[laluks]

Had a drive from Maravanthe till Goa on NH17. From Maravanthe till Kumta (95% good) is very much motorable except 10km around Shiroor. Kumta to Ankola - forget it (100% bad). Ankola to Panjim is good again (90% good)

Marvanthe to Colva took 5 hours - 230km. Mostly doing around 80kmph, except kumta to ankola - 20kmph

[lohithrao]

lalu, whats the distance between Kumta- Ankola? btw which you drove down in? if it was Civic then you would have had horrible time

[laluks]

Roughly 35km. I took my Civic there. Civic managed it perfectly well, being very slow helped.

[swathyd]

What is the present condition of roads(nh17) between manglore and udupi ?

[ravibhat]

I have travelled 1 month back, it took 70 minutes to cover between mangalore - Udupi in scorpio not much bad stretches, over all road is good except few road work.

Udupi to Kundapura - Kumta - Karwar is also good now, Patch work is done, they started putting new tarr layer.

But road quality is not upto mark so no idea when we can get back old smooth nh17 which used to be untill 5 years back.

Ravi.

[openroad]

Hi All, planning a trip down to Kerala starting September 25. Would be taking Mumbai - Pune - Belgaum - Dharwad - Karwar Rd - NH17 - Mangalore - Calicut.

The last time I did the trip (November 2007), roads along NH17 were practically non existent! Howz the condition now?
How long should it take from Karwar bypass to Mangalore on present conditions, considering I wouldnt be speeding beyond 80 and would be a sedate driver.

[pravdr]

Originally Posted by openroad

Hi All, planning a trip down to Kerala starting September 25. Would be taking Mumbai - Pune - Belgaum - Dharwad - Karwar Rd - NH17 - Mangalore - Calicut.

The last time I did the trip (November 2007), roads along NH17 were practically non existent! Howz the condition now?
How long should it take from Karwar bypass to Mangalore on present conditions, considering I wouldnt be speeding beyond 80 and would be a sedate driver.

hi
i just came back from udupi on 30 aug.
nh17 is very bad in patches only good section i encountered was between bhatkal and baindur cross.i travelled from murudeshwar on nh17 till baindur where i took left for kollur temple.
but everywhere i went people told avoid nh17.

on my return journey i took the following route udupi someshwar agumbe tirthahalli shimoga honnali harihar.

the someshwar agumbe stretch is bad but after agumbe the road is good.the last 15 kms after shimoga towards tirthahalli are bad in patches in forest areas.

so you can enter this route at harihar and reach udupi without fear of nh17.this leaves only a 60kms stretch between udupi to mangalore to be negotiated.

the karwar road through yellapur was in excellent condition till yellapur.

regards

pravdr

[DaiusPitar]

Originally Posted by openroad

Hi All, planning a trip down to Kerala starting September 25. Would be taking Mumbai - Pune - Belgaum - Dharwad - Karwar Rd - NH17 - Mangalore - Calicut.

The last time I did the trip (November 2007), roads along NH17 were practically non existent! Howz the condition now?
How long should it take from Karwar bypass to Mangalore on present conditions, considering I wouldnt be speeding beyond 80 and would be a sedate driver.

NH17 in Karnataka (between Kasaragod-Mangalore-Kundapur) currently does not have good or bad roads. It only alternates between excellent or truly terrible "roads". And its your take on which outweighs what between terrible and excellent.

I drove down from Ernakulam to Mumbai along NH17 in my Safari 2.2 beginning on the 5th Sept.

The road from Kasaragod to Mangalore has deep potholes and is terrible in several places. Mangalore to Kundapur is less worse but only marginally so. Things got much better afterwards from Kundapur to Karwar with excellent roads for much of the journey.

The only thing to be said for NH17 is the scenery and landscape along the drive. Especially at Trasi where you have the arabian sea and the river (sowparnarika i think?) on either side of NH17.

My opinion: if you are on a point to point trip without particular interest in the journey itself (unlike me) skip NH17 and take the NH4 tolled road along Pune-Kolhapur-Belgaum-Chitradurga and enter Kerala (via Mysore using Wayanad route maybe?). It will be faster, smoother, less taxing and safer for your vehicle uptill Mysore. Except for a brief patch between Ranibennur and Chitradurga on the NH4 in Karnataka.

For a point to point Mumbai - Calicut journey I would have liked to be airlifted out of NH17 at Kundapur and dropped back on to it around Kasaragod


On the other hand for a leisurely drive with stops at various places along the coast and admiring the changing and passing landscape NH17 is simply just short of fabulous.

