[Cruizer]

Since our son, who studies at KMC Manipal, had a fracture, we were planning to go to Manipal and stay there for an extended period of time to support him.

We were going to stay at a service apartment and cook food etc. so quite a lot of household stuff had to be taken along. Hence it was decided that I will drive to Manipal in my Suzuki XL6.

Since I have seen a number of threads and inquiries about Hyderabad to Manipal / Udupi road trip, I thought I will share my travel experience here.

Let's start with some facts and figures
Origin: Miyapur, Hyderabad Destination: Coin Circle, Manipal
Distance 800 KMs
Route taken: Hyderabad > Kurnool > Bellari > Chitradurga > Shimoga > Agumbe > Manipal
Driving time 15 hrs.
Total travel time including 2 tea breaks and 1 lunch break 16 hrs
Average Mileage: 15.9 Kmpl
The Machine: Suzuki XL6 Alpha AT - 2020 model



Pre Travel Planning: Huge thanks to this forum, I was able to narrow down to two possible routes.

Route 1: Hyderabad > Kurnool > Bellary > Chitradurga > Shimoga > Agumbe > Manipal
Route 2: Hyderabad > Raichur > Hospet > Chitradurga > Shimoga > Agumbe > Manipal

Some of the esteemed members of Team-BHP had mentioned that Route 2 may be preferred as the road condition Kurnool to Bellary and Chitradurga was questionable. I did some more research and then decided to take a chance and try Route 1. Glad that I made that choice but more on that later.


Since I was the solo driver, my plan was not to push it and take a night break and cover the distance over 2 days. Here’s what I planned -

• Start at 3 AM from Miyapur in Hyderabad
• Drop wife off at the RGIA airport at 4 AM and continue driving towards Kurnool
• Have breakfast at Kurnool
• Lunch at Bellary
• Night halt at Chitradurga.

I started on time and reached Kurnool before 7 AM. Since I was not hungry - had a cup of tea and continued to drive towards Bellary. Road conditions were decent and traffic was less, so I was keeping good time and reached Bellary by 10:30 AM. Stopped for another cup of tea and kept driving towards Chitradurga. Traffic in Bellary town is slow. I wish there was a way to bypass the town.

The highlight of my drive was the road between Bellary and Chitradurga. The newly commissioned NH150A is a pleasure to drive on. It’s smooth as a tarmac with no traffic. I consistently maintained 120 Kmph on it. In fact, I think this single handedly tilted the equation in favor of Route 1. The full stretch is not complete yet and right before Chitradurga by dream run came to an end.



Somehow I did not like the food options in Chitradurga (could not find any decent South Indian vegetarian place) I kept driving to Shimoga and stopped for a late lunch. It was about 3 PM and I had only about 4.5 hrs of drive left. Had an idyllic lunch, stretched my back and then made the final push to Manipal and reach at 7:15 PM much to the surprise and amusement of my wife and son who were not expecting me till the following day. The only exiting thing about the home stretch were the 14 hair pin bends at Agumbe where you descend from the Western ghats to the coastal stretch. The roads after Agumbe were rain battered and had some big potholes so driving was slow but otherwise uneventful.

Before I end this travelogue, a big shout out to Suzuki XL6. I used to have a Petrol Innova and also have a Diesel Volkswagen Vento and have done fair amount of long distance driving on them. But XL6 experience was far superior. The reason I could cover 800 Kms as a solo driver in one go without feeling fatigued is attributed to the comfortable seats, good thigh support, high seating position with a wide view of the road ahead and smooth suspension. The overall mileage was 15.9Kmpl excluding the ghat section which I thought was decent for an AT which was packed with boxes to the gill.



Also a big shout out to the Team-BHP family whose detailed travelogues and encouragement motivated me to take this on.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Cruizer

The highlight of my drive was the road between Bellary and Chitradurga. The newly commissioned NH150A is a pleasure to drive on. It’s smooth as a tarmac with no traffic. I consistently maintained 120 Kmph on it. In fact, I think this single handedly tilted the equation in favor of Route 1. The full stretch is not complete yet and right before Chitradurga by dream run came to an end.

Did you do : Bellary-Challakere-Chitradurga? The NH150A was always a nice and wide 2-lane traffic. Has this also been made into a 4-lane? And how is Challakere to Chitradurga?

[Cruizer]

Yes, I did Bellari > Challakere > Chitradurga.
NH150A is now a 4 lane highway with median divider.
The Challakere to Chitradurga was just a 2 lane highway but not bad.

@Ampere - a personal thanks to you for your posts in this route. It really helped in planning.

[unoczar]

What was the date of this drive? Would you still recommend Route 1? (Planning a drive during monsoons).

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by unoczar

Would you still recommend Route 1? (Planning a drive during monsoons).

I have been regularly doing Kurnool-Aspari since 2021. The condition has been the same, its a deent 70-90 kph road anytime. I doubt the sections east of Hiryur get so much rains to damage roads.

Originally Posted by Cruizer

NH150A is now a 4 lane highway with median divider.

As far I remember, Chllakere-Byrapura 50 km stretch was 4-laned in 2021. Are there further sections that have undergone 4-laning?

[Cruizer]

I did the drive in early August 2023. So it was in the peak of monsoon. While I did not get much rain along the way, I think Route 1 is fine during monsoon even if you get rains.

[Dieseltuned]

I have done the Hospet - Raichur - Hyderabad stretch in December 2023 and it is a single lane road between Mahbubnagar and Hospet. We were forced to take the road from Hampi to Hyderabad as Alliance Air cancelled our flight from Vijaynagar to Hyderabad and we had a connecting flight to catch.

I was also in 2 minds whether to take the Bellari option OR the Raichur option, eventually picked Raichur, but in hindsight the Bellari option would have been better.

Regards
Diesel