[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Mik

I am leaving tomorrow for Baga (North Goa) and the priority is the fastest route.

Is it Bangalore-Tumkur-MK Hubli-Jamboti-Chorla Ghat- Sanquelim-Assonora-Mapusa-Baga ?

MK Hubli will get bypassed by an elevated section. So you need to exit the main corridor and then turn left if you want to reach Jamboti via Khanapur.

The other option to reach Jamboti is - Hubli Bypass - Alnavar - Khanapur - Jamboti. For this you need to drive on the 2 laned Hubli Dharwad bypass for 26 kms (from the Entry toll) and then take left marked for Alnavar/Ramnagar/Goa Road.

Drive till Alnavar on this road and after passing the town on the left, you hit a fork where you need to keep right for Khanapur (left will lead to Ramnagar/NH4A)

Now, to answer your question, for Baga, the Chorla option is always faster. From Sanquelim, you can reach Baga either via Mapusa or via Old Goa. The latter will be more of wide roads and less of misc traffic while the former may or may not always be faster (depending on time of the day)

I did Gurgaon-Bangalore 5 months back and vaguely remember that this area had two lane section for some kilometers with lots of trucks.

The 2 lane section is exactly the Hubli-Dharwad bypass spanning 30 kms. However, MK Hubli is not on this bypass and is beyond Dharwad towards Belgaum.

Ideally, for Jamboti you need to exit this 2 laned bypass as explained above.

If you want to enter Belgaum, you still can do that and take a break here and then reach Jamboti and proceed towards Chorla. However, this will be a time consuming affair.

[VKM]

how will the karnataka bandh affect the plans of those travelling via karnataka to goa on 26th? how serious is this bandh call, will traffic be stalled, is it possible that we get stuck in waiting for jams to clear if trucks line up in the state borders?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by VKM

how will the karnataka bandh affect the plans of those travelling via karnataka to goa on 26th? how serious is this bandh call, will traffic be stalled, is it possible that we get stuck in waiting for jams to clear if trucks line up in the state borders?

I am stuck too and yet to take a call on this. There is only one site that mentions this -

According to sources, supporters of the bandh have been planning to stop all vehicles from Karnataka to Goa on Sept 26.

Source to the article

You have a choice of either starting on 25th night or on 26th noon. If you start by noon, normalcy will return post 6 pm (as its been the trend during any bandh).

Remember that Hotel owners association have expressed support for this Bandh and it is likely that the hotels en-route would be non functional too.

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by Mik

The turn from MK Hubli will be marked properly or any milestone I need to keep a track of?.

Look for Malaprabha co-operative society after dharwad. Take the immediate service road. Should take you to MK Hubli. Been doing this route for a long time.

Hubli-Dharwad bypass is two lane. Watch out for nut case truck drivers who'll come onto your lane and flash you, absolute friggin' idiots. It is 28kms.


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[procrj]

Planning a drive to Gokarna mid October. Onward: Bangalore - Jog - Gokarna & Return: Gokarna - Chitradurga - Bangalore where I might stop at Chitradurga for a day to explore the fort. Any updates on the road condition from Jog - Gokarna and Yellapur ghat?

[paragsachania]

Quick update:

Started from home at 10pm (Vidyaranyapura), reached Margao and checked in for temporary at 0630.

Took the usual Hubli Bypass-Alnavar-Ramnagar-Mollem route to reach.

NH4A is in shambles now. Just not worth recommending!! Stick to Chorla or Yellapura Karwar route for now.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Quick update:

Started from home at 10pm (Vidyaranyapura), reached Margao and checked in for temporary at 0630.

Took the usual Hubli Bypass-Alnavar-Ramnagar-Mollem route to reach.

NH4A is in shambles now. Just not worth recommending!! Stick to Chorla or Yellapura Karwar route for now.

Does anyone know how is Yellapur-Mundgod-Bankapur route?

[condor]

Originally Posted by hondadude

Does anyone know how is Yellapur-Mundgod-Bankapur route?

It is fine. Can take it.
Watch out for any unmarked speed-breakers at villages.

[Klub Class]

Road conditions based on my drive in first week of July '15

Originally Posted by procrj

Any updates on the road condition from Jog - Gokarna and Yellapur ghat?

