[Rajiv-Bang]

Hi Rajiv,

Second option is definitely good, i have taken this route for 3-4 trips to Karwar/Goa. You dont have to travel to Yellapur, you can reach Mirjan on Hubli Karwar highway directly from Sirsi. Mirjan is close to Ankloa i have not noted the distances though.From Haveri to Mirjan, the roads are not wide but the traffic is much lesser hence not much of a concern. I am not sure on the road condition now, guys who have travelled on this stretch of late can help.

Please ensure that the vehicle is in good condition & tanked up, you may not get much help i mean not many petrol pumps, mechanics, puncture shops till you reach Sirsi. Long stretches on this route are without any villages, houses close to the road upto Sirsi & also after. Mobile connectivity is poor except some in some villages.

It is definitely a good option. Enjoy your trip

[Rajiv-Bang]

OOPS

Rajiv,

I missed out the fact that you have already travelled on this stretch.

[goandude]

Did the above route last weekend. some comments
Long - 700 km home to home (Big bazar OMR)
BAD roads between haveri and Cdurga. IMO it resembles the Londa Mollem stretch. I took 2 hrs 20 min for 135 km of this stretch. work in progress but SLOW.
Amboli Belgaum not good bad surface and crowded with animals and people and traffic took 4 hrs from vasco to belgaum
great stretches belgaum - haveri and cdurga - tumkur
Neelamangala yeshwantpur bad but less traffic as it was a sunday. I wonder how some low slung cars get over the speed breakers on this stretch. My dezire was loaded with a FULL boot but no scrapes over these.
return planned:: NH4 kittur khanapur londa mollem ponda vasco. 625 km last time i did it.
Any updates on this route?

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by goandude

Did the above route last weekend. Amboli Belgaum not good bad surface and crowded with animals and people and traffic took 4 hrs from vasco to belgaum

Goandude

You did belgaum-amboli-sawantwadi-mapusa-vasco in 4 hours? Am I missing something here?
Regards

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by goandude

return planned:: NH4 kittur khanapur londa mollem ponda vasco. 625 km last time i did it.
Any updates on this route?

did this route in September before the rains and there is no road existing between Londa & Molem till the time you reach the Molem hairpin curves(from Londa)castle rock etc are in pathetic shape.Road is in excellent condition from Khanapur till Londa and from Molem Park till Panjim.I dont think the roads would have been done up in such a short span,better to stick to the Amboli route atleast there is a surface there(even though if its bad).i took the molem route because the roads were done up only in June and in a gap of 3 months the roads vanished again

[goandude]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Goandude

You did belgaum-amboli-sawantwadi-mapusa-vasco in 4 hours? Am I missing something here?
Regards

not really. the 189 kms from Vasco till Belgaum where I got onto NH4 took me 3 hrs 52 minutes. which is an average of about 50 km/h. just about OK for the road conditions, traffic and ghats. Did you think it was too slow or fast?

[Zimsim]

Planning to do Bangalore-Goa-Cochin-Trivandrum-Kanyakumari-Bangalore in mid December. What would be the best routes after these rains caused by Cyclone Phyan?
Thanks

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by goandude

not really. Did you think it was too slow or fast?

Thought it was a bit too fast or you've travelled by someother road. Cos from sankeshwar to candolim it takes me forever. I must be doing something wrong. What car did you drive?

[Souvik]

Hi,

I think the time is fine and doable very comfortably. If you see the times I had posted in the previous thread, Belgaum to Panjim through Amboli ghat is around 154 Kms. I took 3:51 while driving a Swift at average of 42.71 KMPH.

Souvik

[goandude]

Hi just came back from another trip to Bangy. I've logged the routes on the attached excel sheet. Note how average speed reflects the deterioration of roads post monsoon esp londa Ponda and mollem ghats. Also the similarity of average speeds and timings where road conditions have not changed much.
ranjitp1 should have listened to you. It was a big mistake to come back via londa. The road is almost unmotorable but the Dzire came out with minor scratch. Touched the underbody once when i let both the front wheels enter a ditch together and the middle was raised. the exhaust flange touched the ground.
Was sceptical to return via Hubli Karwar as the early Oct rains had washed off large tracts of road. In hindsight amboli belgaum was the best.
OT Getting an average of 22.5 on these trips.

