[aka_iitd]

pervez more details are needed if possible put one travelogue on your experiences etc
Which car did you used to travel

[lohithrao]

ahh thtas a good news....will be going to Mangalore in April and was planning to go via Madikeri...

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

pervez more details are needed if possible put one travelogue on your experiences etc
Which car did you used to travel

Travelogue..hmm. Let me check if I have decent snaps which will
do justice to nature. I also have a complete gear lock installation thread in the pipes, but need a peaceful weekend for that. I will try to do both.

Oh by the way, I was driving a stock zen '04 model.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by aka_iitd

pervez more details are needed

Please let me know what exactly are you looking for. I'll be more than happy to help.

[lohithrao]

Prevez how is the road condition from Puttur till Mangalore....

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

Prevez how is the road condition from Puttur till Mangalore....

Puttur to Mangalore is not bad. There are patches laid, but, they are no reason whatsoever to apply breaks. After Mani you'll encounter traffic, thats when I needed to slow down as Bantwal was approaching. After that the dreaded BC road, again slow, then comes Mahavir circle, regular city traffic. After that I turned towards Ullal, so I cannot say what lies after Mahavir circle.
Hope this helps though.

Anyways, OT, has anyone done better timing than 8 hours on this route? I mean, I need to know if i'm a tortoise. I have seen Ford Endeavours and our darling Safaris getting stuck behind stubborn truckers and bus drivers, in that sence having a small car really helped squeezing past them on narrow forest roads.

[rajshenoy]

I had last taken the madikeri route all the way till mangalore and then udupi in Jan end and yes except the kushal nagar-madikeri stretch(it was ok sorts that time, narrow but luckily no traffic) and madikeri-sampaje was getting patch work treatment(hopefully complete now)

no complaints and i still feel for those who want to go to Mangalore its a good option since you can rip till kushal nagar at whatever speed you like, better to start early mornings and you can maintain 100+ all the way except on stretch between rangantittu and the hunsur road. this will help you atleast interms of time taken

[chandan]

well guys,some respite for users of shiradi stretch.A few weeks back,there was a highway bundh in Sakleshpur to protest against the deplorable condition of shiradi.They invited the contractors,govt officials concerned & made them talk on the dias.Promises were made & amounts were sanctioned to do the "Patchworks".It seemed to have worked.I drove upto Gundiya last weekend,in my Jeep,just to check the condition.Most craters have been filled up & it is motorable now .I saw cars like Zen,civic etc doing the stretch.All those wanting to relive Shiradi for sometime,do it now,before it gets back to it's original shape

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by chandan

well guys,some respite for users of shiradi stretch.A few weeks back,there was a highway bundh in Sakleshpur to protest against the deplorable condition of shiradi.They invited the contractors,govt officials concerned & made them talk on the dias.Promises were made & amounts were sanctioned to do the "Patchworks".It seemed to have worked.I drove upto Gundiya last weekend,in my Jeep,just to check the condition.Most craters have been filled up & it is motorable now .I saw cars like Zen,civic etc doing the stretch.All those wanting to relive Shiradi for sometime,do it now,before it gets back to it's original shape

Respite indeed! Hope this patchwork stays for couple more months, at the least until charmadi is available again. Thanks for bringing this news.. as no one was venturing onto shiradi for sometime now.

[lohithrao]

Chandan thats a good news indeed....but shiradi was more of craters and less of road...so filling up actually wont work

Anyways i guess i will wait for Maruru to give feedback once he is back from the trip...April 2nd week am off to Mlore.

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by chandan

well guys,some respite for users of shiradi stretch.A few weeks back,there was a highway bundh in Sakleshpur to protest against the deplorable condition of shiradi.They invited the contractors,govt officials concerned & made them talk on the dias.Promises were made & amounts were sanctioned to do the "Patchworks".It seemed to have worked.I drove upto Gundiya last weekend,in my Jeep,just to check the condition.Most craters have been filled up & it is motorable now .I saw cars like Zen,civic etc doing the stretch.All those wanting to relive Shiradi for sometime,do it now,before it gets back to it's original shape

Thats really great news. I would be travelling from BLR to MLR come end Apr 2009 and would love to drive down the Shiradi route.

[chandan]

Originally Posted by f1fan

Thats really great news. I would be travelling from BLR to MLR come end Apr 2009 and would love to drive down the Shiradi route.

April end would be too late for the roads to be tested,I'm talking about now.I can't even say how the condition will be this weekend.

[rajshenoy]

Hey Chandan

Can you tell me roughly how many kms are in bad shape?

Last time i took this route sometime in october and it was not just shiradi that was bad but also the hasan Bypass, hasan to sakleshpur showing signs of breaking near the slopes and all the way till the diversion to Dharmasthala(infact it was more horrible there than ghats) If i am not wrong, this comes after Gundya, Did you have a chance to hear about that stretch as well ?

I am planning to travel to Udupi in begining of April and state of our roads are not giving me not many choices

[f1fan]

Originally Posted by chandan

April end would be too late for the roads to be tested,I'm talking about now.I can't even say how the condition will be this weekend.

Damn .
This means I will have to monitor this thread till the time I travel to get the latest update.

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by f1fan

Damn .
This means I will have to monitor this thread till the time I travel to get the latest update.

Yes my friend, more so when you have multiple routes for the same destination. Road conditions can change drastically on this stretch.