[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by suvi

The places we want to cover are : Dharmasthala, Subramanya, Udupi, Kollur, Murudeshwar, Maravanthe, Shringeri, Belur and Halebid. We are planning to do it in 3 days.

Suvi,

The itinerary is possible but a bit hectic.

Day 1: According to ur plan you may reach Sringeri late afternoon.
5.30 am departure is fine. i'm assuming you'll have breakfast at Hassan. After Hassan do not go to Belur. Go to Halebid and from there got to Belur. To go to Chikmagalur you have to go through Belur. So, it will save you some time.
I would not recommend to drive in Agumbe ghats after 7-7.30 pm. It is a naxal prone area and you will have to pass through forest area once down the ghats.
You can also visit Agumbe sunset point on the way if you reach Agumbe by 5-5.30. It is very beautiful. (i doubt you can make to Agumbe by this time since you say you have elders and kids and may not drive very fast)

@lohith - to go to Hornad, you can avoid Mudigere-Kottigehara route and go via Balehonnur. It is a much better route

Day2 is fine. Leave Udupi early, reach Murdeshwara, come back to Maravanthe and then to Kollur. visit temple, have lunch and be back in Udupi by evening.

Day3: I don't know if you can make it to Melukote within daylight according to your plan. What route are you planning to take from Subramanya to Melukote? If you will be taking Sulya-Madikeri-Mysore route, it will be more than 200 kms and will take atleast 4 hrs to cover that.

[suvi]

Thanks addyhemmige and lohitrao.

If i skip Melukote, and reverse the Day 3 and Day 1, can i reach Dharmasthala before temple closes for lunch after seeing Subramanya (assuming 5:30am departure from Bangalore). I would ideally prefer this since Dharmasthala and Udupi are the must see for Elders and other places can be added/deleted as per time availability.
I guess this itinery should be safe (if the chances of seeing Dharmasthala before lunch is high)

Day 1 (Sunday): Departure at 5:30am
Bangalore - Subramanya - Dharmasthala - Udupi
Lunch at Dharmasthala. Night Stay at Udupi.

Day 2:
Udupi - Kollur - Murudeshwar - Maravanthe - Udupi
Lunch at Kollur and night stay at Udupi again.

Day 3:
Udupi - Shringeri - Hornadu - Belur - Halebid - Bangalore
Lunch at Hornadu

any Idea about "Hotel Janardhan" in Udupi? Any other suggestions for 2 days stay in Udupi welcome (budget 750*3 or 1000*2 per night if triple bedrooms are available)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

I would not recommend to drive in Agumbe ghats after 7-7.30 pm. It is a naxal prone area and you will have to pass through forest area once down the ghats.

I'll have to disagree with this part. There are naxals in this area, but never heard of them bothering the tourists. I drive through this road all the time, often in night, the Someshwara forest (33kms from my home) after the ghats is very tame, you can't even find wildlife here.

[lohithrao]

The plan seems to be good,

In Udupi you can stay in "Pancharatna PAradise" its inside the town and very close to Daina...

have fun

Originally Posted by suvi

Thanks addyhemmige and lohitrao.

If i skip Melukote, and reverse the Day 3 and Day 1, can i reach Dharmasthala before temple closes for lunch after seeing Subramanya (assuming 5:30am departure from Bangalore). I would ideally prefer this since Dharmasthala and Udupi are the must see for Elders and other places can be added/deleted as per time availability.
I guess this itinery should be safe (if the chances of seeing Dharmasthala before lunch is high)

Day 1 (Sunday): Departure at 5:30am
Bangalore - Subramanya - Dharmasthala - Udupi
Lunch at Dharmasthala. Night Stay at Udupi.

Day 2:
Udupi - Kollur - Murudeshwar - Maravanthe - Udupi
Lunch at Kollur and night stay at Udupi again.

Day 3:
Udupi - Shringeri - Hornadu - Belur - Halebid - Bangalore
Lunch at Hornadu

any Idea about "Hotel Janardhan" in Udupi? Any other suggestions for 2 days stay in Udupi welcome (budget 750*3 or 1000*2 per night if triple bedrooms are available)

[laluks]

two questions

1) Can civic go via shiradi if driven carefully these 6 to 20 oddkilometers? or is it still unsafe?

2) I want to do Dharmasthala, mudabidri, karkala, sringeri. My idea is to leave from mangalore early morning and reach udupi for the night after visiting these. If possible see susnet at Agumbe too. Let me know if this seems too optimistic??

