[kadri007]

Hi All,

A very Happy New Year to all of you. I came back this morning through Shiradi ghat. The road is just pathetic. The potholes are very much the same. No changes in condition.

While going took the day train to Mangalore. It was a mixed experience.

Will be posting some pics tonight and also a detailed travel experience.

[s3va]

I just completed the BLR-Kundapur-Calicut-BLr trip.

Many thanks to Kadri and others who have contributed immensely in deciding my trip route.

Also a special thanks to Samurai who helped me in choosing the resort where we stayed at Koteshwar, Kundapur - Sun Castle. Good place to stay with the beach at your reach, but the food could improve !

Here are some latest update on the road conditions

Started at 430AM from BLr and reached Koteshwar at about 2PM with few breaks(breakfast, bio breaks and visit to the dam on Tungabhadra) in between. So total drive time was about 7-8 hours.

BLR to Koteshwar

BLR-Tumkur-Tiptur-Arisekere-Birur-badravati- Shimoga : The roads are in a state of mixed condition, both good and bad roads. But there wasnt any nightmarish stretch as I was able to hold an average of 80-100 kmph on these roads. The road laning work at Tumkur was a pain even during early mornings.

Thirthahalli - Agumbe : Roads are filled with potholes that have been recently patched up. Hence bumpy ride, but could do 60-80kmph on these roads

Agumbe Ghat : Only one word to describe, Horrible !!! It could be related to the Shiradi ghat conditions except for crater type potholes. Could only manage speeds of 40 kmph. But some good news is that the patch work is going on. So in some weeks the roads should have a better shape. Very scenic road though !

Agumbe - Someshwara- Halady - Basrur - Koteshwara : Again mix of both good and bad roads, I could maintain an avg speed of 70-80 while 40-50 at some sections !


Kadri...Though I had decided to return BLR thru the Kudremukh section, we had an impromptu change of plans during our stay at Koteshwar. We decided to drive back to Calicut, Kerala to my wife's house !

The below would be OT to this thread, but I thought I should complete my route details without the return details as well.

Koteshwar to Calicut - NH 17

So From Koteshwar to Calicut we plainly followed the NH 17 that took us through Udupi, Managalore, Kasargod, Kanjangad, Kannur, Thalasery, Wadakara, Calicut. The NH 17 is again a mix of both bad and good roads, but there was any showstoppers like the Shiradi ghat on this route. Patches at the Kasargod-Kanjangad were pretty bad, but they were being repaired as we drove. I could maintain an average of 70-90 kmph on the Nh 17 route. At one stretch I even managed to touch 140 kmph until my wife noticed the speedo .

Calicut to BLR

For me this route has become boring due to the numerous trip i have made on this route. Overall the road conditions are excellent in Kerala right from Calicut to Sultan Battery. From Bandipur to Gundelpet the roads are just ok in comparison with the excellent Kerala roads. FRom Gundelpet to Mysore, the roads are good. Managed 130 kmph at one stretch. FRom Mysore to BLR, as everyone knows, you could fly. Managed 150 kmph top speeds.

OT : During the Mys-BL stretch, was their any TBHP meet going on ? At one stretch while I was doing high speeds, a Swift D zoomed past me that I followed for sometime and while I was about to overtake, he/she slowed down. It looked like the Swift spotted my TBHP sticker and then wanted to acknowledge. The same incident happened with a Zen a few minutes later

In a nut shell, the roads in KA has tremendous opportunity for improvement, given the fact that KA state govt is collecting the highest RT across India. The roads across Kerala are in good conditions at most of the stretches with a few rough patches that are being attended promptly as I type.

Total Kms driven during my above road trip : 1566 kms
Car I drove : Chevy AVEO 1.4 Sedan

Folks, Let me know if you have any queries.

Thanks again to TBhP !!!

[funda2max]

Just came back from Mangalore via Shiradi ghat by bus.

Shiradi ghat is same, craters increased their diameters and size. Sugama AC bus was struggling to manage it. They switch off AC while climbing shiradi ghat. Roads in side mangalore except few places are good. Udupi road is also good and pretty doable in car.

[kadri007]

I saw one Sugama and one KSRTC Rajahamsa bus broken down in the Shiradi ghat. The Passngers were waiting for some alternative arrangements.

Thats the condition of Shiradi ghat.

[recshenoy]

Sorry, guys.. missed this thread.

Happy new year to all.

I came by volvo last week. Driver was cursing the raod. his own words"i dont know why i opted for volvo training. its a daily torture to drive on these roads :( "

felt sad for him.

BC road to Mangalore road construction is going at decent pace. hope they will finish it in couple of month or atleast before monsoon.

Also,

Surathkal to Udupi road is quite okay now compared to its previous state. But definately once it starts raining, this is going to go to its previous state. They had done soem timepass patch work.

