4th January 2008, 10:29
| #1 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: bangalore
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| Bangalore-Karwar-Gokarna trip For this year me and 4 of my friends decided to visit the north canara district in Karnataka for our new year celebrations.our plan was to drive to karwar from there visit places like yana, goa (100Km north), murdeshwar (100km south) and gokarna (around 60km south) Our plan was to start on the night of 28th dec ’07 and reach karwar by morning. At the last moment 2 of my friends dropped out we were only 3. Initially we decided to take our friend sriram’s swift, but as the car was needed for use by his parents so we decided to take my palio stile instead. On the 28th morning when I was doing the oil check and all, I observed that mouse have entered in my car and have bitten my toy hanging on the rear view mirror, when I opened the bonnet, found lots of footmarks of the rats in there, so immediately called up my other friend raghu and asked him to get his getz ready for the trip. We obviously didn’t want to take any chances with the car. So we started at 10.30 Pm picked Sriram from RT nagar and headed toward tumkur road. By the time we passed the traffic and crossed nelmangala, it was around 12.30. raghu was driving and we decided that one of us will sleep so that we have some one fresh to take charge of driving as and one we get tried. Raghu had got the car checked at the service station during the day, but he hasn’t filled in the petrol as there was almost a quarter of it in the tank. We decided to fill in the petrol at shell which comes after the hesaraghatta cross. For our shock/ surprise we were told by the guys at shell station that from that day company has changed its policy and is selling only Shell super petrol and no normal petrol. As we had enough petrol left we thought of getting the normal petrol at some other stations, but with out luck as almost all the companies do not sell normal petrol on highways. Lesson learnt! So we opted for Indian oil extra premium. Tanked up. Around 38 ltrs of petrol went in to the tank. We stopped on the way at café coffee day which is around 50 km from Bangalore and had steaming coffee which helped us to feel warm. With outside temperatures kind of freezing it was definitely worth the stop. Sriram took over the steering wheel and he was enjoying the drive on the NH4, which is really superb till chitradurga. I was in the back seat trying to catch up with some sleep so that I can take charge in the early morning hours. Raghu and Sriram were driving for the first time during the night and were enjoying the drive while chatting about work and life in general, where as I was trying to sleep with my ears tuned in to their conversation. I some how fell asleep but was awakened by the speed-brakers of the third toll plaza on NH4. From that point I wasn’t able to sleep so sat up and joined the conversation with raghu and Sriram. we stopped some where (don’t remember the exact place) and raghu again got behind the wheel as he was not feeling sleepy at all. I forced raghu to hand over the wheel to me as it was around 4.30 in the morning and he hasn’t taken any rest. He drove till chitradurga and after that I took charge. The road from chitradurga to davengere is a mix of good and bad roads with many diversions. Initially I was speeding the car and even touched 140 for few minutes but was forced to slow down by both the bad roads and raghu. couple of time I hit bad stretches and was advised by raghu to take it easy. So I started to be careful and on the look out for bad roads and diversions. We crossed davengere and then ranebennur. As we were driving toward haveri, we encountered a stretch which was totally covered in fog! We stopped our car immediately as the visibility was only around 30m! the day was breaking in slowly so we thought we will wait for some time for the visibility to improve. We realized that for the fog to decrease we need to wait till the sun rise! But it was around 6 so it wasn’t possible for us to wait for such a long time. We decided to keep driving as there were good number of vehicles moving slowly in that think fog. Getz did not have the fog lamps, so we switched on the high beam and the parking lights and started to tail a slow moving truck. We drove like this for over 5 km when the visibility improved. photos of the fog: [img=http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/9666/foggymorningonthewaytohov1.th.jpg] [img=http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/4088/foggymorningonthewaytohux4.th.jpg] At haveri we asked for the directions to sirsi, and were told to take the hangal route. So we started again and sped up so that we can make up for the lost time. After hangal, we again encountered think for cover. We were forced to slow down. I was still behind the wheel so exerted caution while driving in this think blanket of fog. We stopped on the way to freshen up and then continued to toward sirsi. Its was around 7.30 when we reached sisri. Stopped for breakfast (nothing great to write about except the vada) at the intersection where the road goes towards kumta. After the breakfast we asked for directions to yana and raghu took charge behind the wheels. We have to