[ash_blore]

Just back from a 3 day trip to mangalore and udupi.

Route was the same both way and was

Jayanagar -> NICE road (PES College) -> Magadi road -> magadi -> NH48 -> Haasan (bye-pass) -> Shiradi -> BC Road -> Mangalore.

Route is good through out and there are no issues with the shiradi ghat. Its doable in all cars as the turns have been done up nicely. It took me about 7 hrs to reach mangalore and only 6 hrs to return back. These are door to door times including city traffic so you can imagine the road conditions.

Only things to watch out for is the 4 lane upgrade between kunigal and haasan. A little care is required here as opposing traffic can come on the same road. Other than that there are no issues.


Also went to Udupi/Karkala from Mangalore couple of times. That stretch of road is also being upgraded to 4 lanes and is horrible. Just horrible. Too much contruction (good in the long run). Many private buses driving as though they are out to beat Schumacher's lap record. I also had the misfortune of driving back to mangalore at night. Driving just got a whole lot worse. Everyone was using high beams and it took me close to 2 hrs to do this stretch. Not recommended for new drivers. Saw a couple of accidents also.

Overall a pleasant driving experience. If anyone want to cross western ghats then this is definitely the time. Go for it.


P.S> There is always some checking by cops near mulki. Whats the deal with that? Some genuine reason or trying to make a fast buck?

[cuboid]

Been back from a trip to udupi. Thanks for all the suggestions and help. Took the below route for both onwards and return journey.

Bangalore -> Nelamangala -> Kunigal -> Hassan -> Shiradi Ghat -> Dharmasthala -> Karkala -> Manipal -> Udupi

I think for going to Udupi, it is better to follow this route than taking the Mangalore route. The traffic on Mangalore-Udupi section is real nasty, and road condition is just OK.

Observations below :

1. Overall very nice road, barring some patches. But once all the ongoing construction works are over, the whole stretch would be a dream.

2. The ghat is a real beauty now, and newly laid road at towards the end to Shiradi ghat (while going to Mangalore) is simply awesome.

3. On the Karkala-Manipal stretch, the SH is bad at some places.

4. Kunigal Bypass is not open yet, once open the drive would be much better

5. OT: Had lunch at the Imperial hotel (non-veg branch of ossoor) at Sakleshpura, the rice and dal-fry is very good, the non-veg dishes were not.

6. Bike-riders are a real risk on the 2-lane stretches, they never give way, while strolling in the middle of the lane.

7. Some new layers are put in the hair-pins in the ghat section, the grip is outstanding; I heard nice screetch sound while cornering at decent speeds.

8. Spotted en-route :
- a white Phantom in the Udupi-Mangalore stretch on Saturday afternoon
- a black Jaguar in the Ghats while returning

[high_octane]

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by high_octane

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

Just go on the National Hoghway via Shiradi ghat which is in good condition and take deviation to Dharmasthala which is clearly marked.

On the way back come via Ujire - Charmadi. Thus, you have best of both worlds

Single day trip may be tough in Wagon R - not undoable - since you are saying this is your first long trip. Suggest stay back in Dharmasthala/Ujire which has decent accomodation. This will also give you time to go to Moodabidari to see beautiful thousand pillored jain basadi.

Drive within known limits and drive safe. No need to worry. Enjoy the drive.

[RaguHolla]

Originally Posted by high_octane

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

Do you any particular reason for taking Charmadi ghats? If not from past few weeks comment from BHPians that better route is to take NH48 via Shiradi Ghats, route is wide, recently re-tarred you can see route in google map. Route condition are mentioned in this and this. This is also shorter route! Its possible to drive ~600km in a day, but it is tiring! Adding that in your return journey expect traffic making life little difficult. Drive safe.

[high_octane]

Thanks Fauji and Raghu for your comments !
As both of you have pointed out, it could get very tiring doing it on the single day, so I think I will stay overnight at Dharmasthala and return from Dharmasthala to Blore the next day morning.
That route map was really helpful Raghu ! There was no particular reason in chosing Charmadi ghat. couple of posts (both old and new) that I encountered on this site said Charmadi was a better option ... but I hadn't read the comments just above my previous comment

Think I will take Shiradi Ghat then...Will also post the review next week once done

[lohithrao]

Considering that the shiradi/NH48 is at its best, you can save a lot of time and can do better speeds in this route and 1day plan is possible in this route.

Originally Posted by high_octane

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

[cuboid]

1. Take the Shiradi Ghat route - it is the best route as of now. The overall road condition is great. I did that last week end, experience is here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2344085

2. It would be 600-650 km round trip, and definitely would be a bit tiring. As you would driving on this route for first time, it would take ~7-8hrs one way inc breaks. I would suggest you do it over two days to save yourself stress

3. No issues with wagon-r. Just be careful while overtaking in 2-lane stretches. And also bikers strolling through middle of the lane and not giving way. 4-lane parts would not be any issue at all.

