[ramki067]

Originally Posted by NPV

Won't a 4am start be too early to find Kamath open ?
Last weekend I started at 4am from home and was in Hassan bypass before 6.30am and most eateries upto this stretch were not open. However all eateries were open at Sakleshpur so that may be a more practical option, just my 2 cents
If going towards Belur/Chikmagalur from Hassan, those places may be options as well.

Originally Posted by RaguHolla

If he zips his way, by the time he reaches Kamath it would be 6:00, don't know his speed. I assumed he goes around 80~90km its around 7:00 when he reaches Kamath, and it would be open. Otherwise he should check in Chikkamaglur. I don't think for Horanadu he takes Sakleshpura road.

Yes, my speed is 80 - 90 Kms only, not going past this speed with family.
Looking for a breakfast break at around 8 am. So is Hassan possible at around that time as someone suggested Mayura International to be good for breakfast.

Thanks,
Ramki

[NPV]

Originally Posted by devrajman

From the discussions below, Following are my options:

Blore -> Hassan -> Shakleshpur -> Shiradi -> Mlore or Belthangady? -> Udupi
Blore -> Hassan -> Belur/Shakleshpur? -> Mudigere -> Charmadi -> Belthangady -> Karkala -> Udupi
Blore -> Agumbe route -> Udupi
Blore -> Kudremukh -> Udupi

Beyond Hassan, Sakleshpur is so bad that even Shiradi will feel 'normal'

Charmadi option may be the best from the reports of road conditions I've seen so far but not too sure how it is beyond Charmadi.
Maybe even Agumbe route since roads are good from Bangalore-Shimoga(multiple options as well for this sector)-Tirthahalli-Agumbe.

Originally Posted by ramki067

Looking for a breakfast break at around 8 am. So is Hassan possible at around that time as someone suggested Mayura International to be good for breakfast.

I'd say keep your options open and decide based on the time you're around Channarayapatna/Hassan.

[rajshenoy]

Originally Posted by devrajman

Folks, Im will be doing Blore -> Udupi -> Mangalore -> Blore next week.
I will be doing in my Fusion-D. Need the fastest/smoothest road.
Will be starting early 5-5:30AM
From the discussions below, Following are my options:

Blore -> Hassan -> Shakleshpur -> Shiradi -> Mlore or Belthangady? -> Udupi
Blore -> Hassan -> Belur/Shakleshpur? -> Mudigere -> Charmadi -> Belthangady -> Karkala -> Udupi
Blore -> Agumbe route -> Udupi
Blore -> Kudremukh -> Udupi

Please provide feedback.

I agree with NPV. Roads around Sakleshpur are worse than Shiradi now. Plus the rains and uppinangadi all the way till BC Road is also not great.

Since you mentioned udupi, Why not go via Shimoga-theerthalli route ? Its not a high speed route but you can manage at 70-80kmph throughout and roads are decent. I feel this is a good option for those travelling towards Udupi.

[paragsachania]

For Udupi, I will simply pick the Bangalore-Belur-Mudigere Hand post - Kottigehara-Charmadi-Ujire-Belthangady-Naravi-Karkala-Udupi route.

It was only 3 weeks before that my friend drove and reported the roads to be in good condition.

Last I had driven was in the July and roads were fine barring a very small section between Naravi and Guruvayanakere that was in fact negligible.

[ampere]

There are three routes to Udupi:

- Bangalore-Hasan-Sakleshpur-Gundya-Uppinangdy-Bajagoli-Karkala-Udupi
- Bassan-Belur-Mudigere-Kottigehara-Charmadi-Belthangady-Bajagoli-Karkala-Udupi
- Bangalore-Shimoga-Thirthahalli-Agumbe-Someshwar-Hebri-Udupi

Samurai's summary is apt. Sakeleshpur option is a concentrated bad road option. But that section is small and the rest are good. If one can sail through the bad roads, then its the fastest option. Agumbe is much longer option. But good roads end to end. Charmadi is a narrow road through some steep ghats. But its a scenic road.

[SaNdY_AR]

Exactly two weeks before, I took the following route :

Blore -> Hassan -> Shakleshpur -> Shiradi -> Mlore -> Udupi .

It was drizzling reasonably when I reached Shiradi ghats and the roads were not as comfy as I expected. There were a few potholes which I could not avoid and the visibility was less.

During my departure from Udupi I took:

Udupi-> Karkala->Belthangady->Charmadi->Mudigere->Belur->Hassan->Blore

This route was scenic and void of potholes. If the intention is to reach Udupi by late evening this route is fantastic and this route is recommended.

[speedsatya]

My 4th drive to Mangalore in the last 3 weeks ! Yesterday night started at 11 pm in heavy rains till Hassan and reached mangalore at 5 pm.

For some reason , the ghat seems to have deteriorated more in the last 3 days ( we drove to Bangalore on Sunday ). Planning to do via Charmadi on the return leg early Sunday Morning.