take a diversion to the right side after some 15 km from sirsi to reach yana. The road to yana is single lane but good. Traffic was also very less. We finally made it to yana covering a distance of around 23km after the diversion on the sirsi-kumta road. We parked the car and started our trek towards the yana caves which are around 3 km. The road to the caves was being readied and had quite a few climbs and steep sections. As it was just starting to get warmer and the tree’s line the road so we walked with out much efforts and reached the caves After spending time enjoying the natures splendor with rocks at yana, we started out trek back towards our car. by his time it was hot and we were tired pretty soon coz of the steep climbs. Sriram complained that the idli vada he had for breakfast was already digested and he doesn’t have any more energy to climb. We took frequent breaks and made it to the car. pictures of yana: [img=http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2303/yana2po1.th.jpg] [img=http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/1294/yana3ti1.th.jpg] We enquired for the route to karwar from yana. We were informed that there were 2 routes one which we took to yana and the other thru the hills which would take us to the hubli-ankola road. We decided to take the later but were warned that the road is really in a bad condition for around 5 km. I got behind the wheel and started on the so called horrible road and soon realized that the road was virtually non existent! I drove very slowly in 2nd gear with out any acceleration as it was going down hill. The road had nothing but rocks, big, small and almost of all sizes. And to add to the problems, couple of hairpin curves or steep turns were also present. Some how managed to cross that road and reach a stretch where the road was good. Took a diversion to the right to reach the hubli-ankola highway. The hubli-ankila road was double road but single lane. The road was good for most part. The lower layer were visible at some places and the truck traffic consisted of trucks carrying iron ore and the trucks carrying the LPG. Took right near ankola to join NH17, from there it was a straight road to karwar. On the way we could see the sae playing hide and seek with the road. Passed the sea bird project area, then rabindranath tagor beach and finally reached out hotel bhadra at around 12.30PM. As the room was booked in advance, so we checked-in, freshened up and went out for lunch. Had south Indian meals at udapi restaurant besides our hotel. After lunch we rested for some time. The room which was so called deluxe room had big windows from where we were feeling a lot of heat coming in as it was a pretty hot day in karwar. We didn’t like the room that much so started to explore the other possibilities. Before that we had to decide on our itenary for the next day i.e. 30th. We were contemplating visiting some resort in karwar (like devbaug or great islan resort) and enjoy some water sports. But for our dismay we were told that the water sports were available to the residents of the resorts and not for outsiders! We dropped the plans for water sports  and instead started to discuss about alternate itnary. We decided to check out whether any rooms/ accommodation was available in gokarna. So ringed few hotel and resorts in gokarna and got the same answer: “ season saar, every thing is full”.But one gentleman form some hotel in gokarna suggested us to come down there and try our luck, may be some last minute cancellations would help us. So we decided to pack all the bags the next morning and head to gokarna, if we get accommodation, we would call up the hotel in karwar and ask them to check us out, else we will roam around gokarna, get back to karwar in the night and then head to goa on 31st. After the plan was finalized for the next day, raghu went out to meet one of his college who was also in karwar on the same day. I and Sriram finished our shower by that time, raghu asked us to come to rabindranath tagor beach tp watch the sunset. Took an auto and reached the beach. The beach at karwar was really nice, not too crowded, nice breeze and clear sand. We sat on the beach hoping to watch the sun set, but to our dismay, there is kind of land extended in to the sea. The sun went behind that piece of land. So we couldn’t catch the actual sun set. But nevertheless, we just love sitting on the beach and enjoyed our conversation about life, marriage (all 3 of us are bachelors) etc. karwar beach: [img=http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4913/karwarbeachnf6.th.jpg] Left the beach around 8.45, went back to room. Rested for some time and then headed out for dinner. A bar and restaurant besides out hotel was our destination. Stuffed ourselves to what ever level we could. Went back to room and there we were in deep sleep with in no time. None of us was awake even for 2 mins as soon as we hit the bed. Next day we hit the road at around 9 after finishing our breakfast toward gokarna. The road was a mixture of good and bad stretches. We reached gokarna around 11. The 1st hotel we encountered as soon as we entered in to gokarna was hotel shivaprasad. Just went in to enquire about room and were asked to wait for few min. then the guy showed not 1 but 3 