I agree with DarthVeda.
Mohan, can you please edit and include the date in the "Title".
Thanks.

Another weekend another trip

Bangalore-hampi (29thaug 09)
Blr-nelamangala-construction going on , lots of diversions , can still do 70 ish.

nelamangala- chitradurga . awesome roads , full throttle .

need to take right from chitradurga ,
The roads from there are single laned and its just filled with potholes till hospet.
All thanks to mining trucks.
150 kms of bad roads.

30th august
Hampi- Kemmangundi-hassan-Bangalore

Hampi-harihar
Good roads , scenic , lots of speed breakers .
Harihar - shimoga ,
pretty ok ish roads m potholes , but fields on both sides all through the way.

shimoga-tarikere --good roads

tarikere-lingadahalli-kemmangundi
Pretty ok ish roads considering that they were never good.

Waterfalls everywhere , the rains are a blessing this time around.

Kemmangundi- chikmagalur
Bad...But lush greenery.

chikmagalur-hassan-bangalore
No pblms with the roads , good conditions till nelamangala.

Thats my update for this week ..
Santa

you took wrong route to hospet santa, go like this Bangalore -> Hiriyur -> Chalakere -> Bellary -> Hospet. Only once you are near hospet roads are bad, else the roads are very good from hiriyur till bellary.

oh i dint no tht :-(

next time ll go this route ...
thx a lot 4 the info . these sorta things help

So, hyd to bangy NH7 is good for the most part, except the stretch between kurnool to anantapur rite..?

Yes ,the road becomes single laned and a lot of diversions from gooty-kurnool.

even there u can do good speeds.
Just trucks come on ur lane , thats all .

Santa

thanks anna

btw I guess this is OT but, i've been to coorg once, we drove there in our car (indica, first one in hyderabad) from my home in hyderabad after my seventh standard exams. As far as I remember the roads were good.. and coorg was awesome. We had stayed at a resort there..

route was hyd - kurnool - gooty - anantapur - bangy - madikeri - coorg (i guess thrs only 1 route)

Coming soon.. Just a lil caught up with work along with some laziness.

@Veda, Bellary - Hospet had been in pathetic state for many many years... It'd take at least 3 hours to cover 65 km stretch... Don't know what it is recently... Any updates on the current state ???

Sorry Mohan, can't accept with the above lines... I covered this route during very recently, still fresh in memory... Even with headlights of my Unicorn (Which is slightly better than a candle) we were able to do 80+ under lights... Mysore till Kushalnagar is freshly laid and its just amazing... Its only a stretch from Kushal Nagar to Madikeri (About 30 kms or so) which is somewhat bad (Can still maintain about 40 kmph on this stretch)...

No idea about Kodagu - Sulia as i've never been on this route... So can't argue on this stretch...

Everything you said about BR Hills, the condition of roads, details about the place is impeccable... Only that there's seems to be a small disconnect... It'd be great if you can clear them...
Trekkable: Since this is a forest reserve, there's a check-post at the foot of the GS Betta, wherein you're supposed to pay the forest entry fees and take the road along... You can walk around till a certain distance, but its definitely not safe (and also not legal) to get deep into the woods... Remember, its the natural habitat of the wild animals and you are an intruder... As per my knowledge, other than the normal road, there isn't any other route to reach the top... If your definition of trekking is to walk around the temple to nearby hill-tops, then you are right, won't argue on that, if its something else, kindly clarify...

Overnight Stay: The only place where you can stay during the night is the forest guest house... This place has a wildlife activity at dark and not safe by any means to camp outside...

Rock-climbing : When did you see that ??? Who organizes it ??? More light on this plz , also the defintion of Rock-climbing

Bangalore - Kasargod

We did Bangalore to Kasargod during June 2009... By the way, Kasargod is the place which was shot beautifully in the movie Bombay...

Here's the route:

Bangalore - Mysore (Bypass after Srirangapatna, the place where you see Balaji Resort, right turn takes you to Ranganathittu Birds Sanctuary) - Hunsur - Kushal Nagara (Roads really good till here)

Kushal Nagara - Madikeri (Somewhat bad, but still if you are watchful, can still clock about 40 kmph)...

Madikeri - Bhagamandala (About 40 kms or so... Pretty decent road and driving on this stretch is fun , but be very careful about the local buses that ply on this route, they drive like maniacs)...

