vnabhi,
Each route has got its own share of good and bad points. Here is a critical analysis of the pros and cons to make u thoroughly confused about which route to follow
, just as it happened with me after doing a thorough research on this forum.
As far as
road condition is concerned, both the routes are almost same - each one has its own share of rough surfaced roads, but in the bijapur-belgaum route the total length of such road is probably slightly less than the hubli route. And at the same time you can enjoy excellent k'taka SH on both routes - homnabad to bijapur in one and hospet to ap-k'taka border in the other route.
Scenic beauty: the belgaum route offers u a much better view of the ghats while descending, whereas on the karwar route u won't almost notice when the ghat section comes and goes. I felt that to help the fully loaded trucks to move up the slopes that road has been made without any steep inclines and avoids climbing too high into the mountains.So u don't get any good view of the ghats from the road. So if u want to enjoy the ghat views it's got to be belgaum route.
But hold on! While driving on the planes, the scenery right after hospet (hubli route) is also fantastic, with smooth black roads curving and bending thru strange looking bare rocky mountains. U can see the pix of the hampi-raichur road on my flickr album
here, which i took during my trip to hampi a couple of years back (u need to go back a few pages).
Places to see en-route: U've got bijapur on belgaum route and hampi on hubli route. Initially i thought gol-gumbaz in bijapur will be nothing great, but when i saw it infront of my own eyes i was simply stunned to see the scale of the things. And once u enter inside the gumbaz it is SIMPLY AWESOME, u have to see it to believe it. It is such an engineering marvel, i was left speechless when i looked up at the dome. This monument is a must-see if u r going via bijapur.
And to make things worse and even more confusing for u, there is hampi on hubli route - which is a world heritage site. But IMO hampi deserves a separate trip as u need to spend a couple of days there to do justice to the place.
Food on the way: Good on both the routes. In belgaum i would specially recommend hotel ramdev - its on your left hand while going from bijapur, on the main road, just before the airport crossing. In hubli, hotel ayodhya was ok for lunch, this also will come on your way only.
Driving time and traffic density: Very high truck traffic on the hubli route from ankola to yellapur and then again near hospet. Bijapur route that way is free once u r out of hyd. So driving time may be a bit less on this route.
Ultimate suggestion: Cover the whole circuit like i did, i.e. go via bijapur and come back via hubli. That way u can keep ur spirits high all thru the journey while driving on unexplored roads.
I am going to post my snaps from this trip soon on this thread.