[GTO]

Excellent roads! Just did the Mumbai-Goa run last week (for New years). In my '08 trip, there was a 20 - 30 km pathetic stretch right after taking the right turn at cauveri hotel (about 420 kms from Mumbai). This time, the road condition was manageable....far from the broken tarmac we encountered the last time.

Heads up for those making this trip : Hotel Visava is a superb choice for a mid-way meal / breakfast. You'll see it on the LHS when driving from Bombay-Goa at about the 300 kms mark. A Mc Donalds right after too, but Misal + Pav + Chai beats Burgers + Fries + Cola hands down on the highway

[deutscheafrikar]

GTO, where did you turn this time? Kaveri? I prefer going further down by 12 km and turning at snakeshwar. The roads from there to ajra are much broader. Okak now 300km from which part in mumbai or whats the name of this town where Visava is? Before McDonalds is it?
How come no one is going the Gaganbawda route?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

GTO, where did you turn this time? Kaveri? I prefer going further down by 12 km and turning at snakeshwar. The roads from there to ajra are much broader.

Yup, took the right at Kaveri. Will try your suggestion out the next time.

Okak now 300km from which part in mumbai or whats the name of this town where Visava is?

300 kms from Dadar TT.

Before McDonalds is it?

A couple of minutes before the McDs.

[kimmig]

Just got back from a Bombay Goa trip (via Pune)..

Took the Mollem route on the way in .. the road is deceptively good up until Londa .. then it goes south .. there is a 10-15km stretch where the car get tossed and banged .. no potholes here .. Just craters. Even the trucks were being tossed around like autorickshaws

Once across the Goa border .. there were probably 100s of mining trucks .. did some rash bambaiya driving to jump the queue else would have never reached. Good news is that there were some repairs being made but progress seemed leisurely

Note 1 : There is a point in time when you cross a Railway line going slightly downhill .. the speed breakers there are very tricky .. be extra extra careful while going over .. it scraped my Ritz .. should have gone in a tab bit slower.
Note 2 : A friend of mine told me that the mining traffic poses a lot of problems to the locals as well. Hence, it seems during school opening and closing time this traffic gets stopped. He didn't know the exact timings though .. if someone can validate and confirm. If one can time the stretch for this lull then there might be a case for this road into South Goa, but hugely avoidable otherwise.

After the misadventure via Mollem, coming back we came through Sawantwadi-Amboli-Ajra-Gadinglaj-Sankeshwar route .. sections of the road from Amboli to Sankeshwar are quite rough on the Ritz .. one cannot go through the section at a consistent speed.

Btw .. There was a huge amount of checking on the border .. we passed thru 3 checks and the 4th (Excise) one decided to check my car .. the guy wanted me to leave both the Antiquity Blue and Single Malt for their consumption .. just wouldn't budge despite the Daman permit .. finally smashed both the bottles in front of them .. some times I wonder why our taxes are used to pay the salaries of such bhakshaks .. How much revenue is the Govt going to loose by a tourist carrying a couple of bottles .. we are not bootleggers? Especially considering that there are tons of bootleggers willy nilly transporting liquors across the border under the very noses of these bhakshaks and most of the times in collusion with these jokers

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by kimmig

Just got back from a Bombay Goa trip (via Pune)..
Btw .. There was a huge amount of checking on the border .. we passed thru 3 checks and the 4th (Excise) one decided to check my car .. just wouldn't budge despite the Daman permit .. finally smashed both the bottles in front of them

kimmig, thansk for the info. Where were these check post? Were they between Banda and Sawantwadi at a place called insuli?
Or was this excise post on the sawantwadi amboli road.
Actually the daman permit is if youre goign to daman bu tthen all our cars and drivers license have mumbai address so they harass us.

GTO thanks for the info. Okay about 31 kms before kolhapur on the left side there is a huge lot with a veg restaurant Sai Internaional or something like that. Self service but nice veg food. Just incase, you know.

[kimmig]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

kimmig, thansk for the info. Where were these check post? Were they between Banda and Sawantwadi at a place called insuli?
Or was this excise post on the sawantwadi amboli road.
Actually the daman permit is if youre goign to daman bu tthen all our cars and drivers license have mumbai address so they harass us.

GTO thanks for the info. Okay about 31 kms before kolhapur on the left side there is a huge lot with a veg restaurant Sai Internaional or something like that. Self service but nice veg food. Just incase, you know.

deutscheafrikar .. this post was before entering Sawantwadi on the highway .. btw .. a bit earlier there was another road off of the highway to the left which went to Sawantwadi .. do they have a checkpost there as well.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

GTO thanks for the info. Okay about 31 kms before kolhapur on the left side there is a huge lot with a veg restaurant Sai Internaional or something like that. Self service but nice veg food. Just incase, you know.

Sai Resort, 40 kms after Karad and 30 kms before Kolhapur. Good place, decent food, clean wash rooms and rooms to stay. Ample parking space.

[kimmig]

Btw .. for those who do decide to take the Mollem route into Goa .. Be very careful as you near Belgaum .. we missed NH4 / NH4A junction somehow .. and ended up going quite a bit of a distance towards Hubli / Dharwad and then trudge back thru Belgaum city .. it was quite a pain. Can someone familiar with the route give pointers on where exactly to leave NH4. Similar info on the Sankeshwar junction would also help.

