[yamraj]

An update on Anmod ghat: yesterday night, when I looked at google maps for the return journey, it showed the Karwar route. Today morning, we started and connected the map to the car and without looking at the details started following the route. After quite a while, my wife realised that we were not on the Karwar route. We stopped where we were and enquired with a local person about the route ahead. This route was the Anmod ghat route and the man said that he'd read in a local paper yesterday that the route was open for some more time. Since we'd already gone so far ahead, we decided to continue. The route was open and pretty much free of traffic. There are a couple of bad stretches for a total of say 5-10 km but the rest of the road was pretty decent.

[sudeep.basak]

Originally Posted by yamraj

An update on Anmod ghat: yesterday night, when I looked at google maps for the return journey, it showed the Karwar route. Today morning, we started and connected the map to the car and without looking at the details started following the route. After quite a while, my wife realised that we were not on the Karwar route. We stopped where we were and enquired with a local person about the route ahead. This route was the Anmod ghat route and the man said that he'd read in a local paper yesterday that the route was open for some more time. Since we'd already gone so far ahead, we decided to continue. The route was open and pretty much free of traffic. There are a couple of bad stretches for a total of say 5-10 km but the rest of the road was pretty decent.

Thanks a lot for this update. I would be travelling on 22nd and i just read on the site below that Anmod ghat has been opened till 10th Jan. I was wondering how to ascertain if this is correct.

http://digitalgoa.com/anmod-ghat-road/

I guess this would be helpful for Gautam as well.

[diogo]

Originally Posted by yamraj

An update on Anmod ghat: ....The route was open and pretty much free of traffic. There are a couple of bad stretches for a total of say 5-10 km but the rest of the road was pretty decent.

This is a relief, for now, the Chorla route is a motion sickness route for some of my family members.

[yamraj]

The Chorla route wasn't very nice when we got diverted to it. Anmod ghat roads were pretty good and paved well except for a few small stretches in between. The route is scenic and fun to drive on.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by yamraj

The Chorla route wasn't very nice when we got diverted to it. Anmod ghat roads were pretty good and paved well except for a few small stretches in between. The route is scenic and fun to drive on.

The road surface of Chorla Ghats, ever since they relaid it completely in 2012-13 has remained the same, excellent. So, I am surprised to read that Chorla roads were not as good as Anmod.

On the other hand, Anmod ghat has always seen its ups and downs; thanks to the fact that this ghat alone witnesses maximum freight traffic compared to any other ghats entering Goa. But what has remained consistent with Anmod is that the roads soon after you cross into Goa from Karnataka have always been fantastic.

So what section of Anmod did you find bad? Since you refer that you were deviated, I presume you ended up doing Khanapur - Jamboti and then joined the road to Chorla?

[antardaksh]

Hi,

Could someone suggest best route from BLR to GOA (Palolem) for travelling in December end. Route suggested by google is below but I am not sure if there are any road closures



Regards.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by antardaksh

Could someone suggest best route from BLR to GOA (Palolem) for travelling in December end. Route suggested by google is below but I am not sure if there are any road closures

That is indeed the route you take. This is the most straightforward route to hit Palolem (South Goa). What google has suggested you is Bankapura - Mungod - Yelllapura. This will help you save some time by not taking the otherwise longer route (Bankapura - Hubli - Kalhatgi - Yellapura).

Remember that once you deviate from Bankapura, the roads remain wide enough till Mungod. Post Mungod till Yellapura, the road passes through some dense forests and the section is really narrow. The whole of Bankapura - Yellapura section through Mungod has no good places to stop by - Refuel or Restaurants.

Hence, if you are particular about sticking to major roads, you can do Bankapura - Hubli - Kalhatgi - Yellapura.

Here's how they compare:



You really save nearly an hour by taking the Mungod option and this is in line with my experience that I shared long ago:

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The Mungod Route:

It is indeed a time saver. Sample this, we turned right at Yellapura exactly at 1522 Hours by the clock and hit NH4 at Shiggaon at 1630 Hours. This is almost 70 mins with very sedate driving (say 70kmph max) as daughter was sleeping and it was a new road, narrow with few sudden turns and small speedbreakers. I don’t think if one takes Yellapura – Hubli Bypass – NH4 route, you can reach any faster to Shiggaon where we joined NH4.