[buvan]

Hi guys ,

I am planning for 9 days goa trip in december and In the itenary i have mangalore to chalakudy(NH17) which i read in many forums that the road is not good. actually me and friends are going to do this trip on a bike (Thunderbird twinspark, Karizma and Bullet 500).

Is this route doable if not is there any other route which is good interms of scenary and road conditions. if yes can you please let me know the route along with the distances. I am attaching my trip plan here.

[buvan]

Dont know the attachment is missed

[openroad]

Thank you Pravdr and DaiusPitar for your invaluable comments. Looks like NH17 would not be a good idea. I'm however planning a halt at Kollur Mookambika temple. So i guess, I wouldnt be able to avoid the route. Unless there's a better route to Kollur. Google maps show up route through SH6 - 48 kms after Hubli, followed by SH48 and SH1. Is this route good? I havent heard any of my friends doing that route while travelling from Mumbai to Kerala.

[openroad]

Thank you Pravdr and DaiusPitar for your invaluable comments.
Looks like NH17 would not be a good idea. I'm however planning a halt at Kollur Mookambika temple. So i guess, I wouldnt be able to avoid the route. Unless there's a better route to Kollur. Google maps show up route through SH6 - 48 kms after Hubli, followed by SH48 and SH1. Is this route good? I havent heard any of my friends doing that route while travelling from Mumbai to Kerala.

[DaiusPitar]

Originally Posted by buvan

Dont know the attachment is missed

My first take: its a really hectic plan you got there leaving you hardly any time at all to enjoy any of the halts or sights along your route. Definitely not the way I would plan a bike trip. Off your first halt at Goa, please rule out any activity for the first day. You are going to be beat.

Day 1 will be tight, but the roads are good and the roads up and down ooty are scenic. You are likely to end the day tired and but definitely without the chance to really absorb the ooty passage or to even visit shravanabelagola. BTW, if this is your day's halt make bookings for your stay in advance at shravanabelagola (assuming you want a budget halt there)

Day 2 ought to be fine in terms of distance and travelling strain. But I am not sure about the status of the Agumbe-Udupi stretch. You could possibly do a hectic visit to shravanabelagola, belur, halebid. Slim chance for a detailed visit though.

Day 3: Start as early as possible in the day. If you think you are going to cover Udupi - Murudeshwar in 1 odd hour, please at least double your estimate. Murudeshwar is too commercial for me. The roads... dont exist for a fair bit. I would suggest you check your status at 4 pm and if needed halt at Gokarna itself in case you have not crossed it by then. While Gokarna - Karwar is an interesting stretch and karwar is great, I would rather do GOkarna-Goa fresh the next day rather than reach Goa tired from Karwar. The drive from Gokarna to Karwar is bad in patches but later on becomes great especially as you enter Goa.

Days 6-7: Along with Day 3, these are going to be the most tiring. You will be too tired at the end to plan anything. Its the roads, or the lack of it. I was tired 'coz of NH17 driving my Safari. I am not ready to take a bet on your condition on a two-wheeler.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, post a travelogue on your return.

[buvan]

My comments in bold.

Hi DaiusPitar

Thanks for suggestions and Inputs.

Day 1 will be tight, but the roads are good and the roads up and down ooty are scenic. You are likely to end the day tired and but definitely without the chance to really absorb the ooty passage or to even visit shravanabelagola. BTW, if this is your day's halt make bookings for your stay in advance at shravanabelagola (assuming you want a budget halt there)

We are not planning to visit any places in ooty, just included to have in the route.
As mentioned in my plan i am not halting in shravanabelagola but in Hassan.

Day 2 ought to be fine in terms of distance and travelling strain. But I am not sure about the status of the Agumbe-Udupi stretch. You could possibly do a hectic visit to shravanabelagola, belur, halebid. Slim chance for a detailed visit though.

Completely agree and Planned in the same way.

Day 3: Start as early as possible in the day. If you think you are going to cover Udupi - Murudeshwar in 1 odd hour, please at least double your estimate. Murudeshwar is too commercial for me. The roads... dont exist for a fair bit. I would suggest you check your status at 4 pm and if needed halt at Gokarna itself in case you have not crossed it by then. While Gokarna - Karwar is an interesting stretch and karwar is great, I would rather do GOkarna-Goa fresh the next day rather than reach Goa tired from Karwar. The drive from Gokarna to Karwar is bad in patches but later on becomes great especially as you enter Goa.

