[CANPUSH]

Any one traveled on
Kolhapur - Radhanagari - Phonda - Kanakavli OR
Kolhapur - Gagan Bawda - Vaibhav wadi - Kanakavli route recently?

How is the road condition?

[Anghammarad]

Thanks all for the tips, hoping it works out easy on my mother's back. She has spinal pain occasionally. Going by the Chorla route as decided and taking detailed printouts of the route in case our reliable smartphones decide to let us down

Much obliged for all the information and tips once again. Will post a travelogue once I get back.

Ang.

[TaurusAl]

My Views -

As per my last trip, I found Chorla very very narrow and dangerous. The cars coming from opposite direction were fast coming head on. Also the ghat felt never ending. Adding to this, the traffic in Belgaum slows you down considerably. Overall I was not happy with my decision to use Chorla and henceforth will stick to Amboli.

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

Back in Bombay a few days ago from Goa.
Used the Chorla road again and nothing new to report.
Road is still in excellent condition.
As it was early morning managed to whiz through Belgaum in about 15 minutes.
Stopped at Sai International for breakfast. Actually we stop more for the clean washrooms than for breakfast!!
Belgaum to Poona is still the same. two of the diversions appear to have been tarred so in slightly better shape.
The diversion at Hinjewadi is still in bad shape.
Had the "pleasure" of being caught in a jam for half an hour (and paying an additional Rs.35.00) at the new Kharghar toll booth. So much for all the talk about removing toll booths.
Total time taken was 9 hours and 30 mins including stops.

TaurusA1 : Please note that I have stated your observations below in several of my posts. The road IS narrow and dangerous due to drivers doing crazy speeds on the good road. If you read a previous post of mine from about two months ago, I was forced off the road by another car and burst two tyres because of his crazy driving. I have also commented about the steep "step" at the side of the road at some places on the Chorla road.
On the other hand if you read 1lokesh's post below you will see that you definitely took the better road (Chorla).
Let's hope the Amboli ghat road gets repaired sooner rather than later.

Regards,
SS

[TaurusAl]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

TaurusA1 : Please note that I have stated your observations below in several of my posts. The road IS narrow and dangerous due to drivers doing crazy speeds on the good road. If you read a previous post of mine from about two months ago, I was forced off the road by another car and burst two tyres because of his crazy driving. I have also commented about the steep "step" at the side of the road at some places on the Chorla road.
On the other hand if you read 1lokesh's post below you will see that you definitely took the better road (Chorla).
Let's hope the Amboli ghat road gets repaired sooner rather than later.

Regards,
SS

Oh man, I missed to read that in your report.

I was very scared looking at the buses driven at break neck speed and coming on me head on many instances. Even the private cars hit the brakes at the last moment as they spot you on steep turns. My wife was very uncomfortable all the time in Chorla and we did not enjoy the journey 1 bit due to this maniacal driving. Because of all this, I think, I am happy to drive over a potholed road of Amboli than to risk my life because of some fools who have no sense of safety.

Hope some good sense prevails on driving etiquette in ghats in India, especially on narrow ones like Chorla.

[anku94]

Hi, me and a bunch of friends are planning a road trip on this route (Pune to Goa section - NH-4/NH-48).

The thing is, we are a bit inexperienced and all of our driving experience is limited to flat northern highways (NH-1 ). Hence, some of us are a bit apprehensive about driving on a highway on a hilly terrain.

Would you consider this route particularly challenging in that aspect?

[Musaafir]

Originally Posted by anku94

Hi, me and a bunch of friends are planning a road trip on this route (Pune to Goa section - NH-4/NH-48).

The thing is, we are a bit inexperienced and all of our driving experience is limited to flat northern highways (NH-1 ). Hence, some of us are a bit apprehensive about driving on a highway on a hilly terrain.

Would you consider this route particularly challenging in that aspect?

Well, driving on winding roads against in plains, is certainly different. It requires slightly different skills and a lot more attention. For a first timer, it could be a bit exhausting. However hill driving is enjoyable if you drive responsibly and with utmost care. Stick to your lane, maintain low speed, keep sufficient margin to correct mistakes of the other crazy drivers and try to cross ghat sections in the day light. And there you reach your destination hale and hearty.

Bon voyage!

[ranjitnair77]

Just got back from a road trip to Palolem from Pune and the Chorla Ghat route is the best route to South Goa as far as I'm concerned. I have a Civic and I was very concerned about the road conditions but this route is fantastic. The tarmac on the Belgaum-Chorla-Goa route is very good. I did ask about the NH4A route once I got into Belgaum but the feedback was that it continues to be in a poor state.

It took me about 8.5 hours to get to Palolem and the distance covered was 490kms one way. Crossing into Goa, I took the Surla-Ponda-Usgao route to Margao and onward to Palolem. This part of the drive is very hard to do without a GPS as these are internal roads with not too many signboards.This route is occasionally patchy but was never really a problem for the Civic.

If I was going to North Goa, I would take the Pune-Nipani-Ajra-Amboli route if the road was good. The Chorla ghat route is the best option for going further south.

[CANPUSH]

On 23rd I travelled to Goa via Kolhapur - Radhanagari - Kanakvli route as I had to visit a few places on coat on my way.

