[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by androdev

I prefer via Coorg because I want to halt overnight and BLR-Hassan route doesn't have good hotel options when compared to Coorg. I usually stay overnight @ Madikeri and then continue to Bekal next day. This time I had to do last minute planning and so halting at Kushalnagar instead of Madikeri. How is CR Patna - Holenarspur - Arakalgud - Ramanthpur - Konanur - Kushanlnagar? Or should I just stick to Mysore - Hunsur - Kushalnagar?

In any case, I will update Madikeri to Bekal route status after my trip.

If you are planning to stay at Madikeri, then the preferred route should be CR Patna - Holenarasipura - Arakalagud - Shanivarasante - Somawarapete - Madikeri. 2 km stretch before Holenarasipura is bad and 2-3 km stretch after Arakalagud is filled with small potholes. Otherwise the roads are excellent.

I remember you had already taken this route once where the stretch between Shanivarasante and Arakalagud was bad. But they have re-laid this stretch now.

Sampaje - Sullia route shouldn't hamper you even its raining. Please stick to the middle of the road where the work is in progress as there is loose dirt at the sides of the road.

I'm not sure about Ramanathapura road. I remember Addyhemmige had taken this route sometime back. He can update the status.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

If you are planning to stay at Madikeri, then the preferred route should be CR Patna - Holenarasipura - Arakalagud - Shanivarasante - Somawarapete - Madikeri. 2 km stretch before Holenarasipura is bad and 2-3 km stretch after Arakalagud is filled with small potholes. Otherwise the roads are excellent.

I remember you had already taken this route once where the stretch between Shanivarasante and Arakalagud was bad. But they have re-laid this stretch now.

Sampaje - Sullia route shouldn't hamper you even its raining. Please stick to the middle of the road where the work is in progress as there is loose dirt at the sides of the road.

I'm not sure about Ramanathapura road. I remember Addyhemmige had taken this route sometime back. He can update the status.

Will do the madikeri - CR patna as suggested on the return trip. I took the Blr - mysore - kushalnagar (now in kushalnagar as I write this) - absolutely hated the drive. Blr-Mysore route should be avoided at any cost I think.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by androdev

Will do the madikeri - CR patna as suggested on the return trip. I took the Blr - mysore - kushalnagar (now in kushalnagar as I write this) - absolutely hated the drive. Blr-Mysore route should be avoided at any cost I think.

Hassan-Guduya-Kukke-Jalsoor should have been the best option. But given the way its raining, its just may not be possible. Else its a beautiful road all the way. Just loved when on this stretch.

[androdev]

Did the kushalnagar - madikeri - sampaje - sullia - cherkala - bekal today and it took me 3 hrs to do this distance. Barring few broken sections, it was a very comfortable drive.

Kushalnagar - madikeri - sampaje: Very good roads. Just one section of broken road for about 100m or so (see pic, the broken section refers to the red marker towards Madikeri side).


Sampije - Sullia: Last year this was practically unpaved road all the way that did not allow more than 10-20kmph anywhere. The good news is this entire section is paved/asphalted now. The bad news is the work quality is poor and it has few broken sections. So just need to be cautious as if they are speed breakers. Since it is nearly fully asphalted, I don't see the road condition getting any better. One can maintain 40kmph average speed and except for the few broken sections, I can declare the this is a good road now See the pic (see pic, the broken section refers to the red marker towards Madikeri side)


Sullia - Bekal: Good roads.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by androdev

Kushalnagar - madikeri - sampaje: Very good roads. Just one section of broken road for about 100m or so (see pic, the broken section refers to the red marker towards Madikeri side).

This section had caved in long time back. Looks like they have finally started started the repair work since they have to make it ready before December since its one of the alternates identified for Shiradi.

Sampije - Sullia: Last year this was practically unpaved road all the way that did not allow more than 10-20kmph anywhere. The good news is this entire section is paved/asphalted now. The bad news is the work quality is poor and it has few broken sections. So just need to be cautious as if they are speed breakers. Since it is nearly fully asphalted, I don't see the road condition getting any better. One can maintain 40kmph average speed and except for the few broken sections, I can declare the this is a good road now .

Good to know that this stretch is almost ready. I'll probably take this route to Sullia this month end. I guess they have just laid the first layer of tar. Even the Jalsoor - Mani stretch was like this for some time and the conditions improved after they laid the second layer of tar. But since they have announced this route as a NH now, I doubt if they will improve the conditions.

[androdev]

While going to Bekal, I took Bangalore - Mysore - Kushanlagar - Madikeri - Sullia - Jalsoor - Cherkala - Bekal. Good roads but just hated "Bangalore - Mysore" section. I think I saw a minimum of three crowd-gatherings that looked like bad accidents. The drive was very frustrating.

On return I took this route: Madikeri - Somwarpet - Arakalagud - Holenarasipur - CR Patna - Bangalore. Here is the route updated:

Madikeri - Somwarpet - Arakalagud: Good reads, few potholes as you approach Arakalgud but nothing really bad. (See pic of potholes before arakalgud)


Arakalgud - Holenarasipur - CR Patna: Good roads with many speed breakers (but well-sloped speed breakers with road signs and fairly predictable locations). There is 1KM or so terrible stretch just after Holenarasipur (see pic). Last year this was a metal road but with even surface. This year it got worse and it is very uneven. I don't know why this 1KM stretch is not paved! Except for this really bad stretch, the roads are pretty good.


