BLR-GOA trip onward via Amboli return via Shimoga

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 15:50

Travelled down to Goa recently with family(wife, 2 kids), father-in-law and a jam packed boot on Corolla-H2. The idea was to drive down to Goa but not strain the kids or do any night travel, so we split each leg of the journey to travel during the comfortable hours of the day and at our own pace with time for pit-stops and to click photographs.

After deliberating for long on routes to take, settled down on the Bangalore-Hubli-Sawantwadi-Goa-Shimoga-Bangalore route for the trip. The logic being we wanted different routes for onward and return and wanted scenic routes.

Day-1: Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Ranibennur-Hubli
We left home at 9AM via BG road and were at Tumkur Road by 9:40AM. The next 10-15 km were choked roads. We also ended up with a flat tire thanks to a sharp metal piece from the construction site. Couple of coffee breaks combined with changing the flat tire and having it mended meant we were stuck at Tumkur till about 1:30PM.

There is a nice coffee day after the Tumkur road mess where you can relax for a while before proceeding. Not sure of the distance but you cannot miss it. Clicked the 2 shots of the train from here.

Its quite easy to get lost in Tumkur especially if you are guided incorrectly. We took a left near a Hanumanji statue. We had to take right.

We covered the rest of the distance from this pitstop to Hubli in the next 6 hours with a couple of mini breaks. Hotel Naveen at Hubli was pretty good.

Learnings from Day-1:
1. Carry a puncture kit and know how to use it. Luckily we found a puncture repair shop close by. May not be as lucky each time.
2. Carry a pump to fill air in case you need to do everything yourselves.

Pic-1:Traffic Jam as we entered Tumkur Road from NICE road
Pic-2 & 3:Shots from coffee day after the Tumkur road mess and before Tumkur.
Pic-4:NICE road in Bangalore - enroute to Tumkur road - Toll=Rs 68.

Pic-5:Road after Tumkur is decent for a while

Pic-6:Approaching C'Durga and the windmills by Dusk

Pic-7:Hanumanji at Tumkur will guide you. Take a right here. Left will take you into a very messy (non-existent) road in Tumkur. This statue greets you as you leave NH-206 to your left at a junction and take a right. I am sure I missed some bye-pass somewhere.

Pic-8:What must this truck be carrying ?

To follow:
----------------------------------------------
Day-2: Hubli-Dharwad-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Goa

Day-3 & 4 completely in Goa

Day-5: Goa-Karwar-Jog Falls-Shimoga
Day-6: Shimoga-Bangalore

Total distance including local travel was about 1500 km for which the car consumed about 107 litres of fuel.

unoczar · 3rd January 2010, 16:11

nice.. very nice

brings back some recent memories!! please continue and make us feel proud!

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 16:22

Day-2: Hubli-Dharwad-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Goa

The place where we stayed at Hubli is full of the auto major showrooms. Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford, Maruti - you name it, they are all on the same road.

Found a Shell fuel pump as well and promptly refueled. As I had a road side repaired tire, confidence was low, so went across to the Toyota shop to have the spare verified. Since I was anyway there, got a proper puncture kit and also got all oils checked.

After stocking on some Dharwad pedha, hit the Belgaum highway. It was a good clean stretch of highway and very picturesque too.

At Belgaum, took the left into Belgaum to get onto the Amboli road.

Left Hubli at 11AM, reached Goa by 5:30PM including an hour break at Sawantwadi and couple of other photo opportunities.

IN Goa we hit 2 major traffic jams within the city. The first one held us back by about 20 minutes and the second took more than half hour to get out of. As a result, we spent about 90 minutes in the last 15 km.

All in all, reached our hotel in south Goa by 7:30PM.

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 16:41

Day-5: Goa-Karwar-Jog Falls-Shimoga

This was the most picturesque and simply awesome. We left the hotel at around 10:30AM and reached our destination in Shimoga in about 7.5 hours.

Refuelled at Club HP at Margao with 'Power'.

It was raining continuously for the early part of the day and was extremely gloomy weather. The sights were awesome and the rain added to the charm. The road was good by and large barring some stretches I have shown on the pictures. The only challenging road conditions are about 15-20 km about 30 min after Honnavar where the tarred road can hardly accomodate 2 passing vehicles and the shoulder is a steep 8-10 inches down. That is the only tricky part. Rest was good.

Jog falls were not flush with water but we ticked it off as 'have seen'. The drive was better.

As per everybody's advise here stayed at Hotel Jewel Rock in Shimoga. Refuelled with Extra Premium at the IOC in Shimoga.

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 16:49

Final Day: Shimoga-Bangalore
Took 6.5 hours flat with 1 major break and few minor.

