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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-385.html)

Hello Raj,
I drove to Kundapur via Agumbe over the weekend and it was very pleasant. Started from Bangalore at 8am and was able to reach Kundapur by 4pm(With 2 stops for breakfast and lunch which took almost 1 hour in total). Since your destination is Udupi, the route is pretty straight forward

Bangalore - Tumkur Bypass - Tiptur - Bhadravati Bypass- Shimoga Bypass- Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - Hebri - Udupi.
Agumbe ghats are the shortest ones (Hardly 9km) and I could do that in 20 mins with fair amount of traffic. Rest of the roads are in great condition except a minor blip near the railways crossings at Birur and Kadur. Hope this helps

Instead try this :
Bangalore - Nelamangala-CR Patna-Arsikere - Bhadravati Bypass- Shimoga Bypass- Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - Hebri - Udupi.
Even better. Avoids Tumkur as well.

Another variant can be as I mentioned in an earlier post :
Bangalore - Nelamangala-CR Patna-Arsikere - Bhadravati Bypass- SH65 toward NR Pura - Exit to Mandagadde- Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Someshwar - Hebri - Udupi.

This would avoid Shimoga as well.

Current road condition to Mangalore.

Bangalore to Hassan


Excellent roads, hardly any traffic.

Hassan to Belur

Excellent roads, albeit lots of speedbreakers. Moderate traffic.

Left at 7 am from JP Nagar, picked up cousin from HSR Layout, entered NICE Road at Bannerughatta Road. Currently in Belur. Will update as and when I drive on to Udupi.


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Dear Ampere,

I intend to take above route. How is road "SH65 toward NR Pura" ? Is it fares better?

How are you planning to travel to Udupi ? Which route ?

I am starting by 5 tomorrow and hoping i can clear Charmadi before traffic builds up !!

I have NOT done Bhadra- Mandagadde turn off. But beyond that all the way till NR Pura its a belter. Further up to Balehonnur it continues to remain super smooth. Dont know about the Koppa side.

Going by how it is towards NR Pura side from Mandagadde, I presume, it should be good at the start from Bhadra too.

Have a slight detour to Dharmasthala and Kukke Subramanya.

So, now I'm heading to Dharmasthala via Mudigere (Charmadi Ghat), then onto Kukke Subramanya via Neyyadi.

Finish darshan and then onto Mangalore(drop my cousin) via BC Road and then Udupi via Surathkal, Kaup, Mulki.


Road condition b/w Belur and Dharmasthala via Mudigere


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Watched a clip on internet (by Namma TV Kannada channel) which showcased work in progress at Shiradi ghat. They showed a concreting machine imported from Germany for 6.5 crore. This machine is capable of concreting a kilometer of road per day (up to certain thickness). Also it was told that with German machine there is no need of centering, hence work will be much faster and less labor intensive.
A 90 cubic meter capacity and 30 cubic meter capacity plans capable of gulping 7,500 cement bag per day have been setup near Sakaleshapura. These plans are computer controlled to ensure uniform concrete mixture. 60% of sand and jelly stone have been procured already. Also they spoke about adding some resin or plastic base to the road which ensures easy removal of rain water (with the help from IIT professor).

All in all it looks good and hopefully work will be completed before rainy season.
Any one here watched this clip?

http://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hvide...23&oe=54C490B1

Here is the clip (in kannada)

This is the similar machine used in Bangalore NICE Roads to convert the tarmac into cement road. I am not sure how good the roads are holding up now, probably any frequent traveler's on nice road can comment for the same:)

Reached udupi via charmadi ghat

I must say decent pothole free drive.
Traffic was steady in charmadi but mostly light vehicles and few buses. They have done a great work in widening the road. Apart from few curves where boulders block the widening, rest of the ghats are wide enough for any two lane traffic

But i wish people get a short training on ghat driving
Two types of bad drivers :
Bangalore cars are always in hurry to overtake and then they eventually stop more frequently since rear seat passengers keep throwing up.

Then there is other category of people who go blank seeing winding road and drive at 20-30kmph and do not give way for other cars. Was stuck behind one such pilot car honda city along with 10 more cars ahead of me and felt the plight of F1 drivers when pilot cars are on.

I wanted to go to a place near Uppinangady yesterday and had planned to take charmadi ghat. Started from Bangalore at 4 AM and was surprised to see many Bangalore registered cars all along the NH-48 that early. Usually there won't be any cars at that time in the highway. Better sense prevailed and immediately changed my decision at Channarayapatna and took the Holenarasipura - Madikeri - Sullia - Puttur - Uppinangady. It was a peaceful drive. Madikeri ghat was literally empty.

Which route do the buses take ? Started at 3 am from Bannerghata road and was crossing Hunsur around 515 am. Didn't see any of the B9Rs or the sleeper / non -AC buses ? Reached Mangalore in slightly more than 7 hours including a breakfast stop at Hotel New Hariprasad in Puttur.

Does anyone know about early morning traffic on Charmadi ? Planning to start back around 4/5 am tomorrow

Rajahamsa and upwards, they all take Blore-Mysore Ring Road-Hunsur-Madikeri-Mlore route.
Didn't spot any of the private buses, though, along this route (Blore-Mysore-Madikeri). Found my answer at Kushalnagar. The private buses leaving Mlore, are taking a left turn on a wide 2 lane road, just before the KSRTC bus terminal (or rather, a junction). Assuming that this road either leads to Hassan or Chennarayapatna.
Blore-Mysore-Madikeri-Sampaje-Mani route is pothole-free (but for a little over 5 km road work still in progress, that might get completed in a month's time). But sadly, the number of speedbreakers and windings are a distraction to an otherwise overall excellent route.

And oh, the Illvala-KRS bypass road is closed for repair. In case any of you happen to take this detour after the bridge at Srirangapatna, you can still take the left, soon after the power house. The road leads to the ring road, passing by JK Tyres factory. A right turn into the ring road, and another right turn towards Madikeri, and you'll be back on track :)

Trivia: The Airavat Club Class buses no longer have those graphics (baby in pram) on them, after their FC paint jobs. They are simply all white, giving a dull appearance, except for the Airavat Club Class written in italics, towards the front side. Also, maybe people no longer sleep like a baby in them anyways, on such winding roads ;)