Originally Posted by hondadude

Does anyone know how is Yellapur-Mundgod-Bankapur route?

Gokarna - Honnavar - Jog Falls - Sagara :

• Gokarna - Honnavar : Good roads
• Honnavar - Gersoppa - Jog Falls - Sagara : Good surface and beautiful roads all the way. Few rough patches. Be careful about the road edges in the Honnavar - Gersoppa - Jog Falls. Also, the roads are narrow

Bankapur - Mundgod - Yellapur :

• Bankapur - Mundgod - Yellapur : Scenic narrow road with excellent surface that makes way through paddy fields and forest with literally no traffic. (The initial 4-5 km was bad, though)

Also,

1. There's a beautiful lake near Mundgod (GPS co-ordinates : 14.953459, 75.075290) with a park nearby (we didn't go inside) and we could see coracles and boats on the shore. A lovely spot for photography
2. Sharavathi Valley View Point on Honnavar - Jog Falls stretch (GPS co-ordinates : 14.275669, 74.711746). Not to be missed
3. You can see many people of African origin near Mundgod. They're known as Siddis of Karnataka and are descendants of African slaves brought to India during Portuguese colonisation. If you're interested in knowing more about them, do watch the documentaries on Youtube
4. They're allowing us to take the stairs to the foot of the Jog Falls (my cousin went today). Roughly 1400 steps one way

Pictures :

[diogo]

Planning for Bangalore-Shivamoga-Jog-Goa what is the best route to get to there from Bangalore

I see one route is from Chitradurga- shivamoga and the other is NH206 from Tumakuru - Tiptu etc..

@Klub Class which route is currently in good condition from Bangalore to Jog?

[hondadude]

I came back from Goa (Varca) yesterday. I took Alnavar-Ramnagar-Mollem route while going. As Parag and others have mentioned before, there is a bad patch of about 30 Km between Ramnagar and Mollem, which has potholes. It is not like the entire 30K is bad. Intact first 18km has sparse potholes, next 7km are pretty bad with big potholes and remaining 5km are not so bad. In addition, there are 3 railway crossings and I had to stop at all 3 of them although for a few minutes each (less than 5).

While returning back, I took Karwar-Yellapur-Kalghatgi-NH4 route. I didn't take the Bankapur route because we wanted to stop at Coffee Day (clean restrooms) which is 10km north of Bankapur. The route was about 50km longer (would be about 20km longer if I had taken the Bankapur road and skipped the coffee day stop) than the Alnawar-Ramnagar-Mollem route.

Yellapur-Karwar isn't as good as it used to be. On the Ghat section, there are quite a few bad patches on the sharp turns however after Yellapur it is fantastic road.

With all the bad patches and railway crossing, Alnawar-Mollem route is faster by about 30 minutes (my destination was Varca) and would be my preference. Not just because it is faster but I enjoyed driving on that more as there was hardly any traffic and I found it to be more scenic. Yes some potholes are bad but then I was in my Fortuner and didn't find any of those be a big challenge. Low slung cars should avoid this route.

Total time from Nice Road junction on Bannerghatta road to Varca was 10 hours for onward journey and same for return journey as well. We took longer breaks while going and that explains same time taken for onward and return journey.

[Mik]

Thank you all for the clear instructions.

Did Whitefield-Alvanar bypass-Khanapur-Jamboti-Sanquerim-old scenic goa-Baga on friday morning. 4.30 AM to 1.30 PM -> 9 hours with a 15 minute break.

Road conditions are good throughout with just a couple of potholes here and there on the state highways and MDRs.

Return today took around 10.5 hours after a late start from Baga. The GPS acted funny around Khanapur and insisted on me getting off the highway and take some kind of bypass around Khanapur. The bypass included a collapsed bridge and it was a fun experience taking a U turn (more like a 6 point turn) on the bridge.

