[Xplorer13]

Originally Posted by anand_saraf

Roads are good all the way till Ramnagar. The Alnavar turn comes about 20 odd kms after the Hubli toll booth and after you see the Hubli airport signs. The Dharwad - Ramnagar route is well laid and is now tolled by KRDCL at 55 bucks .

Glad to note that Anand!

Roads from Mollem to Panjim are all good, there is fatigue at the fag end though as you drive this stretch.

Could you kindly elaborate on this? I mean, fatigue(at the end of journey) is bound to occur on any of these routes, right? Or is there something specific to this route.

The road from Ramnagar to Mollem is about 50 kms and there are lots of fairly large potholes that you need to practically stop and cross in 1st/2nd gear, plus they appear suddenly so you have to watch out for them. It's definitely a little worse than our average Bangalore roads. If you need a comparison - it's very similar to the HMT main road that goes from Tumkur Road to Bel Circle via Platinum City/NID/Metro casting yard.

That gives me a fair idea. Thanks. Is it the entire 50Km stretch or something lesser? A 50Km bad stretch (where you have to practically stop at many places) is considerably 'long' right? In comparison, the Chorla route seems better, although I would have to deal with many 'hair-pin' bends while getting down to Goa

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Yes the roads are bad in between. Though one thing it is bad in sections, so you can drive comfortably in between.
Few pics of the bad sections when I traveled during diwali time are present in my travelogue - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3292464

As ampere mentioned I guess it is best to take different routes for onward and return journey.

Originally Posted by ampere

Both are equally good. May be you can use one while going and the other while coming back.

Thanks Ampere and Suhas! I forgot to mention in my first post, that I plan to take the Karwar-Ankola-Hubli route on the wayback. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, we are planning to leave early mornign from Goa(say 5 AM), and have seen posts which have advised against getting into the Mollem or Chorla routes in darkness. Secondly, going by the strong recommendations for this route from the experts here, for its surface quality and scenic drive, I was hoping to try it out on the way back.

Originally Posted by nareshov

I'd hate to be on that stretch at that point of time (after having driven for hours) in the journey. If you're on a high GC vehicle, you should be okay I think.

Hi Naresh - I'm driving a 2007 Palio 1.6 Stile Sport! GC is avg! But not bad.

So, overall, heres what I understand.

1) The Chorla route is better in terms of road quality, but can add 20 more Kms as per google maps. however, Belguam itself could eat up around 45 mins in getting through its traffic since there is no Belgaum bypass to the Chorla route. Also, the hairpin curves on the Chorla ghat will mean you drive slow.(hence more time)

2) The Dharwad route is 20 kms less. But is pothole ridden, which could also eat into your time.

So, if you want to hurt your car much, take her through Chorla. If you dont want to save 20 kms on the odo, take the Dharwad route.

My brain(with all the rationale) says take the Chorla; but however, my gut(for no rational reason) says take the Dharwad route! I will perhaps toss a coin now!

Pls do nudge me in the right direction, if you are able to see a way out for me.

Thanks much again!

[anand_saraf]

Originally Posted by Xplorer13

Glad to note that Anand!

Could you kindly elaborate on this? I mean, fatigue(at the end of journey) is bound to occur on any of these routes, right? Or is there something specific to this route.

That gives me a fair idea. Thanks. Is it the entire 50Km stretch or something lesser? A 50Km bad stretch (where you have to practically stop at many places) is considerably 'long' right? In comparison, the Chorla route seems better, although I would have to deal with many 'hair-pin' bends while getting down to Goa

Yes, the usual end-of-journey fatigue - nothing else. I always prefer to get as much daylight towards the end of the journey, it always feels more tiring after dusk..

It's not the entire 50 kms stretch, there are maybe 10-15 odd places where you would need to slow down I guess in that stretch, of which around 7-8 of them come more or less together towards the end as you reach nearer to Mollem.

I had done the Belgaum route (Amboli) in 2012 and wasted about an hour in town getting lost and looking for the right route to get out back on to the highway. Google GPS was quite useless for it

Since you are going to Baga, this route (Alnavar) might be better. If you do want to take the northern route, you might want to consider post #2460 of raj.barcode which skips Belgaum and Ponda altogether - Kittur (Tumgeri) towards Jamboti, I think that route would have worked well for me since I was headed to Vagator.

Have fun!

