[naren_gs1]

Hi,
I am planning a NW/W Karnataka trip in second week of May - 11 to 20 Nov. Tentative plan is:
1) Gokarna
2) Chikmagalur
3) Coorg
4) Wayanad
5) Nagarhole National Park

Could the BHPians from their experiences pl help
1) Add/Correct main places to visit around these?
2) Highlight Stay/Food options
3) Hope it will not be too hot - hoping it would be better than Pune
4) Any points considering elections in KA?
5) Routes to be taken

Thank you once again in advance!

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by naren_gs1

Hi,
I am planning a NW/W Karnataka trip in second week of May - 11 to 20 Nov. Tentative plan is:
1) Gokarna
2) Chikmagalur
3) Coorg
4) Wayanad
5) Nagarhole National Park

It will be hot in Gokarna and slightly less in Coorg. The weather forecast predicts overcast conditions with rains in Coorg from May 12th. I advise you to start from Pune on May 12th and stay overnight at Gokarna. Then head towards C-Magalur-Madikeri-Wayanad and Nagarhole.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by naren_gs1

Hi,
I am planning a NW/W Karnataka trip in second week of May - 11 to 20 Nov. Tentative plan is:
1) Gokarna
2) Chikmagalur
3) Coorg
4) Wayanad
5) Nagarhole National Park

Could the BHPians from their experiences pl help

Why not add Jog Falls, Murdeshwar (Shiva temple), Marwanthe Beach (with stay at Turtle Bay resort by the sea with backwaters a few feet away)? All these can be visited despite the hot weather. Murdeshwar and Marwanthe beach are in a straight line, proceeding South from Gokarna to Mangalore. Jog falls is situated more inland from these destinations.

Do visit Udupi and right next to the famous Krishna temple's street, you have the original Woodlands restaurant (with poor clones of the same name around the country). Have a taste of their wonderful food; they serve a mean banana split ice cream!

St.Mary's island is situated off the coast near Udupi, with boat-rides to it normally available from the beach. They might even have one of those high-speed water-scooters for hire on the beach.

Bekal fort is roughly 100 Km south of Udupi, just inside Kerala. It's some kind of abandoned European fort. If you plan for this in the evening, you can enjoy the sunset by the seaside and have dinner in nearby shacks.

Agumbe is great to view sunrise/sunset. Shimoga has some options to stay and is generally full of forests and scenic, but the weather is again the spoilsport. Keep these two as outside options and only proceed if the conditions suit you. If you see weather forecasts showing rain in Agumbe, that's the time to be there. Agumbe, the Cherrapunji of the south is an experience to be, well, experienced when it rains.

I would normally suggest Kudremukh and Horanadu but in this weather it is unremarkable. It will take your breath away in December, though.

Near to Chikmagaluru, you have the Kemmanugundi peak with a govt rest house right up there. If you stay there by night, by day you can venture out in hired local Mahindra jeeps to go off-road to a beautiful waterfall nearby. There is also a scenic spot to view sunrise in Kemmangundi. But in 2010, the climb to Kemmangundi was horrible with very poor roads. Please check out current approach conditions first.

From Coorg en route to Mysore, take a detour to the Dubbare elephant camp. You can see elephants being pampered and tended to with care.

Sigh! I love the Dakshin Canara district, but I can't live there now sadly.

All the best.

[naren_gs1]

Originally Posted by deehunk

It will be hot in Gokarna and slightly less in Coorg. The weather forecast predicts overcast conditions with rains in Coorg from May 12th. I advise you to start from Pune on May 12th and stay overnight at Gokarna. Then head towards C-Magalur-Madikeri-Wayanad and Nagarhole.

Thanks - if so - may skip Gokarna altogether

Originally Posted by locusjag

Why not add Jog Falls, Murdeshwar (Shiva temple), Marwanthe Beach (with stay at Turtle Bay resort by the sea with backwaters a few feet away)? All these can be visited despite the hot weather. Murdeshwar and Marwanthe beach are in a straight line, proceeding South from Gokarna to Mangalore. Jog falls is situated more inland from these destinations.
All the best.

