Re: Mumbai - Pune - Kolhapur - Goa : Route Queries Completed the Goa-Mumbai leg of our family trip yesterday - me (sole driver) and my parents (senior citizens, both) - in our 5 year old Tata Zest XMS (Petrol). Started on the 11th for Malvan, then headed to Goa on the 15th and then back to Mumbai on 17th.
My 2nd vaccination dose was done on the 1st of December, so decided not to cross any state borders before the 15th. We had to attend an annual family function in Goa on the 16th. Leg 1: Mumbai to Malvan:
Route taken: WEH - SCLR - Navi Mumbai > Expressway till Pune > NH48 till Kolhapur > Gargoti > Kandgaon > Gavse > Amboli > Kudal > Malvan
Started around 7 AM from Mumbai, faced some traffic at Mankhurd (traffic mismanagement), Vashi, Kharghar (flyover repair work in progress), Khalapur (truck and car traffic), Lonavala and Khed Shivapur (mismanagement). Reached Malvan at 11 PM with halts every 2-3 hours.
There is some re-laying work on the highway through Navi-Mumbai that causes some traffic pile-ups. There are some diversions on the Expressway due to re-laying work, but not a major effect on the traffic flow.
The moment you hit the NH48, you will find the top-layer of the tarmac has been scraped off in patches. You will need to slow down considerably, else the suspension will not like it. The poor roads continue through Pune (especially bad at the construction sites of Pashan and the new Chandani Chowk interchange) and all the way to Satara. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, the middle lane fares much better than the top lane.
The road on the Satara-Kagal stretch is a like a runway compared to the stretch up to Satara. We had lunch at Sangam in Karad (good washrooms, ok food). In order to avoid traveling through Karnataka before 14 days from the second dose, we chose the route via Gargoti. We had dropped Gaganbawda (based on posts here) and Phondaghat (did not want to drive through Radhanagari twisties after dark) and so Amboli was the way to go. This added about 40-50 kms to our overall travel and about an hour of driving too.
The road after Kolhapur up to Gargoti was a breeze with some intermittent sugarcane traffic. The road surface was good as well. Google maps was on the whole time, but asked the locals for directions nonetheless. Google maps was 100% accurate, though a lack of road signs make it a bit difficult to associate landmarks with the given directions.
The road after Gargoti was narrower and had a ghat climb, but the tarmac was intact. A small detour between Kandgaon and Gavse (to bypass Ajara) was not in great shape, but there were no craters as such. The road from Gavse to Amboli was quite bad with intermittent decent stretches. There were no craters though, so a bigger set of wheels would find it easier to drive on.
Amboli to Kudal via the Swanatwadi bypass and the new relaid stretch of Mumbai-Goa highway was quite good. But roads in and around Kudal were quite damaged. They are being relaid and we encountered semi-finished road stretches up to Dhamapur. The road thereafter was intact, though narrow. Leg 2: Malvan to Mayem (Goa)
Route taken: Malvan > Kudal > Sawantwadi (family) > Banda > Mapusa > Nachinola > Mayem
We had to retrace the route from Malvan to Kudal with the same bad stretches as last time. Kudal to Mapusa was via the Mumbai-Goa highway. There are frequent diversions on the Goa side, but the going is smooth. We were stopped at the Goa entry check post for our vaccination certificates. There was a test centre nearby for people without valid certificates.
After Mapusa, we opted for the route via Bastora-Nachinola-Calvim to Mayem Lake (instead of the usual route via Thivim, Bicholim). This is a narrow, but excellent road passing through small villages and lush vegetation.
Leg 3: Mayem to Mumbai
Route taken: Mayem > Bicholim, Sanquelim > Chorla Ghat > Belgaum > NH 48 > Expressway > Navi Mumbai > Chunabhatti BKC > WEH
We started from Mayem at 8 AM and reached home by 11 PM with halts every 2 hours. The ascent of Chorla is good for about 95% of the Goa stretch. Watch-out for hairpins as these are the places with the most craters here. The Maharashtra stretch is surprisingly well laid.
The Karnataka stretch of Chorla ghat is pathetic for some 5 kms on either side of Kankumbi village. Most potholes are in the areas shadowed by large trees - so watch out for these.
We were asked to show out vaccination certificates at the Karnataka entry of Chorla ghat and then at the Maharashtra RTO check post prior to Kagal. It took about a minute at each stop. The road from Jamboti onwards is good. We faced some minor traffic in Belgaum.
The NH 48 is good all the way till Satara, after which it gets a bit bumpy till Pune. There were sudden craters while driving through Pune. Cops with speed cameras were seen at places between Kolhapur and Khed Shivapur. 80 is the limit. We took a lunch break at Shivraj Dhaba in Karad.
The Expressway had a minor traffic pileup due to one of the diversions. The rest of it was a breeze. A speed camera flashed on a car going 100+ in the adjoining lane. Faced another set of traffic jams in Kalamboli and Sanpada (road laying), Mankhurd (mismanagement) and WEH (metro). Overall
Kms driven: 1532
Econ: 20.3 kmpl (MID)
Suspension status: Sad :( |