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Just returned from a trip to Goa.
Bangalore-Goa: Started on Aug 15th 1pm. Horrid time till Tumkur as too much traffic.
Bangalore-Haveri: Roads are excellent.
Reached Davanagere at aroun 4.40pm and had the famous Benne Dose at Kottureshwara Benne Dosa (opp. Dental College) which was divine! Reached Haveri around 7pm, and halted in haveri. Up to haveri you can go between 80-120kmph, depending on your comfort zone and traffic.
I couldn't figure why in Rani Bennur the four lane is split and each of the two lane paths become two-way (thus slowing traffic down)! If they charge toll, they atleast owe good roads.
Haveri-Karwar: Scenic, but slow drive
On Aug 16th early morning (7am) Took a deviation at Bankapur to go to Yellapur via Mundgod. The road is narrow, single lane. Surface is decent for most of the stretch, except in couple of places. But, you can't manage over 60km without endangering yourself or someone coming from other side. So, average speed reduces drastically. My gut feeling, i'd have been better off going via-hubli to yellapur, as the roads would've been wide and faster.
Yellapur-Karwar stretch is the most decent ghat road you'd find in Mansoon. Surface is really good, wide enough roads, though there are quite a bit of trucks. Reached Karwar at about 10.30am (3.5hrs from Haveri).
Karwar-Goa: Decent two lane roads but slow
Moved around town for a while and started again around 12.30 towards Goa (Condolim-Baga). Reached our Resort in Baga at 3.30pm. The traffic was terrible after Margoa (madgaon).
Today (ie. 19th Aug) we drove back from Goa(Baga). I wanted to try a different road. I was advised by the hotel drivers to avoid the Ponda-Mollem road. They all strongly advised the Chorla-Belgaum-Hubli route. It made sense as I was in Northish Goa already, so there is a way to go via Mapusa-Sanquelim-Chorla-Belgaum.
Goa-Chorla-Belgaum: Reasonably good roads, but heavy traffic till Sanquelim. After that almost no traffic till Belgaum. Very scenic Ghat, with couple of nice falls on the way. Had some 3-4 places of small stretch (100mts) where there were pot holes, but not too bad.
We reached Belgaum in just 2.5hours (not bad for 117km, and some slow driving in city strtches). But, to join the GQ road going to Hubli, we had to drive thru Old-Belgaum road which is narrow and a bit slow, but managed that in about 15mins.
Belgaum-Bangalore: Managed in about 8hours, with two breaks in the middle (Davanagere Benne dose again)!!
I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND THE SECOND PATH. i.e Chorla Ghat, via Belgaum, as that's the fastest & most decent way to Bangalore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by analyse Thanks again to all for the detailed inputs for a fantastic & memorable drive.
Aug 15 : Left Bangalore at 421am > Stopped for Benne Dosa at Davangere at 820 am > Started back at 930 and reached Bankapur at 11 am > Took SH6 just after the toll gate (felt a bit awkward moving off NH4 just after paying the toll !) - initially a few rough stretches then settled into a lovely empty road through excellent scenery > Mundgod > joined SH63 at Yellapur > good stretch upto NH17 > fantastic after that to Varca.
Aug 17 : Retraced same route through blinding rain upto Karwar > back to Yellapur > did not take the Mundgod route > instead drove down towards Hubli > after the next major town > took right off on SH1 (pathetic roads - please avoid) > joined NH4 > back to Bangalore |
He He. We felt exactly the same about paying Rs.60 as toll and having to get off the NH4 immediately after that! We could've gone in a service road to from Haveri instead!
Varca is south Goa, so it does make sense to come via Karwar. If it is north goa, drivign through goa towns (panjim/vasco etc) would've taken an hour, which is a waste.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paragsachania We took our usual Chorla route via Belgaum on Aug 15th. It was excellent except few meters in between nearing the border. We plan to return by the same route too. |
After having tried Karwar route & Chorla Ghat route, I believe Chorla route is the fastest & best way to Goa. Very small Ghat section, and if driven with some intent, especially if you start early from Goa, you can be in Belgaum perhaps in just 2hrs.