[akroy]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Amitoj,
How long is the bad stretch near Shimoga ? How much time it takes just to cross that particular stretch ?
Say, If I take the Haveri Sirsi route and I join Kumta/Mirjan, how is the road after Kumta/Mirjan till Karwar or say Goa ? Or actually, how bad is it ?People here informed that Honavar to Ankola road is bad but after Kumta it is good.Does it still hold true?
My car is a Baleno, so that means I should avoid that road at all cost ?
Regards,
Kaushik

Thanks Amitoj for the update...Since NH17 is in bad state it is better to take Mirjan - Karwar route...
How is Devimane Ghat road? if it is fine and if Haveri - Sirsi is not heavily potholed (it was uneven and I could avg 50km in one hour), I think Kaushik should take the Haveri - Mirjan route...Also Shimoga route is longer, hence why take it when you donot want to visit JogFalls...

Abhi

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by akroy

Also Shimoga route is longer, hence why take it when you donot want to visit JogFalls...

Abhi

Abhi, I want to see the Jog Falls and that's why I thought about this route.;-)
Regards,
Kaushik

[lohithrao]

Kaushik i think about 40kms, from Tarikeri to Shimoga. you are sure to spend about 1.5 hrs here

Amitoj, so i think NH17 is not bad as i had imagined but yes not wht it was some years back. i might take nh 17 on my way to Mangalore still not sure yet

i will be taking this route while going " Bangalore -> Shimoga -> Siddapaur -> Sirsi-> Ankola -> Karwar -> Goa (700km) 60km bad road.. as suggested by ravi

[akroy]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

i will be taking this route while going " Bangalore -> Shimoga -> Siddapaur -> Sirsi-> Ankola -> Karwar -> Goa (700km) 60km bad road.. as suggested by ravi

Kaushik da, then you follow this route...I think roads are better and also scenic from Shimoga - Sirsi - Mirjan

Abhi

[ravibhat]

I checked with my uncle (who stay in sirsi) and my dad (who stay in ankola) both travelled in these routes upto sirsi and ankola last week.

If someone visit Jog Falls take this route:

Bangalore -> kadur -> Shimoga -> Sagar -> Talaguppa -> Jog Falls -> Mavinagundi -> Siddapur -> Sirsi (500km) -> Devimane ghat -> Mirjan -> Ankola -> Karwar -> Goa(700km).

If you don't visit Jog Falls and go directly to siddapur from talguppa you can save 20km. i suggest you stay in shimoga (jewel rock is good hotel) visit Jog Falls and then proceed to goa.

this route is just 50km extra comapred with shortest routes.

kadur -> Shimoga around 40 km bad stretch.
Talaguppa -> Jog falls -> Siddapur around 15km bad stretch.
devimane ghat excellant (carefull about sudden turn and 2 or 3 big photholes thats all.) KSRTC/Tempo drivers are worst these area if they see outside registration vehicles never give side.

8km after devimane ghat you get right turn singel lane excellant (courtesy honest and hard working ankola MLA ) road which join nh17 in mirjan.

from mirjan you get small bad stretches every 4 km. big big photoholes.

Shortest routes are ->

1. blre -> shimoga -> Honnavar -> karwar -> goa
2. blre -> chitradurga -> haveri -> sirsi -> karwar -> goa.

but bad roads between chitradurga -> haveri -> not smooth road to sirsi.
from jog to honnavar road is not good as well at least for 20km.

so best route right now is

Bangalore -> kadur -> Shimoga -> Sagar -> Talaguppa -> Jog Falls -> Mavinagundi -> Siddapur -> Sirsi (500km) -> Devimane ghat -> Mirjan -> Ankola -> Karwar -> Goa(700km).

and its scenic route. watch out for Bikers because they don't have any idea how to cross the road and they go all around road with nearly 3 digit speed.

also taking right turn from NH 206 to siddapur road, left turn to kumta road before enterring sirsi from siddapura, right turn to mirjan after devimane ghat confusing points. make sure you ask locals in kannada for directions.

Regards,

Ravi.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by ravibhat

, right turn to mirjan after devimane ghat confusing points. make sure you ask locals in kannada for directions.

Last time when I went there were right arrow for Mirjan, Karwar etc, it appears as a single small road, dont worry, just take it, it will hit NH17 at Mirjan...

Abhi

[kaushik_s]

Thanks a ton Ravi, Abhi,Lohit n amitoj, I really love T-BHP. Yeah planning exactly that route only( Jog-Siddapura-Sirsi-DEvimane-Kumta/mirjan) Planning to drive till it's dark and then halt.But will keep in mind about the Shimoga Hotel. I'm starting around 7am from Bangalore.So I think I can go till Kumta in Day 1 and halt there for night ?
Now after so much planning, I just hope that my friends don't drop out at the last moment ;-)

PS : Abhi, I don't think I deserve to be called Da ;-) he he.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

PS : Abhi, I don't think I deserve to be called Da ;-) he he.

That was just out of respect

Why are starting at 7AM boss? Start at 5AM na, you will loose a good one hour unnecessarily inside bangalore....Try to have breakfast somewhere in Tiptur or Arsikere...

