[Fauji]

Originally Posted by ranjith.rajaram

Say if you start by 7/8 AM you can reach Hotel Upachar Kamat & IOC Pump to the Left after 400 Kms from Sangam and its near after Sira.

Somehow i did not like Kamat Upachar. It looked unhygieninc.

I would recommed breaking for lunch in Chitradurga. You can go to this Hotel Called Naveen Regency - take the road to the left before the Chitradurga flyover and then enter - which has decent restuarant as well as clean rest rooms. If you are c[FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']onnoisseur[/FONT] of good food, Mahalaxmi Bhavan in town serves excellent Masala Dosas. Worth every drop of butter on it!!

[selfdrive]

I am considering a trip from Pune to Coorg, is it quicker and more convenient to take the NH4 or drive via Mangalore? Can someone please assist with the road condition/ estimated time of driving? I expect to take multiple stops enroute for which I will budget time separately

And no, it wont be in the Nano, though I am really tempted

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

I am considering a trip from Pune to Coorg, is it quicker and more convenient to take the NH4 or drive via Mangalore? Can someone please assist with the road condition/ estimated time of driving? I expect to take multiple stops enroute for which I will budget time separately

And no, it wont be in the Nano, though I am really tempted

I don't advise via Mangalore as road work is going on between Mangalore and Madikeri and parts of it was closed. The good
Alternative is to follow NH 4 till Davanagere and then go to shimogga via Honnali. From Shimoga take NH 206 till Banavara and then move to Sakleshpur via Hassan . From Saleshpur go to Madikeri via Bisle ghat. The road through out till Sakleshpur is good. Not sure about lst stretch via Bisle ghat

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Fauji

I don't advise via Mangalore as road work is going on between Mangalore and Madikeri and parts of it was closed. The good
Alternative is to follow NH 4 till Davanagere and then go to shimogga via Honnali. From Shimoga take NH 206 till Banavara and then move to Sakleshpur via Hassan . From Saleshpur go to Madikeri via Bisle ghat. The road through out till Sakleshpur is good. Not sure about lst stretch via Bisle ghat

I remember Samurai saying Bisle is purely SUV territory. Road is not all that great.
Any updates on that Samurai-san?

From Hassan better to go via Gorur-Arkalgud-Sanivarsannthe-Somwaarpet-Madekeri.

Following is the route:
Pune, Maharashtra to Madikeri, Karnataka - Google Maps

[DaiusPitar]

Info needed!

Have just set out with my brother from Mumbai to Chennai. Plan to halt in the evening before carrying on tomorrow. I expect I shall be halting somewhere in the Chitradurga to tumkur area.
I need suggestions on a decent Budget place to stay. Criteria would be clean rooms/toilet only. Also safe overnight parking because i am shifting and the safari is loaded. Thanks...

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by DaiusPitar

Info needed!

Have just set out with my brother from Mumbai to Chennai. Plan to halt in the evening before carrying on tomorrow. I expect I shall be halting somewhere in the Chitradurga to tumkur area.
I need suggestions on a decent Budget place to stay. Criteria would be clean rooms/toilet only. Also safe overnight parking because i am shifting and the safari is loaded. Thanks...

Stay in Hotel Ravi Mayur in Chitradurga. Do not take the elevated road bypass, stick to the roads below, and yiu will see the hotel of the right side (north bound) of the road. Parking is however in the fron of the hotel but with security guard.

If you are faster, you can target Hosur too after crossing Bangalore (bypass on NICE Road). Depending on your budget, you can stay at HOtel Victoria (budget), HOtel Tamil Nadu (budget) or Hotel Sarovar (expensive) - all have car parking inside.

[DaiusPitar]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Stay in Hotel Ravi Mayur in Chitradurga. Do not take the elevated road bypass, stick to the roads below, and yiu will see the hotel of the right side (north bound) of the road. Parking is however in the fron of the hotel but with security guard.

If you are faster, you can target Hosur too after crossing Bangalore (bypass on NICE Road). Depending on your budget, you can stay at HOtel Victoria (budget), HOtel Tamil Nadu (budget) or Hotel Sarovar (expensive) - all have car parking inside.

Thanks a million. Will do whats possible coz we are very delayed. Having lunch only now at hotel prasad at the ichalkaranji turnoff in kolhapur.
As usual, ur knowledge is encyclopaedic and never ceases to amaze me.

