[jeevmenon]

Originally Posted by superamerica

I am planning to drive down to Navi mumbai this weekend. Planning to leave Bangalore at noon and break the journey at either Hubli or Belgaum. Any good hotel suggestions to stay overnight for a family, preferably on the NH4 along with rates will be very helpful.

Belgaum - Sankam residency on the NH4
Kolhapur - Hotel Vrindavan Deluxe (Opp Vateshwar Mandir,) Near Central Bus stand, Shivaji Park. Phone - 0231 - 2664343 (740 for a double) I found it very good 10 days back.

P.S - OT - I was waiting for someone to look at my avatar and say "I have seen it somewhere" but no one's pointed it out thus far. Now people might

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

P.S - OT - I was waiting for someone to look at my avatar and say "I have seen it somewhere" but no one's pointed it out thus far. Now people might

Lol Bro! Ye, you got it. Next question : How many attempts ?
If you are going to tell me any figure less than 5, let me tell you, I am not going to believe you. Either you have to be born with your camera or you'd take around 7-10 attempts before your avatar happens.

[jeevmenon]

Here are my logs from Kolhapur to Chennai (thanks to wifey for the details.)




P.S - Like a parallel story the OT continues. Phew! Finally figured out by the inventor himself - I can RIP Attempts = 4. No kidding. Myself and my little one tried it on the Besant Nagar beach. Btw, I guess its easier when its receding (mine) than when its approaching (yours.)

[jeevmenon]

Originally Posted by abtom

The other pretty astounding thing I noticed in this stretch is what was the highway was being used for! The local farmers had cordoned off almost half the road on either direction to spread out their corn (i think) crop for drying or some such processing. This extended for several kms. I even saw the trucks with sacks, the sacks were being unloaded and the corn being spread out. On a side note, I am still trying to figure out how to reason out the rationale and the justice in this - giving credit for the local context that I am unaware of.

If you check my logs there is a section from around Haveri to Hiriyur (which includes Rannibennur/Davangere/Chitradurga) of about 180 km with no toll booths. No wonder - with the bad road sections and all this happening how dare they collect toll? So conclusion its the chicken & egg problem. Complete the section, then toll charging will start and in turn stop corn-laying. Or is there a mafia behind this? Corn spreaders are stopping the road being completed?? Hm... I mean the terrain is not that difficult or a rain-prone area for the GQ not to be completed. HVK said this was the earliest GQ road sections to have been started.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

If you check my logs there is a section from around Haveri to Hiriyur (which includes Rannibennur/Davangere/Chitradurga) of about 180 km with no toll booths. No wonder - with the bad road sections and all this happening how dare they collect toll?

For some reason, the roads were meant for traffic and not the corns this time when I travelled over the last long weekend.

An extended vacation to God’s own country eventually ended up with just another casual trip to the city of Virtue – Pune. However, since we were in the mood to Holiday, we wanted to try Panchagani and Mahabaleshwar in a day which we made it on Sunday.
On Saturday Morning (30th Oct )We started at 4-50am from Home in north Bangalore and stopped over for Breakfast at Ghar,Ranebennur at 9-00am which lasted till 10-00am due to expected chores associated with my 8 months old daughter.

At 1-00pm we were in Sankam, Belgaum for lunch break that lasted for another hour.

Immediately after leaving Sankam, we stopped for refueling at Barde’s HP Station beside of the Highway after Belgaum.

We were at Umbraj at 5Pm for evening break more so due my daughter’s eating time and again this one lasted for almost an hour.

We finally reached Pune at exactly 7-00Pm thus making the 800+ Kms journey in 14 Hours with a break of 3 Hours.

During return, we hit the highway at 11am and with a very sedate driving, we stopped at Kolhapur for Lunch at our usual place near Sangli, Ichalkaranji Fork at around 2-00pm.

The service was a bit slower and to add to that we had to feed our daughter with her usual home made lunch menu and the break lasted for 90 Minutes.
At 6:00Pm we were at Kamat after Hubli for the regular evening break for our daughter and it lasted for an Hour.

