[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by High Torque

Ashwin & Gajadonga,

Thank you for your information, now that I have a hotel confirmation and can take my pet along please help me with road conditions on NH 13 between Bellary-Shimoga.

How was the road condition between Gooty and Bellary? Last time I went on that route it has 4 feet craters. Just because a route is NH doesn't guarantees anything . I also used to be under similar impressions and I once paid very very dearly for it.

[High Torque]

I returned from my trip to Manipal Monday night at 11:45PM, My drive has been a mix of both great experiences and nightmares.

MileCruncher I totally agree with you in regards to a NH not guaranteeing the condition, the route i took to reach Manipal was Hyderbad-Kurnool-Gooty-Bellary-Challakere-Shimoga-Thirthahalli-Agumbe-Manipal

I took an overnight break at Bellary but honestly the rest taken vanished in no time, the road between Gooty and Bellary was fine for few kms ONLY and the "4 feet craters" do exists AND in a huge number . There were times I was worried my Cruze wouldn't hold up to the beating.

Next morning we took off to Chitradurga, everything was so pleasant and serene, fresh breeze, good broad roads and nice hilly background. But It was like a dream which ended with a screeching halt, once we took the right turn towards Chitradurga, it was like the road never existed in that region . We had a quick bite at Aishwarya Fort and then continued to drive towards Shimoga which was comparatively a better drive.

The road from Shimoga to Manipal via Thirthahalli was good, the drive through the forest and the Ghats was amazing and felt nostalgic, however the roads were too narrow to keep maintaining a constant speed.

My total drive time from Hyderabad to Manipal,14Hours 30 minutes.

Now came the dilemma for the return journey, we did a lot of googling, speaking to the bus travels guys and we received mixed feedback about two choices we had, one taking the bus route(Manipal-Ankola-Hubli-Raichur-Hyderabad) and the other via Mangalore and Bangalore. The later was approximately 1000kms.So finally after deliberation and wanting to avoid surprises we decided to dare the distance of the via Bangalore route, here we were aware that only 10% of the entire distance was going to be bad.

We started Monday morning at 7:30 towards Mangalore and the drive was excellent. We stopped for breakfast and continued our drive to wards the Shirdi Ghats and then to Saklespur, as expected the road started becoming worse miles before the uphill started, there were patches which I don't think are suitable for motor cross too.

And yet again apart from the roads the scenic beauty was enjoyable, it was absolutely green, several river streams and miniature water falls along the road, I for a moment thought of taking a days break at Saklespur. A few kms after we crossed Saklespur the road was like Amul butter, all the way till home in Gachibowli.

We took around 8 breaks during the return drive, The 1000 kms drive ended at 11:45PM, the drive time was 16hrs 15mins.

Overall it was fun and fear experienced together, Thanks to my wife who was an excellent navigator and kept me company through out the return drive.

Now I am on the recovery mode.

Cheers

[ampere]

Originally Posted by High Torque

Now I am on the recovery mode.

Thats why I had suggested you Hyd-Raichur-Hospet-Chitradurga-Shimoga-Ahumbe-Manipal. The only bad section here being Hospet-Shimoga. But I think its still manageable.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thats why I had suggested you Hyd-Raichur-Hospet-Chitradurga-Shimoga-Ahumbe-Manipal. The only bad section here being Hospet-Shimoga. But I think its still manageable.

Is the stretch between Hospet to Shimoga via Chitradurga still bad? Shame on KA government!

When we went in September 2009, the first 30 kms between Hospet to Chitradurga was very bad. Rest was fine. And then the last 10 kms to Shimoga was equally bad, which took 30 minutes! I thought by now things would have improved.

What perplexes me is that most state highways in KR are butter smooth. But a few of them are simply horrible. Apart from what I've listed, the NH9 to Pune near Homnabad has remained pathetic for the past 8 years. And there was a nightmarish route from Sankeshwar to Bijapur via Gokak and Mahalingpur, which we'd taken on our return from Goa.

[Ashwinbr]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Is the stretch between Hospet to Shimoga via Chitradurga still bad? Shame on KA government!

When we went in September 2009, the first 30 kms between Hospet to Chitradurga was very bad. Rest was fine. And then the last 10 kms to Shimoga was equally bad, which took 30 minutes! I thought by now things would have improved.

What perplexes me is that most state highways in KR are butter smooth. But a few of them are simply horrible. Apart from what I've listed, the NH9 to Pune near Homnabad has remained pathetic for the past 8 years. And there was a nightmarish route from Sankeshwar to Bijapur via Gokak and Mahalingpur, which we'd taken on our return from Goa.

Ampere. . The Hospet Chitradurga route was bad in June as well and that is why I took Shimoga - Harihar - Hospet road. That was a great road all the way to Shimoga. The best route I think as of date from Hyderabad and Manipal is Raichur-Gangavathi-Hospet-Harihar-Shimoga-Manipal. Barring the crazy love for speed-breakers that KA highways it's all good.

