[lohithrao]

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[Samurai]

So I finally took the Shiradi on Saturday. I was on 50:50 mind whether to take Shiradi or stick to ampere's route. Then I had an event to attend between Mangalore & B.C.road on Saturday morning. After that, there was no point avoiding Shiradi.

Frankly, it is a joke. After crossing Gundya, I kept looking for the new concrete road. It didn't show up for a long while. Then it appeared, for about 10-12kms, and then vanished again. Gotta say, the tar portion of Shiradi has held up well for august, obviously due to lack of heavy traffic during this monsoon.

This road was closed down for 7 months for laying 12kms of concrete? The only real work I noticed was the concrete reinforcement of certain curves that were prone to soil erosion and land slides.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Frankly, it is a joke.

So no point in taking Shiradi ? Is Amphere's route the best route ?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

So no point in taking Shiradi ? Is Amphere's route the best route ?

No, I didn't mean that. Shiradi is still the best route, but no thanks to the concreting work done over 7 months. Why did they even bother?

[Mahesh Prasad]

Did the return trip from Bangalore last evening via Shiradi. Tried starting as early as possible so as to cross the Ghat section by nightfall, but could only start at 3.00 pm from ISRO Layout. It was already dark when I reached Shiradi and coupled with rain & fog, visibility was low. But did manage down the stretch with no events or alarms. Kept speeds low all along the stretch, so myself & passengers had a relatively stressfree drive and reached Mangalore @ 10.00 pm. Had a 15 mins break just before Hassan & stopped for dinner at Uppinangadi.

Traffic towards Mangalore was low, on the other side though, I could see heavy traffic - possibly "Independence Day Weekend Traffic" towards Bangalore. The toll gate at Bellur Cross was already crowded with Traffic towards Bangalore. Guess people would have a hard time getting into Bangalore last night.

[razeetg]

While going, I took a deviation and went to Kasaragod (via Shiradi). While coming back, I started from home in Mangalore at around 6:30PM. They still have boards saying Shiradi is closed due to work in progress, for a second I though they closed it down again, but then realised they didn't take down the old hoardings. I think they've filled the sides on some part of the road. However, I think if you go down on those part, you'll get stuck because its marshy. So you still have to be careful. Vehicle is likely to sink in about a feet. I drove slowly at the ghats, traffic was moderate-low after Bantwal. Reached just after 1AM.

[Rajesh K R]

Hi Guys,

Planning for a quick DSL & kukke trip in the next weekend. Wanted to tryout the road from Jannapura to Sakleshpura.

Can someone who has taken this road very recently comment on the condition. Also, has traffic eased up on the Charmadi ? Want to try out both Shiradi and Charmadi, so planning to go by Shiradi and return by Charmadi.

The idea is, while returning back, will take the Jannapura to Sakleshpura road and connect straight into Hassan Bypass on the way back to Bangalore.

Will be happy if i get some inputs by pundits of these sections like Parag, Addy, Speedsatya, Samurai.

Cheers !!

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Hi Guys,

Planning for a quick DSL & kukke trip in the next weekend. Wanted to tryout the road from Jannapura to Sakleshpura.

Can someone who has taken this road very recently comment on the condition. Also, has traffic eased up on the Charmadi ? Want to try out both Shiradi and Charmadi, so planning to go by Shiradi and return by Charmadi.

The idea is, while returning back, will take the Jannapura to Sakleshpura road and connect straight into Hassan Bypass on the way back to Bangalore.

Will be happy if i get some inputs by pundits of these sections like Parag, Addy, Speedsatya, Samurai.

Cheers !!

Speedsatya reported Jannapura Hanbal Sakleshpura to be better from his drive 2 weeks before. He mentioned fresh tarmac.

But my question is why you want to hit this road NOW?

Shiradi is open and Charmadi will be at ease due to that. You have both these options than deviating from Standard route. Take Shiradi as the conditons are better now and could be faster than Charmadi too which has deteriorated at few sections.

There is no point in taking the Jannapura road unless you have some very strong reason to do so.

