[Ertigiat]

Returned to Goa on 4th September via Anmod ghat. Initial plan was drive through chorla ghat but colleague of mine who traveled earlier that day via Chorla ghat reported of minor landslide.

Crossed Belgaum at around 2.45 PM. It was drizzle all the way till Shiroli cross, but thereafter it was heavy downpour.

Despite Dense fog (which accompanied us till the foothills), we were able to get through puddles from Anmod check post till start of ghat without scrapping any part of the vehicle.

Ertiga against dense fog backdrop

Looking at the progress, I am guessing the road will not be open officially before December 2019.

Missed to download footage of road repair work after Anmod check post till start of ghat.

Glimpse of completed road of Anmod ghat

Anmod ghat

Trench partially covered by locals to allow passage of car.

Anmod ghat - at Karnataka Goa Border

P.S. - Nothing wrong with dashcam footage quality, instead these were actual conditions.

[pcpranav]

Hi,

coming from Mumbai side, how are the roads till Goa (mostly North side), and further roads till Jog Falls & Udupi ?

Vehicle = Bike

thanks & regards,

[vinit.merchant]

Thank you all for your inputs.
I just cancelled my trip to Goa for now. Postponed till next time there are holidays in school and no exams following !

[tazmaan]

Guys need an update on Amboli Ghat for Mumbai to Goa drive scheduled for tomorrow.

Google maps show road likely closed till 16th September.

If its closed what is the other option?

[humbleroadster]

Just travelled from Pune to Goa yesterday.
Amboli ghat section is probably the best of the entire stretch.
Pune to Satara : this has 4-5 diversions and the service roads at the diversions are in a bad state.


The highway stretch is fairly good, apart from that isolated pothole on a clean stretch! These are the most dangerous and a few snaps with rims bent are doing their rounds over whatsapp these days.
Specially just before Satara (town, not toll), is a clean stretch with quite a few of these potholes. Please be extra vigilant and have your eyes glued on the road at all times. I have myself missed a couple of these by a hairline! (So much for 95/- bucks at the toll!!)

Satara to hotel Goa Ves (Not sankeshwar) :
The roads in this stretch are pretty decent and nothing worth mentioning here. It has a few potholes, but not as big as the ones near Satara. The road itself becomes scenic because of the weather.

Ajra Amboli route(till NH17/Banda):
The road condition here was much worse last year, Monsoons or no monsoons!
However, rains, fog/clouds, and reduced visibility make it a strained and a long drive with some broken patches in between.

Banda to Goa/Panjim :
Goa has definitely lost all its charm due to the road expansion work and this easily becomes the worst patch of the route.
By this time we would normally be happy to have entered Goa and a billiard top Tarmac would welcome us. That’s history! It is this stretch that will double the travel time to the destination with major road work on either side of the road, multiple diversions, no Tarmac at most places, and if you’ve not timed yourself well, the time of the day!

All in all, this route isn’t treacherous. It’s open for 2/4 wheeler traffic but is time consuming. It’s the least bit comfortable with all conditions in mind.

Amboli waterfall : a part of the waterfall area is now used up by a built up road. Here there’s just one lane open, but there’s not much traffic around the afternoon.

If you must drive to Goa, do keep a couple of extra hours in hand and mind to reach your destination.

Drive safe!

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by humbleroadster

Banda to Goa/Panjim :
Goa has definitely lost all its charm due to the road expansion work and this easily becomes the worst patch of the route.
By this time we would normally be happy to have entered Goa and a billiard top Tarmac would welcome us. That’s history!

Thanks for the detailed update; useful for my postponed to next week drive.

As far as the quoted bit about Goa is concerned, the better thing to do now is leave the highway soon after the Goa border, go to the right towards Pernem and down on interior roads towards Siolim, and thence on the road to Aguada which serves Vagator, Anjuna, Baga, Calangute and Candolim. Until the highway expansion is complete, this will be my road to Anjuna/Vagator. Well marked on Google Maps. The place to exit the highway is some kilometres before the first Goan BP pump on the left.

[Frankazoid!!!]

I traveled with family from Thane to Goa on the 1st of September and returned on the 5th of September.

Route taken Thane - Pune via expressway - Satara - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla Ghat - South Goa.

On the way to Goa we were unlucky owing to the many accidents causing jams on the way. In hindsight maybe not so unlucky for us .

Anyways there was a crash at lonavala which cost us more than an hour. Pune to Satara was extremely frustrating due to the many (4-5) under construction flyover bypasses which cost us another 2-3 hours. The problem is that the bypasses are rough roads and the recent spate of rains have left these roads in terrible condition. Vehicles have to slow down to a crawl causing huge traffic jams.

As a result of these delays we ended up reaching Belgaum at approximately 6 pm having left Thane at 5 am. Decided to spend the night in Belgaum as I did not want to risk travelling on the ghats during dark hours with my wife and kid. We continued on to Goa the next morning. Chorla ghat is in reasonable condition with a few bad patches. Nothing to worry about though.

On the return journey we took the exact same route back and reached home in 13 hours. Left Goa at 1 pm and reached Thane at 0145 am. The roads returning back are much better with no bypasses so no problems.

The trip was made in a VW Jetta diesel which is now on sale in the classifieds section! This was kind of a farewell trip for the car which performed flawlessly as always.

Hope this helps others making the journey to Goa!

[krackr]

Unplanned visit to Cavelossim tomorrow from Mumbai. I plan to take the Mumbai-Satara-Belgaum-Cavelossim route indicated here.

