Jan 2010

I did the Ankola - Yellapur - Hubli NH63 route about 3 weeks back while travelling from Murudeshwar to Hampi. The road is not particularly wide and is effectively a two lane highway. Although the road surface per se is very good, the lorry traffic (in both directions) takes the zing out of the drive. To make matters worse, every now and then the lorries breakdown and end up creating long jams. Unfortunately, these jams end up taking longer to clear because many of our morons that drive buses and SUVs think that the trucks & cars that have stopped in a disciplined fashion have done so simply for the pure thrill of it and that they can approach and bypass the problem point by proceeding on the right hand side of the road, creating additional jams in the process. I saw right in front of my eyes a jam that would have been cleared in about 10 mins taking more than 45 mins because an idiot of a bus driver chose that moment to come in on the RHS blocking all traffic completely! I have more choice (and more apt) words to call these guys, but I am sure the moderators will evict me from this website for ever! I did get a chance to chat with the lorry drivers during one of these jams. Very nice guys and they were actually helping clear some of these jams. Said that it was a daily affair for them. They kept on asking me to go on ahead since my vehicle was small and that they would try to keep making some space for me!

Anyway, the basic points are that

NH 63 is good from road surface point of view, but is overloaded with heavy lorry traffic in both directions up to Hubli. Hubli to Gadag is bearable and Gadag to Hospet is fine.

You can expect traffic jams because of breakdowns, which will also test your patience progressively as you find more and more idiots breaking rules (and, in the process, making the jams much longer)

No matter what colour your car is, it will become "rust red" after the trip! I could not believe the colour of my oyster grey i10 Asta when I reached Hubli.

Its a choice of the devil. The other routes (according to the locals and the lorry drivers) are not that good. So, in stretches when you get past one lorry convoy, you have the chance of speeding up till you encounter the next convoy.

Update : 27.04.2010

Excellent road condition from Ankola to Hubli, as also from Karwar to Ankola. However, avoid this road at night / early morning to avoid mining truck menace.

During the day, these trucks are parked on open grounds on either side of the highway for almost 5 kms from ankola towards Hubli - driver groups sit almost on the highway ! These trucks are allowed into Karwar port only after 9 pm - stipulated 400 trucks per day !

We drove from Ankola to Karwar at 9.30 pm and had to pass 200 odd trucks parked on the highway

NH63 ( Ankola - Hubli stretch ) photographs

24 mar 2010

Hi Maninder, I drive from Pune-Blr_Pune regularly and the only advisable route NH4 is as under. The roads are excellent except for certain stretches from Chitradurga to Hubli. But mostly Vgood. Pune- Satara- Kohlapur- Belgaum- Dharwad- Hubli- -Chitradurga- Tumkur- Bangalore -----All NH4 You can easily do it in 12-13hrs i.e. My parents who are 80yr old plus do it in 12hrs as well. Pls do write if you have any queries. Drive safe and all the best Rgds Narayan

Route via Hubli-Belgaum is awesome. I often reach speeds over 130 Kmph in my Santro. Driven almost 10+ times on this route now.

Two important thing to keep watch out for: 1. People might suddenly come onto the road from either side..so for safety sake, be in the middle lane.2. Oncoming traffic many times come on the wrong side of the road. Image you are at 120+ Kmph on a turn and suddenly see a truck coming on from opposite direction to you on your side of the road. This has happened to me many times with all kinds of vehicles like trucks, government buses(yes, you read it right), tracktors, bullcarts etc.

Drive safely and take breaks every 2-3 hours. Helps do away with fatigue.

Have a safe journey....

24 April 2010

But what I recommend is that it is better you reach ankola by 7pm or so. After 7pm it is very diffficult to drive from hubli to ankola beacause of number of mines lorries which will be allowed to go on the highway(NH 63) in the night only and you may also get caught in traffic jam which will not move atleast for 2 hrs. So it is better you reach ankola before 7pm only.

Otherwise you have another option also i.e., from hubli to kumta via sirsi, and halt at kumta. The majority of road is good, only 10-20 km of road is having some pot holes, but it is not so difficult to pass on.

