[airguitar]

SunnyBoi and AMp : Will upload a few more pictures, shortly.

@AMPERE : I get a lot nostalgic about my early life a lot as well. I've lived a lot in bylanes of suburbs/residential colonies packed with people in Bangalore, nothing scenic about the places I've lived in. But when I visit them, I get a lot nostalgic ( This is where we used to play cricket, this is where we hid to avoid being spanked etc ). I can clearly sense the multiplication factor with a beautiful place like Dandeli/Kadra/Kaiga.

@AMPERE : Thirthahalli : heaven! Places like Vihangama have the river Tunga flowing at their doorstep.

@Addy : The valley ( Pic 2 ) is Sharavathy near Jog on my way back. There's also a lot of other rivers in those pics ( Kaneri near Ulavi, Gangawali near Karwar), other than Kali and Sharavathy. Sorry for confusing : I still need to figure out how to add captions to the photos :(

Originally Posted by ampere

These are no tourist place per se. These are far flung and remote areas where you have power stations (Hydel and Nuclear). The colonies are amazingly located in a valley near the river. So daily stay itself gives you views, that folks drives thousand of miles to have a glimpse.

But then familiarity also breeds contempt!

Sorry for the OT @AG. More snaps please! During the times of my stay, I did not have a digital camera. So I have hardly any snaps of that period and that place, but it only etched in my memory for ever!

Here's for now :

1. Paddy field near Khanapur
2. Sharavathy near Jog
3. A closeup of some unknown flower
4. A closeup of a bug ( ladybird ?)
5. Shanmukha mines ( discarded Iron ore mine ) inside Dandeli forests
6. Spidey
7. Supa backwater, Supa dam on Kali river
8. A windowful of beauty - Khanapur paddy field
9. On the way to Ulavi
10. Sintheri rocks, with Kaneri river jumping a small altitude ( must visit if you can ascend the 200+ steps up )
11. A village by name pradhani
12. Unknown ( anyone knows it ?) waterfall inside Anshi NP.
13. Gangawali

[airguitar]

Addy : glad you noticed. Where's the other Norway : is it on the NH48 or off it ? I'm a little lunatic when it comes to names.

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Nice catch with the names AG. Loved the pictures, especially the Kali valley pic

FYI, there is one more Norway near Sakleshpur

[hvkumar]

One of the rare ones to do the lovely Anshi-Kadra route! Pleasant surprise that the road is in good condition despite the bad sections near Anshi. Did you go via Supa Dam?

How bad was the road from Tarikere to Tiptur via Kadur? I heard it was in a bad shape.

Any details of the hotel you stayed in Dandeli?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

One of the rare ones to do the lovely Anshi-Kadra route! Pleasant surprise that the road is in good condition despite the bad sections near Anshi. Did you go via Supa Dam?

How bad was the road from Tarikere to Tiptur via Kadur? I heard it was in a bad shape.

Any details of the hotel you stayed in Dandeli?

HVK,

I used to be there around Kadra/Kaiga for a long time. There are two routes from Karwar-Kadra. One on either side of the river Kali. Firs route is the one which is the SH and which you encounter a Sadashivgad after crossing the famous Kali bridge from Karwar. Although its a SH, it was pretty much broken 1998-2005/6 time frame.

Later I heard they have tarred this road and its pretty good. But I think the status of Kadra-Anshi-Joida-Dandeli stil remain to be pathetic.

The other route of Karwar-Kadra is pretty much non-existent with the road broken at places! But both roads have great scenery to admire!

There used to be red Colour KSRTC buses plying from Belgaum to Karwar via Anshi/Kadra, which used to be my only medium to catch the train at Londa.
Most buses either go via Madgaon or Ankola.

[hvkumar]

Thanks, ampere.
I guess the Karwar-Kadra road is the Kaiga road? Where does it cross the Kali?
I have been only on teh Sadashigarh-Kadra route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Thanks, ampere.
I guess the Karwar-Kadra road is the Kaiga road? Where does it cross the Kali?
I have been only on teh Sadashigarh-Kadra route.

HVK, Yes it is the Kaiga road. You have to cross Kali at the Kadra dam site at Kadra. Which means you drive all the way till Kaiga and then to Kadra and then cross the river.

Also you are not allowed go on the dam. But there is a submersible bridge through which you need to cross. Once during heavy rains and when the dam was open, the bridge was washed away! It was at the moment, I had just arrived from train (Goa Express) and reached Kadra from Londa. With all my luggage I had to cross the river in a boat!

PLUS the boat hit the floor very soon on the other side and I had to walk in water with all that luggage for quite a stretch!

@Ag Sorry for that OT. Please continue with more snaps!

[airguitar]

Yes a bit of a bad strech after Tarikere towards Bangalore. Near the rly level crossing.

Stayed at the Dandeli Jungle Lodges and Resorts. And yes, traveled via Supa dam.

The Dandeli->Gund stretch is a must for nature lovers.

@AMPERE/SUNNYBOI : Will upload the remaining photos within a day ( not many more to go though; regret not taking a few more :( )

Originally Posted by hvkumar

How bad was the road from Tarikere to Tiptur via Kadur? I heard it was in a bad shape.

Any details of the hotel you stayed in Dandeli?