[Rajesh K R]

Parag, as I mentioned it is purely for checking out this road and the views and fun. All these days this road was in a bad shape, hence couldn't venture there. Also how is Charmadi? Is it in a very bad shape?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

Parag, as I mentioned it is purely for checking out this road and the views and fun. All these days this road was in a bad shape, hence couldn't venture there. Also how is Charmadi? Is it in a very bad shape?

For curiosity of checking out this road - You can but not otherwise. There's nothing special about this road when it comes to "Views" that I can recall or advise based on that.

Charmadi was reported to be bad but only in certain sections but in general it is holding up well and driveable.

"Bad" can have various degrees based on assessment like how narrow also gets defined by various drivers.

[lyneld]

I will be driving to Mangalore tonight / early morning and planning on taking Shiradi. I have heard from some folks that it may get crowded, but I plan on leaving around 1am form Bangalore so I expect to be at the ghats by 3.30-4am. At that hour, it should be fairly light *fingers crossed*. Will post back on what the conditions are like on a weekend!

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by lyneld

I plan on leaving around 1am form Bangalore so I expect to be at the ghats by 3.30-4am. At that hour, it should be fairly light *fingers crossed*.

The ghat should be free at those hours. I used to generally leave Bangalore by 2 AM and reach Shiradi at around 5 AM and the ghats used to be literally traffic free. Used to reach my native for breakfast . But those were the days when Shiradi used to be in pristine condition.

[lyneld]

Hey folks...quick update. I ended up leaving Bangalore at 2am (from Sarjapur Road), hit the ghats around 5.30am and was in Mangalore at 8am. This included a stop at an ATM, fuel and a 20min coffee break.

Guyfrmblr, like you mentioned, the ghats was near empty at that time. Just the odd truck or two.

I wasn't really able to identify the new stretch of road that was put together, but I found the Shiradi ghats to be a very pleasurable drive! Pleasantly surprised by that. Was expecting patches of bad road or potholes, but didn't come across either!

Highly recommend this route again for Bangalore - Mangalore travel.

[hangover]

Few observations:
1. The eating places are as bad as they were a year ago. The kamat is doing a roaring business with the busses that stop there. It's really not a place to take your family. The toilets stink and the food is not worth even half the rates they charged. It's the same case with mayuri.
2. For your rest room related work only the coffee day places are suitable for families. You may buy a token coffee takeaway just to keep the staff in good humor.
3. I had got the missus to pack me a proper lunch box. That took care of my brunch and in between pangs. And on the return leg a packed box of naati kori rutti and chakkuli's were quite enjoyable.
4. Would advise all to do the same. The idly vada restaurants are really bad. Both ways. In particular the ones in Sakleshpur seem to have taken their captive market cars stopping after the climb for granted. The food rates and hygiene are overwhelming miserable.
5. The sandwiches at CCD are not worth the price IMHO.
6. You could go into Hassan town. There are a number of very good veg and non-veg places as others have mentioned.
7. As it happened I ran into a literal river of rainfall between Kunigal and Hassan.
8. Am no road engineer but it seemed as if the water drainage on the toll roads were wanting. At many places in this section there were many many pools of water on the highway which caught many a driver unawares.

Meaning - the vehicles would steer in the wrong direction if you were at a fair speed. The water would drag the steering away from the straight if you weren't wary.
9. The Shiradi ghat is not what you'd expect after a 6 month closure for repairs. My suspicions are it was mainly to work on the river linking project. This is the one transporting water from the Netravathi to Doddaballapur. That river has water only in the rainy season. I very much fear the people of Mangalore will be the sufferers in the summer months.
10. By the way now Bisle ghat is closed. Ostensibly for upgrades. My suspicions are again the same as above.

[hangover]

Would have preferred adding to the original. But anyway.
Those who like some natural products may take a quick diversion into Dhatmasthala road. About 4-5 km inside you'll get shops selling Amla oil in half liter cans. Its very cheap. About 150 or so.
On the other route via Charmadi, the Belur temple is certainly worth visiting. And a secret: go further about 5 km. You will see Yagachi dam. Its usually full even during summer. But that's not the secret. They have jet boats waiting for you to hire. Yes. Only one is working actually. Best part is no crowds. Until today at least. The operator will come with you. But that's ok. You have the whole dam to enjoy.