The petty speedbreakers here at few villages should not bother you at all. None of these are car breakers! If you miss them, you can still pass them over without breaking a Bone or a suspension component. Anyway, you will hardly be able to do anything more than 70-80 kmph as the roads is less in wider and you will hardly get a straight stretch to belt some good speeds.

Should you take this deviation at all ?

Well, my answer would be a firm YES if you are looking for a calmer, scenic & definitely FASTER option to hit Yellapura from Bangalore.

[yamraj]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The road surface of Chorla Ghats, ever since they relaid it completely in 2012-13 has remained the same, excellent. So, I am surprised to read that Chorla roads were not as good as Anmod.

On the other hand, Anmod ghat has always seen its ups and downs; thanks to the fact that this ghat alone witnesses maximum freight traffic compared to any other ghats entering Goa. But what has remained consistent with Anmod is that the roads soon after you cross into Goa from Karnataka have always been fantastic.

So what section of Anmod did you find bad? Since you refer that you were deviated, I presume you ended up doing Khanapur - Jamboti and then joined the road to Chorla?

Going into google maps history shows that we returned via Mollem-Ramnagar-Tavargati-Honnapur route (we were simply following the maps and didn't look at the places on the way). The Chorla route wasn't terrible. It just wasn't as good
as the roads that we took on the return journey. There were several relatively slow sections with villages and not great roads as well as more traffic.

[airbus]

It seems number of BHPians are planning to drive to Goa during this weekend. I request everyone to keep this thread updated with any new information. I will start around 4 - 4:30 am on Saturday, 22 Dec. I was planning to take Karwar route, but if Anmod ghat road is open, I would like to take it. Our destination is Colva.

[gautamal]

I reached home today afternoon, and took the Anmod route after it was confirmed that the road shall remain open till 10th Jan. The road construction has already started and at some stretches you would have to ride on muddy roads. Better to avoid at nights, but during day time it should be fine. There are also quite bad patches after crossing the Karnataka checkpost /border, and it has not been repaired yet. Rest of the route is fine.

[diogo]

Originally Posted by gautamal

I reached home today afternoon, and took the Anmod route after it was confirmed that the road shall remain open till 10th Jan. The road construction has already started and at some stretches you would have to ride on muddy roads. Better to avoid at nights, but during day time it should be fine. There are also quite bad patches after crossing the Karnataka checkpost /border, and it has not been repaired yet. Rest of the route is fine.

I too took this route this morning and reached in the afternoon. As Gautamal mentioned the road work has began and for couple of kilometers from Ramnagar the roads are muddy. Apart from two railway crossing stoppages, had couple more stoppages due to road leveling work and tree cutting.
Checked with a couple of bus drivers and shops at Ramnagar, the route will be accessible till Jan 10th. But I feel as the days go by it might be troublesome to drive through with a lot of work happening all around. Not advisable for night drive.

Karnataka side of the ghat is not good, very bumpy, but driveable, Goa side has no issues.

[bsdbsd]

Originally Posted by airbus

It seems number of BHPians are planning to drive to Goa during this weekend. I request everyone to keep this thread updated with any new information. I will start around 4 - 4:30 am on Saturday, 22 Dec. I was planning to take Karwar route, but if Anmod ghat road is open, I would like to take it. Our destination is Colva.

Good idea. I am starting at 4:30 as well. I will keep this thread updated. Destination is Varca. White Honda City. Banashankari-Hubli-Yellapur-Varca.

[airbus]

We took this route today without any problem: Bangalore – Hubli Dharwad Bypass – Ramnagar – Anmod – Mollem – Ponda – Colva. I have captured some photos using my dashcam, which should give some idea about the on going work (GPS coordinates are available on bottom left of the photo).

Dense fog after crossing Nelamangala:



Road widening work in progress:

[roadie_swift]

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

Good idea. I am starting at 4:30 as well. I will keep this thread updated. Destination is Varca. White Honda City. Banashankari-Hubli-Yellapur-Varca.

Hope all those traveling on 22nd had wonderful journeys!

If you have any updates on the Anmod-Mollem-Goa route, please do share. I'll be starting later this morning from Belgaum for Palolem.

Cheers,
R_S

[sudeep.basak]

Hi, i took the same route taken by Airbus and we spoke to each other. I see that he has provided good pictures of the Anmod ghat as well. My 2 cents is that the Anmod ghat is in not too great a shape. Please drive very carefully as i had encountered 3 to 4 rash driving trucks and the roads in few sections are in a bad to very bad shape. This route should not be taken in evening and night time.