[honeybee]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Did you go via the bypass? How good is the surface and has the road been widened for two cars to pass each other with one not having to back up or go off the road?

Except for a couple of big potholes the road is pretty ok. In addition to avoiding the Sawantwadi traffic this route takes you through some greenery. You might spot a peacock or two on the way.

[TaurusAl]

Need advise. Going to North Goa (Mapusa) from Mumbai (Andheri) in a couple of days for work. This time I have only 3 days to get back. So will have drive at night for the first time. I have done Mumbai - Goa - Mumbai many times but always left Mumbai around 4 am thus 75% of the journey being in the day time.

This time plan to leave Mumbai around 12 am. Will like to hear from experts on this route, of any precautions I need to take and which route will be better Amboli or Chorla. (I have never used Chorla ghat)
Also, safe places for a halt at night. Just one halt of 1/2 hour is good for me.

[honeybee]

Amboli should be the shortest route for you. If you are just going to nap for an hour you could pull into a petrol pump, park to a side and doze off. Just a thought.

[a_myth]

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

Need advise. Going to North Goa (Mapusa) from Mumbai (Andheri) in a couple of days for work. This time I have only 3 days to gat)
Also, safe places for a halt at night. Just one halt of 1/2 hour is good for me.

HI Taurus,

I would suggest the usual Mumbai-Pune-Nippani-Amboli-Goa route. Although the Corla ghat route may be in a better shape, it is not worth the extra kms over the usual in your case (Your destination is Mapusa)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

Need advise. Going to North Goa (Mapusa) from Mumbai (Andheri) in a couple of days for work. This time I have only 3 days to get back. So will have drive at night for the first time. I have done Mumbai - Goa - Mumbai many times but always left Mumbai around 4 am thus 75% of the journey being in the day time.

This time plan to leave Mumbai around 12 am. Will like to hear from experts on this route, of any precautions I need to take and which route will be better Amboli or Chorla. (I have never used Chorla ghat)
Also, safe places for a halt at night. Just one halt of 1/2 hour is good for me.

Amboli should be your preferred option.You could stop at the CCD/Mcdie at Kolhapur.

[Trojan]

Ok, so now its roughly 24hrs before I leave for Goa.

Will be taking the Chorla route, aiming at leaving Pune tomorrow evening at 5pm.

Vehicle - Scorpio

Heading to Margao, planning to stick to the regular Sanquelim - Mapusa - Panaji - Margao route since we would be reaching post mid-night.

Any alternate suggestions to go towards Margao (while sticking to Chorla route)? I feel its better to stick to the main highway, especially since asking for directions is going to be a small issue.

And yes - would love to receive suggestions for a good restaurant - we plan to have dinner at Belgaum

Cheers!
Trojan

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Trojan

And yes - would love to receive suggestions for a good restaurant - we plan to have dinner at Belgaum

Cheers!
Trojan

At Belgaum, Sankam Residency is your best bet for dinner.
Apart from that, Ramdev also is another option.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

At Belgaum, Sankam Residency is your best bet for dinner.
Apart from that, Ramdev also is another option.

Thanks for the quick reply buddy!

Where should I keep a lookout on for these 2 restaurants, will these come on my way to Peeranwadi?
And yes I forgot to mention, we prefer strictly non-veg food

Cheers!
Trojan

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Thanks for the quick reply buddy!

Where should I keep a lookout on for these 2 restaurants, will these come on my way to Peeranwadi?
And yes I forgot to mention, we prefer strictly non-veg food

Cheers!
Trojan

For Strictly non veg food, Sankam is best (at least from my past experiences).

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/15.9...d15.862278!3e0

[swapnilup]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Where should I keep a lookout on for these 2 restaurants, will these come on my way to Peeranwadi?
And yes I forgot to mention, we prefer strictly non-veg food

Ramdev is on the way to Peeranwadi ie if you take the first exit to Belgaum.
For food, in the Ramdev complex there is a hotel named Mithila, which serves good non-veg food. (Used to be the best during my college days)

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,
Leaving for Goa in a couple of days time and would appreciate some updates on the road conditions. A friend of mine drove down three days ago via Sankeshwar - Amboli and said the road was pretty good except for the Amboli ghat section which was "rough" but driveable.
Another friend left the same day and used the Chorla road and claimed it was in bad shape and he would definitely not use it for his return journey.

Honeybee, I see you have just done the trip in a Nano and seemed OK with the Amboli road? I notice you also used the Dhanoli shortcut. That road was almost unuseable a year or so ago. Has it actually been repaired?

Sahir.Kuttir, please advise on the 30 mins bad stretch you encountered. Was it really bad. Would you use that route again?? One also loses time in Belgaum traffic during the day not to mention the 30 odd speedbreakers between the Goa border and Mapuca!!

Any info would be much appreciated.

Regards,
SS

[honeybee]

Amboli was never a problem. The shortcut - I didn't know the name and we actually took it by mistake - was good too, barring one or two big potholes. But nothing to get the Nano anxious. The road mostly goes through civilization and if you are targetting North Goa, it may be shorter and faster. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

On the return journey we took the Sawantwadi route but it was full of local traffic and we should have taken the bypass instead.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Amboli was never a problem. The shortcut - I didn't know the name and we actually took it by mistake - was good too, barring one or two big potholes. But nothing to get the Nano anxious. The road mostly goes through civilization and if you are targetting North Goa, it may be shorter and faster. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
.

I took the Nano to Goa two months ago - very happy with how it did. Chorla on the way out, Sawantwadi/Amboli return. Both departures at 4 am, but return took 45 minutes less.
Where exactly on the way to Amboli from Kolhapur side is the Sawantwadi bypass? Must be a left turn, how is it marked? Leaving Goa as I did, it may not matter, but going to Goa it would be useful to avoid Sawantwadi.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Where exactly on the way to Amboli from Kolhapur side is the Sawantwadi bypass? Must be a left turn, how is it marked? Leaving Goa as I did, it may not matter, but going to Goa it would be useful to avoid Sawantwadi.

I saw it accidentally. Rather my wife saw it. It's near a 90 degree righthander en route from Amboli to Sawantwadi, much after the ghat. There's a rusted sign pointing to Banda. Will try and post the exact location on the map later.

[Avid trekker]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi Guys,
Leaving for Goa in a couple of days time and would appreciate some updates on the road conditions.

@suzuki_san: Chorla road seemed very good a month back. You would come across occasional potholes on the ghat section. It would be disappointing if the road deteriorated in a month's time.

Yes, one would loose a few minutes through the speedbreakers !!!!