[changaez]

Got back today at 5 from the trip..

Did the below route:

Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bijapur - Hubli - Ankola - Karwar - Goa - Karwar - Ankola - Kollur - Udupi - Managalore - Sakleshpur- Hassan - Bangalore - Karnool - Hyd

1. Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga -Bijapur - Hubli - Roads are good.

2. Hubli - Ankola - Karwar - Goa - Good roads, few pot holes.

3. Goa - Karwar - Ankola - Kollur - Udupi - Managalore - Road is good till Ankola, after that its pretty patchy to Kollur. Kollur - Udupi is ok. Udupi - Managalore - road expansion is going on, so you need to take diversions every 2-3 kms.

4. Managalore - Sakleshpur- Hassan - Bangalore - Road is good. except for about 20 Kms in the Western Ghats about 33 Kms before Sakleshpur, the 20 kms can take easily 1.5 hours. last 108 kms in Bangalore is 4 lane highway so you can fly.

5.Bangalore - Karnool - Hyd - 4 lane highway, drive as fast as you can.

Total distance covered including little city commute 2383 Kms , 141 Litres of petrol consumed, fuel efficiency 16.9 Kms/L

[himavanth_m]

I am planning to do Hyd - Gokarna - Murudeshwar - Malpe/St Mary's island in the second week of February.

A few questions I have are :
For Hyd - Gokarna , I am planning to take one the following 2 options:
Option 1: Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bijapur - Bagalkhot - Hubli - Gokarna.
I know the road conditions in this road are mostly good. So just to get a sense of timing, If I do this stretch without stopping, what is average speed I can maintain. or the number of hours I will take to reach Gokarna.

Option 2: I have already done this road, so I am not inclined to do this road again. But I would like to know any deal breakers for option 1 so that I will take option 2

Hyd - Jadcherla - Raichur - Gangawati - Hubli - Gokarna.

2: I will be driving this road in the night. I will be leaving Hyderabad at 6 PM. So is option 1 safe?

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

I am planning to do Hyd - Gokarna - Murudeshwar - Malpe/St Mary's island in the second week of February.

I will be driving this road in the night. I will be leaving Hyderabad at 6 PM. So is option 1 safe?

I am only worried about safety on this routes as you plan to drive in night. A friend of mine was severely mugged and beaten up by a gang near Humnabad one and half years back. I undertand that there are interstate dacoit gangs operating on these NHs. He was bedridden for six months with severe back injury and has to go through surgery. He receoverd albeit very slowly.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by Fauji

I am only worried about safety on this routes as you plan to drive in night. A friend of mine was severely mugged and beaten up by a gang near Humnabad one and half years back. I undertand that there are interstate dacoit gangs operating on these NHs. He was bedridden for six months with severe back injury and has to go through surgery. He receoverd albeit very slowly.

Sorry to hear about the incident.
And thanks for letting me know about this. I am not worried about the Hyd - Humnabad road. Because that sees a lot of Hyd - Pune/Mumbai traffic. I am worried about what after Humnabad as there is very low traffic towards Gulbarga and beyond. My guess would be the incident happened after Humnabad.
I guess there is this downside for roads that see low traffic. Even if road condition is good, the problem of dacoits is there.

Can you suggest an alternate route to reach Gokarna? The drive must be done at night in order for us to save time.

[MX6]

I have this habit of travelling along a volvo bus or state transport bus even if it means I lower down my speeds in stretches that are completely desolate and are prone to such dacoity. It could just be a 40 - 50 km stretch in some remote and under developed area. So I don't mind wasting 2 hours also to cover the stretch along with bus load of folks who might rush for any help in case of issues.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

My guess would be the incident happened after Humnabad.
Can you suggest an alternate route to reach Gokarna? The drive must be done at night in order for us to save time.

You are correct. It was after Humnabad.

I was looking at alternate road Hyd - Gooty - Bellary - Hospet - Hubli which will be 60 KMs longer. I am not sure of road conditions after Gooty unless someone in the forum can confirm. With mining in the region banned, the roads may be in good condition.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by Fauji

You are correct. It was after Humnabad.

I was looking at alternate road Hyd - Gooty - Bellary - Hospet - Hubli which will be 60 KMs longer. I am not sure of road conditions after Gooty unless someone in the forum can confirm. With mining in the region banned, the roads may be in good condition.

Raichur road is what I would take. Reason being, I have been in this road earlier. The road conditions in most parts it is OK. and after Gangawati, the road becomes really good. Plus there are no issues of dacoits that I have heard in these areas when I will be there at midnight.

Gooty - Bellary road is a strict no no for me. I have done this stretch 2 times, First time I just wanted to check the road and it was horrible. The second time, I missed a diversion at Chitradurga and ended up in the Gooty bellary road. The second time was worse. I had no phone, no one to talk and in the middle of night. Everyone was giving a different direction at anyplace we were stopping.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

2: I will be driving this road in the night. I will be leaving Hyderabad at 6 PM. So is option 1 safe?

