[procrj]

Originally Posted by aithalsandy

around Chitradurga.

Originally Posted by ampere

A location just before Chitradurga is just ideal

Mysore cafe just after Chitraduraga. Open parking, loo & food is OK.
https://goo.gl/maps/RhZRxVGpK1U2

[ampere]

Originally Posted by procrj

Mysore cafe just after Chitraduraga. Open parking, loo & food is OK.

Thanks. Have heard about this from friends. The other very funny thing to note is how come we rarely see a coffee day between Tumkur and Hubli?

Basically the point being: how come frequency of hotels does not add up in accordance with the density of traffic seen on the 4-lane. So unlike the NH7 down south.

[aithalsandy]

Hi All,

Just sent out a suggestion to A2B, MTR, Maiyas, Adigas if they can consider opening an outlet before Chitradurga. Let's see if it clicks.

@Ampere,

Thanks for highlighting the key location just before Chitradurga as people on Shimoga, Hospet and Hampi route also benefit from this. Hopefully, they will consider other places along NH4.

[aithalsandy]

Hello All,

Here is the update on Shimoga and some ghat roads.

1. Bangalore to Chitradurga (220km) - Awesome roads. I did try Mysore Cafe. It's decent. I managed to do it in 3 hrs starting from JP Nagar in a soft top Thar. Cars can do it in 2.5 hrs.

2. Chitradurga to Channagiri (70km)- Road widening almost complete but painting, cat eyes and signage yet to be done. It's really good 2 lane without divider with shoulder. It took 1hr for 70km. Avoid night drive.

3. Chitradurga to Shimoga (45km) - Road widening in progress. It's very rough towards the end. It took away all the fun. Very tiring drive, almost took 1.5hrs. Avoid night drives here.

I still suggest Channarayapatna to reach Shimoga, at least for the time being.

I also did some coastal drive this time.

1. Shimoga to Thirthahalli (60km) - Beautiful drive but road widening in progress as a part of NH 13 upgrade. If you leave late, it will be painful. It did not feel like summer at all.

2. Thirthahalli to Kundapur (120km) - Went via Agumbe, the best Agumbe ghat road that I have seen in my 30yrs life. Guys, pls do Agumbe before the road disappears. Stopped at Mayura Thirthahalli for breakfast. It's decent, as usual. But pls checkout Hotel Seethanadi at Seethanadi. Newly opened place with huge parking. Roads are decent 2 lane without divider till you hit coastal highway which is complete between Mangalor to Kundapur.

3. Kundapur, Murdeshwar to Gokarna (150km) - Road widening in progress. It takes 4 hrs to cover this tiring section. Saddening to see Maravanthe beach becoming a victim of road widening. Pls avoid night drives at all cost. I stayed at RNS residency, though it's a good property, upkeep and staff enthusiasm are missing. Still recommend this as it's closer to the temple and beach.

Shiva, statues, view from the 18th floor gopura are awesome. Pls do take Bhoo kailasa tour at the base of the temple for rs10. Superb narration of Ravana's athmalinga story through sculptures. Fantastic work by Kashinath at Murdeshwar.

Caution - pls be careful on the beach. Tourists who stay in their vehicles at the parking lot had converted the beach as an open toilet. I walked almost 1km to check for decent part. It's shit all the way.

Gokarna was off-season, so got a good deal at JLR. Very nice property 2km from the temple and town beach. Covered Om beach and Kudle beach. Wonderful beaches with calm and peace.

JLR - I am a fan JLR in general. At Gokarna, we were the only guests, so the canteen was run for us with our choice as menu. Staff was very courteous. Special thanks to Manager Jayaprakash.

Return

1. Gokarna to Sagar via Honnavar (150km) - Roads are a mix of average to bad. Till Honnavar, the same road widening pain. Honnavar to Jog is a mix of good and dangerous single road at the ghat. Gersoppa ghat badly needs upgrade. At some places you have to get down from the road to make way for the other vehicles and you have a good 1 foot gap between the road and the mud. SUVs can manage but not other vehicles. Pls avoid this at night.