A little off topic. . I found speed breakers on NH13 which was a toll road on my way to Goa last week. Thankfully I was in an Innova and it took about 5 to 6 of them at about 80kmph. Had I taken my Figo! I don't know.

[krinpit]

Kindly provide updated information for this trip. I will have to visit Manipal in the 3rd week of this month.

Specific query - planning to do the trip in one day. Is it possible? Vehicle is Scorpio N.

Return trip will be leisurely one with flexible and open options. Any suggestions with reasonable detours to experience the Monsoon around this part will be helpful.

Thanks in advance
Krinpit

[ampere]

Originally Posted by krinpit

Kindly provide updated information for this trip. I will have to visit Manipal in the 3rd week of this month.

It's raining cats and dogs in Manipal/Udupi and the coast. Please do re-consider your travel and do keep a tab on the conditions.

[hydtraveller]

[quote=krinpit;5580120]Kindly provide updated information for this trip. I will have to visit Manipal in the 3rd week of this month.

Specific query - planning to do the trip in one day. Is it possible? Vehicle is Scorpio N.

Yes, it is possible to do it in a day.
There are 2 routes :
1) Hyderabad - Buthpur ( about 120 km on Hyderabad Bangalore road) - Mahbubnagar-Raichur bypass (do not enter Raichur) - Manvi - Sindhanur - Gangawati - Hospet - Davanagere - Shivamogga - Thirthahallli - Agumbe - Manipal.
2) Hyderabad - Kurnool - Gooty - Guntakal - Ballary - Chitradurga - Shivamogga - Thirthahalli - Agumbe - Manipal.
The distance by Route 1 is approx 830 km and route 2 is about 40/50 km more but faster.
Both routes have bad stretches but as you are in a SUV it should not trouble you too much.
Would prefer Route 2 as the road conditions are slightly better.

[travelwriter]

Hi All
I have to drop my son off to Manipal Engineering college on the 20th. I plan to drive from Hyderabad. The route is clear from the above posts. However, I have a few issues with night driving. Hence wanted clarity on the following.

1. I plan to leave Hyderabad at around 7 am on the 19th. How are the roads after Chitradurga? Are there proper dividers or are they two laned roads?
2. Is there an option to stay for a family?
3. Are there too many speed breakers in the route?
4. Given that monsoon has started, is it okay to drive my Vento to Manipal?
5. Anything else I should take note of?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Travelwriter

[krinpit]

Originally Posted by krinpit

Kindly provide updated information for this trip. I will have to visit Manipal in the 3rd week of this month.

Specific query - planning to do the trip in one day. Is it possible? Vehicle is Scorpio N.

Return trip will be leisurely one with flexible and open options. Any suggestions with reasonable detours to experience the Monsoon around this part will be helpful.

Thanks in advance
Krinpit

So finally I completed the Hyd-Manipal-Hyd over the last 10 days.

I started on 17th Morning 5.30 from Hi-Tec city railway station area and managed to reach Manipal by 6.30 PM with 2 breaks for food and fuel.

Route taken was HYD-KURNOOL-BALLARI-SHIMOGA-AGUMBE-MANIPAL. 99% of the route was very good. Road after Hebri was under construction for about 10-15 kms that caused a reduction of speed. Recommended route in case you need to get to Manipal fast.

We took a detour on the return trip as there was time. We did Manipal-Udupi-Kollur(Mookambika Tmeple)-Kodachadri-Shimoga-Hospet-Gangavathi-Raichur-Hyderabad. We took a overnight break at Shimoga. The entire trip was in rain barring a few dozen KMS on the way. Deliberately took this route to check out new vistas. Had some good views on the way of rocky hills and lush green paddy fields. The road was tolerable, but as someone mentioned in the thread, there were too many speed breakers that will test your patience.

I Will mostly be doing many trips to Manipal over the next 4 years. So need to identify new routes and places to cover.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by krinpit

Route taken was HYD-KURNOOL-BALLARI-SHIMOGA-AGUMBE-MANIPAL. 99% of the route was very good. Road after Hebri was under construction for about 10-15 kms that caused a reduction of speed. Recommended route in case you need to get to Manipal fast.

How is the Kurnool-Bellari section? If this is good, then its a well set option for Manipal. In fact the best!

[krinpit]

Originally Posted by ampere

How is the Kurnool-Bellari section? If this is good, then its a well set option for Manipal. In fact, the best!

The section is good, and I would take it again. If we can figure a way to quickly get-in-out of Bellary, we can optimize further. I followed Google Maps and was stuck with slow moving heavy vehicles through an industrial area of Bellari.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by krinpit

So finally I completed the Hyd-Manipal-Hyd over the last 10 days.

We did Manipal-Udupi-Kollur(Mookambika Tmeple)-Kodachadri-Shimoga-Hospet-Gangavathi-Raichur-Hyderabad. We took a overnight break at Shimoga. The entire trip was in rain barring a few dozen KMS on the way. Deliberately took this route to check out new vistas.
.

Between Gangavathi and Raichur every small towns have speedbreakers if driving during the day it would not be much of an issue as vehicles ahead slows down for the speed breakers.