Not at all an expert here so having read through the prior posts it seems I will definitely see bad patches near Satara, and post Belgaum at Anmod and Shiroli. Plotting these on Google Maps gives me the same route as I mentioned above like this.

Appreciate some insight in case I need to make changes to this route. I plan to begin by 5 am from Mumbai if I obey my alarm. Hotel Sankam at Belgaum seems to be a good stopover (thanks to various TBhp helpers on the Bangalore-Goa forum). Request help on the following points:

1. Mumbai-Belgaum shows roughly 9 hours, so maybe I will need one or two food stops till then. Request suggestions. Hopefully these cover decent washrooms.
2. With this distance, I would need refuelling, do suggest any good petrol pumps on the way..
3. Do I need to make changes to the route..

Thanks so much!

[@Chaand]

Originally Posted by krackr

1. Mumbai-Belgaum shows roughly 9 hours, so maybe I will need one or two food stops till then. Request suggestions. Hopefully these cover decent washrooms.

Sai International at Yelur or 38 KM before Kolhapur. Not so great in the food department but the rest rooms are good.


In Belgaum I can suggest Hotel Ramdev just after the turnoff to Belgaum. On the way there are Pizza outlets in case you prefer those.

After Ramdev, you have hotel Panchamrutam which is also good, mainly coz its away from the busy streets just before VTU.

Originally Posted by krackr

1. With this distance, I would need refuelling, do suggest any good petrol pumps on the way..

Sai International also owns Sai Petroleum which is just before the restaurant. This is an option but I would recommended that as soon as you cross Maharashtra border towards Karnataka, there are good pumps on the left. Fill up enough to reach Goa and then refuel from Goa.

Karnataka fuel is cheaper than Mumbai and I believe that Goa fuel is also cheaper than Mumbai Fuel. Plan accordingly. Drive Safe

[comfortablynumb]

Hi Folks,

I am planning to visit South Goa around the end of this month. Tentative plan is to leave Pune at 1 PM on 26th, halt at Belgaum and proceed to Goa (mostly via Chorla) on 27th morning. Goa - Pune return would be on 30th.

Seeking answers from recent visitors and veteran travelers to Goa:

1. Is it still raining frequently in Goa? If yes, I guess it would make more sense to visit in 3rd/4th week of October.

2. Any idea how the condition of the Belgaum - Ramnagar - Joida - Kumbarwada - Anshi National Park - South Goa route is? Was planning to try it just for the heck of it, either during the onward or return trip.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

1. Is it still raining frequently in Goa? If yes, I guess it would make more sense to visit in 3rd/4th week of October.

That depends on your intent/plans. My favourite time for Goa is when it is raining, for that ambience and as icing on the cake, the missing tourists. I postponed my second monsoon visit by just a week to let the ghats settle and will leave for North Goa on Wednesday via Amboli. I hope it keeps raining in Goa - last I heard it still rains on and off, though not the continuous pelting down of August.

The 45 or so days post monsoon - October to mid/third week November are, to my mind, the worst weather in Goa for the intense humidity that can make things even more uncomfortable than summer. But if you can deal with that, it is a good time to go.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

That depends on your intent/plans..

Speaking for myself, the only items on the agenda are to eat, drink and relax. However, if the beaches are off limits due to the rains, then I will be at my wits' end with how to keep my 5 year old daughter entertained.

Cheers,
Vikram

[Sawyer]

My highest recommendation for an excellent resort is Hacienda de Goa, near the Vagator petrol pump. Quality stay, quality food, and a very clean pool. And Vagator beach has places where a small child can be in small rock pools and/or play in the sand for hours - under supervision of course, but quite safe. Being close to the hills, the sand is blackish and looks dirty, but it is as clean as any other Goan beach.

Walking around is also close to the ambience of Goa of decades ago, not the ridiculous tourist strips and traps in too many other parts of the state.

And there is one of the best gelatos in the world in walking distance - a 15 minute walk for adults - but you can always drive of course.

[Sawyer]

North Goa works better for folks from Pune/Mumbai because it is reached at least an hour before places south of the Mandovi; perhaps a couple of hours earlier than places south of the Zuari. And the road via Amboli is as good/bad as any other; Kolhapur also offers more places to stay and eat than does Belgaum, I am willing to stick my neck out to suggest. It is also the only place in my experience where the auto rickshaw meter-less offer price turned out to be just a little less finally than the metered one.

One just has to not end up in Baga/Calangute, unless THAT is to one's tastes! Although Baga north of the creek is quiet with some very nice places to eat. And Anjuna/Vagator of course has plenty of good restaurants. For those who want even more quiet, there is Morjim and Arambol, north of Vagator.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

My highest recommendation for an excellent resort is Hacienda de Goa, near the Vagator petrol pump. Quality stay, quality food, and a very clean pool. And Vagator beach has places where a small child can be in small rock pools and/or play in the sand for hours - under supervision of course, but quite safe. Being close to the hills, the sand is blackish and looks dirty, but it is as clean as any other Goan beach.

Vagator has been the family favourite since the last 7 years, almost like an annual pilgrimage. Sometimes more frequently done.

I have not checked any other place in Vagator, we were regulars at Ozran beach resort. I do need a replacement ever since they pulled down Zaffran restaurant. (Do check out the food at their new location near Oxford market Anjuna. They make awesome north Indian food). Replacing that view is going to be a challenge though!

We went last in April, missing Goa already. It is a hoot in the rainy season

Which gelato place are you referring to?