CR Patna - B'lore: The moment you enter this highway, you know you are in the backyard of Bangalore :-) What a massive difference when compared to the Mysore road!!

[easwarr]

Hello guys, I have a road trip coming up this weekend. The plan is Bangalore-Bekal-Coorg-Bangalore (planned over 6 days). Based on the above posts, I was thinking of doing Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Subramanya-Jalsoor-Bekal. How is this route with the recent rains? Or is it better to go via Madikeri?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by easwarr

Hello guys, I have a road trip coming up this weekend. The plan is Bangalore-Bekal-Coorg-Bangalore (planned over 6 days). Based on the above posts, I was thinking of doing Bangalore-Hassan-Sakleshpur-Subramanya-Jalsoor-Bekal. How is this route with the recent rains? Or is it better to go via Madikeri?

If you are comfortable with Mysore road, then take the Madikeri road. The roads are excellent except for few small bad stretches around Sullia. If you want to avoid Mysore road, take the Hassan route. The route until Kasargod is excellent except for few bad stretches at Shiradi ghat.

[easwarr]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

If you are comfortable with Mysore road, then take the Madikeri road. The roads are excellent except for few small bad stretches around Sullia. If you want to avoid Mysore road, take the Hassan route. The route until Kasargod is excellent except for few bad stretches at Shiradi ghat.

Thanks guyfrmblr. I'm fine with Mysore road but I was thinking of doing like a roundtrip - onwards via Hassan route and coming back via Madikeri/Mysore. I am just a bit paranoid after reading an earlier post that sometimes bridges get submerged near Kukke and that could be an issue with the Hassan route.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by easwarr

I am just a bit paranoid after reading an earlier post that sometimes bridges get submerged near Kukke and that could be an issue with the Hassan route.

The rains have reduced now and therefore you shouldn't face any issues. I had been to Sullia through Kukke last weekend and saw that most of the rivers had low water level. In case you find the bridges submerged, just come back to Gundya and go to Bekal through Mangalore or Vitla.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

The rains have reduced now and therefore you shouldn't face any issues. I had been to Sullia through Kukke last weekend and saw that most of the rivers had low water level. In case you find the bridges submerged, just come back to Gundya and go to Bekal through Mangalore or Vitla.

Hi guyfrmblr, I am planning to visit Sullia from Bangalore and would stay at Madikeri. So instead of visiting Sullia via Madikeri and coming back to Madikeri, I thought to take Kukke route, visit Sullia and then come to Madikeri. Could you suggest the route and the road conditions? I would start from HSR Layout, to be precise.

Edit: Also what would be the reasonable timings, if I start by 5AM?

Thanks,
Bejoy

[easwarr]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Hi guyfrmblr, I am planning to visit Sullia from Bangalore and would stay at Madikeri. So instead of visiting Sullia via Madikeri and coming back to Madikeri, I thought to take Kukke route, visit Sullia and then come to Madikeri. Could you suggest the route and the road conditions? I would start from HSR Layout, to be precise.

Edit: Also what would be the reasonable timings, if I start by 5AM?

Thanks,
Bejoy

Hi Bejoy - I took this route last week. Kukke route from Bangalore is awesome except for the part between Sakleshpura and Gundya. These ghat roads are in bad shape but driveable with some caution. Right after Gundya, the roads improve and a pleasure to drive. Sullia-Madikeri is also pretty good. There are some broken patches (probably due to the recent rains) but manageable.

From HSR, just take NICE road all the way to Tumkur road exit and join Mangalore highway. Just follow google maps - it's perfect.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Hi guyfrmblr, I am planning to visit Sullia from Bangalore and would stay at Madikeri. So instead of visiting Sullia via Madikeri and coming back to Madikeri, I thought to take Kukke route, visit Sullia and then come to Madikeri. Could you suggest the route and the road conditions? I would start from HSR Layout, to be precise.

Edit: Also what would be the reasonable timings, if I start by 5AM?

Hi Bejoy, as easwarr has mentioned, you can take the Hassan - Sakaleshpur - Gundya - Kukke route. The only bad stretch is Shiradi ghat.

But since you are planning to start at 5 am, you can also consider the Mysore - Madikeri route. I took this route last week to come back from Sullia. There are small bad stretches between Sampaje - Sullia but nothing to worry about. Rest of the road is in good condition. If you are starting late, then Kukke route is better since Mysore road gets choked up with traffic.

To come back from Madikeri, there is a very good stress free route (Madikeri - Somawarapete - Shanivarasante - Arakalgud - Holenarasipura - Channarayapatna - Nelamangala - Bangalore). Take this route only if you are familiar, else stick to Mysore road.

[Kanasu]

Shiradi stretch is in a bad shape (had been to Mangaluru last weekend). So, take it only if planning to drive in daylight. The rains add to the woes after it becomes dark.

[Juggy]

Planning to do Taj, Bekal this weekend. Hoping to drive the scenic Hassan - Sakleshpur - Gundya - KukkeSubr route. Thanks guys for the frequent updates. Google shows a turn-off before Shiradi, so I'm assuming the last comment on this stretch does not apply to the above route.

Was wondering if there are any recos for lunch enroute. With kids would prefer to stop @ a Kamat Upachaar or A2B types for a quick SIndian break. I see only one Mayura @ Hassan.