[couswheels]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Indeed Safe and nothing to worry at all.

Parag, Thanks for your suggestions. Completed the trip and stayed in Southern Star. The room was good and had good car park.

[unk9ja]

Returned from Udupi yesterday morning. Started at 0530 and landed in home at Girinagar at 1215. Just a stop for fuel in between at Sakleshpura.

Route taken was Udupi - Manipal - Karkala - Moodbidre - Venoor - Belthangady - Dharmasthala - Hassan - Nelamangala - Bangalore.

I was supposed to take the route I had during the onward journey, but somehow missed a turn and ended up in Moodbidre by the time I realised. Roads from Shiradi turnoff towards Dharmasthala and beyond are relaid or patched up and it was fast ride on this part. Except for a couple of Ace, all the oncoming vehicles dipped their headlamps. This was a pleasant experience as I find no one in Bangalore doing this.

Shiradi towards Sakleshpur is a bit rough when compared to the downhill side. Even the newly laid concrete road has some sharp edges which is felt at a couple of places. This will be a rim bender sort of if taken at high speed. The gas tankers have seem to have disappeared and the petroleum lorries seem to have taken their place. Queue of these making overtaking difficult as the gap between them is a squeeze for a 2W.

Hassan to Bangalore was a breeze with a company of a KL registered SX4 with a IDS sticker. I was trying at the catch up game till the third toll where I lost him.

The onward journey:



The return journey

[aspire]

Need help with planning a holiday.

Planning for a trip to Mangalore, gokarna and murudeshwar in the upcoming good friday holidays.

Thinking of taking 5 days off, what should a good itinerary be, how many days in Mangalore, what would be the best places to visit nearby.

Then thinking of going to gokarna, via murudeshwar, with a night halt at gokarna, then at the moment thinking of returning via shimoga.

Have been to mookambika and kudajathri earlier, will be going to Kukke Subramania this time.

Is coming via Shimoga a good option, heard it is very beautiful, and would get to see Jog falls, although not in it's full beauty!

Please do recommend on your experience a better itinerary and places to visit.

Regards
Shailesh

[NPV]

Originally Posted by aspire

Need help with planning a holiday.

Planning for a trip to Mangalore, gokarna and murudeshwar in the upcoming good friday holidays.

I think you can take the Hassan-Shiradi route, visit Kukke on the way and proceed to Mangalore (assuming no plan to visit Dharmasthala).
Some places you can consider to visit while in Mangalore are Pilikula Nisargadhama, St. Mary's Island. Do not miss Pabba's, Ideal ice-creams and Ideal Cafe, all owned by the same group

You can then take the Mangalore-Karwar route and on the way visit Kaup beach (near Manipal/Udupi), maybe the Udupi temple also. There may be some road work/rough sections in this route.

Next you can visit Murudeshwar on the way to Gokarna.

If you want to take the Honnavara-Jog-Shimoga route, you have to retrace a little bit of the route from Gokarna to Honnavara from where you can take NH206 towards Shimoga.

On the way is Jog falls, small deviation from the highway. Recently there was an accident in the Sharavathi power generation plant due to which the water is being released to the falls to reach another power generation plant downstream so you can expect to see good flow of water.

[aspire]

Originally Posted by NPV

If you want to take the Honnavara-Jog-Shimoga route, you have to retrace a little bit of the route from Gokarna to Honnavara from where you can take NH206 towards Shimoga.

On the way is Jog falls, small deviation from the highway. Recently there was an accident in the Sharavathi power generation plant due to which the water is being released to the falls to reach another power generation plant downstream so you can expect to see good flow of water.

Hi NPV,

Many thanks for your suggestions, yes I read about Jog falls having water as the water upstream is being released, not very sure, whether it will continue till 25th March :(

Recently I have driven unto Hassan, and the roads were very good, please do comment on the road condition for the remainder of the route and also of 206 on the way back.

Any recommendation for a good place to stay in Gokarna and Shimoga?

In Mangalore, would be most likely be put up at Infosys campus.

Regards
Shailesh

[ampere]

Originally Posted by aspire

Recently I have driven unto Hassan, and the roads were very good, please do comment on the road condition for the remainder of the route and also of 206 on the way back.

The road is 4-lane till Hassan and beyond its a 2-lane. You will need cross Shiradi, go till Gundya and then take left for Kukke.

Any recommendation for a good place to stay in Gokarna and Shimoga?

- Pandurang International is close to Kumta. Dont know anything right in Gokarna
- Shimoga : Jewel Rock and Royal Orchid are the good ones.