The key thing to note is the red soil on this trip. On the onward journey, lots of cotton plants. The road gets brown with the mud from the trucks.

Again our pit stop was just after Tumkur (Bangalore side). Surprisingly the traffic was much thinner on the return possibly due to the time of the day (2:30PM).

Signing off.

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 19:29

Sunset photos clicked near Ranibennur - added

akroy · 3rd January 2010, 21:12

Nice start there subbarp, Since you were stuck in Tumkur, why didnt you try Hotel pavithra for the Thatte idlies, those are yummy.

Also pls caption your pics for a better read.
Abhi

unoczar · 3rd January 2010, 22:29

leave those thatte idlis alone.. when i read amboli and shimoga in the heading.. i expected nice waterfall pictures (at least 2). I feel that there are none, please prove me wrong... please!!!

subbarp · 3rd January 2010, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by unoczar

leave those thatte idlis alone.. when i read amboli and shimoga in the heading.. i expected nice waterfall pictures (at least 2). I feel that there are none, please prove me wrong... please!!! :((

2 pictures from Jog. Did not find enough to interest me on the Amboli waterfalls. I just drove through.

unoczar · 3rd January 2010, 22:48

oh thanks subbarp!

i was feeling a bit queezy! thanks for the pics.

Amboli waterfall wasnt that bad, and the wada pav's near that waterfall are delicious!

unoczar · 4th January 2010, 08:18

as far as my knowledge goes... best time to visit jog is aug-dec. subbarp too went in the same period i guess. and it was raining too!, but jog was far from its best.

so, what according to the team is the best time to visit jog?
how do we find out..??

srikanthpotluri · 4th January 2010, 11:00

nice trip buddy, so the entire road stretch was nice? were there any bad roads?

where are the pics from goa dude?

abhinav.s · 4th January 2010, 12:13

Good write up and pics.. There are some bad patches visible in a few pics. Were these for a short stretch only?

kannan666 · 4th January 2010, 12:51

Always nice to read a travelogue on Goa but where are the Goa pics ?