18 may 2010

NH 17 from Ankola to Mangalore is in good condition ......apart from a stretch near Bhatkal Checkpost which is bad.......

If you can do till Ankola, then push yourself till Gokarna.....between Gokarna and Kumta there is a hotel named Makara.....who gives heavenly cottages to stay.....it costed me Rs. 600 per night when I stayed there months ago

I will try and get you the phone number of the place if you are intrested

ACCO The full name is Makara Village in Hiregutti between Gokarna and Kumtathe Phone number is 08386320627

25 Aug 2010

As of 25/08/2010

Bangalore - Munnar (NH 7/NH 47/ TN SH -96/ TN SH -37/TN SH -87 -471 kms)

Bangalore - Salem (NH 7 - 206 kms)As already discussed, the roads are good in terms of conditions but heavy traffic on both sides can slow down your speeds! The curves after Krishnagiri are called as dangerous and even though you wont find them to be dangerous if you are a hill rider, yet you can find an odd truck crashed on the sides! I saw two of them, one while going, another one while coming back

Salem - Perundurai (NH 47 - 85 kms)NH 47 is butter smooth after Salem and mostly with less curves and low traffic. 120 is easily doable on this stretch. This goes straight down to Coimbatore and I guess its the same all the way.Be careful while at Salem, coz there are hardly any proper signboards leading to NH 47, any miss and you can land up straight to NH 7 taking you to Madurai. We missed it and had to come back after riding 6 kms on NH 7.

Perundurai - Kangayam (SH 96 - 33 kms) Be alert while on NH 47 to take a left turn for Perundurai town from the service road. This should come around 80 kms from Salem. Any miss can take you through the bypass to Coimbatore! Signboards are prominent and you wont miss it if careful.The road is a single lane one with plenty of settlements in between.The conditions are good but village traffic can cut down your speed and 70 k's should be safe unless you are a city ripper and master at cutting through people!

Kangayam - Dharapuram (SH 37 -32 kms)Double lane but not really wide. Condition is really good without any major potholes. Hardly any traffic on this road, so 100-120 can be done here enjoying the village surroundings

Dharapuram - Udumalpet (SH 21/SH 97 - 41 kms)Udumalpet is angliced as Udumalaipettai nd you cant find out that place if you go with the angliced pronounciation!Even google maps has it as Udumalaipettai.

Google maps shows a straight road from Dharapuram to udumalpet by SH 87, but we were suggested by a Tavera driver to take the 28 kms of SH 21 to Gudimangalam and then head to Udumalpet (12kms). We took it and it was a heaven to ride!Clean two lanes with nice Windmills all around and hardly any traffic. The direct road was broken as per the driver.

Udumalpet - Munnar (86 kms)This 86 took us a lifetime to reach! The road starts meandering from Udumalpet without too much of traffic and leads to the entry point of the Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.Be ready for some questionnaire from the guards here.After the entry gate the road gets narrower and narrower as you go up and down the dense forests.After the scribbling at the Kerala entry check point the road gets a bit wider but often full of potholes and sharp curves.This route is fascinating if you are a nature lover but the tarmac isnt really friendly. This can take as much as four hours if you plan to stop for photo breaks in between.

Munnar - Kumily - Thekkady (120 kms)Initial 30 kms consists of occasional broken roads riding up and down the scenic gap points, valleys with tea gardens and Periyakanal waterfall. Doing a 40 kmph is decent here.After this the road divides for Madurai and Kumily, take the Kumily route with amazing roads to follow.Neat two lanes without too much of ascent or decent, one gets a feeling of riding in the plains with curvy roads.60 kmph is doable here with the wide corners all over.After you reach the town of Kumily head towards Thekkady which is an extension of Kumily and just 4 kms away.

