[mystiikmonk]

Monsoons and I have a love-hate relationship. As much as I love the rains and the greenery that enhances with it, they bring along insufferable migraine attacks (strangely seasonal in my case). With each passing monsoon, I wait, wondering if someday I will escape the shackles of this pain as I read beautiful Team-BHP’s monsoon travelogues in the confines of my home with the warmth of hot beverages.

But this year was different. By God’s grace, I have been better with some preventive medications and thought, why not give it a shot? It took a lot of convincing (my better half), to the point where a driver was supposed to be hired. But finally, she gave in as it was her birthday and we had been planning this trip ever since I got my BMW. Now she is a fan of Team-BHP travelogues as well.

Special mention to Dr. AD’s travelogues. They have given me a lot of inspiration for these trips, and when I reached out to the forum for route suggestions, he was the first one to help.

Linking below the suggested route:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...ml#post5787947 (Bangalore - Goa : Route Queries)

Route Preview (Do Not take the route suggested by Google Maps)
Recommended Route: Bengaluru → Hubali (Just before toll plaza take a left) → Karwar (Approx 600 km)

As mentioned above, I am prone to migraines, especially during the monsoons, so we chose to take a cautious approach. While driving towards Karwar, we decided to break the journey into 2 parts of 300 km each. For us, that meant the first stop was Davangere.

Day 1 - 20/06/2024
The night before, I went to bed early (around 9 PM) as Thursday was a working day for me and it was decided we would travel till Davangere. Woke up an hour before expected and left home at 4 AM. As there was hardly any traffic, we picked up pace but maintained controlled speeds as there were still a few hours before sunrise. As the sun rose, the roads became wide and even more beautiful. It was a breeze to drive. Around Sira, we felt the need for a break and spotted an A2B Restaurant where we had a delicious neer dosa with jaggery and stew. While at the restaurant, we searched for a hotel at Davangere and called them for an early check-in and availability. As they confirmed, ending with a cup of coffee, we resumed the journey till we reached Davangere. Midway near Chitradurga, we stopped for some photos with windmills.



The hotel was pretty nice for approximately Rs. 3000. In the evening, we decided to have a taste of the famous Davangere Benne Dosa. Luckily, one of the most recommended places was near our hotel, so we took a 1.5 km walk to Sri Guru Kottureshwara Butter Dosa Hotel. Funny anecdote: as I received the plate of dosa, I was convinced in my head that it was going to be rich in butter as I had seen photos of dosa with a white side dish. Only when they served it, I realized it was mashed potato and my wife sighed with relief. After that, we returned to the hotel, had a light dinner, and ended the day.



A2B: Google Maps Link
Sri Guru Kottureshwara Butter Dosa Hotel:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/13...9444?entry=ttu

Sankama Boutique Hotel: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Y4Q1DVaS77q3bGAGA

Day 2 and 3: 21st and 22nd June 2024
Our booking at Karwar was planned at Sadashivgad Fort Resort by Jungle Lodges. I am a big fan of Jungle Lodges by the Government of Karnataka.

We checked out early in the morning from Davangere and headed straight to our destination with just a breakfast stop somewhere in the jungle. Not sure of the location. We had a decent plate of idli and dosa. It was constantly raining on and off and the weather was overcast. It was an absolute dream come true to drive during the monsoon. Fresh greenery all around, open highways, blues, and classic rock music. I really enjoyed every bit of this stretch. The BMW felt like it was where it belonged.

Midway pit stop:





Around 12 PM we reached Sadashivgad Resort as planned and realized we were the only ones at the resort. The staff gave us welcome drinks and a quick brief of the itinerary. Their itinerary is tied up with Devbagh Beach Resort, especially the water sports activities and lunch + dinner. It’s around a 3-4 km drive from Sadashivgad. So after we checked in and had a bit of rest, we headed off to Devbagh to have lunch as planned. Lunch was a scrumptious buffet like any JLR. Post that came an interesting proposal. The manager suggested we transfer from Sadashivgad to Devbagh as we were the only ones, and they could arrange a room. Point to be noted is that Devbagh is a beach property and slightly more expensive than the other. But view-wise, Sadashivgad has an excellent hilltop facing river view. So we accepted the proposal and headed back to Sadashivgad to transfer our stuff. At the same time, I asked for permission to fly my drone to capture beautiful views of Sadashivgad before we left.

Back at Devbagh, because we had booked 2 days, and JLR’s have planned activities, we decided to skip Day 1 activities and relax at the beach and explore the property. The seawater here was visibly rough. Mangrove carcasses were lying around. It was different from other beaches, or maybe it was the monsoon; it felt different. On the second day, we did an island-hopping tour, some kayaking, a nature walk, and a lot of random photography at the property. Here are a few pictures:












Day 4: 23/06/2024
Checkout early and left for Bengaluru. This time even though we had planned to break the journey, but we did not. We decided to split the driving duties among ourselves. I drove for approx 450kms and 150km in between was driven by my wife. When we reached near Neelmangala, we had to crawl through horrendous traffic and finally reached at home by evening.

[ashkamath]

Nice travelogue. Glad that you were able to enjoy your monsoon drive breaking the shackles of the recurring migraine. I see that you had a great time. Thanks for your travelogue.

[Axe77]

Lovely travelogue and enjoyed seeing the pics, specially since I drove very recently on this route in my GLC. I recently drove from to Bangalore from Mumbai and had stopped at the same place at Davangere for the Benne Dosa. Amazing place indeed.

On the drive back, we had decided to break journey at Goa - we drove from Bangalore to Goa via the Karwar route. But we took the left from Bankapur toll to Yellapur instead of the longer route which seems to be the better road. Should have checked route advisories on this but I didn't find the shorter route that bad for my SUV at least. Was quite manageable and really beautiful too.

I feel like I've also stopped at some of the same places where you have clicked your car. The shot with the windmills in the backdrop (although I was B'lore bound so on the other side of the road when I clicked). The beach spot at Karwar also looks very similar to where I had parked and clicked some pics as well.

EDIT: Adding some pics.

Benne Dosa at Sri Guru Kottureshwara


On the highway somewhere between Davangere and Bangalore


At the beach at Karwar.

[mystiikmonk]

Originally Posted by Axe77

I feel like I've also stopped at some of the same places where you have clicked your car. The shot with the windmills in the backdrop (although I was B'lore bound so on the other side of the road when I clicked). The beach spot at Karwar also looks very similar to where I had parked and clicked some pics as well.

Windmills place is near to Chitradurga. I had seen those pics earlier in some other blogs. But other spots were completely adhoc. Either we saw some route that passes near water body or the one on a beach, while passing it.

Lovely car and pics by the way.

[musafir513]

Great post. This takes me back to my drive from Mumbai to Bangalore during the monsoon 3 years ago via Belgaun -> Davenegere -> Bangalore. The route was beautiful with windmills in the backdrop & the Dosas were lip-smacking- since I have become a fan of them. Some pics from my trip #nostalgia

Somewhere between Belagavi and Davanagere


Ghost resting during lunch


Great highway from Davanagere to Bangalore

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by musafir513

Somewhere between Belagavi and Davanagere

I have a very similar pic to the first one that I clicked from the Fairfield Marriott Hotel at Belgavi. I had basically loved the solar panels and the windmills in the same frame.

I stayed there to break journey between Mumbai and Bangalore.

[mystiikmonk]

Adding a compilation of Drone shots and Ride shots from the trip

https://youtu.be/B08e6tUTJYc?si=4suvL-4k9hJ65PQ1