Abhi

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by akroy

Thanks Amitoj for the update...Since NH17 is in bad state it is better to take Mirjan - Karwar route...
How is Devimane Ghat road? if it is fine and if Haveri - Sirsi is not heavily potholed (it was uneven and I could avg 50km in one hour), I think Kaushik should take the Haveri - Mirjan route...Also Shimoga route is longer, hence why take it when you donot want to visit JogFalls...

Abhi

Yeah this seems like an optimal solution.
By the way, when i was going to Goa, after Jog Falls, i saw a right turn just before the forest checkpost. I decided to take that. The road was awesome for about a kilometer or so and then it kind of disappeared and looked as if its not been used for years! So i turned around and came back on to NH206.
Was that right turn the one that would have taken me to Siddapur?
Haveri Sirsi road is not too potholed. But its not wide enough for two vehicles to pass without one getting off the road. After a couple of tempos drove me off the road, i started to slow down whenever i saw a bigger vehicle approaching but did not get off the road. That saved me from the hidden menaces on the shoulders. Also look out for buffaloes and bullock carts.

Devimane ghat road is pretty decent. No issues there. Light traffic too.

Amitoj

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by akroy

Why are starting at 7AM boss? Start at 5AM na, you will loose a good one hour unnecessarily inside bangalore....

Try telling that to my companions, both of them shouted a big NO when I told that we should leave 6AM, 5 AM toh durr ki baat hai. I'm actually thinking about a 7 to 7 drive for day 1. Let's see how much I can cover.

[lohithrao]

Ravi sir, Great info there! Thanks a ton

[ravibhat]

you are welcome lohith.

hi amitoj,

i agree your comment.

just before check post after jog falls in NH 206 right turn goes to siddapur. its bad road for around 10km. even after lot of pretest no one is taking care of that road.

There is one more route to siddapur which is also bad stretch after last month's rain, this right turn is after talguppa and before jog falls which connects siddapur. we need to take appropriate road based on if we visit jog falls or not. both roads connecting siddapur are not good for 10km. total distance between nh 206 and siddapur is 20km. from siddapur road is very good via sirsi untill we connect nh17 in Mirjan and very much scenic.

hi kaushik,

If you plan to stay in Kumta try Hotel Panduranga international which is very good with respect to accomadation and food. in Ankola for food hotel Sapna is good and accomodation in ankola is not great howver there are 2 lodges both the side of hotel sapna, if you need help to choose ideal one for you ask sapna hotel owner for help. i know them as well (my parents neighbours they are ) they are good in helping.

if you stay in sirsi choose panchavati (yellapur road very nice place), maduvana, samrat these quiet decent hotels.

Any help needed do let me know in ankola/sirsi/kumta area. i can try my best.

Regards,

Ravi.

[kaushik_s]

Hi All,
Just back from the trip and it was a awesome one. Thanks a lot to all the Team-BHPians who helped me out on the planning of the route,petrol bunks etc.
Taken the Tumkur-Shimoga-Jog-Sirsi-Mirjan-(gokarna detour)-Ankola-Karwar-Palolem for onward journey. We had a night halt at Sirsi. Before Shimoga there was a horrible stretch of around 40kms was there.Otherwise road was good and view was just awesome.For Siddapur and then to Sirsi after visiting Jog there is a right turn after 3 kms from Jog detour.Amitoj has mentioned about that road.But actually I found it to be ok except the fact that it was empty and looked bit Scary at night ;-)
While on return journey I've taken the Palolem-Karwar(devbagh Beach Resort half day trip)-Ankola-Mirjan-Sirsi-HAveri-Davangere-Tumkur-Bangalore route.Again with a night halt at Sirsi.We stayed in a hotel called Hotel Shivani both the times. Road was good till Haveri but after Haveri till Davangere it was mostly a nightmare kind of drive with traffic Jams on that two laned highway,and there was heavy traffic.After Davangere, though the road wasn't complete it was a much better drive.After Chitradurga it was a breeze except near Tumkur where we were stuck for more then half an hour.
I would anyday prefer the Shimoga-Jog Road if it is repaired.It's very scenic route compared to NH4.And I didn't feel tired even after that horrible section near Shimoga.
Will soon post the pics and write a travelogue in a separate thread.

[akroy]

Excellent Update Kaushik, Eager to see you pics and travelogue...and also about Hotel Shivani (can be a good night halt if we plan a late afternoon start on some friday)

Abhi

[kaushik_s]

Hi Abhi,
Will be updating with the photographs soon(I'm bit lazy to process those RAW files so please bear with me ;-) ).
Hotel Shivani is on the Sirsi to Haveri road just after a Bus Depot, on the left hand side.I found it quite good for a night's halt.The rooms at first floor we took and they were quite good,specially the AC room.But the top floor rooms were not so good.They have a quite big compound with ample parking space.Food was ok. You can see it in wikimapia also-> Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
And yeah don't forget to bargain hard, we got the AC room for 800 rs with an extra bed,including taxes.
Regards,
Kaushik