[aspire]

Originally Posted by ampere

The road is 4-lane till Hassan and beyond its a 2-lane. You will need cross Shiradi, go till Gundya and then take left for Kukke.



- Pandurang International is close to Kumta. Dont know anything right in Gokarna
- Shimoga : Jewel Rock and Royal Orchid are the good ones.

Thanks Ampere,

My plan is to start early morning from Mangalore, and reach murudeshwar in the afternoon, spend time there and then head to gokarna, hopefully will reach there by 5 6 PM, spend some time on the beach, and then retire, next day morning, explore more of gokarna, then check out, and explore more of gokarna, start towards shimoga late in the afternoon, and reach shimoga late in the night.
Retire, and then roam around shimoga, have another night stay, and then next morning proceed to bangalore.

Is this plan doable or too hectic, does shimoga warrant a stay of 2days, or should we be staying in gokarna for 2 nights?

Secondly are there any shacks to stay on the beach, and any leads on how to book them.

Please advise.

Regards
Shailesh

[ampere]

Originally Posted by aspire

Is this plan doable or too hectic, does shimoga warrant a stay of 2days, or should we be staying in gokarna for 2 nights?

There are things to see for sure. But dont know, if Kumta/Gokarna is the apt place. You views between Honnavar to Shimoga. Like Sharavathi back waters, viewpoints etc. I think one day should be enough. Unless place to hike around Gokarna/Karwar.

Secondly are there any shacks to stay on the beach, and any leads on how to book them.

No idea on shacks. I have heard from others about them. But dont know.

[DragonHawk]

Update on Bisle ghat road condition:
Saturday myself along with 4 of my friends went on a ride to Shettihalli and Bisle Ghat via Shanivarsante. This was more of adventure ride and I was fully aware that Bisle ghat is closed for traffic. However during my discussion with may folks in Shanivarsanthe and Mallipatna, I was told that they are allowing bikes, so I thought if they allow bikes then will go to my home which was around 40kms from Bisle view point. Little did we know this ride turned out to be an offroading ride with few twists. This time I thought will give my Classic 500 a much needed break from my weekly trip to Puttur and took my D390. Definitely the ride through Bisle ghat was bit tough for the bike and Metzeler tyres were crying for help. Knowing D390, i wanted to avoid putting lot of strain to the fans for cooling the engines. With speeds hovering around 10-15km/hr, I had to switched off the engine and was coasting for most of the time.

Shettihalli Church.


Tempting roads after Kudurasthe. Roads are in excellent condition all the way till Kadrahalli which around 3kms from Kudrasthe-Mageri Rd Junction.


Bad stretch starts




Hoardings with road closure info is put up in Kudrasthe as well as near the Bisle Ghat viewpoint.




Offroading stretch was about 6kms and in some places there were big boulders spread across the road. I am sure this had taken some life of my bike tyres.






Unfortunately I couldn`t capture any pics from the work site. However as far as work goes, they have started the work since last week and from the current state of work, as of now work is in progress in the area which is around 12kms from Subramanya and 2 kms from the temple and seeing the nature of the stretch till Bisle view point, I don`t see it being completed near future. Concrete slab was about 1 and half feet from the ground and I didn`t any see any expansion of road breadth from the earlier stretch. I tried convincing the person in charge to allow us but on physical inspection I found that roads edges are very narrow and there was a risk of falling off if I had taken my bike to crossover. I didn`t wanted to take any risks and we had to literally abandon our plan to make it to subramanaya even though we were only 12kms from it and we decided to put plan B in place ie to return to bangalore. I felt very bad for not completing the stretch even though we had expected this. We started our return journey at 4.15 from work place and reached BG Road at 11.30PM with a 45mins dinner break in Mayura @Bellur Cross. Return journey was through Shanivarsanthe-Arakalgudu-HN Pura-CR Patna-Bangalore. In Arakalgudu-CR Patna stretch we had to face the fury of high beam loving morons and add to that speed breakers were making our life hard. Since this has been my usual stretch when shiradi ghat was closed for repairs and was of aware of areas with speed breakers, somehow I could manage this stretch. Overall it was a ride with mix of emotions, we were tired and exhausted but felt satisfied. During the conversation I had with the person who was in charge of the work in Bisle ghat, he told that they will vacate the area once the monsoon onsets. My heart and mind are both on sync to try to this once again before the work starts but keeping my fingers crossed

[dkamath]

Anyone planning an after-dusk drive along Shiradi ghats, please use caution, since there are too many pilgrims walking along the road, some on the right side too. Sadly, lack of proper footpaths in many areas leaves them with no choice but to walk on the road itself, I believe.

