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-   -   The art of travelling between Bangalore - Mangalore/Udupi (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-travel-queries/91125-art-travelling-between-bangalore-mangalore-udupi-3.html)

Hey Samurai,

Me being agnostic, I can sincerely say that I am confident the combination of the famed Samurai-skills and that Canon telephoto lens will yield some of the most stunning pics ever of the Kambala :D Just hope some of those bulls didnt splash you/the camera with the you-know-what you-know-when !

My camera system is Olympus, not Canon. Since I had to click all action shots in manual focus, I am not sure about my success until I reach home and upload to PC, keeping my fingers crossed until then.:p

Hey guys...!!

i recently did a Bangalore to Sringeri - Agumbe drive in a friend's swift recently would like to key in a few words for people who'd like to seek some info on the route.

I've driven to kudremukh - Hornadu and nearby places twice over last year in my Santro on this route. As much as the scenery was breathtaking, the roads were equally pathetic in stretches. We did a Bangalore - Kudremukh overnight haul without knowing much about the roads and had to pay a price for it. So most of my learnings come from there...!

The drive upto Chickmagalur is sweet and crisp, to say the least...NH48 is a breezee till Hassan, from there a bypass section leads u to Chickmagalur via Belur road. perfect roads till this point.

From chickmagalur, one needs to take the Mudigere road. Point to note: After driving for abt 10Kms from Chickmagalur, u would have to take a deviation towards Aldur. We did the mistake of proceeding to mudigere and from then on to Kudremukh...this stretch is really bad iced with a lotta potholes, please avoid it !!

What really surprised me was that the Aldur route is as good as a road can get !! The key is to go straight ahead towards Ballehonnur which should be abt 50Kms from chickmagalur.

Now, from Ballehonnur a road leads to Hornadu. I have no words to describe this route really...!! it's probably the best of western ghats that iv'e tackled so far...thought it's a single lane road, i didn't have to negotiate much traffic here. The forests just get thicker and one will experience vegetation ranging from teak forests to bamboo shoots...abt 20 Kms from this point u come to place called Balleholle and from this point the road leading upto Hornadu is simply mesmerizing !! the twists and turns get tortuous and coffee plantations in abundance, with a light drizzle to go by, u are left brooding if this is heaven on earth !!

Hornadu is a place that's beautifully perched in the beautiful Kudremukh valleys with a lot of greenery...from here Kalasa is abt 10 Kms which leads us to our next station Kudremukh...It comes as quite a bonus that the roads in kudremukh are well maintained...gets one wondering, why can't bangalore city roads ever be like this !! There's one govt maintained Bhagavati nature camp, where if u stop by, please make a point to have the mouth watering Chicken delicacies that the local cook Shetty prepares !

A little further away from Kudremukh u have a point called SK Border from where u could proceed towards Karkala or take a hike to Dharmasthala via Bhajagoli, where if u stop by should have the local fish !! another section of road (NH 13), equally good leads you to Sringeri....this is again an amazing stretch but slightly gets narrow at times and u need to be careful of approaching jeeps...

From Sringeri one could go upto Agumbe which is about 30Kms. No kidding here, but the roads are damn straight and neat that one could learn driving here :) In fact, i dont remember going below 5th Gear for a good 20Kms stretch ! In Agumbe do make it a point to get a glimpse of the sunset point, descending a bit will take you to Hebri enroute the Sitanadi nature camp.
From Hebri one could proceed to udupi via Manipal which is again quite a decent stretch...

Phew, that's quite a lotta writing...! Will detail on the Bellahonnur - Jaipura - Sringeri route a while later :)

Cheers,
Vinayak

Nice account of roads, Can you suggest a good place in those regions for a night stay to beat the dry weather of Bangalore?

Abhi

can Stay at Chikmagalur , couple of good hotels, chikmagalur s kind of the central place to visit Sringeri and Hornadu

Try Eagle Eye resort. This one is en route to Sringeri from Chikamagalur. I stayed there once and I liked it.

IndiaReviews - India and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) Specific Reviews

Thanks deepakhon and prashanth, Lets see if I can make out a weekend trip there sometime soon...

Abhi

Hey Abhi,

if u'r not so much into Resorts and fancy places, i would suggest u make plans to stay in the Forest Dept's Nature camps. These are camps which which offer comfortable tents, rooms or dormitories for acco. u would need to call up the Range Officer of Karkala division to book your tents...
It's kinda rustic and i'm sure one would love such experiences..There's one in Kudremukha called Bhagavati Nature Camp. There's a nice little lake there to loiter by and they do arrage for Jeep drives to the peak where if u'r lucky enough u could spot a sambar or Wild Bison and things like that...

If u decide to go for River Rafting during the season, u might want to go all the way to Sitanadi nature camp in Hebri...Private tour operators (Jungle Lodges) do provide an entire white water Rafting. They also do provide a Kayaking package which is carried out in the Varahi dam for about a thousand bucks.

Vinayak

Planning to travel Blr - Mangalore this weekend. Is the Sakleshpur ghat roads fixed now ? Or should I take one of the alternative routes suggested here by Samurai & rjstyles69.
==
Bangalore-Mandya-Srirangapattanna-Hunsur-Madikeri-Sullia-Puttur-Mangalore
Bangalore-Tumkur-Tiptur-Bharavathi-Shimogga-Agumbe-Hebri-Hiriyadka-Manipal-Udupi-Mangalore
Bangalore-Hassan-Belur-Moodigere-Kudremuk-Karkala-Moodbidre-Mangalore
Hassan--Belur--Moodigere--Ujire--Bantwal
Hassan--Gurwayankere--Venoor--Moodbidri and Mangalore.
==

You can take the Sakleshpur - Shiradi ghat road (NH48 throughout) to go to Mangalore....roads have been laid now in most places.... a friend of mine drove down yesterday on NH48 and its ok...

Abhi

Dont even think of this route
Was in Mercara over the weekend and some stretches between Hunsur and KushalNagar looks like a battlefield.
Further beyond from KushalNagar towards Suntikoppa its a bumpy drive.

OT : If you stilll wish to choose this route and have a scenic drive try
Hunsur--Virajpet--Gonikoppa--Badamangla--Madikeri(40kms extra)

Sakleshpur ghat roads and beyond have been done and have confirmed this with my colleague who is from Ujjire , so shouldnt be a problem.

Drive safe and keep the routes handy.Happy tripping !!

Thanks much mates. Will try to post the experience after the trip.

Thank god they have started repairing Sakleshpur - Shiradi ghat road. I have heard enough horror stories about that route for such a long time. I believe buses plying on that route used to carry wooden planks to drive over some of the craters !! :)

Enjoy while it lasts, say for couple of months. Apparently they have only patched up the pot holes, they have not re-laid the roads. That means the road (the trail actually) will be back in hell once monsoon starts.

Hi guys

planning to take my 2 week old car to mangalore this monthend..so wanted some info.

Damn those travel guys who never seem to have bus tickets :Frustrati

Anyways..just wanted to know if its safe to push a new car with just 400KMs on odo for a long trip..

Also any good practises to be followed?

And those who have travelled on this road before, please tell me if this road is ok to drive or not.

the other alternative is mysore-coorg-mangalore

please let me know guys

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