[spadix]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

I have done the route by which you had come from Goa via Ankola and Hubli.
You should have continued after Gadag upto Koppal and then to Budugumpa cross.

I agree, but I thought the short cut would be worth it. Everyone I spoke to did advise me to take the Koppal route but no one had info on the Kushtagi route. So I thought I'll try it out. It backfired .

Originally Posted by gajadonga

From there upto Raichur it is excellent road that you must have encountered between Sindannur to Raichur.

That was a very nice road. It would've been great to continue to Koppal on NH63 and take this route. Maybe next time, although both wife and I generally liked the Maharashtra route a lot more.

Originally Posted by gajadonga

How did you miss the Kamat at Ankola

I was looking for it on the left side of the road (driving towards Udupi from Ankola-Hubli Road T-junction where the billboard advertising the 2km distance was put up) and kept on driving until I realized I hit 7 km. In the meantime I asked a few people but no one replied correctly. Everyone pointed me towards Udupi. After a while we just gave up and were returning back and we spotted it nestled next to the IOCL bunk.

I visited this Kamat before but that was in a Volvo. I had slept and woken up to find the bus was there. I remember when the bus pulled out that Kamat was to the left (as it should be) but because I was asleep I didn't notice that the bus had gone past the Hubli road T-junction and essentially made a U-turn. That's why I was looking for it on the left side of the road only in the first place.

Regards,
spadix

[ranjitp1]

@Spadix,One helluva drive that you had from Goa,is there a travelogue as well?

[spadix]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

@Spadix,One helluva drive that you had from Goa,is there a travelogue as well?

Thanks, mate! Both for the comment and the help all along the way. Something happened with my phone on the way back and I was without a signal the entire day. Of course, wife's phone was active and all it required in mine was a SIM re-seat but I didn't bother.

There's no travelogue yet, neither is there a structured plan to create one. However, there is intent and hopefully that'll become a plan first and the actual thing itself in due course of time .

Regards,
spadix

[spadix]

Here's the link to a friend's Facebook video which shows his drive through a mining area. I don't know if this is the Londa-Ponda route. I remember the L-P route from a bus journey some years back and it looks very similar to what we see in the video.

Regards,
spadix

[refaircargo]

Clicking the link gives the message - " This video either has been removed from Facebook or is not visible due to privacy settings. ". I have gone on this rocky road - without seeing the video. This is a stretch of about 20 KMs. From Belgaum you take the left from the Bharat Petrol pump in the city and after the bridge take the right. You will have a ride of a lifetime.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by refaircargo

Clicking the link gives the message - " This video either has been removed from Facebook or is not visible due to privacy settings. ".

Yeah, the video requires one to login. Thanks for pointing it out!

I'll ask my friend (ashkamath on the forums, by the way) and see if he can make the video public.

The bus route I took was Hubli - Dharwad - Kittur - Bidi - Londa - Ponda. The Kittur-Bidi stretch was unforgettable. Huge craters and dips so large that a tractor in front of the bus would momentarily completely disappear from view and then re-emerge. Speed was < 20 kmph through and through.

Just when we thought the worst was over (after turning on to NH4A) it was mining trucks galore. The torture ended only near Ponda.

Regards,
spadix

[refaircargo]

Originally Posted by refaircargo

Clicking the link gives the message - " This video either has been removed from Facebook or is not visible due to privacy settings. ". I have gone on this rocky road - without seeing the video. This is a stretch of about 20 KMs. From Belgaum you take the left from the Bharat Petrol pump in the city and after the bridge take the right. You will have a ride of a lifetime.

..I remember, this was 'Chorla' Road..

[zuch]

Has anyone done the Hyderabad Goa router recently? I want to know what are the road conditions due to the monsoons. Which route is more advisable via Karnataka or Maharashtra

I did Hyd-Goa drive last year and took both routes on either side, the Karnataka route via Bijapur and Gulbarga was awesome in terms of roads. Will it still be the same?

Thanks!

