[punto_]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I suppose you mean Guntakal - Bellary. Must be a typo.

Oh yes i meant guntakal - bellary...
:-)

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Saar,

i also did that route once and ended up opening a thread on TBHP http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/suvs-m...ml#post1153179

Don't think the Guntakal - Bellary stretch has changed much.

Well, okay... This has been one of the worse roads that I've been on... And Punto developed an annoying karr karr noise from the boot.. Need to get it checked :-(

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

That is the route people have been taking for years, including me in 2009. The one via Kampili was always reported to be bad, though a wee bit shorter.

I decided to try the Kampli route as there were some reports on this thread about it having improved. I am sure it has improved a lot but still not upto the mark.
First of all, the roads are very very narrow. So, if you get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle, you have no way out unless the vehicle in front shows some mercy on you.
Second, as it passes through some small villages, if there is some festival/marriage/celebration, you will be stuck for ages.
Third, there is 3-4 km stretch of road which is non-existent and purely SUV territory.
On the flip side, the last 15-20 km through Kamalapur and Hampi is very scenic!

Given that there is such a wonderful option through NH63-NH13-SH23 from Gangawati to Hospet, it does not make any sense to do the Gangawati-Kampli-Kamalapur route. And it is just 8-10 km more, not much!

So, I guess we have a consensus on the best route from Hyderabad to Hampi

[Fiest@DuraTec]

Originally Posted by adimicra

This is the route from Gangawati to Hospet I was talking about. The route is excellent and a pleasure to drive. Highly recommended

Originally Posted by vnabhi

That is the route people have been taking for years, including me in 2009. The one via Kampili was always reported to be bad, though a wee bit shorter.

Man, I had a horrible time doing it via Kampli but yeah I did not go to Hospet but directly to Hampi. Yep, its quite shorter in comparison to the one you guys took, but terribly bad.

My plan was a sudden one and we just took a print from google maps...so won't complain that much too. Would do the next route very soon

Thanks Guys !

[rm_arjuna]

O.T: Has anyone stayed at Hotel shanbag - Hospet , any feedback pls , planning suden trip to hampi tomorrow and Hotel Malligi is fully booked .

[Fiest@DuraTec]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

O.T: Has anyone stayed at Hotel shanbag - Hospet , any feedback pls , planning suden trip to hampi tomorrow and Hotel Malligi is fully booked .

If you're not too keen on a hotel, you could try out the homestays in Hampi. Yes you would not get that nice feel, but they're right in the heart of Hampi, connect better and feel like home + very cheap.

I loved my 3 days staying in a place behind the Virupaksha temple. It was calm, some locals play light music in the evening on their instruments sometimes, sit around in the Shanthi Cafe and hear to light trance music, sipping that excellent tea. Felt divine when I took a long pending break from Hyderabad

Disclaimer : I am, in no way trying to promote any commercial engagement. The views are purely personal based on my experience and I would recommend to take the decision to your liking.

[rm_arjuna]

Hi thanks for the suggestion sure will try the options , however had to postpone the trip since my kids last exam got rescheduled to mon , planning to travel during dussera holidays.

[ksakotai]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Hi thanks for the suggestion sure will try the options , however had to postpone the trip since my kids last exam got rescheduled to mon , planning to travel during dussera holidays.

We are leaving for Jog falls on 22nd Oct and will stay in Hampi on our way back from 24th to 27th. In Hampi we are staying at a Rajasthani resort called Vijayshree Resorts. Did some research and also took the advice of my brother-in-law who had stayed with his family sometime ago.

Families with kids will love this place as it has all the necessary activities for +1s and +0.5s like bangle shops, pottery, camel and pony rides etc.

Foodies will love the Rajasthani food, though it is rich. @mobike and gang of non-veggies will probably not be very enthusiastic about the food, but us veggies will love it

- Krishnan

[abhimanyu_singh]

I am leaving for Hampi tomorrow morning via the following standard route:

Hyd - Mahboobnagar - Raichur - Gangawati - Hampi

I hope the weather remains nice as today's. Will update the post after my return.