There are a few eating places once you leave Khanapur .. The eateries in Khanapur itself were a bit shady .. more of local bars than anything else.
Just outside of Khanapur there is a new place called Manish Resort .. it too is a bar but had a separate family section being built when we were there. Fairly decent food and above average service .. looks like the mgmt had recently taken the place and were quite eager to please outsiders who happened to stop by.

After Khanapur, there are a few more places that you will bump into on the way to Londa .. didn't try any of those but wanted to mention this just incase the info helps. Londa is probably the last place you will get food until you cross into Goa. There is the Dudhsagar resort place as well inside the NP but I doubt if they will be equipped to handle walk in guests, and the food is likely to cost an arm and a leg.

We took the Sanguem road through to Curchorim .. There is a gas station as soon as you cross into Goa .. but none post that until you reach Curchorem. The info might help those who generally like to take the ghats with a relatively lighter fuel load. Not sure if there is a Gas station in Khanapur & Londa as well .. if someone can please confirm.

[deutscheafrikar]

HV absolutely correct good parking too. I have a couple of photos which I'm posting so people can find it easily.

kimmig, there are a few RTO and Excise check post. At insuli it's a rto post in the right side of the road. Both GOA and Maharashtra will have their excise posts at the border. these are mainly to check goods vehicles entering and also to check passenger busses Cars doo get stopped. I once paid 100 bucks in 97' to the RTO. I feel at ease if I cross the post with tow or three cars that are going along the same route, and never lok in the direction of the posts or guards.
What time of the day were you stopped?
Sankeshwar turn is easy. About 12 kms after Satyapalace and kaveri restaurants, straight on the NH4 you wil see a board for sankeshwar, you need to keep to the left and leave the NH4, go down a bit and then take a right, under the NH4 itself on to the state highway. This right leads to Gadinglaj.
The turn at belgaum I'm sure HV sir will give you the right info

[SAHIR.KITTUR]

Sankeshwar - Belgaum - khanapur - londa - Mollem - Goa
Take the first exit. You then come near a underpass. take right below the bridge and then take left. ( if you dont take the left and take the road which goes straight, you can bypass Belgaum city on the way to Amboli / Sawantwadi ) ) Go straight on the service road and then the service raods turns towards right. Go straight , you will pass the KLE hospital on the RHS, Ramdev hotel on the LHS. From the signal you go straight. You reach a junction called Rani Chennama circle. Turn right and after passing the temple on the RHS be on the left. ( Take right here and go straight to Amboli / Sawantwadi / Goa ). You later reach the Bogarves circle, turn right. You then reach the Railway station junction. take right here and you can go either over the bridge on the road besides, This road leads straight to Khanapur.

[Sea Cruiser]

Hi,

I am travelling to Goa from Mumbai on 23 Jan 10. I just wanted to know, which route will be better at this time of this season.:
(a) Sawantwadi route
(b) Belgaum-khanapur road

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sea Cruiser

Hi,

I am travelling to Goa from Mumbai on 23 Jan 10. I just wanted to know, which route will be better at this time of this season.:
(a) Sawantwadi route
(b) Belgaum-khanapur road

Take the Sawantwadi route anyday,molem route is still bad,not worth taking the risk.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Take the Sawantwadi route anyday,molem route is still bad,not worth taking the risk.

ranjit1, No good news on the Gaganbawda route as yet?

Sea Cruiser what route did you take? And whats the condition like? How long was the journey to Goa?

[Sea Cruiser]

Hi,

I just got back from Goa on 26 Jan. First and foremost let my express my gratitude to HV Kumar, ranjitp1 and akadian for helping me in firming the route. I had used Pune-Kohlapur-Sankleshwar-Ajra- Amboli-Sawantwadi-Panjim for my journey. It took me total 91/2 hours (including a brunch break and a fuel top up) to travel from South Goa to Colaba. I started at 0610 hrs from Verka in South Goa. I was in Sawantwadi at 0740 hrs, and thereafter from Sawantwadi to NH4 through Amboli ghats and Ajra to NH4 at

[Sea Cruiser]

Hi,

I just got back from Goa on 26 Jan. First and foremost let my express my gratitude to HV Kumar, ranjitp1 and akadian for helping me in firming the route. I had used Pune-Kohlapur-Sankleshwar-Ajra- Amboli-Sawantwadi-Panjim for my journey. It took me total 10 hours (including a brunch break and a fuel top up) to travel from South Goa to Colaba. I started at 0610 hrs from Verka in South Goa. I was in Sawantwadi at 0740 hrs, and thereafter from Sawantwadi to NH4 through Amboli ghats and Ajra to NH4 at Sankleshwar, took 2 hrs 25 mins. The journey on NH4 was extreme swift and speedy, averaging almost 90-95 KMPH for the next 3 hrs, thus covering a distance of 277 kms in 3 hrs.
Except for small bad stretches in between Amboli and Sankleshwar, this route is good and recommended for travel between Mumbai -Pune - Kohlapur - Goa.