Team-BHP - Coastal Karnataka trip from Goa -- advice welcome

We are planning a leisurely trip in the third week of December, 4 adults in a Hyundai Verna VTVT, 1 year old and covered 11,000 km.

This is our tentative route / schedule. Any advice on additional places near the route and information regarding road condition would be very welcome!

Day 1 : Late start from Madgaon, lunch at Karwar, night halt at Honnavar.

Day 2 : Honnavar - Jog Falls - Honnavar and catch KR1 train at 17:31 to Udupi arr. 19:59 (in view of bad road condition reported by rs49 in http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...mangalore.html )

Day 3 : Visit Manipal, Malpe Beach and St. Mary's Islands around Udupi and catch KR2 train at 07:50 back to Honnavar arr. 09:49. Drive to Gokarna.

Day 4 : Gokarna to Madgaon

These are the driving times we have assumed:
Madgaon / Karwar : 2 hrs
Karwar / Honnavar : 2 hrs 30
Honnavar / Jog falls : 1 hr 30
Honnavar / Gokarna : 1 hr 30
Gokarna / Karwar : 1 hr 30

Thank you :)

db

If possible, do visit the Yana caves and rock formations (Yana, India - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) on the 1st day of your trip. You'll have to take the turn off to Sirsi just 3-4 kms before Kumta, and from there it's about 20-25 kms. You can then stay in Kumta overnight (instead of Honnavar) and start for Jog Falls early next morning. Hotel Pandurang International is a decent place for a halt in Kumta, located right on NH17.

Here's are some pics of Yana from my trip in October.

Thank you, ampere. I hope we get place to sit in the passenger train and don't end up having to stand for 2 hours! No idea how much crowd that train carries.

Fauji, thanks for the suggestion, it would surely add to the adventure to climb a 109 year old lighthouse! I guess we should be able to hire a vehicle to take us to Kaup and Manipal and drop us at either Malpe or the ferry point for St. Anne's Islands (which must be quite near the beach in any case). How early would we need to start to get back to Udupi / Malpe in time for lunch?

comfortablynumb, great photos! I'd never heard of Yana, took quite some time to locate it on Google Earth ( 14°35'25"N 74°34'2"E if anyone else is interested). Maybe we can start an hour earlier than planned and make it to Honnavar by nightfall, otherwise shall surely check in to Hotel Pandurang International at Kumta. Looking at the route, I'm guessing we should take 3 to 4 hours from and back to NH17 Kumta, is that a reasonable estimate? I realize it might take an hour or more longer if the walk is really steep.

Also, can a Verna go to the end of the road, apparently 3 km from Yana, or is that branch off the Kumta - Sirsi road not suitable for cars? Thanks for any relevant information, I'd hate to end up on the kind of road I reported in my first post on T-BHP ;)
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post1411127

Thanks again to all, and looking forward to more details.

db

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke (Post 2162926)

Looking at the route, I'm guessing we should take 3 to 4 hours from and back to NH17 Kumta, is that a reasonable estimate? I realize it might take an hour or more longer if the walk is really steep.

Also, can a Verna go to the end of the road, apparently 3 km from Yana, or is that branch off the Kumta - Sirsi road not suitable for cars?

Yes, 4 hours from NH17 Kumta to Yana and back is a reasonable estimate. The walk through the forest (from the parking) isn't steep, but the stairs are numerous and steep in some places. The "Pradakshina" at the temple at Yana also has quite a few stairs before it passes through a big cave. Remember to wear good shoes and carry lots of water, as the walk to and fro can be tiring.

A Verna will make it to the end of the road, 3 km from Yana, without any problems. The road is narrow, but quite decent 80% of the way. Whatever bad patches there are, can be easily negotiated at a very slow speed; they aren't any worse than what you'd encounter on NH17, Honnavar onwards.

A sample of Om Beach at Gokarna, the road to Yana and the jungle trail that leads to Yana, to whet your appetite :):

Thank you again, comfortablynumb and ampere. That road looks quite good, I've driven on worse roads -- 5 km in 1st and 2nd gear for an hour and a half -- in Maharashtra, between Malshej and Bhandardara (took a shortcut to save 7 km stupid: ). This looks like being a mostly 4th gear road.