[rajivtelang]

I am going to Madgaon next week. Looking at the excel sheet data I am thinking of going via Haveri-Sirsi-Yallapur-Ankola-Karwar. Hoping to have better road condition in the Ghat compared to Londa ghat road.

I have a small Santro though. Do you think it is a wise thing to take Santro from either Devimane ghat or Yellapur Karwar ghat?

[goandude]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

I am going to Madgaon next week. Looking at the excel sheet data I am thinking of going via Haveri-Sirsi-Yallapur-Ankola-Karwar. In this route you miss out 80 km of great NH4, get the bad 135 km of it. and then go through ? road conditions from Haveri to Sirsi to Yellarpur. Suggest go upto Hubli then take Yellapur Ankola. Hoping to have better road condition in the Ghat compared to Londa ghat road.

I have a small Santro though. Do you think it is a wise thing to take Santro from either Devimane ghat or Yellapur Karwar ghat?

As I mentioned earlier, the deluge in Oct in this area had washed out some roads. Anyone gone through them recently can update?

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by goandude

As I mentioned earlier, the deluge in Oct in this area had washed out some roads. Anyone gone through them recently can update?

Thanks. I will try to get some more data on the Hubli-Ankola route. But unfortunately this route adds to 60+ extra kilometers, nonethless, having a smooth trip is always better than a bumpy and scratchy trip

[shajufx]

I need to drive down (Ford Fiesta, Petrol) to Colva beach on 20th December, any idea about the present road condition via shimoga - Sagar - Honavar - Gokarna - Karwar ? Has the recent flood affected this route by any chance ? If someone has done this route, please guide me on the total time expected and any other related info. If the road condition is bad, I will be booking train tickets within a day or two as the usual Xmas rush is already visible on the availability.

[optimist]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I need to drive down (Ford Fiesta, Petrol) to Colva beach on 20th December, any idea about the present road condition via shimoga - Sagar - Honavar - Gokarna - Karwar ? Has the recent flood affected this route by any chance ? If someone has done this route, please guide me on the total time expected and any other related info. If the road condition is bad, I will be booking train tickets within a day or two as the usual Xmas rush is already visible on the availability.

done this route on 2nd and 8th October, 2009.
Roads
Bangalore departure 7:30 am
(accident jam before nelemangala 30 mins block)
till Nelamangala construction work is on. be careful
toll road Rs 23.00
breakfast break at Kyathsandra for half an hour.
till tumkur = good road time 9:45 AM (travel time 1:15 mins)
via Gubbi, Tiptur (135km, travel time=2.5 hrs)
arsikere - shimoga(used byepass) - sagar
break of 30 mins
(Pot holes and bad patches in between. be careful of tyres and rims)
Jog reached 4:40= OK to Fairly good. (travel time=7.5 hrs)
Going past sagar, do visit jog falls. good road after deviation (maybe 4+4 km)
Departure from Jog 7:40pm
(Drive was slow till honnavar due to blinding rain and fog and curves, good narrow road)
Reached Honnavar at 9:10PM (Good road)
Kumta (448KM) @9:25PM
Travel time = 9 hrs

We broke our journey @ panduranga international. despite verbal confirmation earlier we fought to get a room. That was the day Karwar landslides and water logging had happenned and NH17 closed. Thankfully we had planned to break here and at gokarna to visit local places for 3 days.

Kumta -(20 mins)- Gokarna cross -Ankola = road ok. Road after Ankola was bad (12km) till near Karwar. Till border it was managable.
Cross into Goa, very good but narrow. difficult to pass slow traffic. travel time from kumta to bridge after panji was 5.5 hours. forgot to record distance.

plan your travel using Google Maps using inbetween points and you will get distances. i must say they are accurate. don't rely on the time required given by google.

One more. Avoid route from honnavar to udupi of you are planning to go that side.

(as on 8th October 2009)