Sharavathi valley view - somewhere in the ghat you will get a view point to see sharavathi valley. Pls do stop and take a look. It's mind blowing view.

Roads are good once you climb the ghat. Skipped Jog as it's dry there. One can stay at KSTDC or JLR at Jog. Will update here when I do Jog this monsoons. Took a tea break at Varadashree, Sagar.

2. Sagar to Shimoga (70km) - One if the best drives one can get. Wide 2 lane roads with shoulder and clear signage all the way. Took 1hr driving through the forest. Once the road widening is complete between Shimoga and Agumbe, it will look the same like Shimoga and Jog.

Guys, I strongly recommend Shimoga Jog if you like driving in the woods.

3. Shimoga to Bangalore via Channarayapatna (320km) - Tried a darshini at kadur (suruchi), clean toilets with decent food. Patchwork has been done till Arsikere making this 100km drivable which has considerable traffic. Arsikere to Channarayapatna has clean road with hardly any traffic. Took a break at Swati, which they have extended beyond the main building. Good roads all the way till Nelmangala. But it was a pain from Nelmangala till JP Nagar via ring road. Took 1.5 hrs in the last leg due to the nonsensical traffic on the ring road. We took just 4 hrs till Nelmangala.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by aithalsandy

@ampere,

On of my friends recommended​ VRL canteen after Tumkur. This seems to have good parking, claims to be 24/7. I will update when I visit. However, this canteen is closer to Tumkur, which still doesn't solve our concern of options around Chitradurga.

I have been using this stop every time I pass by C'durga on my ay to Goa, Mumbai or Pune. It has great parking , moderately clean toilets, and yummy food.

Originally Posted by aithalsandy

Hello All,

Here is the update on Shimoga and some ghat roads.

1. Bangalore to Chitradurga (220km) - Awesome roads. I did try Mysore Cafe. It's decent. I managed to do it in 3 hrs starting from JP Nagar in a soft top Thar. Cars can do it in 2.5 hrs.

2. Chitradurga to Channagiri (70km)- Road widening almost complete but painting, cat eyes and signage yet to be done. It's really good 2 lane without divider with shoulder. It took 1hr for 70km. Avoid night drive.

3. Chitradurga to Shimoga (45km) - Road widening in progress. It's very rough towards the end. It took away all the fun. Very tiring drive, almost took 1.5hrs. Avoid night drives here.

I still suggest Channarayapatna to reach Shimoga, at least for the time being.

You mean 3. Channagiri to Shimoga?
This stretch should have been done by now as I'm planning to take this route to Sagar next week. Any updates?
The CR Patna, Arsikere, Shimoga route has too much traffic for my liking esp after Arsikere and upto Shimoga

[aithalsandy]

Apologies, you got me there

Number 3 is Channagiri to Shimoga (45km) - 3months ago this part was not great, not sure if it has progressed.

[Taipan]

Hi,
Any update on the Channagiri to Shimoga road condition? Plan to take a road trip in September. Thank you!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Taipan

Hi,
Any update on the Channagiri to Shimoga road condition? Plan to take a road trip in September. Thank you!

I doubt if it would improve so soon. You should still assume work in progress like conditions.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Taipan

Hi,
Any update on the Channagiri to Shimoga road condition? Plan to take a road trip in September. Thank you!

Roadwork is still in progress but indeed much better than what it was before. In a nutshell, "drive worthy" (By anybody's standards).

Chitradurga - Holehonnur is complete. So its the last 20 kms till you reach Shivamogga where work is still in progress.

This is an update from a colleague who took this route 2 weeks before.

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Roadwork is still in progress but indeed much better than what it was before. In a nutshell, "drive worthy" (By anybody's standards).

