[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

Finally it was Serene Woods for the extended weekend of Aug 31 - September 2, and it will be Serene Woods for all my future trips to Coorg.
Pics to follow soon.

My review of Serene Woods can be found at http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserRe...ECK_RATES_CONT

Some snaps...95% taken through 8MP Mobile camera.

Kushalnagar Monastery

Miniature of the original Monastery in Tibet. I think I have much better pics of the Monastery in my Sony Cam. Will get it from there and upload more. The following pics do not do justice to the actual beauty of the Monastery, I believe, however, they are enough to get going













Nature within Serene Woods











Games Room









Talacauvery and Brahmagiri











Raja's Seat, also known as Sunset Point












Abbey Falls



Finally, the Ride

[Safety is Param]

Serene Woods





























Since we were a total of 5, a Duplex was allotted to us













Common Dining Area -



Pond

[figo_gpb]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Why don't you share a few more details of the homestay alongwith a few pics of both - the hoestay as well as the scenic surroundings ?

Apologies for the delay in reply. Please find the tripadvisor link where i posted a review of the place.

http://www.tripadvisor.in/ShowUserRe...ECK_RATES_CONT

[kannan666]

Lovely photos of the homestay and the surroundings, will check out your review on tripadvisor, thanks for sharing !

[SanjeevReddy]

I just completed Hyderabad -Coorg road trip, and have one suggestion. Whoever heads towards Polibetta(ProculineCastle Resort and others) , please don't take Gonikoppal road from Hunsur. You will have to go by Periapattanam or Kushal Nagar.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by SanjeevReddy

I just completed Hyderabad -Coorg road trip, and have one suggestion. Whoever heads towards Polibetta(ProculineCastle Resort and others) , please don't take Gonikoppal road from Hunsur. You will have to go by Periapattanam or Kushal Nagar.

This is a known problem problem. If you are driving to south Coorg take Hunsur bypass-Periyapatna-Siddapur-Virajpet. This bypasses Gonikoppal.

[TheHkrish]

Originally Posted by SanjeevReddy

I just completed Hyderabad -Coorg road trip, and have one suggestion. Whoever heads towards Polibetta(ProculineCastle Resort and others) , please don't take Gonikoppal road from Hunsur. You will have to go by Periapattanam or Kushal Nagar.

Originally Posted by ampere

This is a known problem problem. If you are driving to south Coorg take Hunsur bypass-Periyapatna-Siddapur-Virajpet. This bypasses Gonikoppal.

This happened to me , I had a real tough time steering my punto through the rubbles. The 185mm GC really helped. I went there in August/September.

It happened because I was looking for Virajpet, once I saw a signboard to Virajpet didn't look anywhere else. Took the left fork, which avoids Periyapatana. As Robert Frost says 'That made all the difference'. On the upside I saved some few kilometers.

That being said we stayed at Honey Valley resorts. What a place. Its a well organised home stay , the owner Mr.Prasad is a real gentleman. The resort one is on top of a hillock where only 4X4 jeeps can reach. Its a wonderful experience being there in the lap of nature. They have a real big waterfall inside their estate as well.
The tariff doesn't want prompt you to rob your neighbor's bank account as well.

[S_U_N]

Posted this in the Mumbai - Coorg thread, but got no response. So, now posting it here.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I have a plan to reach Coorg on 17th November afternoon.
My journey starts around 7 AM on the previous day from Pune.

Now, Pune to Coorg is 900 KM, and I estimate 15 hours, so I would like to drive for 10 hours and cover the remaining distance for the next day.

Hence I would like to break the journey into two parts.

1. Pune --> Halt by evening after 10 hours of driving.
2. Resume and go to Coorg (reach by 2 PM just in time for the hotel checkin).

From the route map, Harihar, Shimoga, Bhadravathi and Chikmagalur seem to be options.

Can someone suggest where I can halt near the highway for the night with family?
Hotel recommendation (safe and clean place with parking) is all we need for the night.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Posted this in the Mumbai - Coorg thread, but got no response. So, now posting it here.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I have a plan to reach Coorg on 17th November afternoon.
My journey starts around 7 AM on the previous day from Pune.

Now, Pune to Coorg is 900 KM, and I estimate 15 hours, so I would like to drive for 10 hours and cover the remaining distance for the next day.

Hence I would like to break the journey into two parts.