rooms which were available (so much for the peak season) we settled in for the double bed room with TV and AC. He charded us 2400/- upfront for 2 days. We checked in and decided to head to murdeshwara. We drove past kumta, honnavar and reached murdeshwar around 1.30. for our surprise we saw huge crowd on the beach. As it was weekend there were many tourists and kids specially from schools on a educational tour. We also observed that there was some parasailing going on, on the beach. We decided to check it out once we finished lunch. For lunch we headed towards some big hotel cum restaurant which has come up on the top of the hill besides the temple. As we entered, more surprise awaited us. The restaurant was squeaky clean and elegantly furnished. The food and service was good but was a little slow. River aghanashini meeting arabein sea:[img=http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5042/onthewaytomurdeshwar1pc3.th.jpg][/FONT] We also observed a advertisement board at the hotel about the water sports. When enquired we were given a cell no. to get in touch with those guys. When I spoke with that water sports guy we were told that we could do kayaking, wave rafting and snorkeling. But as it was already past noon, it wasn’t possible to do snorkeling that day as it required around 6 hours and we have to go to an island 20km away from the shore in a boat. So we settled in for kayaking. Before the we did parasailing where we were flown for a kilometer. It was a nice experience flying in the sky, wind hitting your face and not confined to the metal box (which our airplanes are). Then we went for kayaking in to the sea. I and raghu got on one boat and Sriram and the instructor got on in another and we started to row. We went in almost 2 km inside the sea. After 50m or so from the shore the waves disappeared and we enjoyed rowing. Going in to sea wasn’t as tough as coming back. Coz in our boat, we were kind of going round and round instead of straight. It took some time to get it straight and get near the shore where the waves got us to the shore. It was around 5 by the time so we decided to start back to gokarna as the road between kumta and honnavara was really bad. On the way we tanked up again and we were happy to get a discount of 1 rupee per liter petrol. That was a Christmas offer from the petrol retailer. The car took in another 38 ltrs of petrol. The mileage came out to be around 16.5 KMPL.[ By the time we reached gokarna it was already dark. We freshened up and started out in search of a good restaurant for dinner. With in gokarna, nothing was to our liking. We were told by some local’s that we could go to OM beach, where we could get food that foreigners eat! So went started towards Om beach. The road is good but it’s a single road. It takes us thru few twists and turns and even on the edge of the hill. As it was dark we could not make out anything. We reached the place where we are required to park our car and go down to reach the beach, where we can get some restaurants. It was pitch dark and we didn’t have any torch with us. So we lit up the flash lights in our mobile and started down to the beach. Again we couldn’t make out much in the darkness. As soon as we got down we saw a restaurant by the name Namaste. We decided to first take a walk on the beach and then head for dinner. We went some distance and saw people with tents and bonfires sitting on the beach but it was absolutely dark. We then got back to the restaurant and observed that the place was filled with foreigners. We ordered for sizzlers, chowmein, Mexican chilly beans and veg pulav ( I am mentioning it because we didn’t expect to get such a variety at that place) We went for a small walk again after dinner and sat on the beach and enjoyed the darkness and the sound of the waves from the sea. By the time we drove back to the room it was 11.30 so we just slept off. The next morning we planned to explore the beaches of gokarna. First up was kudle beach. It’s the same road as OM beach to maximum extent. Have to take a right to go to kudle beach. The road is not that good but drivable. It takes us on the edge of the hill from where we can get a panoramic view of the Arabian sea with Om beach on left and kudle beach on the right. We parked out car on top of the hill and started downhill on foot to reach the beach. Kudle beach is big (almost over a km in length), clean and not crowded at all. Maximum people on the beach were foreigners. We walked to the other end of the beach and decide to take a plunge in to the sea. Sriram said he doesn’t want to get in to the water so I and raghu got in to the sea and played in the waves. picture of kudle beach: [img=http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3797/topviewofkudlebeachgokakz1.th.jpg] After 30 mins, we packed up and got back to our car and headed toward our next stop: the half moon beach and the paradise beach. We were told by our hotel guy that if we go to a place called as tadri which is close to gorkarna we could trak down to those two beaches. When we were near the place where the aghnashini river meets the Arabian sea, we enquired with some person there who informed us that it would be better if we go to Om beach and either take a boat or trek from there to the other two beaches. So