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by ampere

HVK, Yes it is the Kaiga road. You have to cross Kali at the Kadra dam site at Kadra. Which means you drive all the way till Kaiga and then to Kadra and then cross the river.

Also you are not allowed go on the dam. But there is a submersible bridge through which you need to cross. Once during heavy rains and when the dam was open, the bridge was washed away! It was at the moment, I had just arrived from train (Goa Express) and reached Kadra from Londa. With all my luggage I had to cross the river in a boat!

Ampere, thanks for this clarification, looks like an exciting route I must try out sometime. I looked at the GM, I guess the crossing is downstream of the Kadra Dam, before Kaiga, which is upstream. Is that right?

I see that the road continues beyond Kaiga to NH63 south of Yellapura - how is that road? Are there any night drive/check post restrictions on these routes?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by airguitar

Addy : glad you noticed. Where's the other Norway : is it on the NH48 or off it ? I'm a little lunatic when it comes to names.

It is off the NH48 and on the Hanbal road. You can see it on MapmyIndia.com Online maps, GPS Navigation, Driving Directions, Local Search search for 'narvey, karnataka'. Map My India spells it as Narvey, whereas the telephone directory spelled it as 'Norway'.

[pramod]

Airguitar/HVK/Ampere - I am driving on 30th Sept towards Karwar and beyond. So, i am now tempted to try out the stretches which i havent done, around Dandeli area. Kadra, Kaiga, ambikanagar and then join NH17 from there.
Will surely take snaps of those stetches.

Btw, airguitar was a close friend of mine when we joined High school. Later on, our paths hadnt crossed for a good 12 years.
Team-bhp helped bring him back in touch

[ampere]

Great one Pramod. If you plan to go to Dandeli, try the standard route of Karwar-Kadra-Anshi-Kumbharwada-Joida-Dandeli.

From Dandeli you can come back to Yellapur also.

Please note Joida is the tri-crossing point. When coming from Anshi one route goes to Dandeli while the other goes to Londa to hit the NH4A.

[pramod]

ampere - When i was driving back from Panaji, i had taken a route which i didnt document. And i dont remember the names of towns which came across.
Panaji - Ponda - Karnataka border check post - a "tri junction" - straight goes to Londa-Belguam. But i took Right towards Dandeli. Then, Bison River resort for lunch on the river kali banks. What a place it was. I dont even know which road it was.
Then, We reached Supa Dam (Ganesh Gudi). We were not allowed inside the Dam premises. But, the Security guard did show us a way on the right side of the Dam, from where we could get a good view of the reservior. I am sure Supa is the highest dam around.
The Security guard at Supa is a Kargil Veteran. He narrated how the pakistan soldiers' dead bodies were carried by him and others, during the kargil war.
After Supa dam, there were 2 routes to Dandeli. One is the Bus route. The other route is the one, which goes through Supa dam colony. I took the latter. We did encounter the Karwar SH on the way. And finally crossed Kali, just before Dandeli town.

My uncle worked for West Coast Paper mills back in late 80s and early 90s. Me, as a 5 year old, had been to Dandeli in 1988. We had stayed in their house which was in the paper mills colony. It was a cute little town then. It hasnt changed much even today.

We had taken a train from Bangalore. and we got down at a station called "Annavara". Has any one even heard about a place called Annavara?
And my uncle had come in the factory jeep from Dandeli to pick us up at 5 am in the morning. It may be 22 years back. But i still remember the peacocks we encountered on the way back!

AG, sorry for all the OT!

[ampere]

Pramod,

There are two routes to Dandeli while coming from Panaji.

One route goes along NH4A, which will touch Londa-Ramnagar-Dandeli.
The other route is the more scenic, which goes via Ganeshgudi.
After Ganeshgudi, you will hit Joida tri-point. One route goes to Kadra while the other deviates to Dandeli.

By the way I have seen that paper mills on the way and also the railway station on the meter gauge branch line at Dandeli.
You can also read about it in the book titled "Branch Line To Eternity" by Bill Aitken.

@AG, Thanks to your trip we are re-living those moments once again!
And I am liking all the OT!


PS: I am also waiting for more snaps as you promised

[airguitar]

@Ampere : I'm liking all the OT too. And sorry to keep you waiting for the snaps : haven't had a chance to look through the hundreds of junk photos. Coming soon though.

@Pramod : Where are you planning to stay during the Monthend trip ? Try avoiding the Anshi->Kumbarwada stretch(unless you're desperate to have that place on your travel-CV ) ( If you want to do the Kadra->Dandeli road, skip Kumbarwada and take the right at the fork 2 kms after anshi towards dandeli; and a left again at the next fork 5 km from the previous one ). You can always do Dandeli->Joida->Kumbarwada and go back.

[jeevmenon]

Originally Posted by pramod

Airguitar/HVK/Ampere - I am driving on 30th Sept towards Karwar and beyond. So, i am now tempted to try out the stretches which i havent done, around Dandeli area.

I am totally confused for our 8th Oct Mumbai trip. Never gone above 13.6 Lat. And the options are innumerable. This thread and dreamdiesel's thread. Uff! I want time to pause every 100 km - north coastal KA and coastal MH (NH17.) But will probably need 3 weeks to soak in all these west coast stretches. Plan, plan, plan... Sorry for going OT, Airguitar! But this will be a reference for our sojourn.