We ventured into Davanagere town at 9-00pm for refuelling as well as dinner into a Hotel called Apurva situated somewhere close to the old bus stand.
We left the place at 10-00Pm to reach Chitradurga at 10-45pm and due to continuous, incessant and heavy rains all the way till Nelemangala, we were in Bangalore home at 1-00am.

MX6's calculation worked near perfect in terms of timings (when with a baby on board) during my onward journey.

The Drive that usually lasts for 11:30 to 12:00 Hours now takes an additional 2 hours when travelling with a baby.

Update on Road conditions:

Bangalore – Nelemangala : As everyone knows, all the bridges are open and it just takes a mere 12-15 minutes to reach Jass toll from NICE.

Nelemangala – Tumkur: The road stays as it is in good condition

Tumkur Bypass: Not sure If anyone has mentioned it, but one bridge which oncoming and outgoing traffic shared is now open on both sides thus one may call it 100% complete except for a few places over culverts where final asphalting needs to be carried out.

Tumkur-Bypass – Sira- Hiriyur- Chitradurga: Good roads all the way.

Chitradurga – Davanagere: Work is progress but can say that this section will have toll collected as booth have come up on both ends. Somewhere near Bhramhasagara, one needs to watch out for those speedbreakers and one/two deviations.

Davanagere bypass: Not much progress since my last drive with 2-3 deviations till you exit Davanagere.

Davanagere-Harihar: No Changes, Work in Progress but driveable.

Harihar-Ranebennur :Work in Progress with a few deviations.

Ranebennur bypass: Completed.

Ranebennur bypass till Haveri bypass: 2 Railway crossings with huge speedbreakers and deteriorating road conditions close to the tracks. (It was better last time).

Haveri-Bypass – Bankapura toll : Work in Progress but good 4 laned roads with 1 or 2 deviations.

Bankapura toll – Shiggaon-Hubli bypass-Kittur-Belgaum-Nippani-Kagal: Excellent roads barring the initial Kms after Bankapura toll where left lane has developled lt of undulations.

Kolhapur-Karad-Satara-Pune : Heavy traffic coupled with deteriorating roads (don’t read non motorable) as compared to all other sections of NH4.

One good thing I observed were the increase in the Number of toll gates at Shirwal and Taswade reducing the waiting time.

As compared to my last trip, I could see that a lot of TN,KL and KA trucks witha reflective strip on the back making the drive more easier and safer between Chitradurga and Bangalore on return in the night with heavy rains.

[ndalal02]

Originally Posted by gururaj r

You have not mentioned which car you are going to drive. Let your headlamp be 90/100. During the night trip it should throw sufficient light to show the road and the speed breakers as they are not marked sufficiently well. Carry a set of bulbs and fuse. A powerful torch also would do a lot of good. Happy journey. I have done the journey alone in this sector and so far not encountered any safety issues.

How different have your timings been when comparing day vs night driving? Has day driving been faster than night, visa versa or no difference?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ndalal02

How different have your timings been when comparing day vs night driving? Has day driving been faster than night, visa versa or no difference?

Let me also take the liberty to respond here since I have done atleast 10 night drives between Bangalore-Pune in the past one year.

The only reason why I had opted for night drive was the mad traffic between Pune-Kolhapur and the waiting time at the toll on weekends especially.

The second reason being easy entry to Bangalore since it was the time when Nelemangala stretch was undergoing massive construction for 6 laning and etc.

Lastly, It was the thought of passing Renebennur town (bypass wasnt functional then) as it took a mere 10 minutes to enter and exit as against the 25-30 odd minutes during the day.

The Advantages:

1. No Two wheelers, Boleros & Tata aces
2. No Pedestrians and Cyclists crossing the road
3. No Tractors in the opposite direction
4. Overtaking is usually and always from the right side and a flash of lights is enough for you to be given right to overtake.
5. One can maintain decent speeds between 90-110kmph constantly without sudden lane changes or abrupt braking.
6. So far, between 3am-5am, the Ranebennur railway gates dont have trains passing and hence the gates are open to traffic saving ample time.