This road is in good condition for a change. There are still few rough patches at intervals but no potholes. Only broken top-coat that too not more than 100-150 meters at a stretch. Also, as Gaganbawada route is reported to be in bad condition traffic on this route is also reasonable.

on NH17 Zarap-Patradevi section is now just beautiful, even for night driving.

Return on 25th was through Chorla Ghat. As reported by many, road is in excellent condition except for Sanquelim - Toll booth section of about 10-12 kms that is narrow and every settlement has three speed breakers.

This route is now getting popular and therefore busy. In last two years traffic I have seen growing steadily.

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

My Views -

As per my last trip, I found Chorla very very narrow and dangerous. The cars coming from opposite direction were fast coming head on. Also the ghat felt never ending. Adding to this, the traffic in Belgaum slows you down considerably. Overall I was not happy with my decision to use Chorla and henceforth will stick to Amboli.

I am bit surprised at your reaction.

Just day before yesterday I travelled on Chorla Ghat again and keeping at back of mind your comments and hence keenly observing the route.

I think Chorla ghat is one of the very good ghats with clear two lane road in very good condition and very moderate slope. I have travelled on most of the ghats in Sahyadris connecting Konkan and Plateau, right from Kasara till Anmod and I can vouch that Chorla is one of the easiest as of now. Amboli is not as wide and length wise it is surely 4-5 kms more than Chorla. Also, if one has driven on Mumbai-Pune Borghat in 1980s than every ghat is easy to drive.

Still it is always one's personal choice and I respect your opinion.

[KaandBaaz]

The annual Goa trip is planned for the weekend of 29th Jan 2015. Did anyone recently travel the Pune-Kolhapur-Nipani-Ajra-Amboli route? Any updates on the road condition?

[madhu33]

Originally Posted by CANPUSH

My another suggestion is to travel between Pune and Satara during daytime. Lot of road works are going on, there are potholes and no lane marking.That makes it stressful to drive in dark even for seasoned driver. rest of the route is good for both day as well as night driving. (Again due to lonelyness avoid Chorla ghat in dark).

Hi
Quoting an old post of yours.
Any idea of the road condition recently.
I may be planning to do this route at around 11pm in February.
I have a Tata Manza , with Auxiliary lights (hella 500ff pencil beam) installed and also the HIDs in the fog lamp for lighting up the corners.
We will be 3 or 4 guys in the car.
Thanks

[genesis]

Did the Mumbai-kolhapur-nipani-ajra-amboli-sawantwadi-goa drive recently.
Road is in decent condition (a bit uneven but not potholed)

Amboli is half smoothly paved, 1/4th uneven and 1/4th potholed.

overall very much doable and recommended

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,

Just got back to Goa a couple of days ago.
As usual used the Bombay - Poona - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla - Mapuca route.
Not much has changed in the last month.
The section between Poona and Satara/Karad is now even worse than before due to the top layer of tarmac having been removed - probably in readiness for resurfacing - in patches.
So, now there are potholes, rough patches and the above mentioned half done stretches. Bit of a pain.
The Chorla road is still in very good condition. However, the section from the Goa border till Sanquelim is poor with several rough patches and potholes.
Counted 32 speed breakers between the Goa border and Mapuca - a distance of 30Kms!!
Timings:
Bombay to Poona was about 2 hours. Poona to Kolhapur took another 2 hours and 45 minutes. Kolhapur to Belgaum was about an hour and a half.
Passing through Belgaum took about 40 minutes. Then another 2 hours to Mapuca. Total travel time including a breakfast and fuel stop of 50 minutes was about 9 hours and 30 minutes.

Regards,
SS

[Anghammarad]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi Guys,
Just got back to Goa a couple of days ago.
As usual used the Bombay - Poona - Kolhapur - Belgaum - Chorla - Mapuca route.
SS

Got back from Goa 2 weeks ago,been very busy with family stuff so did not get to post as I had wanted to. We took the same route, was a very pleasant drive barring a few repairs on the road

Originally Posted by amyth78

Amyth78

Originally Posted by 1lokesh

Hi Guys,
https://goo.gl/maps/nCdgK

Amyth and Lokesh, I'd like to thank you both very much. Your tips and Lokesh's map and tips were invaluable to me and my wife in the course of our navigation, especially since we had my mother along with her spine issue.
The road was good, some minor repairs, we left Bombay around 5 am, had 6-7 stops along the way and touched Mapusa around 4.30 pm or so.
We took printouts of the route Lokesh had highlighted as I have done in quotes, and that was helpful around the areas where network died on us.

Was a great trip, but had to say kudos and thanks again. I have taken screenies of your route Lokesh, will post them here in case anyone wants to know the route, or they could just click your link.

cheers
Ang

[Gannu_1]

Déjà vu!

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I may have to go to Karad next week (10, 11 April) to attend some factory tests.

Same trip coming up tomorrow. I am guessing the stretch from Pune to Satara is still bad with diversions and potholes?

Went via Mumbra last time. I am not taking that chance anymore! Will go via Airoli - Navi Mumbai - Panvel-Sion Expressway - Mumbai-Pune Expressway.