I feel spending time in all these beaches and reaching goa will be tiresome. But again i replanned it after posting that plan. so on day 3 instead of halting in Goa ,Will halt at Karwar. Skip Gokarna and might include it in the return journey. so third day ride will be Udupi -> Karwar which will be 220 kms. what do u think abt it? Do you think this will be really tough. Please suggest as i am doing this stretch for the first time and one foreigner is also joining us in this trip.we included Halebid,shravanabelagola, belur only to show it to the foreigner.


Days 6-7: Along with Day 3, these are going to be the most tiring. You will be too tired at the end to plan anything. Its the roads, or the lack of it. I was tired 'coz of NH17 driving my Safari. I am not ready to take a bet on your condition on a two-wheeler.

Yeah agree. If you the Day 8 and 9 distances are very less and kept these days as buffer .If we are not able to cover the distance on day 6 and 7 we have planned to cover it on day 8 and 9.

[DaiusPitar]

Originally Posted by buvan

My comments in bold.

Hi DaiusPitar

Thanks for suggestions and Inputs.

Day 1 will be tight, but the roads are good and the roads up and down ooty are scenic. You are likely to end the day tired and but definitely without the chance to really absorb the ooty passage or to even visit shravanabelagola. BTW, if this is your day's halt make bookings for your stay in advance at shravanabelagola (assuming you want a budget halt there)

We are not planning to visit any places in ooty, just included to have in the route.
As mentioned in my plan i am not halting in shravanabelagola but in Hassan.

Day 2 ought to be fine in terms of distance and travelling strain. But I am not sure about the status of the Agumbe-Udupi stretch. You could possibly do a hectic visit to shravanabelagola, belur, halebid. Slim chance for a detailed visit though.

Completely agree and Planned in the same way.

Day 3: Start as early as possible in the day. If you think you are going to cover Udupi - Murudeshwar in 1 odd hour, please at least double your estimate. Murudeshwar is too commercial for me. The roads... dont exist for a fair bit. I would suggest you check your status at 4 pm and if needed halt at Gokarna itself in case you have not crossed it by then. While Gokarna - Karwar is an interesting stretch and karwar is great, I would rather do GOkarna-Goa fresh the next day rather than reach Goa tired from Karwar. The drive from Gokarna to Karwar is bad in patches but later on becomes great especially as you enter Goa.

I feel spending time in all these beaches and reaching goa will be tiresome. But again i replanned it after posting that plan. so on day 3 instead of halting in Goa ,Will halt at Karwar. Skip Gokarna and might include it in the return journey. so third day ride will be Udupi -> Karwar which will be 220 kms. what do u think abt it? Do you think this will be really tough. Please suggest as i am doing this stretch for the first time and one foreigner is also joining us in this trip.we included Halebid,shravanabelagola, belur only to show it to the foreigner.


Days 6-7: Along with Day 3, these are going to be the most tiring. You will be too tired at the end to plan anything. Its the roads, or the lack of it. I was tired 'coz of NH17 driving my Safari. I am not ready to take a bet on your condition on a two-wheeler.

Yeah agree. If you the Day 8 and 9 distances are very less and kept these days as buffer .If we are not able to cover the distance on day 6 and 7 we have planned to cover it on day 8 and 9.

OT, Budget permitting, stay at Southern Star in Hassan. Its got good service, clean rooms and clean toilets. Pricey though. 2500-3000 per night.

For your reference, I left Mangalore 11ish and reached Margao around 8 pm in my Safari with a leisurely lunch break around Murudeshwar and a detour into Gokarna. My suggestion, leave Udupi early so that you can enjoy the ride as well as rest well at Karwar before entering Goa the next day. But as i said take a reality check around Gokarna, just in case.

Your foreigner friend is likely to be mighty impressed with Belur and Halebid and might want to spend some time.

Halebid is far bigger with more intricate carvings all outside. Look for the really explicit friezes on the upper row outside. Belur has got magnificient carved pillars inside, the narasimha pillar and the mohini pillar for instance. I spent more than 6 hours within both Belur and Halebid complexes combined. So its your call.

My suggestion, if you get this guide Mr.Sathyanarayan at Belur hire him without a second thought. He corroborated and pointed out all the references and points of interests at Belur that I had already gleaned off the internet. Really helpful if you have not researched Belur before reaching there. Sadly, Halebid does not seem to have decent guides in comparison.

Yare on the right track with your buffer plan for days 8 and 9. If time permits you could check out payyambalam beach (have I spelled it properly? And why would you visit another beach after Goa eh? ) and bekal fort en route to chalakudy?