[JVH]

I just came back from a Bangalore-Kolhapur-Bangalore roadtrip. Did this trip after a gap of 8 months and was pleasantly surprised by the positive developments. No more road deviations (very few in fact) and except the railway crossing, one can now avoid Ranebennur town. The biggest relief was when we saw the smooth flowing traffic on the new flyovers of Nelamangala and Peenya.

Having said that, I also found a few speedbreakers emerging out of nowhere and without any reason. There were instances where I deliberately slowed down expecting a hump near the intersections, only to be disappointed. And we were gloriously jumping at full speed where the humps emerged out of nowhere.

I also had to control my temper when we noticed several tum-tums, 2 wheelers and Tempos coming on the wrong side expecially after Davengere. Absolute morons. I had a tough time anticipating and overtaking the trucks in our own lane expecting the morons to emerge anytime.

[Limpid]

Thanks for the update JVH. In how many hours did you do Bangalore Kolhapur?

[JVH]

Originally Posted by Limpid

Thanks for the update JVH. In how many hours did you do Bangalore Kolhapur?

11 hours to Kolhapur and about 10.5 back to Bangalore. Car was FIAT Palio 1.6 GTX.

[binand]

Originally Posted by DaiusPitar

Info needed!

Have just set out with my brother from Mumbai to Chennai.

Would you mind posting your on-road experience? I am also doing a relocation, so planning to drive Mumbai-Chennai on 15/5. I am intimately familiar with the Bangalore-Chennai section and Mumbai-Pune is a no-brainer, so the key section is Pune-Bangalore.

I plan to start at 5AM from Mumbai and arrive in Chennai at around 1AM. First half to be driven by me (till around 3PM) and the next half by a professional driver.

TIA.

[Janjua]

Originally Posted by akroy

My Suggession:

1) Start from BLR at 3AM
2) Breakfast at Ranibennur A1 Plaza at 7:30AM (about 300km from here)
Blr - Tumkur - Sira - Chitradurga - Davangere - Ranibennur, Watch out for Tumkur BP....Dont cross 100kmph after Chitradurga as there are often diversions...
3) Lunch at Belgaum (Ranibennur - haveri - Hubli - Belgaum)
4) Belgaum to Pune can be easily done within 4 hours nonstop....
5) You should reach Mumbai before sunset if u plan up the trip nicely...

I know u cannot do nonstop like Kumar but there are many people who often do Mumbai - Blr in 15 hours quite easily...trick is u should start at 3AM...

Abhi

Sir,

With due regards, I beg to differ with you. Starting at 3 AM means getting up at 1.30-2.00 AM to get things started. When does one sleep and when does one get up to get ready?
I am a firm believer that a good nights' rest is essential for a long drive the next day. I have done enough long route driving to harbour this humble opinion.
It is always prudent to sleep early, get up at around 5 AM and be on the road at 6. Traffic snarls will sooner or later catch up with you, so don't worry and just enjoy the drive.

Regards.

[binand]

Originally Posted by Janjua

Starting at 3 AM means getting up at 1.30-2.00 AM to get things started.

I need only about 30 minutes from waking up to being on road. Here is how it works:

Up, electric kettle and toaster on, into bathroom.

Brush, loo, quick shave with electric razor (I hate my stubble), equally quick cold shower with brisk soaping.

Out, make black coffee (sugarless), fill travel flask.

Dress - shorts, loose t-shirt, floaters. Eat couple of slices of toast while dressing. Plain water to wash it down.

Packing and loading car done previous evening itself, so just pick up coffee flask and a small bag (mobile, wallet and similar stuff).

Out of apartment in 30 minutes. Sip through the black coffee during the first hour.

But I do need minimum 6 hours of sleep, so my preferred start time is around 4AM.

[paragsachania]

Not that it is making a big difference now with the roads good all the way except the railway crossings, but finally work begins on the Ranebennur level crossing on laying of girders for ROB.



http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repos...sh-skin-custom

Hope work on the second crossing at Haveri starts soon and then we have the whole runway ready to belt all the way.

[Marlon]

Hi All,

Am planning a solo drive from Mumbai to Chennai on 21/5. Is there any latest information which I should keep in mind especially road conditions.

Regards
marlon