[condor]

Did the Hospet - Chitradurga section yesterday. Beautiful stretch, though I will miss the old 2-laner.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Then there is one tollbooth on the Hampi Expressway, and the toll there is Rs. 65.

There are two tolls on this section: Thimmalapura Rs 70, and Kananakatte - Rs 65.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by condor

Did the Hospet - Chitradurga section yesterday. Beautiful stretch, though I will miss the old 2-laner.

There are two tolls on this section: Thimmalapura Rs 70, and Kananakatte - Rs 65.

Thanks for the clarification. Yes, you are correct of course.

I should have clarified that when I said one toll plaza, that was only till Kudligi. I exited the highway at Kudligi, and the post in which I mentioned that was also for other bhpian planning to exit at Kudligi and go towards Sandur. In that case there is only the Kananakatte toll plaza.

But if one drives all the way to Hospet then there is a second toll plaza at Thimmalapura.

Thanks for the correction.

[arvind_ravi01]

Originally Posted by condor

Did the Hospet - Chitradurga section yesterday. Beautiful stretch, though I will miss the old 2-laner.

There are two tolls on this section: Thimmalapura Rs 70, and Kananakatte - Rs 65.

When I drove through this stretch last year, there were a couple of stretches where road/bridge work was ongoing and we had to take diversions onto service roads which were well laid.

Have those stretches been completed now or is still a work in progress ?

[condor]

Originally Posted by arvind_ravi01

...there were a couple of stretches where road/bridge work was ongoing and we had to take diversions onto service roads which were well laid.

Have those stretches been completed now or is still a work in progress ?

No service road diversions now. All good now.

[paragsachania]

A late Friday night decision and off we head to Hampi at 0430 on a Saturday morning. Booked our stay at Hyatt at Torangallu.







We took the usual route via Chitradurga-Hospet and then found an oasis between Chitradurga and Hospet for breakfast, a place called Anand Vihar/Cafe. This is few Kms before Kudilgi and an ideal stop for breakfast as it comes around 3-3.5 hours from the start of your journey from Bangalore.



The place is small, with around 10 tables. Food was decent if not great. Idlies felt home made while Vadas were crisp. The uppittu and kesari bath were good too. Suggestion is to avoid coffee and stick to tea.

Rest rooms were cleanly maintained. The place also sells organic stuff like millets and has a garden next to it where they also sell plants for your home garden.

We later stopped before the tunnel to spend some time by the waters of the massive Tungabhadra Dam.







After this we proceeded towards Hampi and were here exactly at 9:30am. That is 5 hours of a very peaceful drive with couple of stops enroute too. I remember last time when I was driving solo, I was at Hospet in exactly 3.5 Hours from home having started at 4:00.

At Hampi, we hired the services of a guide for half a day and managed to cover the important POIs in the next 4.5 hours till 2PM. The sun was burning hot but glad we managed to reach on time.

Few random shots from Hampi:






















Post lunch we proceeded towards Torangallu to reach our hotel. We took the usual route from Hampi via Kamalapura to merge with Hospet Bellary highway. The road from Kamalapura to point where it merges with Hospet-Bellary is freshly laid and is bliss.





However, the Hospet Bellary section is still messy due to ongoing expansion work. The concrete road is incomplete with quite a few diversions. Most important thing to worry (be cautious) here are the undulations around the small culverts that are super deep that if you don't notice, you will for sure end-up brushing the lower part of the bumper for sure.

Stay at Hyatt itself was pleasant although I personally found the food to be just about OK and nothing to write about. Their only savior was the breakfast that felt better.

Apart from that, the POIs within the Jindal (JSW steel) campus where this Hotel is situated makes it ideal for a stay. We spent nearly 3 hours after checking in walking around places like Kaladhaam, OPJ Park (Museum was closed), the shopping complex for some quick eats as well as a wonderfully done temple complex here.











Since we had stay put at Hyatt, there was no point to take the Hospet route again and instead it made sense to take the Sandur option to merge with NH50 at Kudilgi.

As Dr. AD has rightly mentioned, this route is scenic but the speedbreakers are super humongous that even taking on them at the slowest speed can brush the lower lip of your bumper if not taken carefully. Even in my Ertiga, that has a shorter front, I lightly scraped the underneath of the bumper at one of the speedbreakers. The width of the speedbreakers is not a worry here but the approach height certainly is. But honestly, for the way the mining trucks are driven (remember the infamous Durga Hubli Karwar stretch and the accidents due to these trucks?), these SPEEDBREAKERS are indeed necessary.