Had a close call near kunigal when this pick up truck had broken down on the LHS lane near kunigal. This is usually a triple digit speed stretch , but as it was raining I was doing just 60-80 kph. Reported about this vehicle at the toll booth and then moved on

Also , noticed that most buses to Bangalore were running late. Then realised why, saw 2 buses parked on one of the curves near Perne and lot of glass pieces on the road


Sent from my iPad using Team-BHP

[NPV]

Following are the single trip tolls on Bangalore-Hassan sector (as of 5 Oct 2014):
NH 4 elevated road Jalahalli-Peenya - Rs.20
NH 48 tolls:
Kunigal - Rs.41
Devihalli - Rs.41
Channarayapatna - Rs.35
Hassan - Rs.20
*had to wake up the toll booth attendants at kunigal and devihalli

***Also at couple of places between Nelamangala and Devihalli the left lane is closed for some repair work and the diversion signage is at the place where work begins and lane is cut off.
To add to the woes these places are on curved sections so you may spot it too late if at higher speeds. Please drive carefully and slower especially when dark.

[Samurai]

Today while driving from Manipal to Bangalore, I was not sure which route to take until the last second when I turned left at Hiriadka.

Proposed closure of Shiradi is a serious issue for me. It will send most mangalore bound traffic to narrow ghat roads like Charmadi, which is usually fine when Shiradi is open. So I wanted to explore ghat roads closer to Udupi, that may not receive much overflow traffic when Shiradi gets closed.

Today I checked out Agumbe-Sringeri-Balehonnur-CKM-Belur option. Very disappointed... the road until Sringeri was promising. But it gets bad after that, and worse between Balehonnur and Aldur. The craters may not be Shiradi size, but there is no escaping them due to the narrow width of the road, and they are too frequent. This is the second time I took this route this year and it has only gotten worse, looks like nobody is fixing it. I was shaken and stirred by the time I got to CKM, and this is on Grand Vitara. Next time I will explore Tiptur-Shimoga-Teerthahalli-Agumbe option.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Today I checked out Agumbe-Sringeri-Balehonnur-CKM-Belur option. Very disappointed... the road until Sringeri was promising. But it gets bad after that, and worse between Balehonnur and Aldur. The craters may not be Shiradi size, but there is no escaping them due to the narrow width of the road, and they are too frequent. This is the second time I took this route this year and it has only gotten worse, looks like nobody is fixing it. I was shaken and stirred by the time I got to CKM, and this is on Grand Vitara. Next time I will explore Tiptur-Shimoga-Teerthahalli-Agumbe option.

Hmm so no change at all in that section..was similar in late December of 2013 as well! If your experience in a Vitara was so bad I can imagine how it will be in sedans and hatchbacks
Shimoga-Tirthahalli route should be better it was good back then in December as well.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Next time I will explore Tiptur-Shimoga-Teerthahalli-Agumbe option.

Thats the best possible option (or Chitradurga-Shimoga). Very good roads all the way exept for Someshwar-Hebri. Dont know how that section is holding on today.

You can also do : Nelamanagala-CR Patna-Arsikere. Gets you 4-lane till CR Patna. I think the best would still would be Chitradurga. 50km detour. But you can crunch it quite fast.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Proposed closure of Shiradi is a serious issue for me. It will send most mangalore bound traffic to narrow ghat roads like Charmadi, which is usually fine when Shiradi is open. So I wanted to explore ghat roads closer to Udupi, that may not receive much overflow traffic when Shiradi gets closed.

I'm presently in a function at Sullia and the talk here is that Shiradi is not going to be closed in December. Even someone at my home told that it was mentioned like that in a Kannada daily last week. I'm not sure whether they have postponed the closure date or have come up with some other plan.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I'm presently in a function at Sullia and the talk here is that Shiradi is not going to be closed in December. Even someone at my home told that it was mentioned like that in a Kannada daily last week. I'm not sure whether they have postponed the closure date or have come up with some other plan.

The Omni bus lobby in Mangalore is so powerful that they could have also had their hand in this case!

[devrajman]

Thanks everyone for the inputs, did my Blore<->Mlore last weekend.

Blore -> Mlore via Shiradi. Fast roads except Shakleshpur to BC Road some sections. However absolutely doable in any car. Not much traffic. And no Mysore-Road-Like-Manics on any of these roads. Did it in 6.5hrs (started at 6AM) with one stop for breakfast at Sakleshpur for 45mins and couple of nature breaks.

Mlore -> Blore via Shiradi. Took 7.5hrs due to multiple stops (started at 7AM). Did see 2-3 Mysore-Road-Like-Manics.

Did Mlore <-> Udupi, Roads are underwork, some 4 lane are great, but no markings and some sections are bad. Did not feel much bully of local buses

[dkamath]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Proposed closure of Shiradi is a serious issue for me.

Same here, Samurai. Have always been comfortable with the Shiradi route, due to heavy presence of "local" lorries and truckers, any time of the day, which gives a rest-assured feeling that i can seek help, if in distress . The Tata Motors 24x7 subscription is the next bet. The other route option for me has been Madikeri (during the 2008, 2010 closures), but the stretch between Madikeri-Mani gets eerily lonely, almost always. I was once flagged down by an Eicher lorry guy, on the Sampaje ghat, in the middle of the night, who needed water to fill up the overheating radiator. But for a moment, it did feel scary, whether to stop and inquire, or just escape!

So, if the repairs don't start even during Dec', we can only expect to see more "thoads" than roads, and the dust that flies around with every passing vehicle, is another ill side of delayed repairs.

Also, spotted 2 Mlore->Blore Airavat's on the Sunday early morning, coming to Blore, via. the Mysore Road, which left me thinking if Shiradi was closed already.