[skolveker]

Hi All Members of Team BHP

Would like to share my Experience of my recent Trip with my family From Mumbai to Coorg to Goa in Our Beloved Highway Star Honda Accord 2.4, Hope below proves usefull to anyone planning to run this Route.

We Started from J.B.Nagar Andheri East Mumbai on 16/07/2011 at 15.00 Hrs, We took the Sion-Panvel Highway and after 1 1/2 Hour of Driving we stopped at Panvel Mac Donalds for Tea, Past that we continued on the Mumbai Pune Express way NH-4 towards Pune 192 Kms We reached Pune Wakad at 18.30 Hrs. People Travelling on the Expressway should be cautious of Potholes and Slow Trucks without Taillights.

Once the Expressway Ends the Pune Bye-pass if Fairly smooth but I Had some Difficult time Driving thru due the way Two Wheelers are ridden and a lot of local Traffic, Once the Traffic was behind us we could do good speed. We reached Karad on NH-4 at 21.00 Hrs and stopped for Dinner at Hotel Alankar (Opp St Bus Stand) Very Good Food....Though One Has to Take left at Karad to exit NH-4......Still worth it if you want some great food. After an Hour Food Break we hit the road again (The Stretch of Tarmac from Pune to Kholhapur is Good but a little pacthy in place with some very sharp (But Well Marked) Turns approaching Kholapur also one has to beware of Tractor Trolleys carrying Sugarcane as they are slow and hard to notice, We Reached Belgaum City on NH-4 496 Kms from Mumbai at 00.00 Hrs the same Day where we deceided to take a Night Halt as it was raining very heavy and Visibility had become poor.


Next Day 17/07/2011 After having our Breakfast we started from Belgaum at 9.00 Hrs. Once on NH-4 we Turned off from the NH-4 onto the NH-63 (Karwar Road) at Hubli. This road is very Picturesque and has Extremely Good and Unbroken Tarmac with only a Small Ghat Section of about 20 Kms before Ankola. After driving for 2 1/2 Hours Covering a distance of 165 Kms we Reached Ankola, Once at Ankola took Left Turn for Mangalore (Right Goes to GOA) Reached Mangalore NH-17 at 19.30 Hrs, The Drive on the NH-17 felt very slow in comparision to NH-4 (CAUTION : The NH-17 is a Single Road with NO Dividers and very Sharp Curves, Night Driving for people who are not familiar to this Route is not Recommended).

Approaching Mangalore City Progress is quite slow due to Extensive Road Widening Work in Progress. To all who have finished reading till here may find that this Journey Seems to be very Uneventfull That's About to Change Soon as you Read on. We took the NH-48 from Mangalore (Mangalore to Madikeri {Coorg} 150 Kms) The Route we Took from Mangalore to Coorg NH-48 >> Puttur - Sulya SH-88 >> Coorg. THIS IS THE MOST HORRIBLE ROAD THAT I HAVE SEEN OR DRIVEN IN 18 YEARS OF DRIVING, Right from Mangalore when I started on the NH-48 the Road Widening Work is Going on and there was no Tarmac at all with Big to Very Big Potholes Just Red Mud everywhere but No Tarmac this Condition Prevailed Till a Few Kms before Coorg after which the Road was very Smooth and Good Finally we Reached Club Mahindra Coorg in One Piece at 3.30 Hrs (7 HOURS 140 Kms) in the Night. As we reached that late in the Night we could not get Food and had to settle for some Sanwhiches for the Night before we called it a day. In the whole Trip from Mumbai To Coorg Covering Approx 1100 Kms the Part from Mangalore to Coorg was very very Tiring.


After Staying at Coorg for some days we started for Goa on 22/07/2011 at 10.00 am after breakfast, But in View of my above experience I had to Take the Alternate Slightly Longer Route to Goa, We started on the SH-27 Towards Mysore SH-27 >> SH-88 Coorg To Mysore 140 Kms This Route was very scenic with Extremely Good Tarmac Though once we crossed Mandya Just before Mysore we took a Left Turn for Tumkur (Right Goes to Ooty) Bye-passing Bangalore City completly, We found that the inner State Highway from Mysore to Tumkur was little Pacthy and Bumpy but had very thin Traffic, Finally we Reached Tumkur NH-4 at 15.30 Hrs, Driving Non Stop on the NH-4 we turned off NH-4 at Hubli on Karwar Road NH-63 To Ankola then on to Karwar NH-17 to my Home Panaji Goa.

After Leaving Coorg at 10.00 am we finally reached our home in Goa at 2.30 Hrs in the Night the same day Covering a Distance of 930 Kms.

QUICK REFERENCES

DO NOT USE MANGALORE > PUTTUR > COORG ROUTE UNLESS U ARE DRIVING A ABRAHAMS TANK..........Nothing Less Will Do.

Places to Stop for Food

1) Mac Donalds - Panvel
2) Expressway BP - Pune Expressway
3) Joshi Wadewale - Pune Byepass Road
4) Mc Donalds/CC Day/Domino Pizza - BPCL, NH-4 , AFTER VIADUCT
5) Hotel Alankar - Karad City, Opp S.T Bus Stand >Try Mutton Masala
6) Hotel Opal - Kohlapur City
7) Hotel Amrut - Karwar
8) Cafe Coorg, Mysore Road
9) Hotel Coorg International, Coorg

Distances

Mumbai to Coorg Via Mangalore - 1100 Kms

Coorg to Mysore - 145 Kms

Coorg to Goa Via Tumkur Via Ankola - 930 Kms

In the Whole Roundtrip of Mumbai to Coorg to Goa to Mumbai
Covering a Distance approx 3500 Kms my Honda Accord 2.4 returned me a Overall Milage of 14 Kpl with A/c On all the time
using Normal Unleaded Petrol, Good Roads, Bad Roads and all what I found true delightfull were the Helpfull People and the Nature of people in Karnataka.........Will Surely Visit Again.


Lastly hope all above proves Helpfull

Thank You..........May Godspeed

[misquitas]

Originally Posted by skolveker

Hi All Members of Team BHP

Would like to share my Experience of my recent Trip with my family From Mumbai to Coorg to Goa in Our Beloved Highway Star Honda Accord 2.4, Hope below proves usefull to anyone planning to run this Route.

Enjoyed reading your thread on your Mumbai-Coorg trip. I'm based in Porvorim and am planing to visit Mysore shortly. Hence, your thread and the route was of immense interest to me. May I contact you for further details regarding the routes? Please PM me if it is OK with you.

Thanks and regards,
Misquitas

[skolveker]

You Can Contact me on Email skolveker@gmail.com