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Old 5th February 2010, 12:25   #1
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Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)

The Trip: Hyderabad to Goa and Back
The Team: Myself and Wifey
The Machine: Hyundai Getz 1.3 GLE

Our original plan was to drive to Surya Lanka Beach resort in costal AP and from there to Dindi Resort in Konaseema (AP) and then back to Hyderabad.

So we booked our accommodation with AP Tourism and we were to start on 28th Jan. But in next few days political scene in AP changed and the Pro-Telangana parties set a deadline of 28th for the Center to announce a decision on Telangana issue. So, we were not very comfortable traveling with fear in our minds, but we could not take a decision. Finally on 25th night we decided to drop the plan and instead go to Goa. The next day we tried to book a resort near the beach but could not find any thing good and finally settled for ‘Taj Ginger’ budget hotel in Panjim.

Then we searched for a good hotel in Solapur as we did not want to drive in the night. Found 'Hotel Sri Kamal International' near the railway station and told them to reserve a room for us.

The next day morning we had to go to APTDC for canceling our accommodation and they took their own sweet time to do the job. We were finally back by 1PM. Had a quick lunch and then bid goodbye to our 11-month old son and my mom and mom-in-law.

Then went straight to the nearest PUC checkpoint and got the certificate and started our long Journey.

Some shots from the trip
Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-1.jpg
On the way to Solapur

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-2.jpg
Amboli Ghat

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-3.jpg
Calangute beach

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-4.jpg
Sunset at Calangute

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-5.jpg
Fort Aguada
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:12   #2
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DAY-1

We started from Tarnaka, and then got on to NH-9 at Gymkhana Grounds. From there the drive was a breeze. Even the likes of kukatpally, patancheru areas were empty and before we knew we were in sangareddy. NH-9 is famous for high traffic with lots of Trucks and Buses, but that day we hardly found any traffic. So we were cruising at 80-90 Kmph constantly. We entered and exited the Karnataka boarder quickly and by the time we entered the MH boarder it was getting dark. There were some really nice curves before solapur and really enjoyed driving there. Finally reached solapur by 8:30PM and it took us almost 20 minutes to reach the hotel.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02943.jpg
NH-9 (kukatpally - patancheru road)

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02945.jpg
NH-9 (hyderabad outskirts)

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02950.jpg
Some where on NH-9 - Thats me driving

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02951.jpg
NH-9 - one of the rare overtakes we saw that day

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02964.jpg
NH-9 - You got to be real lucky to see an empty stretch on this highway

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02982.jpg
NH-9 - We had company. These cranes were flying above the road at arms length from the car windshield. We follwed them for about 2km. This shot is taken right out of the windshield with NO zoom.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02991.jpg
NH-9 - Sun goes down as we drive through Maharastra.

Fortunately this hotel had parking and we parked our car and went to the lobby. Got a non-AC room with early check-out for 450Rs. We were very hungry by then and we wanted to check in after having dinner. Hotel kitchen is under renovation. Here is the conversation with the receptionist.

Me: Any good hotels where we can go by walk?
Receptionist: There is a Kamath hotel, but it is very far to go by walk.
Me: How far?
Receptionist: It will take 8 minutes

Then he showed us the way to Kamath hotel and we reached in less than five minutes. Food was just OK and then we came back to the hotel and checked into our room. This hotel is under renovation and there was paint smell all over. Fortunately the rooms did not smell and we slept immediately.

DAY-2

Next day woke up at 5:45AM and after having a nice hot water bath checked out from the hotel. Checked the tyre pressure at a BP pump near the Hotel and headed to Bijapur. For some reason I am always insecure about my tyres as they get punctured at odd places.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc02992.jpg
Early morning shot of Solapur station road from our room.

Road to bijapur was very good with very less traffic dotted with an odd tractor carrying sugar cane. After half-n-hour we entered the Karnataka state and the road conditions deteriorated a bit, but it was drivable. Then we stopped at a roadside Udipi hotel at 8:30 to have breakfast. Idli, Vada was pretty good. Then we resumed our journey and reached bijapur at 9:35AM


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03003.jpg
NH-13 - There was sugarcane everywhere. Each tractor engine pulling two trolleys fully loaded.

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03008.jpg
NH-13 - Sunrise over river Krishna.

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03010.jpg
NH-13 - This bridge seperates Karnataka from Maharastra

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03013.jpg
NH-13 - Bad patch as we enter karnataka

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03014.jpg
NH-13 - No problem overtaking these huge trucks as traffic was lite.

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-20100128-08.36.36.jpg
NH-13 - Nice South Indian breakfast available here.
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:12   #3
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@ highwaylover. Fantastic!