Thanks - more people just now happened to tell me to skip coastal area. So noted these for my family trip to South India coastal trip Dec 2019!

And will check Agumbe Kudremukh and Horanadu

[nibedk]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Agumbe is great to view sunrise/sunset. Shimoga has some options to stay and is generally full of forests and scenic, but the weather is again the spoilsport. Keep these two as outside options and only proceed if the conditions suit you. If you see weather forecasts showing rain in Agumbe, that's the time to be there. Agumbe, the Cherrapunji of the south is an experience to be, well, experienced when it rains.

I would normally suggest Kudremukh and Horanadu but in this weather it is unremarkable. It will take your breath away in December, though.

Near to Chikmagaluru, you have the Kemmanugundi peak with a govt rest house right up there. If you stay there by night, by day you can venture out in hired local Mahindra jeeps to go off-road to a beautiful waterfall nearby. There is also a scenic spot to view sunrise in Kemmangundi. But in 2010, the climb to Kemmangundi was horrible with very poor roads. Please check out current approach conditions first.

The beautiful western ghats ... irrespective of which state they are in are a sight for the eyes to savor and brings a certain calmness to our stressed out brains.

Everyone who loves travelling should have such destinations in the bucket list. October to January are the best times to travel to such places.

I will let the photos do the talking

A trip to the western ghats in Karnataka in 2014

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ern-ghats.html

A trip to the western ghats in Tamil Nadu in 2016

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...revisited.html

Summers though are not the best times to visit such places. Its the onset of the monsoons all the way till mid of winter when these places turn into green heavens

[naren_gs1]

Hi, Following is the revised plan that I have.

Friday, May 11, 2018 Dandeli
Saturday, May 12, 2018 Malpe Beach
Sunday, May 13, 2018 Augembe
Monday, May 14, 2018 Madikeri
Tuesday, May 15, 2018 Mananthavady
WednesdayMay 16, 2018 Chikmaglur
Thursday, May 17, 2018 Belgaum
Friday, May 18, 2018 Pune

1) Pl flag off if any issues with route or local climate
2) Any detours that I can take for nearby great places
3) References on lodging and places to eat(local cuisine)

[NPV]

^^ Detour near Agumbe to Kundadri hill for awesome sunset views, there's a small temple as well on the hill top.
This is much better than Agumbe sunset point which is crowded and has too many hawkers.

[Thebat]

Might be off topic but please do factor in the elections which will be held on the 12th of May, I see that you plan to visit Malpe on that day.

It is a sensitive area so please do take take the appropriate measures to ensure your safety.

[naren_gs1]

Originally Posted by Thebat

Might be off topic but please do factor in the elections which will be held on the 12th of May, I see that you plan to visit Malpe on that day.

It is a sensitive area so please do take take the appropriate measures to ensure your safety.

Thanks! Noted!

[narayans80]

Just returned from a KA trip in a TN car. Lots of election related checking going on allover the place. Not a hassle, but will add some extra time to the drive. Would be much more as you are travelling closer to election.

It was hot near Madikeri, was 33 in Madikeri town 38 in Sullia and Kukke according to the car's MFD. Further up north, around Agumbe, Horanadu, Kalasa was much cooler. Infact it was foggy during the early morning drive from Kalasa to Dharmasthala.

Avoid Turtle Bay Resort, it was a sub-par place to stay.

One question, why are there rocks lined all the way from Hoodi to Kodi Bengare?

[WheelWake]

Hi guys,

this seems to be right thread for my queries.

the summer road trip plan (18th May to 29th May) is start from Mumbai, cover Ooty and then head Bengaluru and finally to Goa (Candolim) before being back to Mumbai.

I have most of the bookings done and hence now need to decide on the route.

