Its always a pleasure to drive during the monsoons. Now that I had a planned vacation but also the train tickets booked to go to Goa, it wasn't a too difficult decision to go with the newly found idea.
We decided to drive on a saturday early morning. Since my sister had a new found obsession with football and managed to get herself hurt with a few stitches to go along with it, the driving was to be done only by me..
Which means around 12 hours of driving all the way to Goa.. sounded a bit scary, but after reviewing the maps and planning it out, we were mentally prepared for it.
Another fear which I had in my mind was driving in hot sun, which could easily tire me out, and A/C in the hot sun doesn't go well with me and I end up with a bad headache. Though I equipped my self with my nasal drops, which is the best solution for the headaches, I was looking for a cloudy weather with a bit of drizzling, which would only make the journey all the more beautiful. Appears that nature heard to me and gave me the same.
Some of the things that I learnt on this trip.
When you are driving all by yourself, and the drive is long, you need to take it slow. More like a test match. Don't tire yourself mentally by doing too many overtaking and just go on a reasonable speed. 100 is what I maintained unless the road was too tempting and just clear. On winding roads, I kept to a 60-80 which was very convenient and I was comfortable. That helped not to get myself tired nor the co-passengers.
I took regular break's though the stretch which I took didn't have the many Kamath Upachar's but taking a additional breaks for photography and quite bites did help.
Route that I had taken was quite good. I took NH4 which is the Bangalore Hubli highway which is around 400 kms. This is a straight patch and excellent roads. You can easily cruise on 100 and above that on this road.
I had my first stop near chitradurga. The weather was too good and so was the view. It just rejuvenate's you.
The beautiful clouds on the route only made it better for the drive.
Once we reached near to hubli, we were welcomed with nice rains. It was challenging but at the same time very refreshing.
On reaching Hubli, we took the State Highway SH63. It's again a very nice road. Its about 150 kms, by the time it hits the NH17 near Karwar, Ankola to be precise.
Some parts of the road on SH63 was winding, but not much, and I was constantly driving at 80kmph. while other parts it was easy to travel at 100kmph.
The route on from Hubli to Ankola was scenic and lot of beautiful forests.
Probably one should spend driving on this route and also visit the waterfalls on the way.
Once you reach Ankola on NH17, there is a Kamath Upachar, where you can take a break. On this entire route there are a number of Gas stations.
Once on Nh17,from Karwar, it was another 100kms to Margao. So totally it was around 650 kms from Bangalore to Margao and with the breaks I covered it in 12 hours, and thanks to the rains and the cloudy weather, it didn't tire me out. Starting early from Bangalore ie at 5:30 in the morning did help to beat the Bangalore traffic. If starting late in the day, it would be a better option to hit the NICE road and get off into the Tumkur road. That should save you a lot of time.
The return trip, which was done after a week, was done on the same route back. Though it was not that cloudy and raining, it was pretty comfortable. Some of the pictures are put below.
A small Village on the SH63.
The statehighway, SH63, its again very good road.
The only issue on the NH4 road is that, there are not many places one can stop, unless you decide to get into the cities/towns on the way. Make sure to pack up with fruits, water and even tea would would be a good help.
We decided to drive on a saturday early morning. Since my sister had a new found obsession with football and managed to get herself hurt with a few stitches to go along with it, the driving was to be done only by me..
Which means around 12 hours of driving all the way to Goa.. sounded a bit scary, but after reviewing the maps and planning it out, we were mentally prepared for it.
Another fear which I had in my mind was driving in hot sun, which could easily tire me out, and A/C in the hot sun doesn't go well with me and I end up with a bad headache. Though I equipped my self with my nasal drops, which is the best solution for the headaches, I was looking for a cloudy weather with a bit of drizzling, which would only make the journey all the more beautiful. Appears that nature heard to me and gave me the same.
Some of the things that I learnt on this trip.
When you are driving all by yourself, and the drive is long, you need to take it slow. More like a test match. Don't tire yourself mentally by doing too many overtaking and just go on a reasonable speed. 100 is what I maintained unless the road was too tempting and just clear. On winding roads, I kept to a 60-80 which was very convenient and I was comfortable. That helped not to get myself tired nor the co-passengers.
I took regular break's though the stretch which I took didn't have the many Kamath Upachar's but taking a additional breaks for photography and quite bites did help.
Route that I had taken was quite good. I took NH4 which is the Bangalore Hubli highway which is around 400 kms. This is a straight patch and excellent roads. You can easily cruise on 100 and above that on this road.
I had my first stop near chitradurga. The weather was too good and so was the view. It just rejuvenate's you.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
The beautiful clouds on the route only made it better for the drive.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
Once we reached near to hubli, we were welcomed with nice rains. It was challenging but at the same time very refreshing.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
On reaching Hubli, we took the State Highway SH63. It's again a very nice road. Its about 150 kms, by the time it hits the NH17 near Karwar, Ankola to be precise.
Some parts of the road on SH63 was winding, but not much, and I was constantly driving at 80kmph. while other parts it was easy to travel at 100kmph.
The route on from Hubli to Ankola was scenic and lot of beautiful forests.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
Probably one should spend driving on this route and also visit the waterfalls on the way.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
Once you reach Ankola on NH17, there is a Kamath Upachar, where you can take a break. On this entire route there are a number of Gas stations.
Once on Nh17,from Karwar, it was another 100kms to Margao. So totally it was around 650 kms from Bangalore to Margao and with the breaks I covered it in 12 hours, and thanks to the rains and the cloudy weather, it didn't tire me out. Starting early from Bangalore ie at 5:30 in the morning did help to beat the Bangalore traffic. If starting late in the day, it would be a better option to hit the NICE road and get off into the Tumkur road. That should save you a lot of time.
The return trip, which was done after a week, was done on the same route back. Though it was not that cloudy and raining, it was pretty comfortable. Some of the pictures are put below.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
A small Village on the SH63.
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
 |
| From GoaTripJuly2010 |
The statehighway, SH63, its again very good road.
The only issue on the NH4 road is that, there are not many places one can stop, unless you decide to get into the cities/towns on the way. Make sure to pack up with fruits, water and even tea would would be a good help.
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1 comments:
Beautiful! The write-up, the pictures and the memories it brought back.
I was surprised to see some of the pictures - especially of SH63. Last I heard the road was all ruined by the rains - nice to see that it has been restored (perhaps thanks to L&T maintaining it).
If you're in a more adventurous mood and in the mood for nestling in Mother Nature's lap, you can take NH4A via Anmod/Mollem and then via Ponda to Goa.
All in all, looks like you had a nice trip and an even better account of it, complete with pictures.
Last but not the least: the other major surprise - stitches? football? Shweta? Whoa! I need to call you...
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