[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Gents, there is a fast plan under construction for a trip to goa next week

Here is the route that i used last time around and found it to be pleasant,scenic and no hassles most of the way except maybe being a bit lengthy and for truck menace at Mohol.

Hyderabad ( Himayathnagar)- Patencheru (30km)-Zaheerabad (74km)-Homnabad (56km)-Basavannakalyan (24km)-Maharashtra Border (16km)-Umarga(19km)-Naldurg(42km)-Solapur BP(42km)-Sholapur BP end (5km)-Mohol (31km)-Pandharpur (45km)-Sangole (33km)-Nagaj(24km)-Miraj(70km)-Sangli(10km)-Jaisinghpur (10km)-NH4 (32km)-Kolhapur Bypass (2km)-Toll Gate (22km)-Nippani Bypass(15km)-Sankeshwar Bypass (22km)-Turn off NH4-Gandhinglaj-Ajra- Amboli (80km)-Sawantwadi-(25km)-Sawantwadi Bus Stand(0km)-Banda (3km)-GOA BORDER-(3km)-Mapusa(32kms)-Panjim(10kms)

I need your help in eliminating/adding/ on above route so this trip is even more hassle-free in terms of road conditions, traffic,diversions and what not.

Can someone add your inputs? Especially Ashish and our new route travel guru in making (Ranjit)

You definitely dont want me as the Guruthere are far experienced gurus including yourself already thereanywys for the route

Hyderabad ( Himayathnagar)- Patencheru (30km)-Zaheerabad (74km)-Homnabad (56km)-Basavannakalyan (24km)-Maharashtra Border (16km)-Umarga(19km)-Naldurg(42km)-Solapur BP(42km)-Solapur BP end (5km)-Turn Left into town-Go around 4kms passing Bus Stand on your left-Horde of petrol Pumps on your right-Railway underpass-Hutatma Chowk-Park Chowk-Right-Degaon Road-Mangalwedha-Sangole Circle-left-Miraj-Right-Kolhapur(left under f/o)-Tawandi Ghat-Hotel Satyavati Palace-Take opp Right-Nipani-Uttur-Left-Ajra- Amboli (80km)-Sawantwadi-(25km)-Sawantwadi Bus Stand(0km)-Banda (3km)-GOA BORDER-(3km)-Mapusa(32kms)-Panjim(10kms)

My reccos:

HYD-GOA:Stay @ Kolhapur in case you are doing a morning start.Found Hotel Raysons Regency to be good.TBHPIAN-Akadian would have some more reccos.
Afternoon dep @ HYD,stay @ Solapur,you know where by now,unless you want to try City Park.

GOA-HYD:Afternoon dep from Panjim-9hrs drive would enable you to reach S'pur by 8-9pm.

Do lookout for Bhuttas on the Miraj-Kolhapur road,near the area run by Kolhapur's equivalent of the Ambanis-A certain Sanjay Ghodawat,the whole place is littered with their factories

Amboli for kekada or onion bhajjis.Thats all that I can think of.Rest from Ashish.

PS:Shopkeepers @ Ajra were of the opinion that Gadhinglaj route wasnt in a great shape,so took the Uttur-Nipani route.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Gents, there is a fast plan under construction for a trip to goa next week
Can someone add your inputs? Especially Ashish and our new route travel guru in making (Ranjit)

ga ga goa.

@avi,
the earlier route you used is now ghisa pita route.
try new route suggested by ranjit while going to goa.

if you are going by mangalvedha route, then at solapur, when you take 90 degree turn at shivaji statue near bus stand toward raiway station, remember, there is one way road.
the road infront of bhagwat theatre[ surya international is behind this theatre] is for oncoming vehicles and two way for only city buses. you have to take leftside small road. the traffic on this small road is notorious , beware of autowallahs. after crossing this road, you will come to a chaotic junction .
you should ask direction here. two roads leads to railway station from this place.
left road goes to park stadium that ranjit has suggested and rightish straight road goes to directly station which is shown in map posted in this thread.
park stadium road is with descent traffic with descent public and locality and other shorter route passes through slum areas with chaotic traffic.
best luck.

[mobike008]

Thanks Ashish and Ranjit, I know i can rely on you two maharastra road gurus, did you guys ever apply with Maharastra highway authorities, you'll get a job with eyes closed

I will take the route you folks suggested !!!

@Ashish, Ghisa Pita Route

Next step : Feed this route to the nearest printer...LOL

[mobike008]

Can someone please share details of any reasonably priced and decent hotel to stay just for an overnight halt in Kolhapur?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Can someone please share details of any reasonably priced and decent hotel to stay just for an overnight halt in Kolhapur?

Just sent you a pm,check it out,should help.The names are

Raysons Regency: 0231 6681333‎

Ayodhya:0231 2652293‎

Opal: 023 2536767, 2536969, 2537044, 6683622, 6683644

Preference in the same order

[mobike008]

Slightly offtopic. Any recommendations for good places to eat in North and South Goa? As you all know, i love to explore on this front.

Would like some suggestions apart from the regular popular eateries like Brittos, Sweet Chillies etc. with with names of dishes, if possible?

