[ppr]

Thanks for all the replies, Hayek, Sunil, Sahir

I leave on Wednesday. I am planning to do the Sankeshwar - Gadhinglaj Amboli road.

Sahir, Sunil - If the Belgaum road you recommend connects to the same road at Amboli, why is it worth driving the extra 50 kms beyond Sankeshwar? Is the road of exceptional quality compared to the Sankeshwar road?

Thanks

ppr

[suniladhiya]

@ppr: In my view the extra kms is worth it purely because of the road quality. First of all from Sankeshwar upto Belgaum you are continuing on the supersmooth NH4 and Belgaum exit-Bauxite Road- Amboli would any day be better than Sankeshwar-Gadhinglaj-Amboli. Time taken with all the extra kms maybe only 20 minutes more, if at all but without any bones being rattled. In the past, I have found that the time difference is practically nothing, even with the longer route. Incidentally at my age, road surface is of paramount importance (I am 53). All the best and have a safe trip and do report on the latest road conditions, whichever way you go.

[ppr]

Sunil

If the Belgaum - Amboli road is excellent quality, I would also prefer it. As you say, 50 kms on NH4 should not be more than a 30 minute drive and if the later road quality is much better, it should make up for it.

Is there anyone who has taken this road lately?

ppr

[ppr]

I hear the Amboli road has had a landslide in the last few days.

Has anyone on the board been on it the last few days? Or is it some misinformation I have received?

Thanks

ppr

[CANPUSH]

@ppr: There was land slide occurred a couple of months back. That was cleared long ago. That small patch of approx 100 meters in the ghat has bad road but else it's no worry at all.

Belgaum Amboli road actually meets Gadhinglaj-Ajra-Amboli road approx 12-15 kms before Amboli but it may be worth going via Belgaum as road is in very good condition.

Between Kagal (Maharashtra Border) and Belgaum NH4 is super smooth. That 90 kms distance you can cover in less than one hour including toll plaza stop. Punj-Lloyd who have done that part of Highway have done really excellent job in design as well as execution. You can notice the difference soon as you enter Karnataka.

Enjoy your ride and drive safely!

[MoonRock]

Came back from a road trip to Goa on Sept 15th. Here is some first hand info on the conditions of the Pune-Kolhapur-Tawandi Ghat-Uttu-Ajra-Sawantwadi-Goa route :

1) The road from Pune to Kolhapur is good with some bad stretches, but mostly good throughout. We left early morning around 6 to from Pune, to avoid the traffic. We could keep up with a speed of 100 km/ph with clear roads and around 80 when we neared towns. We had breakfast at Virangula (food is good) which is around 35 kms from Satara (after the windmills end), on the left

2) After Kolhapur till Hotel Satyawati/Hotel Kaveri, the route is exceptional specifically when we entered Karnataka.

3) Took a right turn from Hotel Satyawati/ Hotel Kaveri, after Tawandi ghat. The Nipani - Ajra link road is really bad for some 3-4 kms with potholes where we really had to crawl. But apart from that it is good.

4) We crossed, Uttur, Ajra and then Amboli Ghat. A landslide had happened 3 days back at the entry point, but the road was open now. Saw a breathtaking waterfall and the ghat had a lot of fog, overall a very scenic route.

5) After crossing Sawantwadi the roads are real bad with big potholes. Was really surprised at the road conditions and it is pathetic to see the government doing nothing to fix this. Once you enter Goa, the road is superb and a pleasure to drive.

[ppr]

Hi Everybody

I am back from my Goa trip. An update on the roads.

We took the Sankeshwar Amboli road.

Mumbai to Pune - Excellent - 2.5 hrs to the end of the Pune bypass
Pune to Satara - Average road quality
Satara to Sankeshwar - Excellent - Two sections in total - 3.5 hrs
Sankeshwar to Sawantwadi - Average road. No major bad section, but not really highway driving. - 2 hrs
Sawantwadi to Cavelossim (about 15 kms beyond Margao) - 2.5 hrs

Total driving time - 10.5 hrs (This does not include halts for food)

The roads in Goa were excellent. Not a pothole to be seen (almost). They have the same amount of rainfall as Mumbai, but the roads seem to be of much better quality.

Return trip

Cavelossim - Karad - 5.5 hrs
Karad - Mumbai 5 hrs

On the way back, there was plenty of traffic on the Mumbai Pune expressway (Sunday traffic) which slowed us down a bit.

The A6 behaved superbly, handling the slightly bad roads (wherever they were there) with aplomb. Fantastic car. Overall FE little above 9 kmpl. Top speed achieved 180 kmph. Driving the Amboli ghat was a pleasure with this car.

