[Kairalee]

4 days in hand (13th – 16th March) and no plans to stay at home, the decision was made to drive out of Bangalore.

Our west coast trip was planned almost a year ago but was still pending, so we decided to do that in the next 4 days to come.

Day 1
Route :- Bangalore-Hunsur-Madikeri-Bhagamandala-Panathoor-Kanhangad-Bekal

We began from Bangalore at around 5:45 AM & headed over to the Bangalore-Mysore road. We stopped over for a quick b’fast at Shivali on Mysore Road. Breakfast done and after a fuel top-up we continued our drive towards Madikeri.

The road is extremely good till Madikeri via Hunsur. With the research we did on Team-BHP, we decided to take the Bhagamandala-Panathoor route from Madikeri. The beauty and scenic view on this route was amazing & since this route is not taken by many we had the road and the beauty all to ourselves.

The winding ghat road through the forest is a dream drive. Just before you reach Panathoor the roads turns little bad for about 10-15 Kms stretch, but its drivable.

On the way to Madikeri


Pit stop just after Madikeri


Going to explore a small water fall


Entering Bhagamandala


The Bhagamandala - Panathoor forest ghats


Bad roads just before Panathoor


We reached Kanhangad by around 2:30PM & checked into to Hotel Bekal International. Since this hotel had only fried rice to offer us we decided to look elsewhere.

There was this hotel Malnad were we got some decent food. I will not recommend anyone to stay at Bekal international. Very poor service, almost non existent food and a very unwelcome feeling when we were there.

After lunch we headed over to Bekal Fort which was around 12Kms from Kanhangad.

Bekal Fort :- This place was worth a visit. Being summer it was understandably hot & humid and there is lot of walking around required in and around the fort if you want to take in all the sights. So with adequate drinking water and sufficient sun protection we began our tour of Bekal Fort.

The Fort overlooks the Arabian sea and is built in red stone. The beauty of the fort and the sea crashing almost onto the fort walls was an amazing sight to behold. The sad part was, no guides around to give us information on the fort, we did miss the inside story.

The magnificent Bekal Fort


On the Fort ramparts


Overlooking the Arabian Sea


The Uyire, Uyire Spot !!!

[hvkumar]

Good route plan, going via Bhagamandala and Panathoor, interesting and unique. Do you have any distance details for Bhagamandala-Panathoor-Kanhangad?

[ampere]

I was thinking to myself what a unique route and was marveling about the fort, when I saw HVK's post. Really a very nice choice of route.

Also the fort the fort looks very nice.

As usual Google maps do not show any route between Bhagamandala and Panathoor and so does Satguide not show any.

But surprise, someone has updated it in OSM!

[neo45007]

I have added this route & place to my diary. Really informative.
Plz post other snaps and details of complete tour.

[MileCruncher]

As already stated a bit of a unique road. Looking forward to the NH17 part of the travelogue!

[Kairalee]

The distance between Bhagamandala & Panathur is around 25 Kms but it would take around 2 hrs though the road is good. It is a winding ghat road through dense forest and is very picturesque. You would hardly find any traffic and we found just one vehicle pass by.

Panathur to Kanhangad is about 45 kms. The roads are quite good and less traffic. You will not find any hotels worth stopping, so carry food or snacks. There are many little shops which sell very refreshing lime soda drinks between Panathur-Kanhangad, but nothing at all between Bhagamandala & Panathur.

Will the post the Bhagamandala to Panathur drive video soon. Some more pictures of the route.

View of the dense forest


Another view


We did not see any snakes crossing however

[ampere]

Though it offers very good drive, that also means, one should also be very careful during this stretch. Very nice! Is this also a snake rich area (though you said you did not see any snake crossing)?

[sbraj]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Good route plan, going via Bhagamandala and Panathoor, interesting and unique. Do you have any distance details for Bhagamandala-Panathoor-Kanhangad?

Originally Posted by Kairalee

The distance between Bhagamandala & Panathur is around 25 Kms but it would take around 2 hrs though the road is good.
...
Panathur to Kanhangad is about 45 kms.

Some more info on this thread.

This route is supposed be a snake haven. Advice is usually given not to venture out of the vehicle in dense areas.

[Kairalee]

Originally Posted by ampere

Though it offers very good drive, that also means, one should also be very careful during this stretch. Very nice! Is this also a snake rich area (though you said you did not see any snake crossing)?

It is know to be a snake infested area, but we did not see ay at all !!. Here is a video of the drive:


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[Kairalee]

This is the correct video link(my earlier post seems to have had a wrong code for the video)

YouTube - Driving through the Bhagamandala - Panathur route towards Bekal

Mods: Please delete the code that shows up in my previous post.

[Kairalee]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

As already stated a bit of a unique road. Looking forward to the NH17 part of the travelogue!

Day 3 - The NH17 part coming soon.

[dreamdiesel]

Very good choice of route covering some very beautiful fort, some beaches, some temples and awesome forests. I did Bangalore to Bekal via Panathur stretch last year and your travelogue brought back memories.

I had noticed 1 big snake slither across the road while doing this stretch. During summer one tends to see more snakes in this route. I plan to visit Bekal just after monsoon when the fort walls are covered with moss and looks awesome against the dark clods with the rough monsoon sea hitting the walls. Just like in the song Uyire..Uyire

[Kairalee]

A monsoon trip would be amazing, just that the roads may become almost un-drivable in some streches of the Panathoor-Kanhangad route. The moss covered Bekal fort would be a sight to behold though...and it will be worth the drive through bad roads.

[Kairalee]

Day 2

Bekal – Mangalore – Udupi

We had no plans to stay overnight at Mangalore but wanted to visit Ullal beach, The Summer Sands beach resort, The Pannambur beach & The Ideal ice-cream parlor & we knew we could finish this in a day.

We started from Bekal at around 7:00 AM towards Mangalore & stopped for some authentic kerala b’fast enroute at a small highway hotel in Melparamba. After some delicious “Pathiri” and “Malabari style Egg/Chicken Curry” we continued towards Mangalore.

It is around 50 Kms from Bekal till Ullal with pretty good roads (NH17) & moderate traffic. I don't remember any very bad stretches.

The Summer Sand Beach Resort is bang on the Ullal beach. The staff, food and service here is excellent. After spending a leisurely time (beer with some great sea food) at Summer Sands till about 3:00 PM we continued towards Pannambur beach, which is around 8-10kms from on the NH17.

The approach road to the Panambur beach is pretty bad as it goes in front of the Mangalore port where heavy trucks have damaged the roads pretty badly. Nothing much to write about Panambur beach, its just like any other beach.

The much talked about Ideal ice-cream parlor was our next destination. Once you reach Hampankatta, you can ask anyone for directions to Ideal ice-cream parlor. They have a very extensive menu, with a huge choice of flavors. We tried around 6-7 different flavors & then continued towards Udupi. You can also buy various ice-cream flavors at the counter to take home and make your own ice-creams.

Mangalore to Udupi drive is again around 60Kms and the roads are pretty good almost entirely. On NH17 around 5-6 kms after the Udyavara river bridge you will find a huge arch called "Swagatha Gopura" towards your right. That is the entrance to Udupi town.

We reached Udupi around 9:00 PM and checked into Kediyoor Hotel, which is around 3 kms from the "Swagatha Gopura". I would highly recommend this hotel, especially for its good Udupi style food. There is ample parking space with car wash assistance.

The Summer Sands Beach Resort


Ullal Beach


View of the beach from the resort


Recharging


Wife joins in to recharge


Panambur beach

[highwaylover]

I am doing this route this weekend. are the road conditions still good?