we drove back to Om beach and found quite a decent crowd there. As it was pretty hot that day we decided to take the boat instead of trek to paradise beach. The boat ride was around 20 mins and we were lucky enough to see a dolphin playing in the sea. Om beach: [img=http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/6104/ombeachgokarna1oo4.th.jpg] The paradise beach was not the big and it had some big rocks on the beach. As it was around 2.30 we found a restaurant on the beach and went in for the lunch. It was a small place facing the sea and again full of foreigners. In fact the entire paradise beach was filled with foreigners with only few Indians present. We just sat in the restaurant till 4.30 and just enjoyed the view of the beach and the sea. Then we took a boat back to Om beach, where the crowd has grown in numbers. We found a less crowded part of the beach and again me and raghu got in to the water. It was soon sunset time and we enjoyed the sunset sitting on a big rock on the beach. sunset @ Om beach: [img=http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/5673/sunsetombeachgokarna2st2.th.jpg] We then decided to get back to the room, freshen up and come back to om beach for welcoming the new year. We had planned to sit around a bonfire and just relax. We had already made preparations for the same by collecting some wood and diesel to help them burn. When we got back to our car, we saw that already there was a police van and the number of vehicles was kept increasing, some how we expected the beach to be empty like the previous night and left for our room. Freshened up, finished dinner of south Indian thali and started for Om beach. To our dismay, the place was jam packed so we quicky changed our plans and turned towards kudle beach which was close by. Kudle beach was crowded but as its big enough, we could easily find place for our bonfire. Even here police were deployed in good numbers, who told us to pack up after 12. Raghu and Sriram went on a walk on the beach where I was just lying down and enjoying the view of stars in the night sky. When they both got back, we lit up the fire but soon were running short of wood, so searched around and found some more but not much to keep it going for a longtime. So raghu and Sriram took turns to keep pouring the diesel in to the fire to keep it burning. As the clock hit the 12 mark, there were crackers bursted, greetings exchanged and we welcomed the new year.cheers: Using our diesel pouring technique we were able to keep the fire burning till 12.05. after which we closed the pit we had dug for the fire, packed up and got back to our room. It was around 1.30 when we slept keeping in mind that we have to start for Bangalore early in the morning. Got up by 6 and started by 6.30. took the NH17 till we hit the diversion to sirsi after mirjan. Then we entered the devemane ghat section. Sriram was driving and it was a nice road with almost no traffic at all. We reached sirsi around 8.15. wanted to have breakfast but couldn’t find a decent restaurant so decided to take a break for 15-20 mins, have some snakes for the time being and have breakfast at haveri. Raghu took over the wheel and soon we reached haveri. We took the bypass of NH4 which touches the haveri-sirsi road and were driving towards ranebennur. As we didn’t go in to haveri, and the time was around 10.30, we decided to eat some thing lite at reliance A1 plaza @ ranebennur and have a early lunch break. Raghu then remembered that we would be passing davengere and we could have the famous benne dosa. So we continued from ranebennur towards davanagere. But as we didn’t knew the road inside the city we struck to the by pass and crossed davangere. I suggested that we have lunch at kamat which comes some where after chitradurga. I did not remember the exact location of kamat so we kept driving expecting to reach there as early as possible. We all three were hungry but raghu was the hungriest of the lot and was getting impatient. Some how we manage to convince him. Sriram was behind the wheels and was driving around 90 KM/Hr. we crossed chitradurga, then hiriyiur. I was of the openion that kamat is after hiriyur, but it turned out that kamat was after sira. some how we controlled our hunger and reached kamat. after having a satisfying lunch we, filled in another 500/- worth of petrol. The milage was around 15.5 kmpl as we have driven most of the route with AC. I took over the wheel and managed to maintain the speed around 110-120 km mark as the road was very good. By 4.30 we were crossing nelamangala. Dropped Sriram at sanjaynagar signal by 5.30 and by the time we reached our home in BTM thru the typical Bangalore traffic it was 6.30 and by the time raghu reached hi home at vijaya bank colony it was 7! So it was a nice outing away from the regular stuff of Bangalore traffic. Before I close a quick comment about the car. Gets 1.1 is pretty good car with decent handling. Without AC could touch the high speeds with out any effort. Engine noise is very less (had to look in to the tacho to confirm that its running). I was finding it a little difficult to use the clutch and the gear as I am used to the hydraulic clutch of my palio. But was able to make adjustment quickly. The gear shift is very smooth but I was having trouble in moving the vehicle from stand still as I was repeatedly putting the car in to third instead of the 1st :-D. One thing I noticed is at speeds over 100 the steering wheel starts to vibrate. Apart from that I felt the seating position could have been a little better as sitting for a longtime would give some pain. Also I felt that it lacked the power when climbing the ghat sections. We were required to shift gears and most of the time come down to 1st to make the climb. Some time with proper RPM, it was able to pull in the 2snd gear too. All in all a nice car with good space.  |