Chitradurga - Holehonnur is complete. So its the last 20 kms till you reach Shivamogga where work is still in progress.

This is an update from a colleague who took this route 2 weeks before.

Will be taking my Endeavour so short stretches are not a problem. Priority is also to avoid traffic. So I guess this route currently is best?
Thank you for your reply!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Taipan

Will be taking my Endeavour so short stretches are not a problem. Priority is also to avoid traffic. So I guess this route currently is best?
Thank you for your reply!

Absolutely - This may not really be a huge time saver but given the fact that the roads are mostly good (and faster for the first half) and then lesser traffic for the second half will make it a good choice.

Shimoga and surrounding areas today have plethora of choices now to spoil you as many roads that were bad have started to get better and better and the erstwhile default route Tumkur - Tiptur - Kadur option is now the road less taken due to many disadvantages. -)

[aithalsandy]

Hello All,

Just came back from Shimoga Via CR Patna.

Roads have got bad slightly in the following sections.

1. Shimoga-Bhadravathi bypass
2. Around Tarikere and Birur.
3. Arsikere to CR Patna also had irritating patches now

I somehow felt unease till I hit CR Patna.

[hemanth.anand]

Originally Posted by aithalsandy

Hello All,

Just came back from Shimoga Via CR Patna.

Roads have got bad slightly in the following sections.

1. Shimoga-Bhadravathi bypass
2. Around Tarikere and Birur.
3. Arsikere to CR Patna also had irritating patches now

I somehow felt unease till I hit CR Patna.

Took the same route Yesterday and agree with you. All said and done, I would still prefer this route among the options available till the Channagiri route road work is finished.

[aithalsandy]

Hello All,

Here is an update on Chitradurga route.

Road upgradation is still in progress but still ~30% not done.

1. Chitradurga to Channagiri section is almost done but small sections of potholes killing the joy of cruise.

2. Channagiri to Shimoga not much progress with last 25km not even touched for upgrade and is in bad shape.

I tried a new restaurant called Upadhya Veg, some distance before Chitradurga on right hand side while driving from BLR, seems a decent place. I also saw another place called "Sri Rathna", much before Tumkur but will try next time and update.

I would not suggest night drives as there are no signage / reflectors / paint. Day drive should be fine as CR Patna / Arsikere route is giving up slowly.

Pls note, there are no food options between Chitradurga and Shimoga making CR Patna / Arsikere route attractive.

[theredliner]

While returning from Shivamogga last week, I took the following route:

Shivamogga - Lakkavalli - Tarikere: A stretch of few km is deteriorated near Hunasekatte. Scenic and good roads other than that. Better than driving through the cratered Bhadravathi roads. Took this as I needed to visit Bhadra Reservoir, but would take this going forward as it takes only 10-15 km or min more and is much more relaxing. The road is narrower than BH Road, though.

Tarikere - Tiptur: Potholes are being filled in Tarikere - Kadur stretch. This stretch continues to be painful due to bad surface and heavy traffic. Kadur - Tiptur is decent and manageable.

Tiptur - Nonavinakere - Turuvekere - Soravanahalli - Yadiyur: Decided to try out this Google suggested route as the Arasikere - Channarayapatna road has gone bad now. Also, Arasikere to Tiptur on BH Road was better than the former pot holed road.

Tiptur to Turuvekere had a lot of traffic around 6-6.30 PM time. The road surface was average, but better than ASK - CRP road with some half inch deep pot holes here and there.

Turuvekere - Soravanahalli: NH 150A - Newly laid, excellent, smooth tarmac for most of the stretch. Sparse traffic. Reflective boards for every single speedbreaker and other warnings.

Soravanahalli - Yadiyur: NH 150A - Good surface, very sparse traffic. Same thing about warning boards as above.

One positive about the above route is that you save on two toll tickets worth Rs.80/- or 1.1 litre of petrol (as compared to ASK - CRP route) which you can use for some spirited driving