[_chikku]

Friends.. Anyone knows what's the road condition between mudigere and sakleshpur via hanbal? Also between hasan and sakleshpur. Been a long time that I have driven through these routes.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by _chikku

Friends.. Anyone knows what's the road condition between mudigere and sakleshpur via hanbal? Also between hasan and sakleshpur. Been a long time that I have driven through these routes.

Just last week, I heard from a friend that the Hanbal-Jannapura stretch (which was bad earlier) has been repaired. Don't know if it was re-laid or if only the potholes were filled up. Jannapura-Mudigere road is in good condition.

Hassan-Sakleshpur road is in good shape, although it gets a little rough while getting closer to Sakleshpura.

[geet114]

Had being to Moodabidri from Bangalore last weekend, was forced to take the Hassan-Belur-Belthangady-Mudigere route, as the Shiradi ghat road is still not open for traffic and work is "in-progress" from last 5-6 months.

The Charmadi ghat road was the good to drive, though had to stop for couple of times for ongoing traffic to clear in narrow stretches.

Major road widening work is being taken up just before the monsoon sets in, basically they are breaking up the rocks and mud from the narrow stretches and spreading it up at places where the gap between the tarmac and group has increased, making it very dusty when dry, should ease up in monsoon, i guess.

Otherwise the drive was quite OK with light traffic, and could reach Bangalore in 7 hrs. flat with 2 small breaks.

[Perched]

Hi all,

I am going on a trip to western Karnataka starting this weekend, a part of which involves driving from Jog Falls to Murudeshwar. Now Google maps has two route suggestions as follows:

1. Jog falls - Kodkani - Honnavar - Murudeshwar and
2. Jog falls - Kargal - Bhatkal - Murudeshwar (SH50)

Could someone please help me choosing between the two routes based on road conditions? I drive a grand i10 so big potholes are best avoided.

Thanks!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Perched

1. Jog falls - Kodkani - Honnavar - Murudeshwar and
2. Jog falls - Kargal - Bhatkal - Murudeshwar (SH50)

Dont take the SH50 (Kargal SH). Just go all the way to Honnvar and come down to Murdeshwar. Much better that way.

[meetbadri]

Originally Posted by Perched

Hi all,

I am going on a trip to western Karnataka starting this weekend, a part of which involves driving from Jog Falls to Murudeshwar. Now Google maps has two route suggestions as follows:

1. Jog falls - Kodkani - Honnavar - Murudeshwar and
2. Jog falls - Kargal - Bhatkal - Murudeshwar (SH50)

Could someone please help me choosing between the two routes based on road conditions? I drive a grand i10 so big potholes are best avoided.

Thanks!

I would suggest you to take the first route. Road is not much wide at the ghat however after Gersoppa its just dream to drive. And after Honnavar you will see some potholes on the Sharavathi bridge till you cross kasarkod but manageable.

[lohithrao]

People planning to drive down to bangalore, which route will make sense? i believe Madikeri -Mysore road is in good shape but traffic on Mysore road is what scares me

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Just last week, I heard from a friend that the Hanbal-Jannapura stretch (which was bad earlier) has been repaired. Don't know if it was re-laid or if only the potholes were filled up. Jannapura-Mudigere road is in good condition.

Hassan-Sakleshpur road is in good shape, although it gets a little rough while getting closer to Sakleshpura.

If true then it will be way quicker to reach Mudigere from Hassan compared to Belur option.

Hassan-Belur is tediously slow these days, thanks to beeline of traffic that includes weekenders, KSRTC Buses (Includes those deviated to this route from Shiradi), Trucks 'et al. Not to forget the numerous speedbreakers every few kms and crossing of Belur town.

This route (Hassan-Belur) also witnesses traffic that is Mysore/Bangalore bound whereas from the present condition you can expect almost zero traffic towards Hassan from Sakleshpur as buses are not coming from that side. So Hassan-Sakleshpura may have thick traffic only in one direction rather than both depending on whether its the start of the weekend or the end apart from the fact whether Techies are taking this route (Hanbal) for Mudigere or otherwise .

Sakleshpura option seems viable but the only concern is the width of the Sakleshpura-Hanbal-Jannapura section even if its asphalted.

I last drove in January and the road was indeed bad and for sure not the one to take after dark due to the huge sized potholes and unpredictable road widths and above all, sharp road edges.

Let this remain the road for those who are familiar with the area and know how to drive like how charmadi was else am sure you will be at the receiving end for not informing that there were zero facilities on this stretch beyond Sakleshpura.

[_chikku]

Just drove through charmadi. There was a landslide which has blocked half of the road. At two places there is a running water stream on the road. Whole ghat has turned muddy and slippery. I suggest stay away from charmadi for this weekend.

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by lohithrao

People planning to drive down to bangalore, which route will make sense? i believe Madikeri -Mysore road is in good shape but traffic on Mysore road is what scares me

If you are planning to drive down on weekend, then better stay away from Mysore-Bangalore stretch. You can take either of below routes.
1. Madikeri-Somwarpete-Shanivarasanthe-Arkalagud-HN Pura-CR Patna-Bangalore. [Route-Link]
2. Madikeri-Kushalnagar-Ramanathpura-Arkalagud-HN Pura-CR Patna-Bangalore.[Route-Link]

First is full of twistly roads with scenic beauty, second is a breeze to drive with usual humps in between till Ramanathpura,

[speedsatya]

Started 1 am and reached mangalore at 645 am IST. As usual took the Charmadi route.