[raj.barcode]

Originally Posted by Xplorer13

My brain(with all the rationale) says take the Chorla; but however, my gut(for no rational reason) says take the Dharwad route! I will perhaps toss a coin now!

Pls do nudge me in the right direction, if you are able to see a way out for me.

Thanks much again!

Xplorer13 , We came back from goa last week, take the route from Tumgeri (kittur) to goa and then through Chorla, it is shorter and roads are good all the way to goa. Also we clocked only 610 km from bangalore to goa (vagator) which is, i guess, one of the closest.

P.S For google map, refer post number 2460

[Xplorer13]

Originally Posted by anand_saraf

Yes, the usual end-of-journey fatigue - nothing else. I always prefer to get as much daylight towards the end of the journey, it always feels more tiring after dusk..

It's not the entire 50 kms stretch, there are maybe 10-15 odd places where you would need to slow down I guess in that stretch, of which around 7-8 of them come more or less together towards the end as you reach nearer to Mollem.

I had done the Belgaum route (Amboli) in 2012 and wasted about an hour in town getting lost and looking for the right route to get out back on to the highway. Google GPS was quite useless for it

Since you are going to Baga, this route (Alnavar) might be better. If you do want to take the northern route, you might want to consider post #2460 of raj.barcode which skips Belgaum and Ponda altogether - Kittur (Tumgeri) towards Jamboti, I think that route would have worked well for me since I was headed to Vagator.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by raj.barcode

Xplorer13 , We came back from goa last week, take the route from Tumgeri (kittur) to goa and then through Chorla, it is shorter and roads are good all the way to goa. Also we clocked only 610 km from bangalore to goa (vagator) which is, i guess, one of the closest.

P.S For google map, refer post number 2460

Thanks Anand and Raj. This indeed helps me in taking a call. I will once look at Post 2460 and decide.

Thanks a lot to this forum!

Safe Driving!

[ashkamath]

Guys, I stay at Vasco and it is almost at the mid section of Goa, It is neither North or South, but somewhere mid. It is about 30 Km (+/- a couple of Kms) from Panjim, Margao and Ponda. So I took it as the reference point, the Mid Goa..

I have always taken the Vasco-Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Hubli-Blr route ( the Volvo route) and never bothered to check the distance. I thought that Chorla and the Alnavar-Dharwad route to be longer and least desirable. I just thought so.
So I made a distance chart of the routes commonly taken from Goa to Bangalore
Here it is.

1. Vasco -Bangalore via Via Londa-Alnavar- Dharwad - 599 Kms
2. Vasco-Bangalore Via Chorla-Jamboti-Tumgeri (Kittur)-Dharwad - 626 Kms
3. Vasco - Bangalore Via Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Hubli-679 Kms
4. Vasco-Bangalore Via Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Mundgod-Bankapur-Haveri- 625 Kms
5. Vasco- Bangalore Via Karwar-Honnavar-Shimoga- 657 Kms
6 Vasco - Bangalore Via Udupi -Mangalore-Shiradi-hassan 727 Km
7. Vasco -Bangalore Via Udupi - Belthangady-Charmadi-Hassan 725 Kms
8. Vasco-Bangalore Via Udupi-Agumbe-Shimoga-769 Kms
9. Vasco-Bangalore Via Chorla-Jamboti-Belgaum- 640 Kms
10 Vasco-Bangalore Via Karwar-Kumta-Sirsi-Hangal-Haveri - 641 Kms

Note: Some distance may not match with your Odo reading as the distances were taken from Google Maps and it calculates the distance from city center or Municipality / Corporation ofc/ bldg ( I am not sure). where as our drive will be through By-pass roads. so there will be slight variation. Further one's place in Bangalore makes a difference in odo distance too. ( I stay at HSR Layout at Blr and my car odo shows 700 Kms when I reach Vasco through the Hubli-Yellapur road and the distance for some one starting from Rajajinagar / Yeshvantpur/ Malleshwaram, the distance will be lesser on odo)

So the least distance is via Londa-Alnavar-Dharwar that is 599 Kms and longest is through Udupi-Agumbe-Shimoga - 769 Kms

The best roads are the Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Hubli (679 Km) and the Chorla-Jamboti-Tumgeri (626 Kms) routes and I plan to take the Chorla route next time to Bangalore.

