[Thilak29]

So in summary, can I assume both via Madikeri and via Charmadi routes to Bangalore are in pristine condition ?

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by NPV

Hoysala Village Resort is a good place to stay at Hassan and it's on the Belur Road.

Thanks a lot NPV for the tip !!
Didn't get any rooms available for Hoysala Village Resort. Am seeing good reviews of Candy Southern Star Hotel. Will probably book a room there.
Any other good hotels you know of ?

Originally Posted by NPV

To visit Halebidu, I think the route via Hagare is better than the other route, but look for previous posts on this to confirm, one of these roads is very bad.

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Yes, the route via Hagare is better to go to Halebidu from Belur. I planned to take the NH-234 from Belur to Halebidu last month but a local advised me to take the route via Hagare as NH-234 is very bad between Belur - Halebidu. I then took the Hagare route and it was awesome. The route: https://goo.gl/maps/DBjVc

Thanks guys for this tip. We are seeing a change of plan. So if the plans remains as it is, I'll take the route via Hagare.

Originally Posted by NPV

Hassan-Shravanabelagola should take an hour or so, approximately 55Km. Suggest you visit early morning or late afternoon say 4pm, before dusk. Why not visit on the way to Hassan and return directly to Bangalore ?

Thanks NPV !!
Wifey saw this post and suggested a change in plan. She is of the opinion to visit Sharavanbelagola on the way to Hassan. Reach Hassan around lunchtime and retire for the day and visit the wedding house.
On the second day explore Belur in the morning, Halebeedu post lunch and drive down straight to Bangalore.
Seems good to me.

Only concerning thing is the steps leading to Shravanbelagola temple. Insane 614 steps !! Climbing these with 2 overweight parents and an ultra-naughty 1.5 yr old is scary to both of us !!

Originally Posted by NPV

For breakfast you can consider Swathi Delicacy or Adigas Grand (haven't been to this one, opened recently) both on right side of highway near Yediyur about 100Km from Bangalore. About 50m ahead of Swathi there is a break in median allowing for U-turn.
Or go further another 10Km or so and stop at Mayura, Bellur Cross (not Belur!) on left side (you can see the Adichunchunagiri group of institutions campus on right side and Mayura is on opposite side (left side of highway) on the service road.

Originally Posted by Samurai

If you leave Bangalore at 6AM, you will be at Hassan at 9AM for breakfast. So this is not a long drive, let alone long long long.

Like samurai says, I am now optimistic about reaching Hassan before even needing a breakfast break (if the plan remains the same) !! Hopefully the kid would sleep peacefully till then.
Incase we are running late, would make a stop at these places.

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Plan to visit Sakaleshpur sometime later after the roads are repaired. The roads around Sakaleshpur are in shambles.

Originally Posted by NPV

Avoid Sakleshpura like the plague - it's like a war zone, surface like the moon
There is always a next time, hopefully between Dec 2014 and June 2015 the works to be carried out on Shiradi Ghat will also improve the roads in and around Sakleshpura as well!

Yeah guys, there is always a next time. Heard that its painted green just after monsoon. Will check out sometime next year then.

EDIT: One last question to all - Why are the prices of hotels so insanely high in Hassan ? The average price of hotels are around 2500 - 4000 per night !!

[speedsatya]

As I was working from home today , I needed to be in Mangalore by 930 am . Hence , started a bit early ( 3 AM IST) instead of the usual around 330 am start .

Reached in under 5 hours this time . Encountered almost zero traffic till Gundya .

About speedbreakers , there is a new one thats come up between the 1st and 2nd toll booths . The one at Adi... gets a warning sign ,

About the ghat , I am not sure whether they really intend to start repair work from 15th Dec!


1- I see patchwork being done on the ghat ! Why would they want to do some temporary repair work now for with just a few days to go when they ignored it completely all these days .

2- Nor do I see a build up of road-making equipment along the road except for a tar laying machine ( dunno what you call it ) at the start of the ghat

These days a 3 am start is my preferred time on working days . Works well , when you can drive straight to work at Electronic City and reach by 10 am IST

[guyfrmblr]

There is a bandh at Solur today according to Udayavani newspaper. The villagers have also planned for blocking the highway according to the report. Better to take Mysore-Madikeri-Sullia to reach Mangalore today.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

There is a bandh at Solur today according to Udayavani newspaper. The villagers have also planned for blocking the highway according to the report. Better to take Mysore-Madikeri-Sullia to reach Mangalore today.

How long is the bandh ? And what about tomorrow ( Sunday )?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

How long is the bandh ? And what about tomorrow ( Sunday )?

I'm not sure how long. They are basically revolting against the proposed dumping and processing of Bangalore city garbage in that area. My cousin passed through Solur this morning at 7 and there was no problem according to him.

[fast_elegance]

I just did the B'lore - M'lore through Mysore - Madikeri - Sullia. Started at 6 and reached my home in M'lore at 2.

