[girimajiananth]

I will be driving to Koppa and have plans of continuing to Udupi this month end. I had been to Koppa three months back and the roads were pretty good. Please let me know if anyone has a latest update on the road condition.

Bangalore -->Nelmangala-->Hassan-->Belur-->Chickmagaluru-->Balehonnur Koppa. Bangalore to Belur is good no doubt. How good is the road between Belur and Koppa ?

We might want to visit Sringeri, does anyone know the road condition from Sringeri to Udupi, google maps suggest I take Agumbe ghats. Any other routes to explore? Please let me know.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

How good is the road between Belur and Koppa ?

Route is good. Essentially it's the same (common) route for Sringeri till Jayapura where you deviate for Koppa. But here is an advice:

Don't do Hassan Belur Aldur but instead of Hassan Belur Chikmagalur Aldur. This is preferred for first timers as it is easy to navigate rather than the one that passes from Belur to Aldur via Haandi.

This road has been very good since more than a year now. I am not entirely sure on Jayapura-Koppa but trust that to remain good.

We might want to visit Sringeri, does anyone know the road condition from Sringeri to Udupi, google maps suggest I take Agumbe ghats. Any other routes to explore? Please let me know.

Agumbe is relaid with Asphalt over the concrete layer and is bliss to drive. That should be the route to reach Udupi via Hebri. Stick to that.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Don't do Hassan Belur Aldur but instead of Hassan Belur Chikmagalur Aldur. This is preferred for first timers as it is easy to navigate rather than the one that passes from Belur to Aldur via Haandi.

This road has been very good since more than a year now. I am not entirely sure on Jayapura-Koppa but trust that to remain good.
Agumbe is relaid with Asphalt over the concrete layer and is bliss to drive. That should be the route to reach Udupi via Hebri. Stick to that.

Thanks for the advice. I will take Hassan-->Belur-->Chickmagalur-->Aldur. As far as I can remember, Jayapura Koppa road was good. It was freshly laid. This was 3 months back.

[sachinpk]

How is the road towards Kundapur from Agumbe? Via Goliangadi, Halady, Koteshwar? Google shows that as the fastest route.
@paragsachania,@girimajiananth - please advice.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

How is the road towards Kundapur from Agumbe? Via Goliangadi, Halady, Koteshwar? Google shows that as the fastest route.
@paragsachania,@girimajiananth - please advice.

Remains good. Have a good wonderful drive.

For those who are heading towards Hassan this long weekend, lot of work (Asphalting) going on between Nelamangala Bellur Cross and a small bridge repair before Nelligere toll.

Plus, due to fresh layer humps after Nelligere toll till you cross Bellur cross are now "levelled"

[sureshurs]

We travelled on 24th June to Manipal and has taken Bangalore--Nelamangala-- Hassan-- shiradi ghat--Uppinangadi--Karkala--Manipal.

I left at 5:30 am From HSR layout and reached Manipal at 2:00 pm with break stop at Ossur near sakleshpur and river side visit in Shiradi ghats.

I feel good that I have taken Karkala route from Uppinangadi as the roads were good and driving was tension free when compared with traveling through Mangalore udupi route

[sachinpk]

Made a quick trip to Kollur Mookambika temple during the long week end. With senior Team-BHP-ians reporting that the Chickmaglur-Agumbe route is good, I decided to try that. And it was worth the efforts.

I started from the South Eastern suburbs of Bangalore at 0545Hrs reached A2B near Hassan by around 0715Hrs and reached my destination at Kundapur by around 1345Hrs. FasTag was accepted in all toll booths, but the first one after Nelamanagala allowed every vehicle to go through the FasTag lane. The ones closer to Hassan did not have the setup of the barriers lifting automatically. The driver had to inform the toll operator of the FastTag and then pull really close to the boom barrier.

