[prashkul]

Originally Posted by BIL2_HGi10

Dear All, me and my colleagues are planning to drive down to Mangalore in last week of July. This is the first time we are going there and it would be a night drive. I have female passengers so would like to know what are suitable pit stops enroute. We plan to start from Bangalore at around 10:30 PM on a Thursday night. Please helo.!

I don't mean to be a scare-mongerer but I did want to call out that I had read some disturbing piece of news. I tried searching for it today but unable to locate. One person had reported being chased by locals and road blockage during his night trip - IIRC, he was coming from Madikeri side and had joined the Mangalore-Bangalore highway. A group of people had tailed his vehicle and stopped it in the Shiradi ghats. It was a group of 10-15 people in multiple vehicles and had completely blocked the road. Luckily, one local guy on a RE bullet stopped by and helped him out. I remember because the episode was almost like out of a movie and he had a miraculous escape that night.

I'll try searching some more to see if I can share the link. But my first thought/suggestion is to avoid the night drive in the ghats, if possible.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by prashkul

One person had reported being chased by locals and road blockage during his night trip - IIRC, he was coming from Madikeri side and had joined the Mangalore-Bangalore highway

I think you are referring to this post (Bangalore - Coorg : Route Queries). This is not on the Mangalore highway but on HNPura - CRPatna stretch. I dont remember any incidents on Mangalore highway over the last few years and this is the first time that someone has had an issue driving on CRPatna road. These are roads with decent flow of traffic even late night and usually becomes hard for locals/miscreants to plan and execute a holdup.

[abhi7013]

Took the Shiradi route from Sakleshpur. The ghats have good roads with decent traffic. Destination was Udupi via Mangalore and the highway connecting these two is also pretty good.
Decided to try taking Charmadi via Karkala from Udupi. The best decision i made! It rained for 5 hours straight, right after exiting Udupi to entering Mudigere. Roads are very scenic but encountered a few brainless maniacs on Charmadi, revving the shit out of their cars on all the various viewpoints. Great weather with loads of cloud/fog cover.

[LazyGunner]

Originally Posted by BIL2_HGi10

Dear All, me and my colleagues are planning to drive down to Mangalore in last week of July. This is the first time we are going there and it would be a night drive. I have female passengers so would like to know what are suitable pit stops enroute. We plan to start from Bangalore at around 10:30 PM on a Thursday night. Please helo.!

Originally Posted by prashkul

I don't mean to be a scare-mongerer but I did want to call out that I had read some disturbing piece of news.
.
.
.
I'll try searching some more to see if I can share the link. But my first thought/suggestion is to avoid the night drive in the ghats, if possible.

+1 to Prashkul

I'm not aware of the particular incident mentioned, but I had the scare of my life some 7-8 months ago when I was coming back to BLR from Belagavi at night. That was my last night drive!
I was coming back in my Honda City with 4 of my friends after visiting another friend who had undergone a surgery. We left Belagavi around 4 and stopped for dinner around 8 at Davanagere. After having delicious benne dose, we were back in the highway around 9-9.30. I usually cruise at 90-100kmph. We might have covered just 8-10kms from the city and our car was being followed by another car. In the rearview mirror I could see a pair of headlights gaining on us and within no time it was next to us and had dropped speed to match ours. It must have been a Swift. There were 2 guys inside - one driving and the other one in rear seat. Both had covered their faces with masks. Although I didn't see it, one of my friends in our car swore that the guy in the rear had some kind of a wooden club in his hand. For a couple of seconds, I looked at the masked Swift driver and he looked at me. There were quick calculations made. My mind ran through a lot of things and I settled on using the only weapon I had - my car. I told myself - whatever happens don't stop the car. Before I knew, my instincts had dropped the gear to 4th and I was flooring it. I was confident on my driving skills to outrun the other car but the road was not a familiar one for me, so I was nervous. May be they thought its not a good idea to fight 5 guys and they slowed down and immediately his car headlights were off. It was pitch dark and it was like that car had disappeared.
We were shaken. Our next stop after that was home. Later when I thought about it, I realized trying to race some maniacs in their hometurf was not a great idea, but neither was stopping and facing them. But a great idea would have been to avoid the whole situation and that's what I do now. Unless we are driving in a pack of 2 or 3 cars, we always make a point to reach the city limits of our destination before it is dark.