1. Pune --> Halt by evening after 10 hours of driving.
2. Resume and go to Coorg (reach by 2 PM just in time for the hotel checkin).

From the route map, Harihar, Shimoga, Bhadravathi and Chikmagalur seem to be options.

Can someone suggest where I can halt near the highway for the night with family?
Hotel recommendation (safe and clean place with parking) is all we need for the night.

You will have a lot of distance to cover in ghat/winding/poor roads where the average speed at best can be 30-35kmph. So 900KM in 15 hours is very ambitious. Assuming that you have 200KM in ghat sections which will take 7 hrs, you need to do the remaining 700kms in 8hrs which is not reasonable.

Where in Coorg are you heading to?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Hence I would like to break the journey into two parts.

1. Pune --> Halt by evening after 10 hours of driving.
2. Resume and go to Coorg (reach by 2 PM just in time for the hotel checkin).

From the route map, Harihar, Shimoga, Bhadravathi and Chikmagalur seem to be options.

Can someone suggest where I can halt near the highway for the night with family?
Hotel recommendation (safe and clean place with parking) is all we need for the night.

Hubli or Shimoga are good options for a break but Hubli may be a little too early so Shimoga may be a better option.
Pune - Shimoga is about 650Km so with an early morning start you should be able to reach Shimoga by evening and break. Jewel Rock/Samrat Ashok or Royal Orchid are some decent options at Shimoga.
Next day (assuming you're going to Madikeri) you will have to drive about 250km which should be possible to reach around lunch time if you start after breakfast.

[bobbyvictor]

Hi Shailesh, Im planning for a trip this december- can you let me know the details of this homestay...

Originally Posted by aspire

Hi,

Just completed a 710km trip from Bangalore to coorg and mysore... Took the right turn after the second bridge of srirangapatna, it is the second exit at the round about, the road from there is not that great... till you touch the hunsur road...

...Most of the pics have already been posted, so not adding anything, if anyone needs any info on route or places to visit or stay, do let me know, would be glad to help.
Thanks
Shailesh

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by androdev

You will have a lot of distance to cover in ghat/winding/poor roads where the average speed at best can be 30-35kmph. So 900KM in 15 hours is very ambitious. Assuming that you have 200KM in ghat sections which will take 7 hrs, you need to do the remaining 700kms in 8hrs which is not reasonable.

The 100 KM road between Pune and Satara is bad.
After that, till Harihar, the roads are pretty good. Pune to Bangalore is around 950 KM and it takes about 13 hours with one meal break. For me, I add 2 more hours since I slow down on bad roads even further.
I am hoping the same speed can be maintained for Pune - Harihar, but I am not sure of the route after Harihar.
Also, I am not sure about the KM's in bad roads and ghats. But hoping that I can cover Shimoga to Coorg in 6 hours with a lunch break in between.

With the plan to divide the journey across two days, I can do 10 hour driving with 2 breaks of 30 minutes each on day 1 and about 6 hours of driving with 1 break of 30 minutes on day 2.

Where in Coorg are you heading to?

Club Mahindra in Coorg.

Originally Posted by NPV

Hubli or Shimoga are good options for a break but Hubli may be a little too early so Shimoga may be a better option.
Pune - Shimoga is about 650Km so with an early morning start you should be able to reach Shimoga by evening and break. Jewel Rock/Samrat Ashok or Royal Orchid are some decent options at Shimoga.

Shimoga is what I am targeting too. Some roads around there are bad is what I understand from @ampere
The hotels you have listed are good, but I think they are around 2.5K range. I am hoping I can find something around 1.5K.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Shimoga is what I am targeting too. Some roads around there are bad is what I understand from @ampere

Basically as per what I know : Ranebennur-Honnali-Shimoga is bad. That would slow you down.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

The hotels you have listed are good, but I think they are around 2.5K range. I am hoping I can find something around 1.5K.

Of the 3 I think Jewel Rock may have the lowest tariff - check the accommodations thread, there are several folks recommending this one.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by ampere

Basically as per what I know : Ranebennur-Honnali-Shimoga is bad. That would slow you down.

Ok. I am now looking at an alternate route to get to Madikeri then.

I don't mind driving on average roads, but bad jungle trails is certainly not going to help the car.


Someone suggested I should go via Mangalore route (the coastal road).
I am not sure if it is worth the extra miles.

I am going to start the journey from Pune.