[Fiest@DuraTec]

Originally Posted by abhimanyu_singh

I am leaving for Hampi tomorrow morning via the following standard route:

Hyd - Mahboobnagar - Raichur - Gangawati - Hampi

I hope the weather remains nice as today's. Will update the post after my return.

Hey, how was your trip and the road conditions ? I am planning to drive during the christmas holiday+weekend.

I heard from someone that the route between raichur and gangawati has developed a bad strech in between. It wasn't there last december when I had gone. Any update ?

Mahbubnagar to Raichur was just an average road last time, any improvement there ?

[ranjitp1]

For the benefit of people,Hyatt has opened at Hampi

http://hampi.place.hyatt.com/hyatt/h...index.jsp?null

[tarangirdher]

Hyderabad to Hampi : The Monsoon Road Trip

Enchanted by the beauty of the Monsoons, we decided to undertake a road trip to Hampi. What follows is a description of the ride that was.

The Transportation:
All of us wanted to stay together during the journey so we had 2 options:
• Take a bus to Hospet and take local transportation there on till the guest house.
• Hire a cab to have more flexibility on the drive.
Well guess what, we chose none. We started scouting for self-driven car rentals around Hyderabad and found a lot of options. Here are the 3 we found most convenient along with hiring rules for your reference:
• 4wheeltravel.com: This guy had a lot of variety in the cars that we could have hired with lower fares than the other 2 options as well as lower security deposits (28k for a Toyota Innova). The catch was that this guy has a mileage limit on the hiring i.e you can only drive a rented car an average of 150 km per day.
• Avis.co.in: Avis seemed to be the most bizarre option charging 4.5k per day for a Toyota Innova along with taxes.
• Carzonrent.com: CarzonRent looed like our best bet with 60K deposit and 6867 INR in rent for 3 days we took the car and set off.


The Route:
Hyderabad – Bangalore Highway – Gadwal – Raichur – Gangavathi – Hampi
Covered in 8 Hours with one break for breakfast
Hampi – Gangavathi – Raichur – Mehboobnagar – Bangalore Highway –Hyderabad
Covered in 10 hours with 4 breaks

The Journey:
Going out of Hyderabad, The Bangalore Highway needs no introduction. We left at 4 in the morning and took the Bangalore Highway till Gadwal and then took on the interior road which became narrower and narrower as we closed in on Hampi. But once we crossed Gangavathi there was a sense of calm on the road. As we entered Hampi the landscape suddenly changed with a single lane road leading through small villages. Rocky Mountains on both sides along with terraced Paddy Fields dotting the route. The road was cut out of the mountain in some places and the drive was truly amazing and relaxing.

Hampi:
We had booked our accommodation at Shanthi Guest House that happens to be on the other side of the river in Hampi. The road to the guest house was virtually non existent, but the location was very relaxing. Our room overlooked the paddy fields, which overlooked the river, which in turn had some rocky mountains further away. In the afternoon, we took a boat ride across the river and had food at Mango Tree Restaurant. It is one of the most popular joints in Hampi and their Mango Lassi is highly recommended on your next trip. Meat-Lovers be aware that mango tree is a vegetarian restaurant. But I still enjoyed my food here in spite of being a meat lover myself. After this we just retired back to our rooms and just relaxed till Evening. Later in the evening we stayed back at the guest house chit chatting and had dinner in the guest house itself. It was nothing fancy but was still decent to satiate our appetite.

Tunga Bhadra Dam:
Next day morning we got up and had breakfast at the guest house and left for The Tunga Bhadra Dam at 12. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the reservoir where we stayed for some time just experiencing the winds. At 2:30 in the afternoon we headed back for Hyderabad and after taking multiple breaks for tea and snacks it was dark before we knew it. The route till Mehbubnagar became slightly more difficult in the dark in spite of the roads being phenomenally well laid out for an Indian Highway. The 2-lane road reduced our speed considerably and it took us 10 Hours to cover the distance back home. We reached Hyderabad around 12:30 in the night, and realized what a weekend it had been. Pure driving bliss.

