back.

[Sandy28]

Am in Gods Own Country. Started on 17th morning @ 4.45 am and reached home (Vavanoor near Kootanad) on 19th eve 6.25 pm. Will post a detailed travelogue later but some quick updates:
1) Abad to Vapi is great drive. After that till Ghodbundar roads are not so good due to the fly over work. but still not that bad to be a cause of worry. I reached Ghodbundar at 1.00 pm
2) Roads in Thane is absolutely in a mess. Add to it the city traffic and its utter chaos. We also had rains to add to our voes.
3) Started day 2 (Satara) at 8.45 am and reached Udupi at 8.30 pm. Took NH 4 upto Hubli and then turned on to NH 63 to Ankola. Thereafter took NH 17 upto Kerala.
4) NH 4 and NH 63 are in excellent conditions. Wife fell in love with both these roads :-). Did the Hubli-Ankola stretch in 115 min. Though NH 63 is a 2-lane stretch, but the condition is really great.
5) Honavar onwards, the roads starts to get patchy and bit rough though nothing to really slow you down. Gets worse as we cross Kundapura and near Udupi. Udupi-Mangalore took us 1.5 hours.
6) Roads in Kerala stood up to all the descriptions that we had from fellow TBHPians. Or should i say that it surpassed the descriptions. Narrow roads, heavy traffic, absolute lack of trafic sense and worst of all, totally bad roads. Infact at some places, we had to literally hunt for a piece of road. We entered Kerala at 7.40 am and reached home at 6.25 pm - almost 11 hours to cover 322 km!!! Condition is worse in north kerala in the kasargode, kanhangad, kanur stretch. City roads in Kanur and Calicut are too crowded and in bad condition.

Overall, a great drive. Thanks to all of you for sharing so much of information and inputs with me. It really helped me plan the trip.

[ampere]

Try the Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Melattoor-Nilambur-Mysore-Bangalore-Pune
for your return.

You get nice combination of ghats and 4L.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

Try the Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Melattoor-Nilambur-Mysore-Bangalore-Pune
for your return.

You get nice combination of ghats and 4L.

And a complimentary wild-life safari through Bandipur/Mudhumalai too

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

1) Abad to Vapi is great drive. After that till Ghodbundar roads are not so good due to the fly over work. but still not that bad to be a cause of worry. I reached Ghodbundar at 1.00 pm
2) Roads in Thane is absolutely in a mess. Add to it the city traffic and its utter chaos. We also had rains to add to our voes.
3) Started day 2 (Satara) at 8.45 am and reached Udupi at 8.30 pm. Took NH 4 upto Hubli and then turned on to NH 63 to Ankola. Thereafter took NH 17 upto Kerala.
4) NH 4 and NH 63 are in excellent conditions. Wife fell in love with both these roads :-). Did the Hubli-Ankola stretch in 115 min. Though NH 63 is a 2-lane stretch, but the condition is really great.

Great you hear about your trip. Can you please let us know the road traffic between Hubli and Ankola? Once I took this route and it was a mess because of iron ore lorry convoy.

Kindly update the detailed report since I am planning to do similar trip next week.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Great you hear about your trip. Can you please let us know the road traffic between Hubli and Ankola? Once I took this route and it was a mess because of iron ore lorry convoy.

Kindly update the detailed report since I am planning to do similar trip next week.

Nothing to worry now,the road has been relaid and is in supreme condition.The iron ore lorries are a pain in the other section of NH63 (Hubli-Bellary now).You should be able to cover this stretch of approx 130kms in 2.5hours with sedate driving.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Great you hear about your trip. Can you please let us know the road traffic between Hubli and Ankola? Once I took this route and it was a mess because of iron ore lorry convoy.

Kindly update the detailed report since I am planning to do similar trip next week.

@ CoolClouds: Fully agree with Ranjitp1. Hubli Ankola road is in its best condition. very minimal traffic too. becasue of the many trees on either sides, it will be a very pleasant drive even if u dont get any rains. i did this stretch in 115 min. Uploading couple of pics of this stretch to give u a feel about the road conition.







What route are u planning to drive next week?

@ Ampere: the Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Melattoor-Nilambur-Mysore-Bangalore-Pune route that u mentioned is surely interesting and tempting. but any idea about the road conditions considering the rains and the legendary roads of kerala?