I was concerned about the steepness as only one member of our group is young, and us oldies tire easily. Anyhow, steps are better than slopes, and also give one a chance to sit and rest along the way. Shall convey to the others (who will be driving down to Goa from Mumbai by Indica) the good advice about sturdy walking shoes.

Wonder if anyone here would happen to know who could be contacted for permission to visit the hydroelectric facility at/below Jog falls? or whether permission can be arranged at all? Thanks.

db

Well, the trip is now postponed and we will be starting on the 1st or (more likely) 2nd January. The consensus is that we are jointly not fit enough for a 6 km walk, so sad to say we have dropped the idea of seeing Yana.

With the change in dates, we are also able to budget an extra day for the trip -- any suggestions of other places near our route that don't entail too much walking would be more than welcome.

Also, has anyone traveled on NH-17 Honavar-Udupi recently? Any improvement/repairs done? Or should we stick with the plan of doing that section by train?

Thanks, db

Seasons Greetings to all.

We've been rehashing the schedule in our minds and now think we would prefer to park the car at Kumta and take the train from there to Udupi (instead of from Honavar). So that gives rise to a new question: for driving Kumta-Jog Falls, which route is advised? via Siddapur or via Honavar?

If both are considered equally good/bad, and if there isn't much difference in the timeing, we thought of doing a round trip Kumta-Siddapur-Jog-Honaver-Kumta. Is this a good idea?

Oh, and I've had a suggestion to stay at Pandurang hotel at Kumta, which are the other decent hotels? just in case Pandurang is booked up...

This is the present plan:

Day 1: Late start, lunch at Karwar, park the car a Pandurang hotel and catch the train from Kumta at 16:36 / reach Udupi at 19:00 and find a hotel.

Day 2: Hire a vehicle at Udupi and see Manipal / Kaup lighthouse / Malpe beach, then by launch to St Mary's islands. Probably spend the evening on the beach, I read a blog page that mentioned a musical fountain on or near Malpe beach, wonder whether we'll get a chance to see it.

Day 3: Catch the train from Udipi at 07:50. Two possibilities ahead -

A
_ Get out at Murudeshwara at 09:23, see the temple and beach and continue to Kumta by bus or hired vehicle.
_ Visit Jog falls on day 4.
_ Kumta to Gokarna, Om beach, and back to Madgaon on day 5.

B
_ Leave the train at Kumta at 10:05, get the car and head for Jog falls without delay.
_ Kumta to Gokarna, Om beach on day 4.
_ Gokarna to Madgoan on day 5.

Day 6 we plan a local trip to Dudhsagar, if the Mumbai people don't need to rush back :)

db

And so, after much exchange of Excel spreadsheet schedules and long phone calls, the group is finally on their way from Mumbai to Goa. The Karnataka trip starts tomorrow. This is the final schedule:

2-Jan: Madgao-Karwar-Kumta, with a few hours at Karwar to see the Warship Museum, lighthouse (if time permits) and/or aquarium. Halt at Pandurang hotel, Kumta.

3-Jan: Drive Kumta-Jog Falls-Kumta, park the car at the hotel and proceed by train to Udupi. Night halt at Udupi.

4-Jan: Sightseeing in and around Udupi by hired vehicle, night halt at Udupi.

5-Jan: Morning train back to Kumta, then drive to Honnavar / Kasarkod and back. Basically a rest & relaxation day (remember we're old ;)) Halt again at Pandurang Hotel.

6-Jan: Kumta-Gokarna-Om Beach-Karwar-Madgaon

7-Jan: Dudhsagar falls

Thanks again for all the friendly and useful advice given in this thread and a Happy New Year 2011 to all!

db

PS Any recommendations for a hotel at Udupi, preferably near the railway station? I'll be carrying a laptop and will be able to check this thread for responses wherever my Reliance net connection works, or on my phone if I can connect to BSNL (the last time I traveled southward, it didn't :(). Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darryl.Burke (Post 2193164)

PS Any recommendations for a hotel at Udupi, preferably near the railway station? I'll be carrying a laptop and will be able to check this thread for responses wherever my Reliance net connection works, or on my phone if I can connect to BSNL (the last time I traveled southward, it didn't :(). Thanks.

Not sure if my response is a little too late.
I'd suggest Hotel Kidiyoor.Its pretty near to the Service Bus stand and 5km from the railway station