Things to keep in mind for future travellers:
• Try and cover, as much of the distance in day light as possible, a major part of the route is a 2-lane highway. It gets really difficult in the night to see the end of the road thus greatly increasing risk and hampering speed. This means leaving early morning from Hyderabad and Leaving Early Afternoon from Hampi on your way back.
• If you are expecting to have your meals on the road, carry some food along. Other than the places on the Bangalore Highway we couldn’t find any decent place to eat.
• Carry some basic medicines and toiletries, the guest houses in Hampi are bare minimum.
Best of Luck for your next trip to Hampi. Enjoy Madi!

[mithuntm]

Originally Posted by tarangirdher

Hyderabad to Hampi : The Monsoon Road Trip

Enchanted by the beauty of the Monsoons, we decided to undertake a road trip to Hampi. What follows is a description of the ride that was.

Some (lot of ) Questions:
1. Do you recommend the Gadwal route or the Mehboobnagar route... not clear from your post since you took 4 breaks in your second trip
2. By interior road, do you mean the Gadwal Raichur road? or some other road?
3. From Gangawati, did you take NH 13/SH 23 or the Kampli road?
4. How are the road conditions overall? Are there any bad stretches in particular?
5. What was the car that you guys finally rented?

Planning a trip in 15 days, so reply would be greatly appreciated

[tarangirdher]

Originally Posted by mithuntm

Some (lot of ) Questions:
1. Do you recommend the Gadwal route or the Mehboobnagar route... not clear from your post since you took 4 breaks in your second trip
2. By interior road, do you mean the Gadwal Raichur road? or some other road?
3. From Gangawati, did you take NH 13/SH 23 or the Kampli road?
4. How are the road conditions overall? Are there any bad stretches in particular?
5. What was the car that you guys finally rented?

Planning a trip in 15 days, so reply would be greatly appreciated

Hey Mithun,

1: Gadwal or Mehboobnagar?
If you are travelling at night or in the dark, I'd say take the Gadwal route as it is less taxing on the driver because the 2 lane stretch is less but if you are travelling in the day time you can save time by the Mehboobnagar route.

2: Interior Road
Yes I am referring to the Raichur Gadwal stretch here. Ijust used the word interior as it was a 2 lane road with no traffic dividers passing through small villages.

3: NH13/SH23/Kampli
I am not really sure what highway it was exactly because I just used Google Maps and saw the next town suggested on the route and followed the road signs to that place. I think it was the SH23 as that is the route suggested by Google Maps.

4: Road Conditions
The roads are mostly pretty well laid out other than the occasional potholes they are majorly smooth. Just that they get narrower as you close in on Hampi. Also, since these roads pass through a lot of small villages you fill find many speed breakers and rumble strips on your drive typically just before entering and after leaving a settlement.

5: Which Car?
We finally got an Innova GX with 2+2+3 seating arrangement. Since here were just 6 of us we were pretty comfortable inside the cabin. However we would have loved to have a bit more luggage space in the boot.

I hope this answers your questions. Sorry for the delayed response. Happy Touring.

[mithuntm]

Originally Posted by tarangirdher

Hey Mithun,

1: Gadwal or Mehboobnagar?
If you are travelling at night or in the dark, I'd say take the Gadwal route as it is less taxing on the driver because the 2 lane stretch is less but if you are travelling in the day time you can save time by the Mehboobnagar route.

Thanks for the reply...

I was interested in the condition of the road from NH-7 to Raichur via Gadwal... Google maps shows approximately 60 kms...

Just completed Raichur- Mehboobnagar/Bhoothnagar, and it was slightly frustrating because of the speed-breakers. Could barely average 60...

-Mithun

[smartindboy]

Just came back from Hampi, took the Raichur-Mahboobnagar route, and it sucks. The road is horrible and it got better only after entering AP (after Raichur). I would not take this route again.

While going to Hospet, we took the Gooty - Bellary route, and though there were patches of bad roads, think this is much better option, especially considering that about 3/4ths of the route is national highway (From Gooty to Hyderabad), and can cruise at 100+ kmph speeds.