That's the way to go! You just joined the forum and immediately down to 'business'. Nice start with tremendous pics! Waiting for more. Leaving your 11 months baby might have been a tough decision for you. Bring in more details pl.
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:18   #4
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Oh Boy. You left your 11 month old son behind. It has it's conveniences in going to a fun place like Goa, where one can let the hair down. Must have been real difficult to leave your baby behind.
I took my 11.5 month old daughter on a 5000 km trip though! Enjoyed every bit of it. Check out my travelogue. Might give you good hints on how to manage with a baby on long trips.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...runelveli.html
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:22   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LongDrive lover View Post
@ highwaylover. Fantastic!
Thanks LongDrive_lover.

Quote:
Originally Posted by LongDrive lover View Post
That's the way to go! You just joined the forum and immediately down to 'business'.
Actually this forum has given the inspiration to take on this trip. Its payback time

Quote:
Originally Posted by LongDrive lover View Post
Nice start with tremendous pics! Waiting for more. Leaving your 11 months baby might have been a tough decision for you. Bring in more details pl.
Ya. we missed him the moment we left home. But it was a good chance for him to socialize with people other than his parents. And he has passed the test with flying colours
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:31   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MX6 View Post
Oh Boy. You left your 11 month old son behind. It has it's conveniences in going to a fun place like Goa, where one can let the hair down. Must have been real difficult to leave your baby behind.
I took my 11.5 month old daughter on a 5000 km trip though!
Hmmm. That must have been difficult travelling with a one year old. But generally girls are well behaving. My son always wants to sit in the front seat and puts his hand on the gear rod at the first chance
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:50   #7
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Highwaylover, thats a great begining of your maiden travelogue from here to goa.

I am slightly confused why you took the Bijapur route from Solapur when you could have headed towards Kolhapur? Was it shorter? What was the total kms you covered using this route until you reach goa?

I do Hyderabad to Goa regularly so its quite interesting to see the same trip from a different perspective.
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Old 5th February 2010, 13:52   #8
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Your story is shaping up nicely. I am following it as I too have plans to take a few detours during our upcoming trip to Hyderabad in coming April-May. Good progress of travelogue.
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Old 5th February 2010, 14:15   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by highwaylover View Post
Hmmm. That must have been difficult travelling with a one year old. But generally girls are well behaving. My son always wants to sit in the front seat and puts his hand on the gear rod at the first chance
Budding driver I guess trying to grab the gear! I don't let my daughter in the front when I'm driving. All National highways, she goes in to her car seat. Local roads, I don't mind her sitting on momma's lap occasionaly.
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Old 5th February 2010, 14:43   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mobike008 View Post
Highwaylover, thats a great begining of your maiden travelogue from here to goa.

I am slightly confused why you took the Bijapur route from Solapur when you could have headed towards Kolhapur? Was it shorter? What was the total kms you covered using this route until you reach goa?
.
mobike008, there was no special reason for choosing this route. I had just one day to plan this trip. So, i had browsed though some posts here and decided to take this route. Its approximately 790KM.

I think kolhapur route is around 740KM? Our return route was much better and was also 740KM. Its was Panjim->Amboli->Belgaum->SH20->Yargatti->SH55->Mudhol->SH34->Jhamkandi->SH34->Bijapur->NH-218->Gulbarga->Homnabad->NH9->Hyderabad

All the State Highways were two lane roads, but as good as National Highways.
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Old 5th February 2010, 14:52   #11
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Originally Posted by LongDrive lover View Post
Your story is shaping up nicely. I am following it as I too have plans to take a few detours during our upcoming trip to Hyderabad in coming April-May. Good progress of travelogue.
When i told some of my relatives about this trip, they asked me why are you going now? isn't summer the best time to goto Goa?

Well, believe me it gets really hot and humid between 11AM-3PM and its impossible to stand in the sun unless you are Swimming in the sea. And i think summer afternoons will be even hotter. Of course, you can always relax in the beach shacks having a drink or two

But i will definitely plan my next trip to Goa during Oct-Dec. I think thats the time when Amboli ghat will be full of fog and the waterfalls will be lively.
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Old 5th February 2010, 15:07   #12
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DAY - 2 continued..

Here we made our first mistake. The moment we entered Bijapur we asked some locals about how to reach Goa. They showed us the way via Athani -> Miraj. Little did we know that there is an excellent state-highway from Bijapur to Belgaum via Jhamkandi, Yargatti (we took this road while returning, more about that later).

After crossing Bijapur outskirts, wifey wanted to drive. So I obeyed.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03021.jpg
SH-12 - Wifey driving.

I sat relaxed as she drove at constant speeds of 70-80 Kmph. This route goes through villages and has speed breakers at every entry and exit of the village. Here i wanted to try GPS on my phone. I am using BSNL GPRS connection on my phone. My phone showed our location accurately on Google maps and we were proceeding smoothly. We crossed Athani, and after wifey drove for about 100 km I took the wheel again. Then suddenly GPRS on my phone died as we neared a T-Junction.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03026.jpg
SH-12 - Road wide open.