As I mentioned the distances are from Mid Goa (Vasco). Baga/Calangute/Vagator is a good 40 Kms north from here and Colva/ Varca/ Mobor is a good 20-40 Kms south from here.(Just so that you get an idea of the reference point of the distance chart)

People planning to go to beaches at Patnem / Palolem / Galgibag at deep south Goa at Canacona (a good 67 Kms south of Vasco) will do well to take the Yellapur road and the people planning to go to northern beaches like Calangute/ Baga/ Vagator/Anjuna/Morjim or Panjim in general will do well to take the Chorla or the Alnavar route. (you can shave off another 25-30 Kms from the above chart if you plan your route based on your end destination as I have mentioned earlier here) This also save them some precious time (In Goa time is very precious )and stress driving through the narrow roads of Goa.

Northern Goa is more crowded, more fun, more activities.
Southern Goa is vacant beaches, lazing around doing nothing sort of places.

Enjoy Goa and Have a great time here

[hsprabhu]

Guys, just came back from Goa(Panjim city) this Sunday. Started from Bangalore on 25th and reached back on 29th. It was a short visit for a cousin's shaadi. My ride is XUV.

Drove via Belgaum while going to Goa. Stayed in Belgaum overnight as we had a small kid. And then took the Chorla ghat route. Well its safe to say I couldnt even find a single pot hole the entire stretch. But my wife felt a bit uncomfortable in the chorla ghat. There are a few ghats/roads that makes her feel uncomfortable.

On the way back drove via Karwar/Ankola/Yellapur/Hubli. Stayed in Hubli. Again fantastic roads. For some reason wife was absolutely ok on this ghat section

Drove with wife and a 5 month old son. Son has a good car seat. And he is always in the car seat when he is in the car. Since we had a small baby we had to stop every 2hrs. Feed him for a few minutes and let him stretch his muscles for a few minutes.

On a side note. I always used to forget to use the cruise control in XUV. This time made it a point to use it. And I must say it was a pleasure. Brought back memories from US.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hsprabhu

On the way back drove via Karwar/Ankola/Yellapur/Hubli. Stayed in Hubli. Again fantastic roads. For some reason wife was absolutely ok on this ghat section

Thats because the ghats on the Hubli-Ankola section are low on curves. And even if you go through a curve, direction changes are not quite apparent. Hence one may not fall into that motion sickness regime itself.

[rohanjf]

I have to drive from Ponda to Bangalore on Sunday, 5th. Although the Karwar-Ankola-Hubli route is best, I am looking for an alternative option which would take around the same duration.

I want to avoid Ranebennur stretch. I had an accident there two years ago. The accident was not bad. But the ghost of the mental torture by locals and police still haunts me.

How is the road condition for the route via Shivamogga?

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

How is the road condition for the route via Shivamogga?

This route may turn rough in the ghat section and at places you will find just a single road (need to alight from road if a bus or truck comes from the other side). And yes you need to be careful throughout as it is just a double road from Honnavar till Tumkur or so and goes through multiple towns wih plenty of cows and people here and there. Cannot exceed speeds of 60KM. It took me about 12.5 hours with a single break for lunch at Sagar (I think total distance was measured 627KM from Bangalore to Quepem). It is a moderate distance with slow drive compared to other routes that run on NH-4 at 120KMPH or so

[BlrGuy]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

4. Vasco-Bangalore Via Karwar-Ankola-Yellapur-Mundgod-Bankapur-Haveri- 625 Kms

I drove along this route a few days ago. The deviation from Yellapur to Bankapur via Mundgod though a shorter route by 50 kms is not the fastest. Several sections of the road are pot hole ridden and the sugar cane laden tractors make it even more worse as the road width is barely wide to accommodate 2 cars. Driving speeds are barely 40-45 kmph. I was able to cover this distance between Yellapur - Bankapur of 64 kms in about 2 hours. It is advisable to drive upto Hubli from Yellapur and then continue towards Bangalore.

Kamath Patrao, you were planning to ride down to Bangalore on your 390. Awaiting to hear your story of the ride.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by BlrGuy

Kamath Patrao, you were planning to ride down to Bangalore on your 390. Awaiting to hear your story of the ride.

Patrao (meaning "Boss" in Portuguese), I had plans to ride my bike during 3rd week of December to Bangalore from where I had plans to team up with a cousin and drive to Solapur-Shirdi. But then a close relative expired and all plans / celebrations were shelved as we went into mourning. Now I have some work at Udupi tomorrow and may ride my 390 there and perhaps from there to Bangalore. Nothing is firmed up as of now.