[IndianNomad]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Just sent you a pm,check it out,should help.The names are

Raysons Regency: 0231 6681333‎

Ayodhya:0231 2652293‎

Opal: 023 2536767, 2536969, 2537044, 6683622, 6683644

Preference in the same order

Hotel Ayodhya is pretty good, I stayed there twice, price was around 1,000/- to 1,200/- with breakfast. This is at the first cross road(guess - tararani chowk) once you enter kolhapur.

Also stayed once in hotel sony palace(budget hotel) it was somewhere around 750/-, place is ok/average, this is opp market yard and before the above said cross road. To the right of this hotel there is another big hotel, don't remember the name but very nice and very famous. And to the left of this hotel there is a restaurant with decent food at decent price, dont forget to try Pan in the pan shop near entrance of this restuarant, they have some special pans like chocolate pan, kulfi pan, masala pan etc. very tasty and priced very low.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by IndianNomad

Hotel Ayodhya is pretty good, I stayed there twice, price was around 1,000/- to 1,200/- with breakfast. This is at the first cross road(guess - tararani chowk) once you enter kolhapur.

Also stayed once in hotel sony palace(budget hotel) it was somewhere around 750/-, place is ok/average, this is opp market yard and before the above said cross road. To the right of this hotel there is another big hotel, don't remember the name but very nice and very famous. And to the left of this hotel there is a restaurant with decent food at decent price, dont forget to try Pan in the pan shop near entrance of this restuarant, they have some special pans like chocolate pan, kulfi pan, masala pan etc. very tasty and priced very low.

Thanks IN for the feedback, will check those out too.

As mentioned before, i would be there just for an overnight halt with an early morning start. Do you still want me to try those exotic paans at 6AM in the morning? Hope you aren't plotting on ruining my stomach linings

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Slightly offtopic. Any recommendations for good places to eat in North and South Goa? As you all know, i love to explore on this front.

Would like some suggestions apart from the regular popular eateries like Brittos, Sweet Chillies etc. with with names of dishes, if possible?

Infantria on the Baga - Calangute Road is an awesome place for Breakfast on any given day.

Apart from that there is a 3 star hotel in the Panjim Main Market area near the church, speciality is Sea Food and Goan Cuisine. Reasonable rates and awesome food.

[IndianNomad]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Thanks IN for the feedback, will check those out too.

As mentioned before, i would be there just for an overnight halt with an early morning start. Do you still want me to try those exotic paans at 6AM in the morning? Hope you aren't plotting on ruining my stomach linings

All the three times I was also there for an overnight halt on the way to/from Goa with an early morning start and I tried those paans after my dinner

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Infantria on the Baga - Calangute Road is an awesome place for Breakfast on any given day.

Apart from that there is a 3 star hotel in the Panjim Main Market area near the church, speciality is Sea Food and Goan Cuisine. Reasonable rates and awesome food.

Thanks Ani. I been to Infantria before and also do you think i am the breakfast eating type?

OT: when is your Ladakh travelogue coming up?

Originally Posted by IndianNomad

All the three times I was also there for an overnight halt on the way to/from Goa with an early morning start and I tried those paans after my dinner

Ohh. Ok. I didnt think of dinner as i may reach Kolhapur quite late in the night. So let's see if i reach at a decent hour, will surely try them out.

[ranjitp1]

Goa Govt is at it yet again,to help contractors and ministers and transport officials make money,From NOV 01 09 all vehicles entering Goa borders would have to pay a cess.

For further details refer to this news post:Incoming cess for vehicles entering state from Nov 1

PS:As if all the tolls on NH4 wasnt enough for people coming from Pune/BOM/BLR,add this now..sigh

[mobike008]

Whew! Guys, i am back from a tension filled goa trip. Instead of watching the beach and babes, we were immersed in news channel viewing catching updates on the flood situation

While going from Hyderabad to Solapur, almost for 100kms we saw thousands of devotees walking on the road covering the entire one side of the road making our drive difficult. They were walking to Tuljapur for post-Dussera festivities.

Road condition was mixed thereafter until we reached Panjim. It was 60% was average condition and 40% horrible ones.

We stuck to the same route while going and coming back. And, due to heavy rain lashing all over the route, we took several detours due to water logging and craters making our road trip even more adventourous.

Since we are back safely in Hyderabad. In retrospect, we had a lot of fun !!!

[ASHISHPALLOD]

If anyone going from solapur to kolhapur via pandharpur, here is one more very good alternate route for solapur pandharpur.

solapur-take mangavedha route-travel for 22 km toward mangalvedha upto kamti-turn right toward mohol[ this is mohol byepass on nh13]-travel for 7 km upto kurul on this byepass-at kurul turn left toward pandharpur.
This is unknown road to many.
Yesterday, i traveled on this road.
Pandharpur-kurul-kamti-solapur is very good road with very less traffic. Not a single pothole or patch on this double road. You can cruise at the speed of 100 on this 70 km stretch.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

If anyone going from solapur to kolhapur via pandharpur, here is one more very good alternate route for solapur pandharpur

We took the same route, which returning from Goa in October. We visited the same time as Avi (mobike008) did. It was a good route, especially taking into consideration the route from Sangole Circle to Sholapur