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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-473.html)

Belur to Mudigere road is not bad,Charmadi ghat road is good for day time travelling.Recently traveled via this road.Very less traffic when compared to Shiradi Ghat.Road is bit bad while getting down from Ghat .

If one is driving towards Mangalore, then chances are very less you will find big potholes however this is opposite in case if you are driving from Mangalore. Trust me I have been taking this route every 2 weeks and everytime I drive on this stretch I could see a newly formed crater. If things remain like this then I doubt this stretch will be fit for driving/travelling. However going with the patchwork happening in and around Marenahalli and donigal I expect NHAI to atleast do some repair work till they float another tender for the work.

You need not worry about the condition of Charmadi ghats. The roads are good all throughout.

The only bad patches that you might encounter will be around the Hair Pin curves but again its only rough surface and nothing else.

I have updated the Dashcam Video of the entire Charmadi Ghats here in this post that you can refer:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post4085156

Additionally, I will advise that for a regular ghat driver, Charmadi wont trouble you at night as well but if you have never taken Charmadi before, stick to driving under natural light. That works best.

If you compare Charmadi with the present state of Shiradi, you will come back here and share positive experience with the former.

As the contracting firm, GVR Infra Projects Ltd, to which the work of concreting 13 km of Shiradi ghat stretch of national highway 75 was contracted, has failed to undertake work even after giving several deadlines, the National Highways Authority of India is understood to have dropped the idea of undertaking the work during this year.

Source

I at least wish the top layer gets a new coat of tar. Otherwise it would be next to impossible to drive on the bad stretch during/after monsoons.

Thank you for your detailed reply. We will try out the Charmed ghat route and will use Karkala bypass to reach Kota.

From Karkala the better option would be to head to Padubidri to join NH 66 and then towards Kota. You don't have to enter Karkala town.

The other route via - Hiriyangadi - Manipal - NH 66 is much narrower

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...le17041752.ece

Govt of KA cancels contract that was given for Shiradi ghat - says contractor did not start work even after 13 months

Drove from Bangalore to Manipal today, via Shiradi. Despite 45 minutes worth of various breaks, I made it in 7h15m. Driving time of only 6h30m, which is one of my best timings.

Made possible only because of the completion of flyover on the railway lines near Magnum Honda, and sparse traffic on Shiradi route. They have done patches compared to last time, mainly in curves.

Hi Samurai, Is Shiradi is not that bad? Planning a visit to Dharma & Kukke shortly in my rapid. Hope there are no scary pot holes etc & wont scrap the sedans. Because some one told me to take Charmadi.

It is not as bad as Nov-Dec, many parts patched too. But then I don't watch too closely because of what I drive. However, the traffic was sparse yesterday around 11-12pm when I passed through.

For Kukke you can still take Shiradi, just watch out and cover it slowly. Because of the width of the road, you can avoid most of the bad potholes.

I had visited Kukke in the last week of Dec and took Shiradi ghat. As per me, only few km stretch is really bad but still its the best and fastest way to reach Kukke. Some of the minor potholes have been patched up leaving only the canyons at turnings

Thanks Samurai & Vin.
My preferred route in this direction is always Shiradi & I love to drive thru' this. Since first I go to Dharma & come back to Kukke, it would be easy to take Shiradi instead going back again to Ujire-Charmadi. Thank you again.

I visited Mangalore a week ago and traveled through Shiradi ghat in my friend's Fiesta Classic. Since Fiesta has very stiff suspension, the drive was very harsh. Some patchup was done, but the drive was bad. We then reduced the air pressure to 28 psi to avoid any damage to the suspension.

White returning, we came through Charmadi. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive. There are some new eateries too, so I would prefer this route even with family around.

If you are planning to visit Dharmasthala first then you can think of taking Charmadi for onward journey and then from Kukke return via Shiradi.