Thekkady - Thrissur (NH 220/KL SH 44/KL SH 8/KL SH 1/NH 47 -218 kms)

Kumily - Vandiperiyar - Mundakayam -Kanjirapally - Erattupetta - Muttom - Thoduphuzha (NH 220/ KL SH 44 - 116 kms)

10-15 kms after Kumily on NH 220 (leads to Kottayam) is in pathetic condition!Full of potholes and extremely bumpy ride, cannot believe this to be a NH!The roads get better before Vandiperiyar with tea gardens around and clean twisties in between.Head straight on NH 220 till Mundakayam with some nice ascent and some waterfalls enroute. This is not a rippers paradise, full of sharp curves and uneven terrain at times, be careful of the KSRTC buses plying enroute, they can get you killed by pushing you to a 200 feet fall!After Mundakayam the roads get better as you finally bid goodbye to the hills and head to the Kerala plains.The stretch about 10 kms before Kanjirapally is very smooth and again 80- 100 is possible on this.After taking a right turn from NH 220 and joining SH 44 for Erattupetta from Kanjirapally, the roads turn really bad. Completely bumpy and full of settlements all around.They will make you irritated with the maintenance of roads at Kerala.Anything above 70 for an average on this roads can be dangerous.Erattupetta is just another town with narrow and congested roads all around.After leaving this place the roads started getting better, some more small hill riding and then you land up to an absolute brilliant two lane highway which continues till Muttom and up to Thoduphuzha

There is another route from Kumily to Thoduphuzha via Idukki and Kulamavu using the SH 43.Idukki is a beautiful place but I heard the roads were broken so didnt take the risk. If anyone takes this route then please update the recent conditions.

Thoduphuzha - Mavattuphuzha -Angamaly - Chalakudy- Thrissur (SH 8/SH 1/NH 47 -101 kms)The brilliant two lanes which started before Thoduphuzha continues till Mavattuphuzha. After Mavattuphuzha SH1 takes over and is equally good in terms of conditions but with slightly heavier traffic. 80-90 is safe on these roads.Take a left turn on NH 47 from Angamaly and continue till Chalakudy. The NH is full of heavy traffic at this stretch and also a number of diversions and broken roads due to broadening of NH 47.Continue from Chalakudy for about 14 kms and then take a left to join a single lane road leading to Thrissur City.This road is again heavy with traffic and max speed can be 60-70 here.

Thrissur- Athirapally- Kochi (NH 47/ KL-SH 21/NH 47 -114 kms)

Thrissur - Chalakudi (NH 7 - 32 kms)The two lane road that connects Thrissur city to NH 47 is just another busy road with settlements around.After 14 kms the NH 47 is spotted, but it isnt in good shape till Chalakudi.Even though its pretty wide at some places, at most places there is a diversion due to road widening. The diversion takes you through the towns on the adjacent side.I guess this road will become butter smooth till Angamaly in another year.

Chalakudi - Athirapally (SH 21 - 33 kms)This is a neat road with cornering heavens spread all over. The road doesnt gain too much of elevation till Athirapally and at times its too straight which will take the speedo considerably up.The road is covered by trees, part of forests on either side and ocassional settlements

Athirapally -Angamaly -Kochi (SH 21/Connector/NH 47 - 64 kms) Took the same road back but found a junction, from where a shortcut goes to Kochi. Kochi was 50 kms from the junction.The road looked alluring here with a huge bridge on a river, but after crossing the bridge the road went on to become narrower and narrower.About 10 kms after the bridge it was full of potholes and ocassional craters.The narrow road went through several villages and entered Angamaly town to become a busy thoroughfare.NH 47 starts after Angamaly and is pretty good in terms of conditions and traffic till Kochi International Airport.After that it slows down into Ernakulam City and turns left to head towards Trivandrum.

Kochi - Kanyakumari (NH 47 -302 kms)

Kochi - Kollam (NH 47 -137 kms)Boring two lane highway with bumpy roads full of traffic, rains make them ever worse. 70 kmph is safe on this stretch. Lot of settlements throughout, hardly any bypassing done.Have to stop at enormous

signals in the town areas.