I plan to start 3AM 18th May from Mumbai and need to reach Ooty on 20th May. I have planned for a stopover at Wayanad (Sultan Bathery) on 19th May. Google has two suggested route with 20 hrs drive time:

Option1) Mumbai -> Renebennr -> Shimoga -> Hassan->Sultan Bathery
Option2) Mumbai -> Chitradurga -> Hunsur -> NagarHole ->Sultan Bathery
Option3) Mumbai -> Tumkur bypass -> Mysore ->Bandipur -> Sultan Batthery

Option1) i can/may plan to cover Jog falls as I will be reaching Shimoga for a stay over by 3PM and there onwards cover Belur/Halebeedu on 19th on way to Sultan Bathery

Option2) for this, the stop over can be at Chitradurga (KSTDC?) and drive through Nagarhole an added advantage. Also, i can plan to cover a safari at Nagarhole. Can someone suggest which part of Nagarhole one should look to cover in safari? is Kabini safari same as Nagarhole?

Option3) is quite a beaten track i believe and can even try to reach Mysore by evening on 18th and then go ahead with morning safari at Bandipur before check-in on 19th at Wayanad

Can someone suggest what is ideal amongst the above 3, given that I have seen lot of posts here and FB with big cat sighting in Kabini. How can I try to cover either Kabini safari or either of the above 2 (Nagarhole/Bandipur)?

While in Ooty, i am not sure what to do. I have only 2 days over there to spend and have booked WaitListed ticket on the toy train. Any suggestions are welcome on things to do in Ooty, places to see/eat, how to get confirm tickets on the toy train?

Blr-Goa is again a beaten track and this is just to chill there before the grind starts again.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by WheelWake

Option1) i can/may plan to cover Jog falls

Jog Falls is waste of time, this time of the year. It will be a little trickle now, big trickle in monsoon and in full glory 2-3 days in a given year.

Originally Posted by WheelWake

Ooty

Avoid weekends in Ooty, stay outside Ooty. The place will be a mess even during normal weekends, let alone in summer.

[WheelWake]

Originally Posted by WheelWake

Hi guys,

this seems to be right thread for my queries.

the summer road trip plan (18th May to 29th May) is start from Mumbai, cover Ooty and then head Bengaluru and finally to Goa (Candolim) before being back to Mumbai.

I have most of the bookings done and hence now need to decide on the route.

I plan to start 3AM 18th May from Mumbai and need to reach Ooty on 20th May. I have planned for a stopover at Wayanad (Sultan Bathery) on 19th May. Google has two suggested route with 20 hrs drive time:

Option1) Mumbai -> Renebennr -> Shimoga -> Hassan->Sultan Bathery
Option2) Mumbai -> Chitradurga -> Hunsur -> NagarHole ->Sultan Bathery
Option3) Mumbai -> Tumkur bypass -> Mysore ->Bandipur -> Sultan Batthery

.

Can someone please opine on the road conditions for Option1 & 2?

[naren_gs1]

Originally Posted by naren_gs1

Hi,
I am planning a NW/W Karnataka trip in second week of May - 11 to 20 Nov. Tentative plan is:
1) Gokarna
2) Chikmagalur
3) Coorg
4) Wayanad
5) Nagarhole National Park

Could the BHPians from their experiences pl help
1) Add/Correct main places to visit around these?
2) Highlight Stay/Food options
3) Hope it will not be too hot - hoping it would be better than Pune
4) Any points considering elections in KA?
5) Routes to be taken

Thank you once again in advance!

Hi, Plan pushed by one week as I had to make unplanned road trip to native

[naren_gs1]

Roads update: drove Pune Belgav Khanapur Haliyal Dandeli Joida Karwar Murudeshwar. Roads are good all the way. No major issue at all. Exit from Belgav to khanapur was not an issue. Just 2 points.
1/ Kanapur to Haliyal has many speed breakers.
2/ Karwar to Murudeshwar road widening is in porgeess. However the diversions are such that you will still have good average speed