Few images from the usual spots here after a very long gap of having driven this side.







The line of trucks waiting to get loaded:



New Chitradurga bypass work in progress. This is where the bypass clover leaf will be coming up cutting across NH50:





We had started from Hyatt at 12 noon and with few stops enroute for quick photoshoot, we reached Upadhya Ruchi after Chitradurga for lunch. By 14:30 we were done with our lunch and by 17:15 we were home via Dabaspete - Doddaballapur option. This was perhaps the best decision for a Sunday return to avoid both JAS and Nelamangala tolls and a signal free arrival to my apartment.

[Dr.AD]

Thank you Parag for this very informative report as always. The pictures are nice! Rekindled my memories of all these spots at Hampi.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

We took the usual route via Chitradurga-Hospet and then found an oasis between Chitradurga and Hospet for breakfast, a place called Anand Vihar/Cafe. This is few Kms before Kudilgi and an ideal stop for breakfast as it comes around 3-3.5 hours from the start of your journey from Bangalore.

Great! Thank you very much for this information. We can always trust you to find the ideal pit stops along the highways.

I have been looking for a good clean place for a break on these highways since long, and the only irritant about driving to Hampi/Hospet was that there was no place for a break after exiting NH48. Now this place you mentioned would solve that problem too. I would definitely stop here for a quick break in my next drive to that area.

Apart from that, the POIs within the Jindal (JSW steel) campus where this Hotel is situated makes it ideal for a stay. We spent nearly 3 hours after checking in walking around places like Kaladhaam, OPJ Park (Museum was closed), the shopping complex for some quick eats as well as a wonderfully done temple complex here.

Agree 100%. This is the reason I like to stay at Hyatt Place. The surroundings provide a unique ambiance that is quite different from Hampi, and is a nice experience in itself. Spending a day in Hampi and then evening in the landscaped gardens near Hyatt Place is a perfect combination.

As Dr. AD has rightly mentioned, this route is scenic but the speedbreakers are super humongous that even taking on them at the slowest speed can brush the lower lip of your bumper if not taken carefully. Even in my Ertiga, that has a shorter front, I lightly scraped the underneath of the bumper at one of the speedbreakers.

Oh yes, those speedbreakers give me nightmares even now when I think about how I drove my car over those massive things :-) One has to be extremely cautious driving over those. But the road is indeed scenic, and worth it if one is careful. Nice to see pictures of your Ertiga on the backdrop of Narihalla reservoir.

[riddlealmeida]

We did Vijayanagar - Bangalore on Feb 11th.

Route taken - Sandur -> Kudligi -> Chitradura -> Tumakuru -> Bangalore.

The initial route, going through Ghats is marvelous and a treat to the eyes. The route till Chitradurga is not traffic heavy and is a leisure drive. Only problem is frequent abnormally big speed breakers - which we never scraped the underbelly at, but still they are one of a kind.

Chitradurga onwards, highway is an AH, so good quality but has good traffic as well. Especially after Tumakuru, the congestion really kicks in.

We took a dominos take away at Tumakuru for lunch.

Overall, it was a smooth drive.

[cool_dube]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

we were home via Dabaspete - Doddaballapur option

Thanks, Parag. How are the road conditions on this stretch?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by cool_dube

Thanks, Parag. How are the road conditions on this stretch?

I have taken this route on more than one occasion in the last 6 months. It was good before but has gotten better now.

Earlier, there were few sections that needed attention due to potholes or work in progress stretches. I believe the work here stalled due to which they decided to fix the existing stretch in whatever condition it was to make it more motorable and I must say they did the job well.

The most recent one was 3 weeks back and the road is holding up very well. There are zero potholes as many sections have been patched. There are around 2 diversions but that too onto the expanded surfaces and hence you should have no apprehensions regarding the road conditions itself.

If I am returning on a weekend from Tumkur side, especially after 4PM, this is my preferred choice to get into Yelahanka now.

