[Mik]

I have a weekend trip coming up (BLR-GOI). First destination is North Goa so taking the Chorla Ghats - The Figo loves those narrow but well-laid ghat roads.
The return is from South Goa and in Jan 2016 we had taken the Mollem route. The Figo with 4 on-board had multiple hits on that 20km border section.

Any thoughts if the situation has improved since the start of this year on that particular stretch. My alternative would be the Karwar-Yellapur road but from Gmaps it feels like I will miss out on the Ghat sections so its not the preferred option.

[Throtttle]

Originally Posted by Mik

The return is from South Goa and in Jan 2016 we had taken the Mollem route. The Figo with 4 on-board had multiple hits on that 20km border section.

Any thoughts if the situation has improved since the start of this year on that particular stretch.

Ramnagar to Anmod ghats road/NH4A section was relaid some months back and is still fine. Check the status update of that stretch as of 13 days back in this post :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post4081814

[Mik]

Did the weekend trip to Goa
Here is the latest road report.

30th Oct 5 AM - 3 PM -> (30 min. fuel/breakfast break & a 15 min. water break)
Kadugodi-KR Puram-Alnaver cut- Khanpur - Chorla - Sanquelim - Baga

1. Good roads throughout. Some re-laying seems to have happened on the Alnaver-Khanpur section and also road widening on the main market which has smoothed things out a bit.
2. Chorla is awesome as usual barring one or two landslide points.

1st Nov 11 AM - 10.20 PM -> (30 min late lunch break. 1 fuel break. 2 railway crossings ate up 15/20 mins)
Colva Beach - Mollem -Anmod- Hubbali - Kadugodi

1. Roads are awesome now on the karnataka border end. No more nightmare potholes. Thanks to @Throtttle for the input.
2. 4 laning work at the Goa end means some diversions and minor off-roading needs to be done and 2/3 places.
3. Checking was happening at multiple points. On the Anmod section the police guy checked papers. My PUC was overdue by 6 days. He asked for 300 Rs bribe. I asked to pay the challan. It was 600 Rs. He wasn't very happy
Interceptor was there on the Havari-Davanagare stretch (If memory serves me right)
4. Rest smooth roads. Nightmarish traffic at tolls. Learned the hard way that in jam situations its a bad decision to stick to right-most lane. All truckers and buses seem to prefer that.

[shadows123]

Did the weekend trip too. Took the chorla route while going and returned via Anmod route.

Have to say the Chorla route is good but MK Hubli-Khanapur-Jamboti is just bad single lane with humps and potholes, not to add truck traffic on this route i encountered and people just thinking they own the road ..Should probably try Kittur - Khanapur instead of MK Hubli-khanapur?

The return route was good and if the road work going on near Ponda is complete, I believe this can be a super fast route even for going to Anjuna etc as we can save a lot of time due to the wider and butter smooth roads on the Goa side and good roads(with speed breakers) on the KA side. There is a check point in this route where papers are being verified on the KA side(as usual KA police trying to extract money).

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by shadows123

Have to say the Chorla route is good but MK Hubli-Khanapur-Jamboti is just bad single lane with humps and potholes, not to add truck traffic on this route i encountered and people just thinking they own the road ..Should probably try Kittur - Khanapur instead of MK Hubli-khanapur?

The return route was good and if the road work going on near Ponda is complete, I believe this can be a super fast route even for going to Anjuna etc as we can save a lot of time due to the wider and butter smooth roads on the Goa side and good roads(with speed breakers) on the KA side.

Very true. I too have reiterated the same thing quite a few times on this thread. When NH4A was just revamped and MK Hubli--Khanapur road was still in a good condition, I had already stopped suggesting the MK Hubli - Khanapur-Jamboti-Chorla route from day 1 as a first priority for anyone doing Bangalore--Panjim / North Goa. The narrow roads on this route serve no advantage in terms of being shorter or anything else. One can still take the Chorla route only for exploring it's awesomeness. That's what I usually do, just take any road that comes to my mind on the day of travel, but thats me. For normal junta, who would just prefer a direct and good route, Dharwad--Ramnagar--NH4A is "THE" standard route from Bangalore to Goa except for destinations in extremes of South Goa. Broader roads on this route means peaceful and fast progress. And moreover, distance in kms is exactly the same as the Chorla route, at least till Anjuna beach.

Well, the same goes with Kittur--Khanapur route as well, it should be considered as a 2nd option in order of priority.

Chorla route is a gold standard for Bombay / Poona-North Goa, but even here the Amboli route takes over whenever it is in a good condition.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by Throtttle

Ramnagar to Anmod ghats road/NH4A section was relaid some months back and is still fine.

Originally Posted by shadows123

Did the weekend trip too. Took the chorla route while going and returned via Anmod route.

There is a check point in this route where papers are being verified on the KA side(as usual KA police trying to extract money).

Thanks Guys. Did the Goa > Ponda > Anmod > Dharwad > Bangalore > Hosur route today by bike. Started by 7.30am & reached hotel by 4.30pm. Very satisfied with the roads. They are in excellent conditions barring very few area.

Barring NICE road no toll charges.