What if you start by about 3AM or so. That will lead you to traverse Humnabad-Hubli stretch during early morning hours.
Humnabad-Hyd is about 160km. You should be there by 5AM. That would be a good time to cross that stretch.

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by ampere

What if you start by about 3AM or so. That will lead you to traverse Humnabad-Hubli stretch during early morning hours.
Humnabad-Hyd is about 160km. You should be there by 5AM. That would be a good time to cross that stretch.

If I start at 6 PM after my office, my journey will be in the night. So I get a whole day at Gokharna. If I start at 3 AM next day, I will loose the whole day in journey.

Summary of my plan:
Day 0 - Start at 6 PM
Day 1 - Reach Gokharna by 7 AM. Spend time at Gokharna and surrounding places upto evening/Night and head to Murudeshwar for stay
Day 2: From Murudeshwar, visit places around like Netrani island and spend day 2 night again at Murudeshwar
Day 3: Checkout of Murudeshwar and move to Udupi. On the way, visit St Mary's island, Malpe and Kaup beach and other places.
Day 4: Start early from Udupi - Go to Kudremukh. Leave Kudremukh by 12 PM and head towards Hyderabad. Reach Hyderabad by 4/5 AM. Sleep and go to office next day.

Basically, I get only 2 days leave and 2 days weekend. I have done such trips previously and driving and exhaustion is not a factor. Only factor is the safety of the route as well as realistic times taken to drive between places.
This plan may seem a bit hectic but we have done many such plans previously.

For this plan, I have asked route queries on 2 different threads as I thought starting a new thread would add no value.(All these routes are discussed in some thread or the other)

[changaez]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

If I start at 6 PM after my office, my journey will be in the night. So I get a whole day at Gokharna. If I start at 3 AM next day, I will loose the whole day in journey.

Summary of my plan:
Day 0 - Start at 6 PM
Day 1 - Reach Gokharna by 7 AM. Spend time at Gokharna and surrounding places upto evening/Night and head to Murudeshwar for stay
Day 2: From Murudeshwar, visit places around like Netrani island and spend day 2 night again at Murudeshwar
Day 3: Checkout of Murudeshwar and move to Udupi. On the way, visit St Mary's island, Malpe and Kaup beach and other places.
Day 4: Start early from Udupi - Go to Kudremukh. Leave Kudremukh by 12 PM and head towards Hyderabad. Reach Hyderabad by 4/5 AM. Sleep and go to

There is not much traffic, so avoid the night travel. But if you really want to do it at night, it would be better to stick with a Volvo basically for safety as suggested by MX6.

What is the route you are planning from Kudremukh ?

cheers

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by changaez

There is not much traffic, so avoid the night travel. But if you really want to do it at night, it would be better to stick with a Volvo basically for safety as suggested by MX6.

What is the route you are planning from Kudremukh ?

cheers

I have done the Raichur road at night. And I did not see any issues on that route.
One question is which route does Volvos take?
Is it Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bagalkhot - Hubli route ?
Or
Hyd - Raichur - Gangawati - Hubli route?

If it is 1st, then I will try out that route and follow a volvo bus as MX6 suggested. If not, whether volvo buses ply or not, I will go via the 2nd route.


From Kudremukh, I am planning to follow suggestion in another thread.
Mudigeri - Gendehalli - Belur -Halebeedu-Banavara - Doddaballapur - Anantapur - Hyderabad
Link to other thread where I posted my query for return directions
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2651198

[changaez]

Originally Posted by himavanth_m

One question is which route does Volvos take?
Is it Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bagalkhot - Hubli route ?
Or
Hyd - Raichur - Gangawati - Hubli route?

If it is 1st, then I will try out that route and follow a volvo bus as MX6 suggested. If not, whether volvo buses ply or not, I will go via the 2nd route.


From Kudremukh, I am planning to follow suggestion in another thread.
Mudigeri - Gendehalli - Belur -Halebeedu-Banavara - Doddaballapur - Anantapur - Hyderabad

I was talking about Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bagalkhot - Hubli when i said traffic is not heavy. I am not sure what route is taken by Volvo's so it is a first, will wait for your update after you do.

Mudigeri - Gendehalli - Belur -Halebeedu-Banavara - Doddaballapur - Anantapur - Hyderabad. This is good route plus you would avoid the getting into Western Ghats section.

Have a good trip

[himavanth_m]

Originally Posted by changaez

I was talking about Hyd - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bagalkhot - Hubli when i said traffic is not heavy. I am not sure what route is taken by Volvo's so it is a first, will wait for your update after you do.

Mudigeri - Gendehalli - Belur -Halebeedu-Banavara - Doddaballapur - Anantapur - Hyderabad. This is good route plus you would avoid the getting into Western Ghats section.

Have a good trip

I have done the HYD - Raichur - Gangawati - Hubli road earlier (In 2011 Feb).
The road is safe at night. Medium traffic through out. I have seen some buses travelling but not any Volvos on this route. Link to my post on route condition of this route.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post2382579

I just hope that I dare enough to take the Gulbarga road after hearing the experiences. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[ranjitp1]

Volvos take the raichur hubli nh4a route to panjim