[shreeps]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this thread and am looking for help. I did go through most of the posts and though I got one or 2 good ideas from there, they ended up confusing me since there seemed to be a number of route options to reach udupi and I couldnt figure out the best one. What I could make out for sure was that I need to avoid the shiradi ghat . I am a NRK (Non Resident Kannadiga) and am planning a road trip from Bengaluru to Udupi in early Feb (need to go there for a family function). Being a novice to the roads in Karnataka, I'd appreciate advice from the gurus on which road to take. I will have a 4 month old child with me along with Sundry family members so I need to be really choosy in terms of the road I can take. I will be driving a scorpio and there will be 7 people in all.
Considering the above, and the latest road conditions, please guide me on which route would be optimum. Also what time would we need to start off from Bengaluru in order to avoid most of the traffic while exiting the city.

Thanks to all in advance.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by shreeps

Hello everyone,
I am new to this thread and am looking for help. I did go through most of the posts and though I got one or 2 good ideas from there, they ended up confusing me since there seemed to be a number of route options to reach udupi and I couldnt figure out the best one. What I could make out for sure was that I need to avoid the shiradi ghat . I am a NRK (Non Resident Kannadiga) and am planning a road trip from Bengaluru to Udupi in early Feb (need to go there for a family function). Being a novice to the roads in Karnataka, I'd appreciate advice from the gurus on which road to take. I will have a 4 month old child with me along with Sundry family members so I need to be really choosy in terms of the road I can take. I will be driving a scorpio and there will be 7 people in all.
Considering the above, and the latest road conditions, please guide me on which route would be optimum. Also what time would we need to start off from Bengaluru in order to avoid most of the traffic while exiting the city.

Thanks to all in advance.

I prescribe, charmady ghats and it would be better, if you can leave home latest by 5 in the morning.

[shreeps]

Thanks Jmaruru. I notice that you are in collierville, TN. I used to be in Nasville, TN and I am pretty sure I have passed Collierville either while going to Smoky Mtn or to Chattanooga. Missing TN - nice laid back place.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by shreeps

Missing TN - nice laid back place.

You bet. For me being in NYC for all previous assignments, this has been a quite a change.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

I prescribe, charmady ghats and it would be better, if you can leave home latest by 5 in the morning.

Last week my friend had been to mangalore through charmadi ghat, it seems road is pretty good compared to Shiradi ghat.

[rajshenoy]

You can even try Agumbe, i came via this route on 25th dec and it was in good shape barring 10-20 kms( which should not be a problem for a scorpio)

Roads are in good shape except the last few curves towards the bottom of agumbe and then someshwara-hebri stretch

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by shamanth

Last week my friend had been to mangalore through charmadi ghat, it seems road is pretty good compared to Shiradi ghat.

But the stretch between Belur-Mudigere is in pathetic condition. This update is as of JAN 10.

Originally Posted by rajshenoy

You can even try Agumbe, i came via this route on 25th dec and it was in good shape barring 10-20 kms( which should not be a problem for a scorpio)

Roads are in good shape except the last few curves towards the bottom of agumbe and then someshwara-hebri stretch

Those hairpin bends in Agumbe ghats have been literally screwed to the core.
update is as of DEC 27.

[lohithrao]

I think "Shiradi" is better bet for now, mudigere - charmadi - ujre will test once patience!

Originally Posted by sushrutha

But the stretch between Belur-Mudigere is in pathetic condition. This update is as of JAN 10.


Those hairpin bends in Agumbe ghats have been literally screwed to the core.
update is as of DEC 27.

[rajshenoy]

We returned from udupi on 26 and hebri-someshwara..they were doing widening(bit messy) and Agumbe the initial few curves have really gone wrong..but was ok on fiesta. So i felt it should be comfortable for scorpio

I guess for Scorpio, even Shiradi is not that bad isnt it ..except for the traffic

[prajwalkashyap]

travelled from Bangalore to Mangalore today on my Honda Unicorn. "Pathetic" would perhaps be an understatement for the Shiradi Ghats. My shoulders and backside are out of shape. All thru the route (250 kms) I was fine till I hit the shiradi ghat "roads" or whatever is there of it. 10kms of that took me more than an hour of motocrossing to cover. Any alternatives to that for my return journey?

I am thinking of hitting either Kudremukh/Belur/Hassan via Karkala, or thru puttur/sulya/madikeri/Mysore/Blr. But last time I travelled on that route (April '09), Kushalnagar to Sampaje took me more than 3 hours on my Unicorn, so I am not really looking forward for another of that butt-crusher of a route.

I need some help with these routes pls as I am returning on Tuesday (starting on Tue morning).

Prajwal