The roads were good all the way till I reached the end of Sampaje ghats. After that the roads are broken in many sections till Jalsoor. Roads after Jalsoor is good. I was driving Ritz. It is still doable in hatchbacks and sedans but need to be very careful.

Overall this route is 40 kms more than Shiradi and about 25 kms more than charmadi. The drawback with this route is that you never tend to gain momentum in the entire section. Thanks to the speed breakers and broken roads.

I tried this route as an alternate to narrow charmadi. However, I guess I will stick to charmadi after looking at the road condition.

[rajshenoy]

I had done Bangalore-udupi via Charmadi on 29th.
Will be returning back tomorrow morning and mostly i will take same road again.

Only thing i am worried about is, Charmadi is pretty narrow and with Shiradi closed, It might be chocked with the heavy traffic.

I felt udupi-Agumbe-Theerthalli-shimoga-tumkur-bangalore to be better than Charmadi route(around 10-15kms extra), but then even Agumbe will be closed for 3-4 months now.

For tomorrow i guess i will take Charmadi again.

[speedsatya]

Returned through Charmadi. As we started at 415 am , we reached Kamath at 745 am which is similar timing as we would do through Shiradi. Obviously , we didn't encounter much traffic and that's why it was such a breeze.

Now on looks like its gonna be the Mysore route to mangalore and it will be back to those delayed bus journeys and jams !

How bad is Sampaje - Sullia ?

[fast_elegance]

Originally Posted by fast_elegance

The roads were good all the way till I reached the end of Sampaje ghats. After that the roads are broken in many sections till Jalsoor. Roads after Jalsoor is good. I was driving Ritz. It is still doable in hatchbacks and sedans but need to be very careful.

Originally Posted by speedsatya

How bad is Sampaje - Sullia ?

I did this route on Saturday. Lot of broken sections. Look at my update above.

[hsprabhu]

Did Bangalore-Mangalore on 22nd November. And Bangalore-Mangalore on 29th November. Drove with wife, one year old son and wife's granny. And XUV was our drive

Started from Bangalore (JP Nagar 7th Phase) at 9AM. Reached Mangalore at 5PM. Had to make 6-7 stops. One to feed my 1 yr old son. Rest as granny was having bad travel day :(
Route - Bangalore-Hasan-Belur-Mudigere-Charmadi-Ujire-Bantwal-BC Road-Mangalore. Distance covered was 385KMs. Very good roads throughout.

Started from Mangalore (Mudbidri to be precise) at 9AM. Reached JP Nagar 7th Phase by 5PM again.
Route - Mudbidri-Venoor-Guruvayankere-Ujire-Charmadi-Mudigere-Belur-Hasan-Bangalore. Again total distance covered was around 380KMs.

[Soumyajit9]

Finally made the longest road trip of my life.

Bangalore > Hassan > Shettyhalli > Hassan > Belur > Halebidu > Hassan > Bangalore

Total trip distance: 580 kms
Period: 2 days

Unbelievable roads !! It was just a breeze to drive through on the Bangalore - Mangalore highway. Brilliant maintenance. I loved that they are putting the Toll money to actual use.

Thanks to NPV, guyfrmblr and Samurai for the road / eateries advices.
I had stopped at a CCD near Yediyar (or something similar) for breakfast.
Went past by Swathi delicacy because my kid was sleeping and I wanted to cover max distance during that time.

Time taken to Hassan was about 4 hours.
Time taken to Bangalore was about 3 hours.

The Shettyhalli trip was utter waste of time, money, energy, heath and car.
26kms of super broken roads. I haven't seen the Shiradi ghat roads, but I can vouch that it can't be worse than the Hassan > Shettyhalli road. Mars surface to be precise.

Short T-Log (with some more trip details) coming up by end of this week.

EDIT:: While returning, I escaped the last toll gate on M'lore - B'lore highway (before taking a right on the Tumkur highway). I had pulled up in Lane 3 and it wasn't moving. I was about 5 vehicles behind. When the vehicles moved and I was behind 2 cars, a sudden fight erupted with a lorry in Lane 4. Some 2-3 goon looking guys were getting angry at the lorry and the guy from my lane's counter came out and started running for his life !! The goons started breaking the barriers. Surprisingly my lane was left open. The 2 cars ahead of me escaped and I followed them. Didn't want to land up in a riot / shootout !! Saved some silly 41 bucks.

[Thilak29]

Few Kannada newspapers have reported about postponing of Shiradi closure to January.
Also, a new route is being suggested for heavy vehicles : Hunsur-KR Nagar-Holenarsipur-Hassan
I guess toll lobby at play here. Anyone been through this route? How is the road condition?

[deehunk]

The official communication I saw yesterday in a news channel was that Shiradi ghat will be closed from December 15th.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

I guess toll lobby at play here. Anyone been through this route? How is the road condition?

This route is a lovely 2 lane road albeit with speedbreakers near entry and exit of the villages. Indeed it could the toll lobby at play. Once you get to Hunsur, it does not make sense to go to Bangalore via Hassan (easily a 100 kms more)