3rd January 2010, 15:50	#1
subbarp BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 319 Thanked: 198 Times	BLR-GOA trip onward via Amboli return via Shimoga Travelled down to Goa recently with family(wife, 2 kids), father-in-law and a jam packed boot on Corolla-H2. The idea was to drive down to Goa but not strain the kids or do any night travel, so we split each leg of the journey to travel during the comfortable hours of the day and at our own pace with time for pit-stops and to click photographs. After deliberating for long on routes to take, settled down on the Bangalore-Hubli-Sawantwadi-Goa-Shimoga-Bangalore route for the trip. The logic being we wanted different routes for onward and return and wanted scenic routes. Day-1: Bangalore-Tumkur-Chitradurga-Ranibennur-Hubli We left home at 9AM via BG road and were at Tumkur Road by 9:40AM. The next 10-15 km were choked roads. We also ended up with a flat tire thanks to a sharp metal piece from the construction site. Couple of coffee breaks combined with changing the flat tire and having it mended meant we were stuck at Tumkur till about 1:30PM. There is a nice coffee day after the Tumkur road mess where you can relax for a while before proceeding. Not sure of the distance but you cannot miss it. Clicked the 2 shots of the train from here. Its quite easy to get lost in Tumkur especially if you are guided incorrectly. We took a left near a Hanumanji statue. We had to take right. We covered the rest of the distance from this pitstop to Hubli in the next 6 hours with a couple of mini breaks. Hotel Naveen at Hubli was pretty good. Learnings from Day-1: 1. Carry a puncture kit and know how to use it. Luckily we found a puncture repair shop close by. May not be as lucky each time. 2. Carry a pump to fill air in case you need to do everything yourselves. Pic-1:Traffic Jam as we entered Tumkur Road from NICE road Pic-2 & 3:Shots from coffee day after the Tumkur road mess and before Tumkur. Pic-4:NICE road in Bangalore - enroute to Tumkur road - Toll=Rs 68. Pic-5:Road after Tumkur is decent for a while Pic-6:Approaching C'Durga and the windmills by Dusk Pic-7:Hanumanji at Tumkur will guide you. Take a right here. Left will take you into a very messy (non-existent) road in Tumkur. This statue greets you as you leave NH-206 to your left at a junction and take a right. I am sure I missed some bye-pass somewhere. Pic-8:What must this truck be carrying ? To follow: ---------------------------------------------- Day-2: Hubli-Dharwad-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Goa Day-3 & 4 completely in Goa Day-5: Goa-Karwar-Jog Falls-Shimoga Day-6: Shimoga-Bangalore Total distance including local travel was about 1500 km for which the car consumed about 107 litres of fuel. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by subbarp : 3rd January 2010 at 16:05.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 16:11	#2
unoczar BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 536 Thanked: 224 Times	nice.. very nice brings back some recent memories!! please continue and make us feel proud!
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 16:22	#3
subbarp BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 319 Thanked: 198 Times	Day-2: Hubli-Dharwad-Amboli-Sawantwadi-Goa The place where we stayed at Hubli is full of the auto major showrooms. Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford, Maruti - you name it, they are all on the same road. Found a Shell fuel pump as well and promptly refueled. As I had a road side repaired tire, confidence was low, so went across to the Toyota shop to have the spare verified. Since I was anyway there, got a proper puncture kit and also got all oils checked. After stocking on some Dharwad pedha, hit the Belgaum highway. It was a good clean stretch of highway and very picturesque too. At Belgaum, took the left into Belgaum to get onto the Amboli road. Left Hubli at 11AM, reached Goa by 5:30PM including an hour break at Sawantwadi and couple of other photo opportunities. IN Goa we hit 2 major traffic jams within the city. The first one held us back by about 20 minutes and the second took more than half hour to get out of. As a result, we spent about 90 minutes in the last 15 km. All in all, reached our hotel in south Goa by 7:30PM. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 16:41	#4
subbarp BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 319 Thanked: 198 Times	Day-5: Goa-Karwar-Jog Falls-Shimoga This was the most picturesque and simply awesome. We left the hotel at around 10:30AM and reached our destination in Shimoga in about 7.5 hours. Refuelled at Club HP at Margao with 'Power'. It was raining continuously for the early part of the day and was extremely gloomy weather. The sights were awesome and the rain added to the charm. The road was good by and large barring some stretches I have shown on the pictures. The only challenging road conditions are about 15-20 km about 30 min after Honnavar where the tarred road can hardly accomodate 2 passing vehicles and the shoulder is a steep 8-10 inches down. That is the only tricky part. Rest was good. Jog falls were not flush with water but we ticked it off as 'have seen'. The drive was better. As per everybody's advise here stayed at Hotel Jewel Rock in Shimoga. Refuelled with Extra Premium at the IOC in Shimoga. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 16:49	#5
subbarp BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 319 Thanked: 198 Times	Final Day: Shimoga-Bangalore Took 6.5 hours flat with 1 major break and few minor. The key thing to note is the red soil on this trip. On the onward journey, lots of cotton plants. The road gets brown with the mud from the trucks. Again our pit stop was just after Tumkur (Bangalore side). Surprisingly the traffic was much thinner on the return possibly due to the time of the day (2:30PM). Signing off. Attached Thumbnails Last edited by subbarp : 3rd January 2010 at 17:01.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 19:29	#6
subbarp BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 319 Thanked: 198 Times	Sunset Photos-Ranibennur Sunset photos clicked near Ranibennur - added Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 21:12	#7
akroy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA, USA Posts: 2,423 Thanked: 85 Times View My Garage	Nice start there subbarp, Since you were stuck in Tumkur, why didnt you try Hotel pavithra for the Thatte idlies, those are yummy. Also pls caption your pics for a better read. Abhi
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 22:29	#8
unoczar BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 536 Thanked: 224 Times	leave those thatte idlis alone.. when i read amboli and shimoga in the heading.. i expected nice waterfall pictures (at least 2). I feel that there are none, please prove me wrong... please!!! Last edited by unoczar : 3rd January 2010 at 22:45.
	() Thanks

3rd January 2010, 22:48	#10
unoczar BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 536 Thanked: 224 Times	oh thanks subbarp! i was feeling a bit queezy! thanks for the pics. Amboli waterfall wasnt that bad, and the wada pav's near that waterfall are delicious!
	() Thanks

4th January 2010, 08:18	#11
unoczar BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 536 Thanked: 224 Times	best time to visit jog? as far as my knowledge goes... best time to visit jog is aug-dec. subbarp too went in the same period i guess. and it was raining too!, but jog was far from its best. so, what according to the team is the best time to visit jog? how do we find out..??
	() Thanks

4th January 2010, 11:00	#12
srikanthpotluri BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 472 Thanked: 769 Times View My Garage	nice trip buddy, so the entire road stretch was nice? were there any bad roads? where are the pics from goa dude?
	() Thanks

4th January 2010, 12:13	#13
abhinav.s Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,775 Thanked: 1,273 Times	Good write up and pics.. There are some bad patches visible in a few pics. Were these for a short stretch only?
	() Thanks

4th January 2010, 12:51	#14
kannan666 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: KA-02 Posts: 1,002 Thanked: 128 Times View My Garage	Always nice to read a travelogue on Goa but where are the Goa pics ?
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