Please let me know which roads to take. My day would be like Mangalore - Dharamsthala - mudabidri - karkala - sringeri - agumbe -udupi.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by laluks

2) I want to do Dharmasthala, mudabidri, karkala, sringeri. My idea is to leave from mangalore early morning and reach udupi for the night after visiting these. If possible see susnet at Agumbe too. Let me know if this seems too optimistic??

That's a lot for one day. Possible if you start very early. However, don't put too much hope on sunset at Agumbe. It is hazy on most days. I can see western ghats (the Agumbe hills actually) from my house, may be once in two months. That should give you an idea how often sunset can be seen from Agumbe.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by Samurai

That's a lot for one day. Possible if you start very early. However, don't put too much hope on sunset at Agumbe. It is hazy on most days. I can see western ghats (the Agumbe hills actually) from my house, may be once in two months. That should give you an idea how often sunset can be seen from Agumbe.

Thanks Samurai. I have heard Agumbe is the wettest place in South India. Does it rain there in May too?

Could you also let me know the road conditions if any bad stretches or roads to avoid or roads preferred etc.

[lohithrao]

laluks yes you can go via shiradi in your Civic.

[marlinspike]

which petrol pumps are best to use on round trips between blr-hassan-kuke/dharmastala section.

[lohithrao]

Hassa has couple of decent bunks, HP and IO..you need to get into the city.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by laluks

Thanks Samurai. I have heard Agumbe is the wettest place in South India. Does it rain there in May too?

No, it doesn't rain there outside of monsoons. But driving through this area during monsoon is simply heavenly.

Check these:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...mbe-ghats.html (Cooling system testing in Agumbe Ghats)
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...s-part-ii.html (Cooling system test in Agumbe Ghats - Part II)

Originally Posted by laluks

Could you also let me know the road conditions if any bad stretches or roads to avoid or roads preferred etc.

The ghat road itself is not good, but that is a short stretch, but there is nothing to avoid. But then my viewpoint gets a little skewed since I do this stretch only in either GV or Jeep.

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by laluks

two questions

I want to do Dharmasthala, mudabidri, karkala, sringeri. My idea is to leave from mangalore early morning and reach udupi for the night after visiting these. If possible see susnet at Agumbe too. Let me know if this seems too optimistic??

Originally Posted by Samurai

That's a lot for one day. Possible if you start very early. However, don't put too much hope on sunset at Agumbe. It is hazy on most days.

Have to agree here samurai. @Laluks, that would be a lot for a day.

Originally Posted by laluks

Thanks Samurai. I have heard Agumbe is the wettest place in South India. Does it rain there in May too?
.

Yep it's the wettest place in south India. Sometimes Agumbe receives rain in the month of MAY too(But not the Monsoon ones). I had been near Agumbe last month but weather was quite Hot over there.

Originally Posted by marlinspike

which petrol pumps are best to use on round trips between blr-hassan-kuke/dharmastala section.

Most of the times I use the petrol pumps while commuting between Bangalore - Hassan are
1 . BP bunk @ Solur( After Nelmangala) - COCO bunk
2 . Bunk at Cafe Coffe day Udayapura - After chennarayaptna -IOCL -COCO.
While at Sakleshpur Most of the time I use the IOCL bunk just after the curves(ossur estate ??) before entering Sakleshpur while coming from Hassan.

[vvnagan]

Hi all,

A trip to Kundapur is in the offing around the 20th of May. So what route do I take? I understand that going via Mangalore would be a round-about way. So which route to take?
Is this the best route -
Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Chikmagalur - Balehonnur - Sringeri - Agumbe - Udupi.

Also place to eat along the way (vegetarian preferably).
Pointers to hotels in Kundapur would also be appreciated.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by vvnagan

Bangalore - Hassan - Belur - Chikmagalur - Balehonnur - Sringeri - Agumbe - Udupi.
Pointers to hotels in Kundapur would also be appreciated.

Don't go to Udupi, after getting down Agumbe ghats, turn towards Kundapur at Someshwara town. At Kundapur, Sharon is the best choice. If you want a nice resort try this: Sun Castle - Home Page

[vvnagan]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Don't go to Udupi, after getting down Agumbe ghats, turn towards Kundapur at Someshwara town. At Kundapur, Sharon is the best choice. If you want a nice resort try this: Sun Castle - Home Page

Thank you Samurai San.
Sun Castle looks good. But I guess Sharon will do in these recession hit times.