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03027.jpg
SH-12 - lots of greenery

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03045.jpg
SH-12 - Nice curves

Our next destination was Miraj. I had no option but to ask the locals which way to go. I saw a police man standing at the junction and decided to ask him. He was standing there for a lift to Belgaum. He told us not to go via Miraj as it is all village roads and advised us to take the opposite route to Belgaum as it will take us to the nice NH4 highway. In return for his advice we decided to give him the lift. We also thought he will be useful in guiding us from Belgaum to Goa.So there we start the journey again with a stranger and the ride till we reach NH4 was very good with mini ghats and twists and turns.

Finally we hit NH4 and Boy it was beautiful. It was great driving on this stretch except for a small diversion as the work was still going on.

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03069.jpg
NH-4 - Excellent roads

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03077.jpg
NH-4 - Nice view

Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03081.jpg
NH-4 - Driving on parallel road for about 1 Km as work was in progress

Then we reached Belgaum and dropped the police officer at the court. He enquired with his people and showed us the way to Goa. It was already 2PM and we were hungry. We stopped at a shakhahari hotel and ordered roti, veg pulao and paneer masala. Food was OK and then we immediately started off to Goa.
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Old 5th February 2010, 17:28   #13
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Hi highway lover,

A very good travelouge with precise details needed for a tour from Hyd - Goa. And your log is just in time for me as I am planning a trip to Goa (most probably ) in mid feb. Enjoying the pics and waiting for more !

Thanks,
Srini
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Old 5th February 2010, 17:41   #14
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Nice & crisp start for the travelogue highwaylover.
Nice picture of the Calangute Beach. Eagerly awaiting the Goa pics.
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Old 5th February 2010, 17:55   #15
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Drive from Belgaum to Goa was the most exciting of all, and you MUST include this stretch in your route. Going through twists and turns and small villages, it was picture perfect. Just then the inevitable happened. We saw long line of vehicles stopped on both sides of the road as there was an accident. A state BUS rammed into a Truck. We stopped there and started clicking pics as we had nothing we can do.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03083.jpg
This is the place where accident happened. Unfortunately didn't take a pic of the accident scene.

Then one passerby told me “tumhare gaadi jaane ke liye jagaa hai. jaldi jao. nahi to yeh tamasha poora din tak chalta rahega”. We immediately grabbed this chance and maneuvered our car through the gap with some effort. Now there we are the whole road wide opened for us as the onward traffic was stopped by the accident.Now, I had no idea how the amboli ghat looks and I was really looking forward to it. After a few minutes the road started going up and down and then it became flat. I thought may be that was the amboli ghat


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03084.jpg
Nice blind curves on the way to Amboli.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03089.jpg
Belgaum to amboli road is dotted with small villages at regular intervals with nice paddy fields like this one.

Then after crossing the amboli village, suddenly the road opens up in to a Deep valley. Wow, what a view. It took us no time to understand that we have just entered the ghat. Ghat starts with a very steep descent and the view was wonderful. But we could not see any fog or water falls. May be sept-dec is the time when you can see the fog and water. Then we stopped at the vada pav stall and picked up couple of vada pavs and clicked some pics and resumed journey. I lost track of time as I drove through the ghats immersed in the beauty.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03097.jpg
Amboli Ghat view.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03099.jpg
Super curve on the Amboli ghat.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03100.jpg
Vada-pav stall on the Amboli ghat.

Then we entered Goa, and roads there were no different. Excellent roads with nice curves and coconut plantations on both the sides.

We have finally reached Ginger at 6 PM and checked into the hotel immediately.

After getting fresh we came down asked the travel counter which is the nearest beach. He guided us to Miramar beach which was 8Km from the Hotel. We were in no mood to drive again so decided to take a taxi this time. Taxi driver was well aware of the Telangana issue and was talking about it during the drive. Taxi is very Expensive, 100 Rs for just 8 Km.

Miramar is a very peaceful beach with no crowd and no water sports or eating shacks. We just sat at the beach listening to the waves and then walked around the beach for some time and decided to have dinner there. To our surprise we couldn’t find any good place to eat. We walked for a km on the main road but still could not find anything. Then we decided to take a taxi and head back to the hotel. The taxi exited the main road and took us through a short-cut. The moment we entered the by lanes we saw hundreds of places offering all kind of cuisines of the world. We cursed our bad luck and decided to head back to the hotel anyway and have dinner there. ‘Ginger’ has a very good buffet dinner for 180Rs. It was nice with chicken chettinad, peas pulav, dal, etc. After having dinner we retired for the night.


Hyderabad to Goa (27th-31st 2010)-dsc03114.jpg
Miramar beach (this pic was taken the next day morning on the way to calangute beach)
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