Team-BHP - Bangalore - Goa : Route Queries

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious (Post 1507263)

Hey guys,

I am planning to go to GOA from Bangalore via Mangalore by car. I see that the total distance is 732 from Google Maps. I heard that the journey is through mostly NH roads and this is better than the Shimoga / Angola / Karwar route [better scenic route, food options as well] . I also heard now all the Air buses to Goa is taking this route. Any inputs [Anybody has travelled this route recently?] I had been to Coorg some 2 months back and was not happy with the curves coupled with pot holed roads. Has this been changed? I am planning to go on 2nd October morning!

This route is the longest of all the routes from Bangalore to Goa. Yes, the entire journey is through NH roads. NH-48 till Mangalore and NH-17 till Goa. But what you may have forgotten or not read is the condition of these roads. NH-48 is pathetic after Sakleshpur and NH 17 is pretty bad as well (I do not know the exact sections) from what I have heard.

If you are not happy with the curvy roads, then I guess this is an alternate. But what about potholed roads, would you be happy traveling in them?:D

I would suggest you to take the B'lore-Shimoga-Sagar-Sirsi-Mirjan-Karwar-Goa route. Scenic as well as good roads for most of the journey.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by addyhemmige (Post 1507735)

I would second this

I just now returned from a trip to Udupi-Ankola and back
but i did not take Sakleshpur (NH48) road. There is a whole lot of thread available. Lohit Rao, Prabhusati etc and provide more insights

NH17 is in bad condition from Mangalore to Surathkal (35KM) for sure , Kalyanpur to Sasthan (12-15KM), Kundapur to Hemmadi (6 KM), near Bydoor (3-4 KM), Shirur to Bhatkal to Shirali (some 25KMs), Near Honnavar (few KMs), Gangavali bridge (ahead of madangeri/Gokarna road) onwards till Karwar (some 30-40KMs)

rest of the stretch is managable.

I would recommend you to take Tumkur-Tiptur-Shimoga - Sagar - Jog - Honnavar - Kumta - Ankola - Karwar - Goa road. I returned by this road on 27th. it took me about 9.5 hours from Ankola to Yelahanka with an hour break at Shimoga for fueling as well as dinner. It took 3.45 hours to Shimoga and 4.45 hours from shimoga to Yelahanka (via dobbaspet-dodballapur). We started at 4 Pm form Ankola and reach Yelahanka at 1.30 AM. If it would have been day time, i could save another 30 minutes easily.

in this stretch, arround tumkur (some 10 KM), Arround Tarikere (some 5-10 KMs), Badravati - Shimoga (some 10-12KMs), Some place in the ghat beyond Jog (some 6-10KMs), Madangrei - Karwar (some 30-40 KMs)
are in bad conditions. In the rest of the stretch, there are occational potholes, but during day time, it is quite okay as traffic is also less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hrag (Post 1504939)

I have no idea why people are spreading false rumours about NH4 between Chitradurga and Haveri.

Except for a 1/2 km stretch on Davangere bypass, nothing has deteriorated on NH4.

This may seem like a personal attack but I have very little tolerance for false route updates. 40 km of bad roads lol:

Hrishi, its maybe because you were driving a Safari? I just drove to and back from Hubli along with raj.barcode in the last 3 days (my 2nd trip for this month). Traveling this route at night is a nightmare, with pot holes surfacing out of nowhere, safe speeds ranging at 60kmph at night and around 80kmph during the day. I didn't keep a count of the number of times the front bumper scraped the roads.

Here are some random shots I managed to click.

Bangalore - Goa : Route Queries-img_6528ed1.jpg

Bangalore - Goa : Route Queries-img_6534ed2.jpg

Bangalore - Goa : Route Queries-img_6535ed3.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by mclaren1885 (Post 1508994)

Hrishi, its maybe because you were driving a Safari?

There was a Fiesta as well Rahul. My point is - the NH4 route is not as bad as its being made out to be here. And definitely not 40 km of bad roads.

I would have done the same times in my Indica - maybe its time to segregate route updates into ones for cars with / without good suspension.

Quote:

Originally Posted by goandude (Post 1509498)

mc laren. were those pics taken of the bypasses around the unbuilt bridges on the haveri c'durga stretch? Looks BAD.

Not just unbuilt bridges. These pics were taken at random. Haveri to Chitradurga must be around 150 kms? The entire stretch is full of surprises, specially at night. For a while you will be like let me maintain a steady 70kmph, you travel for around 5kms thinking ok, roads are ok, suddenly you will be praying for dear life :uncontrol .

So when I started to drive from Davangere, what I did is followed an Innova and kept a distance of around 20 feet. I'd let him catch all the pot holes, save myself the trouble of having to keep my eyes glued to finding the bad sections :D . Speeds generally range from 60-80kmph if you have a pilot car. If not expect to slow down to a constant 60kmph.

This stretch of 150 odd kms can be covered in like 3-3.5hrs. But it psyches me out, given the beautiful stretch before and after this where you can maintain a steady speed of 120+ or thereabouts easily. I would rather take the Shimoga route and not have to face driving through such bad patches ranged over a long distance on a NH which is supposed to be one of the best roads in the country.

I still think taking the NH4 doesn't save one as much time as people think it does. I would still take the Shimoga route anyday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mclaren1885 (Post 1508994)

Where is the road?:Shockked:I loved your first shot where the road just disintegrates and disappears..what all do we have to bear with.

I would suggest the best road as of today is the Shimoga, Kumta, Karwar. I was there last week and on the way in I did the above route, but took a chance to use the Goa-Ankola-Hubli-Bangalore route regretted this route after Haveri, it is not in good shape, you lose a lot of time as the roads are half done, bad roads and have to travel. I took about 10-11 hours in my Scorpio with ample stops of B/Fast and Lunch, on the way back it took more than 12-14 hours. Road near Tumkur, god save cars with low chassis.

The shortsighted government in Goa is at it again. They have gone ahead with a rule to impose a cess on all vehicles entering Goa. 2 wheelers are exempt from it. But everyone else will have to pay.

Starting from 100 to 500 per vehicle. Each entry will cost you.

To be implemented from Nov 1, 2009.

Since a lot of people travel to Goa, please keep this in mind.

Oh incase some one is wondering, even the Goa registered vehicles will have to shell out for the cess.

Apparently it will help to make the road infrastructure in Goa better but more importantly will rake in the money for some ministers/businessmen in Goa who will ideally get the contracts for manning these cess booths. You will then see some more pictures of exotics being added under the Spot the Exotics thread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spitfire (Post 1509674)

Cant agree more with you.Just spotted the news myself on the navhind site before i saw yours.Incoming cess for vehicles entering state from Nov 1