[airbus]

Completed our Bangalore - Goa - Bangalore road trip:

29 Oct: Bangalore - Hubli Bypass - Londa - Mollem - Ponda - Colva. Started at 5 am and reached at 5 pm with two long breaks for breakfast and lunch, one short break for tea. Roads are good all throughout, except some road widening work after entering Goa.

1 Nov: Though our original plan was to return via Karwar, but we did not want to spend additional time, hence returned via same route. Started at 9 am and reached home at 9 pm, with breaks for tea, lunch and dinner. After entering Karnataka, vehicles were checked for liquor bottles.

Noticed two Interceptor vehicles near Davanagere and number of cars were flagged down for over-speeding.

One way toll was Rs. 550/- and Goa entry tax was Rs. 250/-.

[deepak_misra]

Left Murgespalya on 29th at 3:45 AM to avoid the weekend rush and reached Benaulim at 1:45 with a short breakfast stop of 20 minutes or so.
Followed the Dharwad - Anmod - Mollem - Ponda route as was mentioned by Throttle some time back.
Avoided NICE road on account of early hour and did not face problems. Traffic was just starting on the toll roads. Keep plenty of change to speed up things.

Hubli Dharwad is 2 lanes which slows you down. As others mentioned, there was some form od checking and the inspector asked me for insuranbce paper. IO told him i have to go to parked car to get it and he told me to go on.
There was a short line at Goa payment gate for 250/- entry tax.

Returmn was same route leaving Benaulim at 8:30 and reaching home at 7:30 with 45 minute lunch halt. Trafic in Bangalore was horrible and reason for delay.

The border guy asked if I was carrying any bottles and let me go on when I said "No".

[bison]

Thanks to all the route recommendations. On the way to South Goa i picked the Bankapur, Mundgod, Yellapur Karwar route. A small stretch is being rebuilt, other than that this stretch is good. Very narrow roads till Yellapur. From Yellapur to Ankola there are sections where the top surface has come off, not big potholes but uneven surface. One has to slow down considerably in such sections. Return trip I took the Mollem, Anmod, Ramnagara, Dharwad route. The entire stretch is good, no potholes, very less traffic, wider roads than the Bankapur - Yellapur stretch. At Karnataka border police asked if we were carrying alcohol, no check was done inside the vehicle. After Anmod around Tinai ghat there was Police checking, routine check, all vehicles were being stopped. At Davangere there was speed interceptor, few cars were pulled over. Traffic from Tumkur toll till Bangalore was very slow, all the tolls were crowded, with upto 15 minutes congestion at some sections. Again thanks for the route recommendations, it was very helpful.

[shadows123]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Thanks Guys. Did the Goa > Ponda > Anmod > Dharwad > Bangalore > Hosur route today by bike. Started by 7.30am & reached hotel by 4.30pm. Very satisfied with the roads. They are in excellent conditions barring very few area.

Barring NICE road no toll charges.

What do you mean no toll charges? Is there a route to Goa without one??

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by shadows123

What do you mean no toll charges? Is there a route to Goa without one??

You missed reading :

Bike Trip.

[Sandy28]

Did anybody visit Dudh Sagar falls recently? We will be in Goa late-next week and are thinking of visiting the falls. Only hesitation is whether it will be worth it and will we get to see the beautiful falls or will it be just a trickle. If it is not worth it, then we can skip it.

[vivek95]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Did anybody visit Dudh Sagar falls recently? We will be in Goa late-next week and are thinking of visiting the falls. Only hesitation is whether it will be worth it and will we get to see the beautiful falls or will it be just a trickle. If it is not worth it, then we can skip it.

Apparently, the tourist season has begun at Dudhsagar. Check out these two links to know the legal way of visiting Dudhsagar waterfalls/lake -

http://m.timesofindia.com/city/goa/T...w/55020519.cms


http://m.timesofindia.com/city/goa/D...w/55038809.cms

[shadows123]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Did anybody visit Dudh Sagar falls recently? We will be in Goa late-next week and are thinking of visiting the falls. Only hesitation is whether it will be worth it and will we get to see the beautiful falls or will it be just a trickle. If it is not worth it, then we can skip it.

Its never worth it. Thats just my opinion. There's nothing you can do there for 6-7 hours, ya that's how long it takes for the return train to come to bring you back to Castle Rock or Goa whichever direction you take.

Castle Rock train to Dudhsagar i think is @ around 10-11AM if i remember correctly.
Dudhsagar to Castle Rock (Chennai Express) is around 5:30 PM.

And i can remember i wasnt alone feeling frustrated @ Dudhsagar station. Everyone was cursing the movie Chennai Express and how its a place much better watched in the movie

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by shadows123

Its never worth it. Thats just my opinion. There's nothing you can do there for 6-7 hours, ya that's how long it takes for the return train to come to bring you back to Castle Rock or Goa whichever direction you take.

We will be driving to Goa via the Anmod-Mollem route. Should we consider taking a detour from Mollem, stop-over at Dudhsagar for couple of hours and then proceed to Goa? I understand that its not possible to drive to the falls but one has to hire a jeep to take you to the falls.