Originally Posted by high_octane

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

[high_octane]

Dear all, thanks a lot for all those comments !

Any recommendations on the accomodation in Dharamasthala ? Do I need to book a room in advance or something ?

Another concern of mine (being a first time driver) is the heavy lorry traffic on Shiradi Ghat road...Since I would be driving only during daytime (morning-afternoon), I am guessing it wont be that bad...

One last thing : Any recommendation for the type/brand of petrol for a smooth ride during this long journey? I was using Shell till they jacked up the price to around 73 bucks (in blore)
Not going for Shell anymore ...

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by high_octane

One last thing : Any recommendation for the type/brand of petrol for a smooth ride during this long journey? I was using Shell till they jacked up the price to around 73 bucks (in blore)
Not going for Shell anymore ...

On the highways,you are better off sticking to good old normal unleaded petrol.There are plenty of BP COCO(company owned company operated)pumps now a days on all the Indian highways,fill up from them(All of them accept credit cards as well).On the NH48,you could also fill up from the pumps attached to the CCDs,they also have good quality fuel.

[mohan41]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

Just back from a 3 day trip to mangalore and udupi.

Route was the same both way and was

Jayanagar -> NICE road (PES College) -> Magadi road -> magadi -> NH48 -> Haasan (bye-pass) -> Shiradi -> BC Road -> Mangalore.

@ash_blore: How is the road condition inside Magadi town? Has it improved?

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by mohan41

@ash_blore: How is the road condition inside Magadi town? Has it improved?

The road conditions are horrible for the 2KMs or so inside the town. Otherwise its perfect. Still worth taking Magadi road to reach Nice and then south bangalore. Saves you a ton of time not having to fight bangalore traffic.

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

The road conditions are horrible for the 2KMs or so inside the town. Otherwise its perfect. Still worth taking Magadi road to reach Nice and then south bangalore. Saves you a ton of time not having to fight bangalore traffic.

Magadi road is a good option for reaching Kunigal. However, if you are driving on this road between 8 AM and 10 AM and again in the evening be prepared for slower speeds due to lot of two wheeler traffic.

Yes, the road inside Magadi town is not good.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by high_octane

Sorry to digress a little bit ... I am planning to take go to Dharmasthala from Bangalore coming weekend. I went through some of the posts on this thread and quite a few people seem to suggest the Bangalore to Dharmasthala via Nelamangala, Kunigal, Hassan, Belur, Mudigere, Kottigehara, Ujire (via Charmadi Ghat) route...Could someone please tell me the exact route (like if there's a bad stretch of road that I need to avoid or a good stretch of road that I need to take) ? I know this too has been mentioned before, but I am simply not able to find those posts now.

Also, I would be travelling with my father who also drives but I am thinking of driving all by myself. I would be driving in my Wagon R and we are thinking of finishing the trip on a single day !

As this is going to be my FIRST long drive in our 1.5 yr old Wagon R (done 13.5 K as on today), are there certain things I need to take care off ?

Also, I am a little worried about taking a car like Wagon R (on long journeys) which is kind of unstable on highways. Your opinions on that..

There is absolutely no need to worry on the car you are driving (WagonR) and its so called handling abilities on highways. I have read some critics even mention that the driver needs to pray to take the car out on the highways.

I own one since more than 5 years and have clocked 1,40,000Kms as of today and mostly on Highways with parents,wife and my year old daughter now. My single shot coverage has been 1100Kms (Bangalore-Pune-Aurangabad) and I do Bangalore-Belur and Bangalore-Pune regularly.

Hope that comforts you.

Of course, this isn't a car that loves cornering and the tallboy design restricts such stunts to be performed. Nevertheless, the car itself should not be be the reason for you to think so much to drive over long distances. Moreover, over the number of the Kilometers that you drive, you'll start to master the art of taming any car and knowing the limitations.

I brought back this topic since you were specific on the car you were driving and I felt I am one of the most experienced WagonR owners on the forum in terms of the number of Kilometers driven and various roads travelled.

Regarding the best route, I usually take the Charmadi route (took it in January last time) for the sheer pleasure of driving through the Ghats over those hairpin curves and western ghats. But Shiradi is a better option for a first time stint since the roads are in much better condition as of today.

[ALSUDA]

I think 'paragsachania' has well said about the vehicle - WagonR. Even I owned it for more than 3yrs, before going to Swift. Travelled thru' western ghats many..many times. Cofidently you can drive without doing much stunts..To Dharma, Shiradi will be best option for 1st timer, since roads are wide & in corners you are not pushed aside...