May be because of my route setting, I had to go through a small market area in Hassan city before reaching the road to Belur. The road till Belur was good, but had the usual set of irritating speed breakers. But a steady pace could still be maintained. The route I feel is also much more scenic than the Sakleshpur-Mangalore route. And a big relief was the pretty much nil existence of National Permit trucks, or the LPG tankers on this route . This would be one major reason for me to recommend any one to take this route.

I used the approach of plotting the route first in Google Maps, and then configuring way points in Map My India, by using the longitude and latitude information. It was all fine & dandy till I reached the small town of Jayapura. Google planned for a road which goes directly to Hariharapura, but MapMyIndia still does not have the route ready . It routed us through Sringeri. But that was not a big bother, I was in a happy mood and the route was also scenic. The roads seems to be recently relaid and sees very less traffic. The route from Sringeri town suburbs till Agumbe was also good. The roads down the Agumbe ghat, all the way to Koteshwar was also in an excellent condition.

The return journey was the next day. Left Koteshwar at around 1145Hrs and reached South Bangalore by 2115Hrs. Had two breaks in the journey, one for a picnic lunch after Agumbe and then for some heavy snacks at the Kamat Upachar after Hassan. This journey seemed to be more stressful, even when the route taken was pretty much the same. It was raining quite heavily and the drive up the Agumbe ghat was most memorable. We again tried going via Hariharapura, but MapMyIndia again played fowl. It took me to the one street village, then routed me back on Sringeri route. Now that road is under construction with every bridge getting relaid. From Sringeri, it was back on the usual forest road to Jayapura. Traffic was more during the return journey, and lots of slow moving buses also added to the general reduction in speed.

Advice & Warning: During this journey I saw at least 4-5 motor vehicle accidents. The first one was at Channarayapatna bye-pass. That seemed to have happend 15-20mins back, as one injured lady was still seen in the back seat of the car. It had rammed against another vehicle. 108 Ambulance had just arrived. Then there were other accidents where the cars (yes!; it was only cars) which had gone over the road and fell into ditches. The roads here are have lots of twists and turns and in very many places on both sides there are steep slopes. Found one car which turned turtle and in a ditch between Aldur and Balehonnur. There was another car seen in a ditch between Agumbe and Koteshwar. All seemed to be cases of high speed, but the driver not knowing the terrain and the twists and turns.

The sign boards on the road seems to be in Kannada only, this was especially true in the stretch between Sringeri & Agumbe. In many places the sign boards/posts are put up by local clubs (like Lions club etc.) and please note that this area is also very thinly populated. I am attaching two image files, which shows the route taken. The Hariharapura-Sringeri route, looks like a straight line, but in this route GPS was not working at all.

[unk9ja]

Shiradi update,

Drove from Kukke to Bangalore just few hours ago. Roads from Kukke to Gundya remain excellent. The asphalt road from Gundya to the concrete road has started to give away. Potholes are in numerous places now. It is only a mater of a week's rain that can cause havoc in this section. The road towards Bangalore is most affected while the road towards Gundya is still in better shape. Concrete road is in excellent condition. The road after this is also starting to degrade around Sakleshpura.

Bisle Ghat update,

Had a drive with added_flavour on the Bisle stretch today. Route taken was Nelamangala - CR patna - Arkalgudu- Shanivarasanthe - Kudurasthe - Bisle - Kukke and back via Shiradi.

Except for a stretch of around 7kms, the roads are fine with lovely scenic places. CR patna to Kudurasthe is a 2 lane road with sparse traffic. The road continues to be good till the checkpost post which it becomes a rock and pebble stewn way. BUt the curves are stewn with fine gravel which increases skidding in 2W. Vehicles with high GC can be driven without worry but with low GC needs to be deftly handled but can be driven. After the 7km stretch, the concrete roads begin which is excellent.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Made a quick trip to Kollur Mookambika temple during the long week end. With senior Team-BHP-ians reporting that the Chickmaglur-Agumbe route is good, I decided to try that. And it was worth the efforts.

What was the original target? Kundapur or Kollur?