I was surprised to see some mangalore bound 12 m buses taking this route! The ones that we encountered were struggling to take the hair pins and were causing mini jams in the process! Dunno what is the check post for if they allow long buses also on this route.

There is some road widening word done along the second half of the road ) towards mangalore ). And what's road widening ? It's just scraping the hillock haphazardly with huge rocks , gravel , mud lying along the sides. This can really get tricky when driving in the rain or in heavy traffic. Most of these HCV drivers wouldn't want to go to the road edges and hence they create their own set of followers on the road!

I had the ABS kicking in at so many places and sometimes even on straights on light braking. Was very very slippery with my useless 185 mm MRF tyres.

Also there were the usual Bangalore cabbies in their 10 BHP cars trying to redline and race with each other at 20 kph. Now , 2-4 cars would all reach this hairpin bend together and then try to barge ahead to get that P1 position only to end up blocking the road and create yet another type of small jam

Yesterday drive was all about which idiot would create the most effective traffic jam on Charmadi

To sum it up , I wouldn't recommend this route to anyone :

1- driving with that last mm of rubber which " can run for 3K more kms , that's why I am not changing tyres now "

2- low on patience as these mini-jams do test you at times while trying to pass someone on an otherwise clear road

3- driving during daytime ( especially ) on a weekend

4- having poor wipers and using only plain water without windshield washer fluid to clean the the front windshield. The entire stretch is so muddy that following any small car in a light drizzle will test your smartness with using wipers and the windshield washer. One or two wipes might smudge the windshield more which can be dangerous in that kind of traffic

5- having a very tight deadline to reach your destination. Charmadi is all fluke. No major jams and you can easily do this in around 6-7 hours including a quick food break

The return leg :

Plan is to start 330 am from Konaje tomorrow and pass Charmadi at around 6 am. I am assuming there would be lesser mangalore bound traffic on a Sunday morning. Also I plan to take the Mudigere - Sakleshpur instead of via Belur. The Charmadi - Mudigere - Belur stretch has some deep broken edges which can be tricky when giving way to oncoming traffic in rains.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

If true then it will be way quicker to reach Mudigere from Hassan compared to Belur option.


Let this remain the road for those who are familiar with the area and know how to drive like how charmadi was else am sure you will be at the receiving end for not informing that there were zero facilities on this stretch beyond Sakleshpura.

Same pinch Parag. Saw this post now ! I will driving this route tomorrow and will update here

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by _chikku

Friends.. Anyone knows what's the road condition between mudigere and sakleshpur via hanbal? Also between hasan and sakleshpur. Been a long time that I have driven through these routes.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Just last week, I heard from a friend that the Hanbal-Jannapura stretch (which was bad earlier) has been repaired. Don't know if it was re-laid or if only the potholes were filled up. Jannapura-Mudigere road is in good condition.

Hassan-Sakleshpur road is in good shape, although it gets a little rough while getting closer to Sakleshpura.

Yep, it's been RELAID completely between Hanbal & Jannapura, except for small bridges, which are being widened.
Took this stretch very recently.

[belvaisudheer]

Originally Posted by Samurai

I traveled the other direction today, Manipal to Bangalore via ampere route. This route is so uneventful, I have really nothing say.

Yesterday my cousin took the same route after I briefed him. He was quite thrilled at the ease and quality of the route.

BTW, it is already June. When is Shiradi opening?

Hi Samurai, Request you to throw a little more light on the Ampere route I am a frequenter to Karkala. A little detailing starting from nelamangala will definitely help me take that route with confidence.

Regards, Sudheer

[ampere]

Originally Posted by belvaisudheer

Hi Samurai, Request you to throw a little more light on the Ampere route I am a frequenter to Karkala. A little detailing starting from nelamangala will definitely help me take that route with confidence.

Regards, Sudheer

The following is the route: Route Link

- But seems like, Charmadi is a better option for Karkala.
- The suggested route works very well for Udupi/Manipal.
- For Karkala I think its a big round about. Maybe you should try the Kudramukh option too. Route Link

- Bangalore-Hasasan-Sakleshpur-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Kalasa-Hornadu-Bajagoli-Karkala.

- Folks are trying to explore if Sakleshpur-Mudigere is good
- That should help avoid Hassan-Belur-Mudigere

[belvaisudheer]

Originally Posted by ampere

The following is the route: Route Link

- But seems like, Charmadi is a better option for Karkala.
- The suggested route works very well for Udupi/Manipal.
- For Karkala I think its a big round about. Maybe you should try the Kudramukh option too. Route Link

- Bangalore-Hasasan-Sakleshpur-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Kalasa-Hornadu-Bajagoli-Karkala.

- Folks are trying to explore if Sakleshpur-Mudigere is good
- That should help avoid Hassan-Belur-Mudigere

Thanks Ampere. However I having been taking the Kudremukh route since the day Shiradi was closed. As you mentioned the pain point is Hassan - Belur - Kottigehara and then on its just amazing via Kuduremukh.
Let me wait for Sakleshpur-Mudigere updates. Thanks Again, Sudheer
PS: Let me attach few wildlife spotting captured by me en route Kudremukh on various occasions:
Peahen

The jungle Fowl

The Indian Gaur

Malabar Giant Squirrel

Wild Hare

Common Langur