Kollam - Trivandrum -Kovalam (NH 47/TVM Bypass - 79 kms)The road gets better after Kollam and after being average for quite a stretch, becomes suddenly clean and smooth as you enter Thiruvananthapuram district.The road gets extra ordinarily good, 30 kms before Trivandrum and continues to be the same on the bypass road till Kovalam

Kovalam - Nagerkoil - Kanyakumari ( NH 47 - 85 kms)From Kovalam, its a single lane road which leads to NH 47 near Parassala.The road is narrow and through small villages with lot of road crossing happening in between.The road condition is decent without any major potholes.NH 47 is also extremely crowded and narrow in this stretch after Parassala and continues to be the same till Nagercoil and also further down till Kanyakumari.

H4 from Bangalore to Haveri:

Road is almost fixed. The dreaded Davangere to Haveri stretch is now more of a hindrance rather than a nightmare. But would still recommend travel of this stretch during the daytime so as to enable higher average speeds.

Haveri-Kumta/Gokarna: Haveri to Sirsi (SH2) - 70 kms: Excellent two laned road till about 5 kms before Sirsi, with some sporadic patches near Dasanakoppa.

Sirsi to Kumta/Gokarna: Again, wonderful roads, lots of twisties with smooth surfaces which have been relaid since my last visit to the area back in September. It's a dream come true for the people who love twisties.

Gokarna/Kumta to Bangalore via Shimoga:

NH17 from Kumta to Honnavar is a decent road, with moderate traffic and good road conditions. From Honnavar, you get onto NH206 and you have A LOT of twisties climbing up into the hills, all the way till a few kms after the turnoff point to Jog Falls.

Sagar to Bangalore is a two laned road, with 4 laning going on near Arsikere. Not a recommended route, especially during the weekends when there is a lot of traffic on a two laned route. And not to mention massive potholes which jump out on you from nowhere!

Tumkur to Bangalore is the usual nightmare. Badly surfaced road with uneven surfaces.

All in all, if anyone wants to get to Jog Falls/Gokarna right now, please take the NH4 route to Haveri and proceed to Sirsi. This will be the fastest and least stressful route for sometime to come, and worth the extra 30 kms you will have to cover in case you're visiting Jog Fall

19-8-2010

Bangalore-Kunigal through Magadi Road-- Good roads and scenic , no trafic , Bad patches for few kms in the beginning.Avoid taking nelamangala due to construction work.Kunigal - Hassan - Good roads with a little bit of diversions here and there . Wide enough roads.Hassan- belur- Brilliant as ever. To me it is karnataka's best road.Belur-Chikmagalur- Good enough with odd potholes.Chikmagalur-Mullianagiri- Decent enough roads .Mulliangiri-Baba Budangiri- Do able with odd potholes.Baba Budangiri-Kemmangundi-Roads are in bad shape this time . Deep craters , but amazing weather and greenery around makes you forget about the roads.Kemmangundi-Lingadahalli-Good enough roads , Much better than ever before.Lingadahalli- Chikmagalur- Lovely roads and small Ghat section.Chikmagalur-Belur-Same road traversed before.Belur-arehalli-sakleshpur.--Single lane road with canopy and no traffic . Roads are bad after arehalli , lets say last 12 kms are bad.Sakleshpur-Gundya(shiradi ghats) Good roads this time around . Few potholes as expected.gundya-Kukke- Lovely roads.kukke-Sampaje - single lane , few potholes , roads get better as approachin Sampaje.Sampaje-Madikeri- Big craters on the road , some come when unexpected. The whole bike can fit in the crater , 1 of them that i saw.Madikeri- Kushal Nagar- Brilliant roads now . totally amazing.Kushal nagar-mysore-blr-- Boring fast high speed good road.

Jan 2010

Ooty - Emerald - Manjoor - Geddai - Mulli - Karamadai - Coimbatore (~120 kms)

For starters, this is the least frequented route to get to ooty and is mostly used only by locals.

