[gopikb]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Again, I wouldn't generalize and say everyone should do this climb. I do admit that it can get a bit scary for a newbie driver, especially when he is with his family on his first hillclimb. To each his own, I respect that.

Karthik et al, thanks for your tip. Not sure if i would do it tomorrow. Depends on the visibility and rain. Thanks once again guys for all your inputs

[deetjohn]

Went to Chikmagalur and Mullayanagiri via Neelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur over the last weekend. The road condition is decent throughout with some awesome bits in between. I simply love the winding roads with yellow marking on the sides.

Had a lot of fun. Here are the terrains that we enjoyed.

[kap04]

Driving to Chikmaglur tomorrow morning. Planning to start around 630 AM from Bangalore (Marathalli) . Are there any good restaurants on the way where we can hop in for breakfast?

[deehunk]

There are lot of good hotels near Channarayapatna like Kamat Upachar after you pass out of the town and few others nearby dont remember exact names but are good on the highway, you can chose any of them.

[paragsachania]

In the order towards Chikmagalur:
- Cafe Coffee Day at Bellur cross
- Mayura at Bellur cross
- Athithi at Udyapura
- Kamat Upachar at Udyapura
- Sri Krishna at Hassan (if not taking bypass)
- Suvarna Regency at Hassan

For breakfast Bellur cross would be ideal as it would be about 2 hours to reach this place from Marathalli.

If you skip this, you can opt for either Atithi or Kamat at Udyapura which comes after Channarayapatna.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

- Kamat Upachar at Udyapura

There is also a Coffee day adjacent to this Kamat. In case you dont like Kamat food, you can hop on to the other !

Since its closer to Hassan, I find this place less crowded than the previous places.
Hence I prefer this stop to others. Also it helps big time on the way back.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by ampere

There is also a Coffee day adjacent to this Kamat. In case you dont like one, you can hop on to the other !

Since its closer to Hassan, I find this place less crowded than the previous places.
Hence the prefer this stop to others.

Also it helps big time on the way back.

Oh yes, I am sure the CCD attached to IOCL never came to my mind as I listed the options. I also agree on the crowd part because it falls onto your right when driving towads Hassan and not many would want to cross the road and stop and would have already stopped earlier at Bellur cross.

In fact, during return also, I see this less crowded (looking at the cars outside)compared to the Bellur cross one may be because it is hardly 1.5 hours from Chikmagalur and most of the people don't want to take a break that soon.

[kap04]

Thanks bro. I checked your post while i was on the road , and got into Mayura for breakfast on the way to Chikmagalur. And on the way back, visited Kamath for a late lunch.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

In the order towards Chikmagalur:
- Cafe Coffee Day at Bellur cross
- Mayura at Bellur cross
- Athithi at Udyapura
- Kamat Upachar at Udyapura
- Sri Krishna at Hassan (if not taking bypass)
- Suvarna Regency at Hassan

For breakfast Bellur cross would be ideal as it would be about 2 hours to reach this place from Marathalli.

If you skip this, you can opt for either Atithi or Kamat at Udyapura which comes after Channarayapatna.

[dass]

I am planning on this trip by end of October, mostly by 3rd week. Please suggest any good homestays as I will be travelling with my little one and this would be our first long trip with him.

[deehunk]

Plan for hidden valley home stay a very good place with great food.
Check on this link, http://thehiddenvalley.com/chikmagalur.

[yamraj]

Reviving this old thread with an update in case there are folks looking for the road condition to Chikmaglur. We went to Chikmagalur a couple of days ago. The road from Tumkur Road to Hassan is awesome to say the least. Superbly paved and very well marked. There are a few stretches where it becomes just 2 laned but these are very few. The rest is 4 laned with a massive divider in between. From Hassan to Chikmaglur the road is a state highway. The condition is pretty decent with a few not so good patches. No major potholes noted but there are a few speed breakers near villages. The Department of Tourism has put up boards with maps at several places on the way and these are extremely helpful. The state highway is very well marked and is a pleasure to drive on.