In terms of timings, they will make a difference only if you are constantly doing higher speeds enabling you to cover as much distance as possible. For instance, the same stretch with good overall visibility during the day would permit you do do 120-130kmph without a fuss but in the nights due to visibility and darkness a safe speed of 90-100kmph is what one would always stick to.

It was 10 Hours and 15 minutes it took me once to cover Pune to Bangalore in December 2009 further to that I usually took 11 hours with hardly any breaks since there are less options to stop by in the night (expecially Karnataka section of NH4).

These days, even during the day 11:30hrs to 12:00 hrs is good enough for this stretch with normal speeds and that too with 2-3 breaks.

Regarding 'what car', Well, I have been doing this since 2007 in my WagonR without an issue and I upgraded the Headlight bulbs to 90/100w only last year prior to which even with those bad potholed sections between Chitradurga and Ranebennur, I was on stock bulbs.

A 90/100w is highly recommended for night drives including rains.

Hope this helps.

[evilshantanu]

I successfully completed the Bangalore-Pune-Bangalore trip last weekend and it was awesome. A detailed travelogue would definitely follow, but before that some key points

1) Did the onward journey (Bangalore-Pune) in 12 hours, started from Bangalore (HSR Layout) at 3:00 am and reached Pune (Pimple Saudagar) at 3:10 pm

2) I didnt find the Chitradurga-haveri stretch that bad, the good news is the work is ongoing and it seems that soon this stretch would be good

3) the above journey was done almost non-stop, just a few bio breaks and near Satara, I was caught for overspeeding by Maharashtra cops, they said that the upper speed limit was 80 km/hr, now I guess nobody, even the motorbikes were faster than that, ended up paying 100 Rs fine

4) Was pleasently surprised, I did the return journey in 10.5 hours, I started at 4:00 am from Pune and I guess since it was the next day after diwali, I didnt find any traffic on the road, as a result of that at 9:00 am I found myself in Hubli and then 2:15 pm I reached home.

5) The return journey was actually done non-stop, we just stopped twice for bio breaks, we got the breakfast and lunch packed

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by evilshantanu

1) Did the onward journey (Bangalore-Pune) in 12 hours, started from Bangalore (HSR Layout) at 3:00 am and reached Pune (Pimple Saudagar) at 3:10 pm

The best time to start is always between 3-4am and as you would've realised that by breakfast time you would be almost nearing Hubli and how fastly you could cover more distance in no time.

2) I didnt find the Chitradurga-haveri stretch that bad, the good news is the work is ongoing and it seems that soon this stretch would be good

The story has only got better since the past 1 year and we all wish the stretch gets completed and like you said, one wont get a feeling of passing over this 'under construction' stretch anymore but during return and especially after 6pm, one will realise that the deviations still bother you, especially due to darkness.

3) the above journey was done almost non-stop, just a few bio breaks and near Satara, I was caught for overspeeding by Maharashtra cops, they said that the upper speed limit was 80 km/hr, now I guess nobody, even the motorbikes were faster than that, ended up paying 100 Rs fine

You referring to cops standing on dividers with speedguns and on spotting you overspeeding another cops would almost jump over the road whistling? I escaped them once while doing 120kmph in the evening and 2 weeks before I again escaped as we had slowed down on the left lane to an almost 60kmph looking for a place to stop for our baby (just near Umbraj).

4) Was pleasently surprised, I did the return journey in 10.5 hours, I started at 4:00 am from Pune and I guess since it was the next day after diwali, I didnt find any traffic on the road, as a result of that at 9:00 am I found myself in Hubli and then 2:15 pm I reached home.

Those (mid way of long weekends) are the best times to drive and especially national holidays. The best I have encountered so far was on Oct 2 in 2008 when there was no traffic and with Haveri-Ranebennur still being the worst then, it took me 11 hours to reach home including one lunch break at Davanagere.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The best time to start is always between 3-4am and as you would've realised that by breakfast time you would be almost nearing Hubli and how fastly you could cover more distance in no time.