[paragsachania]

Bangalore – Goa : Road trip update:
Onward Route : Bangalore – Hubli – Alnavar – Ramnagar – Anmod – Mollem – (Mollem) – Varca
Time: 2200 Hours – 0630 Hours (25th Sept Departure)
Road & Traffic Conditions :

• We (Self, Wife and Daughter) left at night as the next day was Karnataka Bundh and didn’t want to take chances
• Traffic was way too much (expected) till we crossed Tumkur that took more than 2 hours from Vidyaranyapura (against usual 1 hour if I start at 4:30am). Thanks to Thousands of Buses heading north queuing up at toll booth and eating all lanes even when driving
• Traffic eased up after Tumkur (3 lanes each way makes a lot of difference) and we continued to maintain 100-110 KMPH speeds
• Around 0300 Hours, we entered Hubli Circle and then exited for Alnavar (Goa Road) at 0320 Hours
• Hubli Bypass – Alnavar – Ramnagar is holding up well barring 3 undone ROBs
• Ramnagar – Mollem is patchy, gone bad and few sections have huge to very huge potholes
• Mollem (Border) – Destination is clean all the way
• Breaks – None actually, except a quick 3 min Bio break in Anmod Ghats

Return Route: Varca – Karwar – Ankola – Yellapur – Mungod – Shiggaon – NH4 – Bangalore
Time: 1200 Hours – 2130 Hours (28th September Departure)
Road & Traffic Conditions:

• NH17 till Ankola remains in pristine condition
• We drove 2 kms ahead till IOCL before Ankola where there is a Kamat/CCD attached and freshened up
• The NH from Ankola to Yellapura is overall Good barring very small patches where road surface has washed away (Top layer) due to rains
• Overall, still driveable and easy to do opposed to NH4A option
• We then deviated from Yellapura (Planned) towards Mungod to reach Bankapura
• Somehow, whether it was maps or getting carried away due to clean roads and heavy rains (no offence to cats and dogs), I suddenly saw a signage for Shiggaon (7kms)
• We reached Shiggaon and then continued on the usual NH4
• The section between Motebennur and Harihar which was potholed has been patched up now (Fully)
• Breaks – CCD Ankola (30 mins) & Kottureshwara Butter Dosa hotel inside Davanagere (30 mins)

Toll updates:

• NBTL – 20
• JAS – 34
• Guilalalu – 70
• Karjeevanahalli – 55
• Hebbala – 75
• Chalageri – 95
• Bankapura – 70
• Hubli Bypass – 55
• Dharwad – Alnavar – Ramnagar (SH) – 55
• Goa Entry Fees – 250

The Mungod Route:

It is indeed a time saver. Sample this, we turned right at Yellapura exactly at 1522 Hours by the clock and hit NH4 at Shiggaon at 1630 Hours. This is almost 70 mins with very sedate driving (say 70kmph max) as daughter was sleeping and it was a new road, narrow with few sudden turns and small speedbreakers. I don’t think if one takes Yellapura – Hubli Bypass – NH4 route, you can reach any faster to Shiggaon where we joined NH4.

The petty speedbreakers here at few villages should not bother you at all. None of these are car breakers! If you miss them, you can still pass them over without breaking a Bone or a suspension component. Anyway, you will hardly be able to do anything more than 70-80 kmph as the roads is less in wider and you will hardly get a straight stretch to belt some good speeds.

Should you take this deviation at all ?

Well, my answer would be a firm YES if you are looking for a calmer, scenic & definitely FASTER option to hit Yellapura from Bangalore.

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by Mik

T The GPS acted funny around Khanapur and insisted on me getting off the highway and take some kind of bypass around Khanapur. The bypass included a collapsed bridge and it was a fun experience taking a U turn (more like a 6 point turn) on the bridge.

6 point turn? no barriers before the bridge? What if someone drives at night? Vertical drive? I will get the map updated, before it sends someone on a vertical drive.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

...Bangalore – Hubli – Alnavar – Ramnagar – Anmod – Mollem – ...[*]Ramnagar – Mollem is patchy, gone bad and few sections have huge to very huge potholes...

Parag,

Exactly the info I was searching for
Next weekend I am driving to Dudhsagar Resort (Mollem) from Pune. Based on your recent experience, do you think I can cover this in Brio with family (daytime driving)? I am thinking of giving Safari a rest.

When I called the resort they could not say with confidence, just mentioned last 20-25 kms is "very bad".

tia,
-