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by spadix

Huge craters and dips so large that a tractor in front of the bus would momentarily completely disappear from view and then re-emerge.

well written! My idiotic friend had adventurously taken this route, AT NIGHT!! This was sometime in 2003. It was pitch dark & barely any traffic at that time in the night. To top it off, we were driving a Ford Ikon, ended up with the exhaust in the dicky We were saved by a truck driver who passed us after almost an hour, he offered to do a quick fix on the exhaust.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by zuch

Has anyone done the Hyderabad Goa router recently? I want to know what are the road conditions due to the monsoons. Which route is more advisable via Karnataka or Maharashtra

I did Hyd-Goa drive last year and took both routes on either side, the Karnataka route via Bijapur and Gulbarga was awesome in terms of roads. Will it still be the same?

Thanks!

Stick to the hyd-homnabad-bijapur-athani-chikodi-sankeshwar-ajra-amboli-sawantwadi-goa route.

the other option is solapur-mangalwedha-sangole-sangli-kolhapur-sankeshwar-amboli-sawantwadi-goa.

The bijapur route is in a better condition as opposed to the sangole route.
Take the solapur route,only if you would like to do the trip over a period of two days as solapur/kolhapur has better staying options as opposed to bijapur-gulbarga

[lucifer1881]

Got back from Goa this morning at 3. Left on 27 August from Hyderabad. The routes I took:

1. Hyderabad - Zaheerabad - Humnabad - Gulbarga - Bijapur - Athani - Nippani - Gadlingaj - Ajra - Amboli - Goa
2. Goa - Amboli - Belgaum - Bagalkot - Raichur - Mehboobnagar - Hyderabad

Either route is good with 90-100 km of intermittent bad stretches. Courtesy the infamous speed breakers on KA SH you will struggle to average over 62-63 kmph. Factor in 14-15 hours (including stops for breakfast, lunch, tea) to reach Panaji from Hyderabad.

[adzegeek]

lucifer/ranjitp1

In case one has to reach south Goa, Google maps shows the following route as shortest (albiet with very small difference) -

Gachibowli - Mehbubnagar (on NH7) - Raichur - Gangawati - Koppal - Gadag - Hubli - Karwar - Varca

Is this route feasible post monsoon - I have done Hubli-Karwar-south goa in recent past and was OK. Rest of the route as compared to going through NH9/Humnabad/Bijapur - which one is better?

I need to drive through and reach by 2 PM in October 1st week in Varca - so wondering which route to take? That would mean starting in dead of the night so that is an additional constraint for route selection.

Cheers

[vivek_vt]

Originally Posted by adzegeek

lucifer/ranjitp1
That would mean starting in dead of the night so that is an additional constraint for route selection.

The mehboobnagar to Raichur stretch was pretty bad some time back. Definitely not recomended for night drive (Though I have driven 4 times in the night only). The road would inspire confidence and the moment you reach stable 90+ there will be a completely broken stretch of road that would toss up all the passengers
Apart from that the bypass around Hospet (on way to Hubli) is a 30 km stretch of bad roads. Average speed 40kmph
The rest road till Hubli and onwards to Ankola is great.

Have also done the Gulbarga Bijapur road. That road is a heavenly till Bijapur. Started at 2AM from Hyderabad and reached Bijapur around 6:30AM. Since I was going to Gokarna so headed towards Hubli from Bijapur.

[matador59]

Hi CAN SOMEBODY UPDATE THE ROAD FROM HYD-RAICHUR-BAGALKOT-BELGAUM.and To goa do I take the road via ponda to margaon ?or via the amboli ghat? The directions from belgaum via amboli ,sawanthwadi if somebody can help.Thanks.

[lucifer1881]

Originally Posted by matador59

Hi CAN SOMEBODY UPDATE THE ROAD FROM HYD-RAICHUR-BAGALKOT-BELGAUM.and To goa do I take the road via ponda to margaon ?or via the amboli ghat? The directions from belgaum via amboli ,sawanthwadi if somebody can help.Thanks.

Please take the trouble to read posts on a thread before you make a post. The question you asked as been answered in post no. 176, 2 posts above your post.

PS: Please do not use the uppercase. It is the online equivalent of shouting.