Without a doubt. BLR - PUNE - BLR best time is 4AM. Provided you know your way out of BLR.

You referring to cops standing on dividers with speedguns and on spotting you overspeeding another cops would almost jump over the road whistling? I escaped them once while doing 120kmph in the evening and 2 weeks before I again escaped as we had slowed down on the left lane to an almost 60kmph looking for a place to stop for our baby (just near Umbraj).

3) the above journey was done almost non-stop, just a few bio breaks and near Satara, I was caught for overspeeding by Maharashtra cops, they said that the upper speed limit was 80 km/hr, now I guess nobody, even the motorbikes were faster than that, ended up paying 100 Rs fine

Well thats good news actually if cops are controlling traffic. I wonder what took them so long. I say we should have Patrol cars leving hefty fines.

Originally Posted by evilshantanu

4) Was pleasently surprised, I did the return journey in 10.5 hours, I started at 4:00 am from Pune and I guess since it was the next day after diwali, I didnt find any traffic on the road, as a result of that at 9:00 am I found myself in Hubli and then 2:15 pm I reached home.

Thats some yummy timing you clocked there mate! Sorry I missed your ride. What were you driving ?

[anainar]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

Well thats good news actually if cops are controlling traffic. I wonder what took them so long. I say we should have Patrol cars leving hefty fines.

Hmmm!! I think if they start doing it all along NH4, one can say good bye to average speeds of 80kmph and 10.5-11.5 hour timings. To clock 80km/hour average one has to hover around 110-120 given the idiotic trucks who try to overtake each other and bad patches. It is not the speed that is the culprit, it is the lack of lane discipline and in general disciplined driving that is the cause of accidents. Unfortunately the police look the other way. Even at 80kmph speed if a moron biker tries to take a right turn without checking his rear view mirror, it is an accident. It has happened many a times to me, and when ever I see a biker and gap in the median board, I get extra cautious. BTW any one making this trip in the weekend? Would appreciate if any one can accommodate me I have sold my trusted Corolla and am planning to travel to Pune on Sunday. Nainar

[goandude]

Planning another mumbai bangy mumbai trip in mid december. Wanted to know if the neelamangal yeshwantpur road is good to take in the evening. planning a 0530 start from mumbai so would be entering bangy in the evening. normally i would do the extra 30 km and take the dobespet dodbellarpur deviation but now need inputs regarding my querry.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by goandude

Planning another mumbai bangy mumbai trip in mid december. Wanted to know if the neelamangal yeshwantpur road is good to take in the evening. planning a 0530 start from mumbai so would be entering bangy in the evening. normally i would do the extra 30 km and take the dobespet dodbellarpur deviation but now need inputs regarding my querry.

Your only bottleneck in the evenings is near Yeshwantpur/Goreguntepalya signal due to Metro works. If you are staying in North Bangalore areas, deviate left from Jalahalli Cross signal itself. Othersiwe all the bridge is open and hardly takes 15 mins from Jass Toll at Nelamangala till NICE Intersection.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Your only bottleneck in the evenings is near Yeshwantpur/Goreguntepalya signal due to Metro works. If you are staying in North Bangalore areas, deviate left from Jalahalli Cross signal itself. Othersiwe all the bridge is open and hardly takes 15 mins from Jass Toll at Nelamangala till NICE Intersection.

Thanks for the info. Live in CV raman nagar so will have to go through the bottleneck.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by goandude

Thanks for the info. Live in CV raman nagar so will have to go through the bottleneck.

Well, you can still deviate left at Jalahalli Cross, touch BEL Circle and then turn right at Kuvempu Circle onto New BEL Road and continue towards Sadashivnagar Traffic Police Station signal and finally take a left there towards Mekhri Circle and then its your usual road to CV Raman Nagar. Traffic in that direction (at least till Sadashivnagar TPS) wont be that thick during this time and hence, instead of that frustrating Jam all the way till Yeshwantpur, you can move in traffic faster and is a better bet.