You can see the how the road is (along with time taken) between Dabaspet turn off to Doddaballapura Junction in this video of mine from Aug 2020:

https://youtu.be/6QZqDNl5RaI

If you found this good, then let me tell you that the latest condition is better than this too.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

As Dr. AD has rightly mentioned, this route is scenic but the speedbreakers are super humongous that even taking on them at the slowest speed can brush the lower lip of your bumper if not taken carefully. Even in my Ertiga, that has a shorter front, I lightly scraped the underneath of the bumper at one of the speedbreakers. The width of the speedbreakers is not a worry here but the approach height certainly is.

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

Oh yes, those speedbreakers give me nightmares even now when I think about how I drove my car over those massive things :-) One has to be extremely cautious driving over those. But the road is indeed scenic, and worth it if one is careful.

Parag, Doc - will a fully loaded 330i make it over the speedbreakers if I crab over diagonally? The roads look lovely and perfect for a BLR-Hampi trip, BUT those monster speedbreakers sound scary.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Parag, Doc - will a fully loaded 330i make it over the speedbreakers if I crab over diagonally? The roads look lovely and perfect for a BLR-Hampi trip, BUT those monster speedbreakers sound scary.

Yes it will, if taken one wheel at a time.

I wanted to upload a video from my last drive from this section but thanks to my other drives over the next weekends, it got overwritten.

However, just so you know how huge they are, here is a video where you can see some of them (around 3 minute mark):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuZpWYcj2vM

The road looks dusty in the above video mostly due to rains then but its not this colorful in summers .

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Parag, Doc - will a fully loaded 330i make it over the speedbreakers if I crab over diagonally? The roads look lovely and perfect for a BLR-Hampi trip, BUT those monster speedbreakers sound scary.

Yes, it will make it but you will have a few scary moments for sure.

Talking specifically of the 330i, it thankfully has a complete protection plate from underside (and so does my 320d, and this plate saved me many times). Through some of my experiences on such roads recently, I have realized (the hard way) that the most vulnerable parts underside are the suspension lower arms which are likely to get hit by stone or sharp edges if you go too close to the edge. But if you go bang in the middle of the speed breakers (but diagonally of course) then in the worst case even if you hit it, the bottom plate will touch it, and you will be 100% fine!

So in summary, be very careful. Go diagonally and go very very slow. And do not go near the edges. Stay in the middle portion of the speed breakers. You should be able to manage it.

Have a good drive!

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Parag, Doc - will a fully loaded 330i make it over the speedbreakers if I crab over diagonally? The roads look lovely and perfect for a BLR-Hampi trip, BUT those monster speedbreakers sound scary.

I recently did this stretch on my Ecosport. The entire route other than the part with the speedbreakers is fantastic and should be great for a high speed drive. However, like others have mentioned, be very, very very careful when crossing these humps and proceed with extreme caution. These are the biggest speedbreakers which I have personally encountered in my driving career of twenty years and the only reason I was OK was because of the mental peace associated with driving a 200 mm ground clearance car. However, others have done this on low slung cars so I suppose it can be done with care. Another thing to note is that all these speedbreakers are broken with uneven edges, making it that much more difficult to smoothly tide over.

[Dr.AD]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Parag, Doc - will a fully loaded 330i make it over the speedbreakers if I crab over diagonally? The roads look lovely and perfect for a BLR-Hampi trip, BUT those monster speedbreakers sound scary.

By the way, in addition to the above points posted by everyone about these speedbreakers, wanted to clarify that if you are indeed just going to Hampi from Bangalore, then you do not have to go over that stretch we are talking about. You can go straight to Hospet by "Hampi Expressway" (NH50) and then go to Hampi without facing these monster speedbreakers (of course, there are still a few usual speedbreakers around Hampi no matter which road you take, but not these monster ones).

These monster speedbreakers are on the way to Sandur and then towards Hyatt Place (Vidyanagar township) from Sandur. You would take that road only if you are staying in Sandur Palace or Hyatt Place. Or if you voluntarily take a detour just to see Narihalla reservoir and the view points.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Dr.AD

You can go straight to Hospet by the "Hampi Expressway" (NH50) and then go to Hampi without facing these monster speedbreakers (of course, there are still a few usual speedbreakers around Hampi no matter which road you take, but not these monster ones).

You would take that road only if you are staying in the Sandur Palace or the Hyatt Place. Or if you voluntarily take a detour just to see the Narihalla reservoir and view points.

Haha, noted - yes I made that out from Google. But the Narihalla reservoir looks especially nice for an early morning or evening side trip!