HTH.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by yamraj

The Department of Tourism has put up boards with maps at several places on the way and these are extremely helpful. The state highway is very well marked and is a pleasure to drive on.

Fundamentally the 4-laning of Bangalore-Hassan has drastically reduces the travel time to Chikkamagulur. Earlier it used be around 5-6 on an average. Now its easily come down as one can zip to Hassan with ease.
And add to it the well tarred road to Belur. (Humps of course!)

[mpksuhas]

There was news report of communal violence in Chickmangalur: http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle5512848.ece

[floyd]

I just came back yesterday from a trip to Halebid/Belur & then onwards to Chikmagalur. Some interesting points

Driving There
Route was ORR-Tumkur Road-Neelamangala-Blr-Mangalore Highway-Hassan-Halebidu-Belur-Chikmagalur.
The main Bangalore-Managalore highway is called NH-75, but it shows up as NH-48 on Google Maps and Nokia maps. Tolls upto Hassan are Rs. 38 + Rs. 38 + Rs. 20 = Rs. 96. Dont worry about change though... the toll booth guys will give you two sweets in lieu of Rs. 2.

Halebidu or Belur?
If you have to choose between visiting one or the other, choose Halebidu. IMHO, the temple carvings are way more mind blowing here! Take a look...





Driving to Mullayanagiri
Roads start off pretty good and tarred, but after a point are quite treacherous, narrow, and sometimes no road at all. A couple of times there were tricky situations with a car/jeep coming the opposite direction, and no option but for one or the other to back up. Drive is do-able, but only if one has driven in normal hilly roads often. A few kms from the top there is a plateau-kind of space for cars to park. You can park safely here and walk the rest of the way, but even walkers need to be careful of oncoming vehicles!



Here's the view from the top.





While returning, I had an interesting lesson in driving on unpaved, steep inclines on rear-wheel drive vehicles. There is a parking area at the top where the entrance/exit has a steep incline, and is an unpaved mud/dust road. Actually, I should call it a "parking ditch" instead of a parking lot!
See the picture below, with this entrance marked in a red arrow.



I tried to bring my Innova up this incline in 1st gear, and the wheels spinned madly on the loose gravel and dust, raising up a dust storm, and freaking everyone out. I backed up, and tried again, and again the same... this time some bikers entering the parking lot also got pretty scared (one guy froze with his bike comically parked diagonally at the entrance, not knowing what to do). As I was about to try an even more aggressive third attempt, a helpful local cabbie, who was standing nearby, gave the advise to half-clutch it, and release slowly, while keeping the accelerator depressed. He mentioned that releasing the clutch completely causes the wheels to spin more. I took his advice, and I was out of the parking ditch. Well, you learn something new when you travel! I gave the helpful cabbie a thumbs up from the window.

Driving Back
I normally don't drive too fast on highways... I try to maintain 80kmph to get a higher mileage. However, on the return trip, on NH-75 (NH-48 on Google Maps), I was driving a bit faster at 100 kmph. The roads were straight and well marked, so 100 seemed comfortable.
While on this road, I was overtaken by a Swift and a BMW (maybe 7 series). The BMW must have been driving at 110 or 120 kmph, but it still could not keep up, or overtake the Swift. So the Swift was going maybe 130+ kmph. About half an hour after this, I crossed an accident with a Swift. I'm not sure, but may well the same one - at least the colour was the same. The Swift had fallen into a ditch by the side of the road. It looked like it had just gone out of control. I mention this just to appeal to everyone - the roads may be great, but drive safe, and understand the limits of your car!

With this, let me wish everyone a very Happy New 2014. Have a safe motoring year ahead

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by floyd

Halebidu or Belur?
If you have to choose between visiting one or the other, choose Halebidu. IMHO, the temple carvings are way more mind blowing here! Take a look...

Did the Guide (in case you hired one) tell you this? - "see the beauty of Belur from Inside and that of Halebedu from outside".
That is how it is in reality even today.