Bhagamandala - Kanhangad: This route is extremely scenic and hardly any traffic and it goes through the woods... Not recommended to drive under lights... But only worry is the natural road-blocker [Tree trunks in the middle of the road , if that happens, no other option but to return back and take some other route, luckily we didn't find any such thing either ways ]

Kanhangad - Kasargod : NH 17 and its in amazingly good condition...

Himavad Gopalswamy Betta - BR Hills

If the idea is to cover Bandipur, GS Betta - BR Hills - Shivanasamudram during a weekend, here's the way to do it...

Bangalore - Mysore (No need to mention this part, only thing is ride safe )

Nanjangood - Gundulpet (Pretty good stretch, watch out for speed breakers at some places)

Gundulpet - Bandipur (Most part of the stretch is not so good, till you reach the Bandipur check-post, from there on its amazing... Please watch out your speed limit, you are an intruder in the wild-life's territory and be watchful about that)

Bandipur - GS Betta (U'll find an arch on your left side, right side when you're coming from Gundulpet)... The road is somewhat bad for most part of it...

Gundulpet - Chamraja Nagar (The road is pretty good and can easily hit 60+ kmph throughout the stretch)

Chamraja Nagar - K.Gudi (About 25 kms... The road is pretty good, it becomes narrow once you cross the check-post)

K.Gudi - BR Hills (About 20 kms... Narrow smooth road with hardly any traffic at all throughout the entire stretch)

For accommodation @ BR Hills, call Mr. Arun on 9902319473... He's the incharge at Vivekananda Institute Of Medical Sciences & Research and it has Guest House for a nominal price of about Rs. 100/- per head...

BR Hills - Yelandur (Can take a right deviation much before Yelandur) and proceed towards Kollegala... There's hardly any tarmac on the road for most part of the distance... Not sure if there's any other alternate route...

Yelandur - Kollegala - For most part of the journey, hardly any roads , and have to go through small villages, so watch your speed...

Kollegala - Shivanasamudram - Malavalli - Smooth roads for most part of the journey...

Malavalli - Maddur: State high-way and its in good condition...

Maddur - Bangalore : Mysore Road... Guess no need to write anythng abt it

Udupi-Bangalore

Udupi- Someshwara (via Hebri)
The roads are average and horrible sometimes. Dont expect anything above average.

Agumbe Ghats:
The roads are concrete, but the blocks have given away to cracks. Still a managable drive.

Agumbe- Chikmanglur
The roads are very good, but due to large number of curves top speed cant be achieved on a consistent basis.

Chikmanglur- Hassan
Except the odd 2 km in the beginning rest of the 60km stretch is awesome. Watch out for speed bumps.

Hassan- Bangalore
Good in parts, but not bad. Due to ongoing construction work, u need to take diversions, roads are patchy, otherwise a good road.

It's good pranesh, till kudthini and tornagallu it is a breeze after that occasional speed breaker, once you are near hospet is where the problem starts, last 10 km it was horrid you can do 30 to 40 easily but.

@Santa: I was on NH4 till Bankapur on 30th Aug. When did you leave from Bangalore?

From Bankapur to Yellapur, via Mundgod: Road is absolutely fantastic. Two lane freshly laid country roads, will take you through some scenic countryside.

Yellapur to Sirsi/Sagar: Again, excellent roads with some nice twisties thrown in. North Karnataka has some of the best roads in the state. Hardly any traffic as well.

Sirsi to Kumta: Not very good. Lots of patches and potholes between stretches of good decent roads.

Sagar to Chikmangalur via Tarikere: Decent enough.

Kemmangundi to Hebbe Falls: Terrible. 17 kms took 2 hours to cover.

Chikmangalur to Madikeri via Mudigere and Sakleshpur: Awesome roads, two lane, great surface to play with

Madikeri to Nagarhole via Virajpet,Gonikoppal: Pretty bad roads, only potholes and slush everywhere.

left on 28th nyt after office ,then bk on 31st morning.

i went to kemmangundi again :-P

Madikeri to Nagarhole via Virajpet,Gonikoppal: Pretty bad roads, only potholes and slush everywhere.--- Remember i told u the same 2 weeks ago :-)

wher u now ?