[rohanjf]

I returned to Bangalore yesterday from Ponda via Madgaon, Karwar and Hubli.

The accident that took the lives of a father and daughter (mentioned in Accidents thread) was always on my mind. Karwar-Hubli road is in very good condition now. The road quite broad in the ghat section. The whole ghat stretch is marked with "no overtaking" lines.

However, I am pretty sure that 90% of the drivers don't know how to identify a no-overtaking zone. The road is clearly marked with solid white line in the centre. Still, cars and KSRTC buses try to overtake trucks in these stretches. Trucks are a big problem though. They climb the ghat section at 10-15 KMPH, so anyone following them is bound to get frustrated.

On Hubli-Bangalore stretch, I did not see any crashed vehicles or major accidents. I feel happy about it.

However, I did see a minor accident in Chitradurga. A Swift had rear-ended an XUV5OO. Swift's front was smashed, and I think the radiator was leaking. All that the XUV had was a dent on the hatch door. Even its bumper was still in place!

The journey from Ponda to Sarjapur took me 11 hours (5 AM to 4 PM), including half an hour break just after Hubli. And I drove between 80-100 KMPH. I drive like someone twice my age

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

And I drove between 80-100 KMPH. I drive like someone twice my age

To be frank, there is nothing wrong about it. A consistent 90-100 on the 4-lane and you can easily make it to Goa under 12 hours (as you yourself said it). Its not the speed, but the efficiency of the long stretches that you do at this constant speed which makes the difference. I drive pretty much like you and and enjoy the whole stretch rather than be in constant state of extreme-attention (if I may call it.)

Look at this way :

BLR-Goa: Via Ankola

4AM start from BLR : 8 AM Ranebennur Kamat for Breakfast (~320KM)
8:30 AM start from Kamat Ranebennur to Kamat Ankola for Lunch: 12:15/12:45 AM (~ 190km)
1:30/2 PM Start from Kamat Ankola : Madgaon : 3:15 PM

All this at just about triple digit speeds.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I returned to Bangalore yesterday from Ponda via Madgaon, Karwar and Hubli.


The journey from Ponda to Sarjapur took me 11 hours (5 AM to 4 PM), including half an hour break just after Hubli. And I drove between 80-100 KMPH. I drive like someone twice my age

Originally Posted by ampere

To be frank, there is nothing wrong about it. A consistent 90-100 on the 4-lane and you can easily make it to Goa under 12 hours (as you yourself said it). Its not the speed, but the efficiency of the long stretches that you do at this constant speed which makes the difference.

All this at just about triple digit speeds.

@rohanjf. I am probably twice your age - but I drive as if my tail is on fire. It has nothing to do with age. The driving speed is something like what they say in marketing about the pricing policy - charge as much as the market will take it. In our discussion, it is drive as fast as the road condition demands it. There are places you can comfortably do triple digit speeds and there are roads you need to crawl.

I did the same route in about 10 hours last 2012 december - as you can see it is not much of a difference.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

The accident that took the lives of a father and daughter (mentioned in Accidents thread) was always on my mind. Karwar-Hubli road is in very good condition now. The road quite broad in the ghat section. The whole ghat stretch is marked with "no overtaking" lines.

However, I am pretty sure that 90% of the drivers don't know how to identify a no-overtaking zone. The road is clearly marked with solid white line in the centre. Still, cars and KSRTC buses try to overtake trucks in these stretches. Trucks are a big problem though. They climb the ghat section at 10-15 KMPH, so anyone following them is bound to get frustrated.

Yes Rohanjf. The continuous white line is a standard marking on all indian roads. It is generally at a curve which indicates visibility is restricted and symbolically allocates space for each driver on each side of the lane and hence indicates a NO overtaking zone. So on highways we find broken white line to indicate clear visibility ahead (straight road where over taking is permitted) while any curve immediately you will see solid white line ( visibility restricted. risk of accident- please don't overtake). As soon as the curve ends the broken white line begins again indicating clear visibility ahead.
Some highways ( 6 lane roads have a solid white line in the middle of their lane, indicating that overtaking is not permitted even on a straight stretch as the right lane indicate high speed lane and a careless overtaking increases chances of mishap.

Cities have Yellow lines which simply means strictly No overtaking ( we find it on bridges etc). But as you rightly said 90% of drivers are not aware of these line signs and some even if they are aware, go ahead and break it with impunity.