Either way the least tiring option is either via Agumbe or Hulikal. Now: To hit Agumbe, driving via Chikkamagalur will lead you via Balehonnur option which is quite a twisty (but yes nice!). If you like it no worries Else, take the option via CR Patna-Arsikere-Bhadra bypass - Umblibail - Mandagadde - Thirthahalli-Agumbe-Someshwar. (You can bypass Shimoga as well)

Mostly plane roads and not much of ghats.

The other option is to cross Shimoga (use bypass) on to Aynur. Here you exit the NH206 and head to Ripponpet-Hosanagar-Nagar-Hulikal-Ampar-Kundapur.

Rarely any traffic on these days.

But surely with advent of heavy rains, I really dont know what has happened to roads. But till last year they were pretty good. Hullikal was getting relaid. Will be good to note about the status.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

But surely with advent of heavy rains, I really dont know what has happened to roads. But till last year they were pretty good. Hullikal was getting relaid. Will be good to note about the status.

Agumbe via Chikmagalur Balehonnur is surely holding up well as a friend did Udupi on day before and returning today.

On rains, well it has been pretty heavy that side, especially the last 2 days. I drove Kalasa Kuduremukha Bajagoli Charmadi and back to Chikmagalur day before and roads are very good.

While the entire road right from Kottigehara to Kalasa and till Bajagoli has been brilliant now and parts even re-laid, Charmadi at few places has shown signs of struggling to hold on due to rains. We noticed 2 sections out of 4 small bad patches (none exceeding 50 meters each) where potholes were super deep and could notice a truck wave left to right.

Just a short report to say that roads haven't been that bad in this part of the state over the past weekend.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Just a short report to say that roads haven't been that bad in this part of the state over the past weekend.

I was looking out for the sections of Hullikal and Nagar Someshwar etc. Have no idea about how they are holding up.

But great to note that roads around Kudremukh are holding well.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

I was looking out for the sections of Hullikal and Nagar Someshwar etc. Have no idea about how they are holding up.

But great to note that roads around Kudremukh are holding well.

Got that. Since Agumbe via CKM was one of the options, I thought it would help.

Apart from that, the fact that it's rained around here in last few says hasn't really messed up the roads including Agumbe. So, presumably the Hulikal option should have been holding up well too.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

What was the original target? Kundapur or Kollur?

It was Kollur. The last trip I made was around 5-6 years back, and had taken the Sakleshpur route. That journey was more tiring, and we finally decided to stay at Udupi.

This time decided to halt at Koteshwar instead. A quick trip to Maravanthe beach was also the bonus.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

It was Kollur. The last trip I made was around 5-6 years back, and had took the Sakleshpur route. That journey was more tiring, and we finally decided to stay at Udupi.

One more option which is extremely viable is with Udupi as base you can do Kollur up and down. D1 drive to Manipal/Udupi by noon and check in to a hotel. Stay and visit the Udupi temple in the evening. Next day drive to Kollur and back. You can easily be back by noon (1/2PM) if you start by 8AM. I have done it myself and works very well. With 4-lane till Kundapur it also helps to some extent. D3 drive back to Bangalore.

Another positive in favour of this approach is the broader choice of hotel options in Udupi/Manipal.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

D1 drive to Manipal/Udupi by noon and check in to a hotel. Stay and visit the Udupi temple in the evening.

Our previous trip was in similar lines only. Again it was rather unplanned*, because of which we started late from Bangalore (by around 8AM). By the time I reached Mangalore, fatigue had started and so we camped at Udupi. Rested for the evening (was not aware of the Udupi Sri Krishna temple). Next day drove up to Kollur. Did the darshan and then also took the jeep ride to Kudajadri. Returned by evening, and also visited the near by beach (Malpe??). Next day did the darshan of the Udupi temple and started our return journey.

*: There is a belief at least among my kith & kin that Kollur Mookambika darshan can only happen without much planning. A planned trip to the temple never materializes (and would remain a plan).