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4th January 2008, 13:48
| #2 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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4th January 2008, 14:45
| #3 |
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4th January 2008, 15:22
| #4 |
| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore
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4th January 2008, 17:49
| #5 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: bangalore
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| thanx guys Thanx guys for your replies! yes i too felt that the travelogue is too lengthy and most of you guys wont be reading it completely  about breaking them in to day wise sections, yes i will sure keep it in mind. thanx again for your suggestions cheers |
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4th January 2008, 18:11
| #6 |
| Senior - BHPian | I just got back from Gokarna after a few days of Shanti ! I will admit I havent yet gone through your report but I will at leisure Thanks in advance! |
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28th May 2008, 16:19
| #7 |
| BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Pune
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26th August 2011, 20:17
| #8 |
| BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore
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27th August 2011, 00:00
| #9 | |
| Team-BHP Support   | Re: bangalore-karwar-gokarna trip Quote:
On the way back you come down on NH17 beyond Ankola to Gokarna. Then if you need to take NH206 via Honnavar, you need to check on the road updates. | |
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28th August 2011, 13:04
| #10 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: bangalore-karwar-gokarna trip Quote:
Working with 2 other friends and families. Will check current road condition threads and make a final call. I did a Bangalore-->Hubly-->Goa-->Karwar-->Jog Falls-->Bangalore round trip, in 2006. It was wonderful one.So,I'm sure this one also will be an interesting route, if planned well in advance. | |
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26th September 2011, 18:15
| #11 |
| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: bangalore-karwar-gokarna trip I am planning to do Bangalore- Jog falls - Murudeshwar - Marawanthe beach - Yana - Gokarna - Karwar this weekend. Three quick queries regarding the route: 1. How is the ghat road between Jog falls and Honnavar? 2. NH17 Road conditions between Marawanthe and Gokarna? 3. Route between Kumta to Yana? On 3rd, every one seems to be talking about taking route from Sirsi to Yana but I don't see any road on the map. There is only one route to Yana which is from Kumta side (see image below). Also is it correct that Yana to Gokarana road continues to be in very bad condition? (again this road is not seen in the map) I will be driving an overloaded Civic (5 adults + 2 kids + Luggage) post the rainy season so caution is needed and help required  Last edited by ST7677 : 26th September 2011 at 18:20. |
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26th September 2011, 18:32
| #12 |
| Senior - BHPian  | |
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27th September 2011, 19:12
| #13 |
| Senior - BHPian | |
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27th September 2011, 22:26
| #14 | |
| Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bangalore
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| Re: bangalore-karwar-gokarna trip Quote:
Thanks Ravi, I was eagerly waiting for your response Unfortunately the hotel bookings are done at Murudeshwar and Karwar so I will have to largely stick with the planned night halts. I was planning for the following route (Bold ones are night halts) Day 1: Bangalore - Shimoga - Jog Falls - Honnavar - Idigunja - Murudeshwar Day 2: Murudeshwar - Kollar - Marawanthe - Murudeshwar Day 3: Murudeshwar - Kumta - Yana - Kumta - Gokarna - Karwar Day 4: Karwar Day 5: Karwar - Ankola - Davanagere - Bangalore I would wait to hear from your friend on Gokarana - Yana route update and then decide. Now routing to Yana thru Sirisi seems too much of a hassle, so I might drop it, though I really wanted to visit Yana :( Is there a trek+climb to Yana from Gokarna side also? Also, in below route do you feel there is any stretch which might too bad for a low GC car to cover?  Last edited by ST7677 : 27th September 2011 at 22:33. | |
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28th September 2011, 11:48
| #15 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bangalore
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