Ooty to manjoor through emerald (35 kms)- Good well-laid roads, very less traffic, 34 Hair-pin bends Manjoor - Geddai (+15) - Road repair work underway and hence at present muddy and dotted with potholes, a fresh set of 43 hair-pins welcome you, Terrific views, Almost deserted roadsGeddai - Mulli check-post (+12) - Decent roads - narrow and broken in parts but very much motorable, Hair-pins continue for a while, Forest stretch begins, no civilization whatsoever, Weak mobile signal, Marked descent leads to heat taking a toll on youMulli - Velliangadu (~+20) - Roads same as above, Almost plains, Forest stretch continues - chances of coming across wild elephants at dawn and duskVelliangadu - Karamadai (~+10) - Forest stretch ends with entering Velliangadu, Great 2-lane roads, small villages en-routeAt Karamadai, you join NH-67 between coimbatore and mettupalayam.

Mettupalayam - Coonoor - Ooty

Initially planned to take the kothagiri route on return but unfortunately had to take this choc-a-bloc route due to certain logisitical issues!

Anyway, the roads were great - all the land-slide hit patches were newly laid and perfect for motoring right up to ooty.

Alright here comes the most important tip

PLEASE do ensure your bike is in a good shape before attempting the first route. Manjoor is the last place where you can expect some assistance in case of any failure. And after that, you need to get to Velliangadu for any assistance.

I made a point to mention this as you could avoid all the huff n puff in dragging the bike for 7-8 kms in the many intermediate patches of ascent in between like I did!

on't forget to refuel at Mahe, which has very cheap fuel.

ALL BELOW 2008

HVKUMAR

he NH4-NH63-NH17 option is the fast one, and you can try going as far as possible (with early morning start from Thane) on Day 1 - accomodation is no problem once you reach NH17 - Kumta (Hotel Pandurang), Honavar (Kamat), Murudeshwar (RNS), Kundapura(Sharon), Udupi (Kediyoor), etc., as the pace takes you. As long as you reach Kumta, the chances of your making it late in the night to Trissur brighten, as long as you take an early morning departure on day 2 too.

The other alternative would be to take NH4 all the way to Bangalore and go on NH7-NH47, but that would not only be longer but not worth it (bad roads after Hubli, Bangalore city traffic and bad roads in NH7). You also have the joining NH17 at Mangalore if you take NH13 from Chitradurga via Shimoga (or via Shimoga from Harihar itself), but I think it best to go on the Nh4-NH63-NH17 route.

Again, for sake of reference, I have done Thane-Udupi in 12 hours on NH4-NH63-NH17 route, with bad patchy roads, but again that was non-stop.

Pls dont waste time on NH4. I know people who easily do Belgaum - Pune in 4 hours (about 360kms) by simply maintaining a steady speed of 100-120kmph in cars like Alto, Versa, WagonR.

Talk to your driver beforehand.3AM-Thane, Target Hubli by noon. (a breakfast break of 30min in between)Target Kumta by 3:30pm, You can halt at Turtle Bay resort on NH17 at Kundapur by 6pm or even push upto Mangalore/Ullal (Summer Sands Resorts at Ullal is a nice place, if planned well you can reach there

by 8pm, now that we know NH17 in Karnataka is in a decent state)

OT: Why taking a driver yaar, Why dont you drive yourself? You will enjoy it...

Kerala roads are bad for two reasons. First is bad traffic and second being bad surface. NH 17 is a particularly narrow stretch of Highway running through several busy towns / villages very 15 KM or so. In last 4 - 6 years, traffic has increased exponentially in Kerala. Real estate on sides of the road has developed like what you find in metro cities.

Overtaking is going to be an ordeal - often, you will have to go behind a slow moving truck for 3 or 4 KM before you get the on coming lane free fo traffic.

It will be very difficult to maintain speeds above 80 KM, unless you are driving between 11PM and 5 AM on NH 17 - the only exception being driving during day time on a Bandh day - but then look out for flying missiles entering through the windshield :-(

As AK Roy suggested, take a break just before you enter Kerala - preferably at Udupi or Mangalore (Kediyoor has a good restaurant - yum!!!). Do Udupi/Mangalore - Trichur on a stretch - budget 8 hours to cover the 350 + km (approx - ex. Mangalore - please verify).