Thanks for all the info, guys. I am looking forward to many more trips now. It is great to get advance knowledge of the road conditions.

ppr

[deutscheafrikar]

Ranjit Sir,
I'm thinking of a drive.
What news of the route? How are the roads now, specially the Sankeshwar - Sawantwadi - Banda Section

Regards

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by deutscheafrikar

Ranjit Sir,
I'm thinking of a drive.
What news of the route? How are the roads now, specially the Sankeshwar - Sawantwadi - Banda Section

Regards

Hi Nigel,

Roads are all in average conditions after the humongous monsoons.Sankeshwar-Ajra-Amboli-Sawantwadi is your best bet.As usual roads are all broken up at the Goa-MH border at Banda.Also roads around Sawantwadi were bad a couple of weeks back,not sure if they have relaid it now.Also around the amboli landslide section also roads are broken up.no other problems.10hour drive bandra to panjim via nh4.Dont bother with nh17 till they have relaid the roads.When are you planning to drive?am thinking of driving to mumbai this weekend-a solo one for the first time,not able to make up my mind yet.

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Hi Nigel,When are you planning to drive?am thinking of driving to mumbai this weekend-a solo one for the first time,not able to make up my mind yet.

Ranjit Hi,
I was thinking next weekend maybe since Dassera is on what Friday? So thursday will be Factory machine Puja and then the weekend. Not yet planned though
Regards

[S_U_N]

I am planning a trip to Goa during the week starting 22 October. I would like to spend at least 3 full days in Goa (to cover South, North and the actual city area).
This thread has been useful to me.


I will be starting from Pune at 6 or 7 AM and hope to reach goa by mid afternoon.
Recommendations for good petrol bunk on the way and good hotels (Rs. 1000 per night) are invited.
Also route recommendations considering the state of roads in October are most welcome.

[ppr]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I will be starting from Pune at 6 or 7 AM and hope to reach goa by mid afternoon.
Recommendations for good petrol bunk on the way and good hotels (Rs. 1000 per night) are invited.
Also route recommendations considering the state of roads in October are most welcome.

The Pune Sankeshwar Amboli Sawantwadi road is the best. About 10 kms from Sawantwadi to Pernem was not good a month back, but hopefully done now. Let us know also.

The rest of the road was good in September and unlikely to have worsened since.

ppr

[deutscheafrikar]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Recommendations for good petrol bunk on the way.

The Konduskar pump I guess but CANPUSH has mentioned that you don't get regular petrol there. Only Speed and Diesel.
Planning to drive down to Goa myself shortly too.
All the best.

[mb_jg]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

I am planning a trip to Goa during the week starting 22 October. I would like to spend at least 3 full days in Goa (to cover South, North and the actual city area).
This thread has been useful to me.


I will be starting from Pune at 6 or 7 AM and hope to reach goa by mid afternoon.
Recommendations for good petrol bunk on the way and good hotels (Rs. 1000 per night) are invited.
Also route recommendations considering the state of roads in October are most welcome.

Good stuff.
I will travelling during the Diwali holidays (26th to 30th). I will be leaving on 25th evening for Kolhapur, will put up at Hotel Pearl (now owned by TAJ, we usually get a huge room for approx (1500-2k a night). Will leave for Goa by around 6am from Kolhapur, & should be there by 11:30am with the entire day to spare.
The Reliance petrol bunks are good, I avoid Indian Oil for their very dirty fuel.

[stefanm]

Went to Bombay last Wednesday via Amboli-Ajzra-Shankeshwar-NH4-Express way and returned last night.

As soon as you cross from Goa to South Maharastra the road really sucks all the way to Sawantwadi, from there to Amboli it's pretty ok, Amboli to Ajzra is not too bad, after that it goes down hill in more ways than one, the final stretch before the NH4 of around 5-6km's is the worst road I have ever witnessed, there is a crater around 1km from the NH4, I hit that 3 times now in the last 2 months.

Once on the NH4 it's pretty good, only 3 wheelers and commuter bikes try to catch you out, trucks tend to to stay on the outside lane as well as buses, which is really irritating, they're not about to learn the rules of the road, prolonged use of the horn is the only solution, care is also needed when passing some towns, people will just walk in front of you, bikes, scooters, trucks, buses, cars and tractors will also move randomly, be ready to brake!

From Pune to Bombay on the express way is pretty good, the trucks, bikes and buses behave ok'ish. Coming back from Bombay is a different story, uphill to Lonavla sucks, the trucks block all lanes whilst attempting to go 1kmph quicker than the next truck, despite cruising for long distances at 120kmph average speed is around 80kmph by time you exit the road.

The route via Belgaum is a little quicker, not much though, once you pass Belgaum the road is bad until you reach Maharastra, the speed breakers in Karnataka are scary and very unforgiving, you can barely see the warning signs, just lumps of concrete on the road. Otherwise the road to Amboli from Belgaum is fairly good, a few rough patches, potholes are mostly on the corners, so care is required.