[bharat4ever]

My friends (A girl will be driving throughout) are planning a trip to Mangalore this week?
Please suggest the route, and if the roads are proper throughout?

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

My friends (A girl will be driving throughout) are planning a trip to Mangalore this week?
Please suggest the route, and if the roads are proper throughout?

The best route would be via shiradi ghat (B'lore - Nelamangala - Hassan - Sakleshpur - Shiradi - M'lore).

I just came last week from M'lore, and as mentioned in the previous post one needs to keep an eye for pilgrims walking on the road in ghat section.

[LazyGunner]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Update on Bisle ghat road condition:

Unfortunately I couldn`t capture any pics from the work site. However as far as work goes, they have started the work since last week and from the current state of work, as of now work is in progress in the area which is around 12kms from Subramanya and 2 kms from the temple and seeing the nature of the stretch till Bisle view point, I don`t see it being completed near future. Concrete slab was about 1 and half feet from the ground and I didn`t any see any expansion of road breadth from the earlier stretch. I tried convincing the person in charge to allow us but on physical inspection I found that roads edges are very narrow and there was a risk of falling off if I had taken my bike to crossover. I didn`t wanted to take any risks and we had to literally abandon our plan to make it to subramanaya even though we were only 12kms from it and we decided to put plan B in place ie to return to bangalore. I felt very bad for not completing the stretch even though we had expected this. We started our return journey at 4.15 from work place and reached BG Road at 11.30PM with a 45mins dinner break in Mayura @Bellur Cross. Return journey was through Shanivarsanthe-Arakalgudu-HN Pura-CR Patna-Bangalore. In Arakalgudu-CR Patna stretch we had to face the fury of high beam loving morons and add to that speed breakers were making our life hard. Since this has been my usual stretch when shiradi ghat was closed for repairs and was of aware of areas with speed breakers, somehow I could manage this stretch. Overall it was a ride with mix of emotions, we were tired and exhausted but felt satisfied. During the conversation I had with the person who was in charge of the work in Bisle ghat, he told that they will vacate the area once the monsoon onsets. My heart and mind are both on sync to try to this once again before the work starts but keeping my fingers crossed

Just what I came looking for!

I was planning for an adventure ride with some off-roading stretch via Bisle till Kukke, totally unaware of the ongoing road construction work. I have only heard how scenic the road is. Wanted to witness it myself with a few of my fellow riders. The warnings on internet like "This is the worst road, you'll hardly meet an oncoming vehicle" etc had made me think that it is the perfect off-roading destination for my Classic 350. I guess I'm a little too late, now that the road work has begun, I can never do the 'scenic-but-bad-road-ride' via Bisle ghat I have to find a different destination to pull off a ride on last weekend of this month.

I'm sure there are people who are relieved that road work has started finally. I can only feel happy for them.

Thanks DragonHawk for the update! Hopefully I will ride through the road this monsoon and by then if road is laid completely, it should be an awesome road from what I have heard.

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by LazyGunner

Just what I came looking for!
The warnings on internet like "This is the worst road, you'll hardly meet an oncoming vehicle" etc had made me think that it is the perfect off-roading destination for my Classic 350. I guess I'm a little too late, now that the road work has begun, I can never do the 'scenic-but-bad-road-ride' via Bisle ghat I have to find a different destination to pull off a ride on last weekend of this month.

Just to scare you a little , during my ride I saw couple of enfield`s with flat tyre. With only one spare tube, we were not in a position to offer them any sort of help even though we had a portable tyre inflator. Provided they had any spare available we could somehow helped them to get to Kudurasthe which is the nearest town from Bisle ghat. Just imagine the situation wherein getting support of any sort is ruled out. With no mobile network connectivity or human trace and nearest town is around 20-25kms away add to that broken roads. All in all one needs to factor out many things while we take this route and definitely its a matter of taking calculated risks and avoid travelling solo.

Talking about your intention of offroading, from the pace of work I am bit skeptical about the work completion before the onset of monsoon. So I feel one can take this trial before they start the work once again.

[Tempelhof]

Planning a trip to Udupi next weekend, from Bangalore. I drive a Civic.

I need to know:

1. the "best", shortest route for my car, and
2. nice restaurants on the way for bio-breaks and coffee

Thanks in advance for your help.