In my opinion, couple of hours we save by starting late night instead of early morning, is not at all worth the risk it involves. This post was in no way meant to scare you. I have done many night drives in the past but this one changed it for me. Take care!

[adi_gt]

Originally Posted by LazyGunner

+1 to Prashkul
In my opinion, couple of hours we save by starting late night instead of early morning, is not at all worth the risk it involves. This post was in no way meant to scare you. I have done many night drives in the past but this one changed it for me. Take care!

+100. Always drive on your known roads at night. Start as early as you can in the morning and reach the unknown destination before sunset at all costs. It saves a lot of hassles and also allow you to enjoy your own city roads in the morning which you could only dream sometimes even after 6 am.

[spiler]

How's the road condition between Mysore and Mangalore? Have a trip planned tomorrow from Bangalore via Mysore.

[pachchu77]

Hi all .. Planning to take Agumbe via Hassan-Belur-Balehonnur-Hariharapura for our upcoming Bengaluru-to-Kota trip next month.

I understand that it is a twisty/winding route (compared to the other options via Agumbe), but I do want to experience this route once myself since it seems to be the shortest.

1. Google Maps suggests taking a left @ Belur going via Maravathi to Aldur, instead of CKM-to-Aldur. Has anybody tried this route recently ? Is the road condition good ? Asking this since I only hear people talking about Belur-CKM-Aldur route. Something inherently wrong with this route ?

2. Once I reach Someshwara, I have 2 options - either take Goliyangadi-Madhuvana-Kota or Hebri-Brahmavar-Kota. Could somebody pls guide me on the better of the 2 in terms of condition of the road and traffic.

Thanks in advance ...

[ash_blore]

Has anyone from the forum driven through Shiradi in the last couple of days? I believe there has been a lot of rain recently and that the roads are in bad shape.

Can anyone confirm/deny this ?

[LazyGunner]

Not sure about the road condition in Shiradi but yeah, it's raining a lot. I just saw in news that Charmadi has been closed due to landslide / possibility of landslides. Whenever Charmadi closes, most of the traffic gets rerouted to Shiradi. Please exercise caution, stay safe.

[DragonHawk]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

Has anyone from the forum driven through Shiradi in the last couple of days? I believe there has been a lot of rain recently and that the roads are in bad shape.

Can anyone confirm/deny this ?

Yes whole of western ghats including shiradi ghat is witnessing lots of rain. But nothing to worry about the road condition. Barring few stretches till Donigal, concrete roads in the ghats are holding up well.

There were landslides in Charmadi ghats yesterday and last I heard it is cleared and road is opened for traffic.

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by DragonHawk

Yes whole of western ghats including shiradi ghat is witnessing lots of rain. But nothing to worry about the road condition. Barring few stretches till Donigal, concrete roads in the ghats are holding up well.

There were landslides in Charmadi ghats yesterday and last I heard it is cleared and road is opened for traffic.

Thanks for the update. My travel is actually on the 15th. I hope the concrete roads hold up well in these monsoons. The government has spent time and money on these concrete roads. We will know in the next month or so if they will withstand the monsoon fury

[Rajesh K R]

Saw an update on Kannada news channel that even Shiradi was blocked due to tree falls at couple of places. the blockage may be temporary until the trees are cleared.

[avaneesh.]

Latest update is that including Shirdi and charmadi even sampaje ghat is blocked. Hope that Bisle is holding up.

[vinboy]

Does anyone have first hand information about the road conditions? Especially after Sakleshpura till Udupi?

[deehunk]

There was a road blockage earlier in the day, it is raining heavily and red alert has been declared in Udupi.