[ravibhat]

Ankola to Sirsi road is in very good condition and also road between siddapur and sirsi.

Ravi.

[sachin131]

I did Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore is August 2007. I took the Shimoga-Honnavara route. The stretch between Tarikere and Shimoga is really in a very bad state. About 35-40KM. Apart from that stretch, the road from Bangalore to Honnavara is great. But from Honnavara to Goa Border, NH17 is not that good but Motorable. The road from Goa Border to Canacona is really very bad. For About 50KM. So i would always suggest this route, untill NH4 is complete, which i dont believe will be complete immediately. Of the 650KM from Bangalore to Panjim, about 100KM is in bad state.

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by akroy

Still I would suggest to do Karwar in one day rather wasting a night somewhere else...You can spend atmost 2 hours at Jog Falls...If you can start the car at 5AM (means you have wakeup at 4AM) and pass Neelamangala before dawn, you can still cover Shimoga quickly, have lunch somewhere in Shimoga and then take the Shimoga - Sirsi route and reach Karwar by 6PM...

Are you staying in Devbagh beach Resort?
Abhi

Well, Abhi, actually nothing of staying has been decided yet.No, not Devbagh this time,don't think I'll get booking now.It's now almost like pack the bags on the day and leave ;-) .We are only doing the route planning now.You have stayed in Gokarna, is it ?That's also another option to stay I guess.

Originally Posted by ravibhat

Ankola to Sirsi road is in very good condition and also road between siddapur and sirsi.

Thanks Ravi, yeah that's the route I'm thinking about.
There is one more route from Siddapur which directly connects to Ankola, how is that route ?I've seen that road in Google Maps and seems to be fine in the maps.But what's the condition now ?

[akroy]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Well, Abhi, actually nothing of staying has been decided yet.No, not Devbagh this time,don't think I'll get booking now.It's now almost like pack the bags on the day and leave ;-) .We are only doing the route planning now.You have stayed in Gokarna, is it ?That's also another option to stay I guess.

No I have never been to GOkarna so far...Where will you stay in Karwar then? Then go straight to Palolem

Abhi

[kaushik_s]

Believe it or not, Goa is not on our List as of now, will be added in case there is time ;-) And I'm sure we won't be even starting the trip at 5AM,it'll be dragged to 6 in the worst case.So I was thinking about taking a halt somewhere in-between.
And Sachin, thanks for the info.

[kaushik_s]

Hi Guys,
Can you please let me know about the Good Petrol Bunks available on NH 206 (Tumkur-Shimoga-Sagar) road ?? While going I'll be taking that route and then Sirisi-Kumta-Gokarna-KArwar..
While coming back I'll take the GQ, so there I can use Reliance petrol bunks I guess.
Regards,
Kaushik

[akroy]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

Hi Guys,
Can you please let me know about the Good Petrol Bunks available on NH 206 (Tumkur-Shimoga-Sagar) road ?? While going I'll be taking that route and then Sirisi-Kumta-Gokarna-KArwar..
While coming back I'll take the GQ, so there I can use Reliance petrol bunks I guess.
Regards,
Kaushik

Try to tank up at Shimoga or atmost Sagar because after that the facilities are poor in NH206...heard about a BP pump in Sagar which gives good fuel...dont remember the exact location...

Another option is the IOCL at Ankola where you have Kamat Upachar too...

Abhi

[ravibhat]

Latest updates: NH17 has gone still bad between karwar and kundapur(nearly 120km bad road).
NH 206 is bad between tarikere and shimoga aprox. 40km.

Aprox. 15km between jog falls and honnavar bad road.

15km road between talaguppa and siddapur which is connecting road of NH206 and Sirsi is bad.

I heard NH17 is getting ready with 4 lane between mangalore and udupi is almost complete.

Good Bunks: best ones from top order according to my experience.

5 km after shimoga town in NH206 left side of the road on the way to sagar there is IOCL bunk which is very good, it has LPG as well now, accepts credit cards.

When you join NH17 in honnavar from NH206 left side you can see HP Bunk thats good.

BP bunk at Gokarna cross in NH17 is good as well.

BP bunk in siddapur is good one.

BP bunk near Old Bus Stand in Sirsi is good, this bunk is small one at the corner of road.

IOCL after Ankola in NH17 where Kamat Upachar hotel is there is not bad.

Regards,

Ravi.

[kaushik_s]

Hey, Thanks a lot Ravi and Abhi, will keep this in mind(actually printed in paper )
Seems like road condition is detoriating everyday, I hope there will be some of the roads remaining when I start my trip

[amitoj]

Back from Goa last evening.

I took the Shimoga route on the way to Goa, because we wanted to visit Jog Falls too. And the Sirsi Haveri route on the way back. And there is no way to decide which one is the better route.
NH 206 from Tumkur to Shimoga has deteriorated since the last time i used it. But still the good part is quite good. NH17 is also not in a good shape. and NH4 between Haveri and Chitradurga robs you of whatever time you gain between Chitradurga and Tumkur.

Anyway, so i started from Bangalore at 4:45 AM and reached Tumkur by 6:15, thanks to trucks on NH4 and the toll booth with the weird toll of 22 rupees, and a coffee break at CCD. From Tumkur, we took NH206.

As we approached Shimoga, the road turned horrible. Yet, the Tumkur - Shimoga distance of 210 odd kms was covered in 3 hours 30 mins. The most time consuming part of the journey was on NH17. Overall, it took us 13 hours to reach our destination, which includes the halt at Jog Falls.

The return journey we made via Sirsi - Haveri - Chitradurga. Although the road was a lot smoother, yet because of the longer distance, it took us same 13 hours. And the return journey had lesser halts as well! The numerous diversions between Haveri and Chitradurga really take away the time one could have gained on the smoother road between Chitradurga and Tumkur.

So, if you want to save time, take the Shimoga route. If you want to surpass your previous top speed, use the Sirsi Haveri route.

[kaushik_s]

That's really helpful with the Latest updates.Thanks a lot Amitoj.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by kaushik_s

That's really helpful with the Latest updates.Thanks a lot Amitoj.

Not a problem, Kaushik

I think i should also add that if you want to have mercy on your car's suspension, its better to take the longer route. Leave very early to cover up for the extra time.

Amitoj

[lohithrao]

Hey amitoj, how many kms approx is bad on Nh17?

Will be leaving to Goa the day after... still confused about the route:(

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Hey amitoj, how many kms approx is bad on Nh17?

Will be leaving to Goa the day after... still confused about the route:(

Lohith, you will come across patches where the road is being repaired on NH17, almost all the way from Honnavar to Goa. There are good sections too but they dont last long enough.

Its really a tossup between NH206 and Haveri - Sirsi route. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. One is longer but has a good section of 4 to 6 lane highways. Other is shorter but the bad sections are heavily concentrated around Shimoga. Doesnt matter which route you take, be prepared for potholes.

[kaushik_s]

Amitoj,
How long is the bad stretch near Shimoga ? How much time it takes just to cross that particular stretch ?
Say, If I take the Haveri Sirsi route and I join Kumta/Mirjan, how is the road after Kumta/Mirjan till Karwar or say Goa ? Or actually, how bad is it ?People here informed that Honavar to Ankola road is bad but after Kumta it is good.Does it still hold true?
My car is a Baleno, so that means I should avoid that road at all cost ?
Regards,
Kaushik