Bangalore to Goa

Long pending item checked off the to-do list - Drive from Bangalore to Goa! In the year 2014.

Car: VW GT TSI

Used an old Nokia Lumia for its excellent HERE maps and offline navigation. (HERE wasn’t available on Android then!)

Headed out from home at 4 am sharp. Took the NICE road to NH4/AH45. Minimal traffic. It is a pleasure to drive before daybreak, I say. Crossed Tumkur at 5 am. The road from Tumkur to Chitradurga is an absolute delight. One would scarcely believe that it is India. A 6 lane highway with no divider breaks, no people, no villages, nothing. Missed cruise control sorely on this stretch.

Approaching Chitradurga, you’ll notice the huge windmills dotting the hills on either side. This is one of the biggest wind farms in India. After Chitradurga, while the road quality is OK, it is not marked properly and there are newly tarred portions which rest higher and give you a nasty jolt. Can easily do 120 km/h still. Reached Davangere at 7.15 am. (275 kms, 3 hrs 15 mins).

Went into Davangere as I was craving for the unique and utterly delicious benne dose that the town is famous for. The road into davangere (1st entry point, PB road) was ripped out and there was hardly any road to speak of. Rains had made it slushy and very difficult to negotiate. Took 30 mins to cover 4 odd kms. Reached the dose hotel at 7.50 feeling irritated at having bothered with this detour. Gorged on the yummiest dosas ever. Worth all the time and effort. Took the Hadadi road going out of Davangere and it was like a road should be and we were out in 12 mins.

Stopped at Kamath Ranebennur primarily to use restrooms. Headed towards Hubli. Tried to take the left turn at Bankapura but the road looked really small and hence decided to go up till Hubli and take the road to Yellapura from there. Adds 30 kms to the drive but I did it in 30 mins. Not sure if I’d have managed that on the smaller village road.

The Hubli to Ankola stretch is very good. Not a double carriageway and it does have a few patches with potholes/rough roads, especially in the ghats but 80% of the roads were nicely asphalted and there weren’t any unexpected speed breakers. The lush fields and rolling hills were complemented by the frequent downpours along the way.

The automatic gearbox of the GT TSI comes into its own in the ghats. The DSG eagerly takes on the turns, climbs and straights, shifting effortlessly in fractions of a second to ensure a steady supply of power, a surge of it just a tap away. It was never in doubt and the gear selection was mind blowing. Stop and Go traffic and ghats are the best tests for an automatic to show its true colors and I thought the GT came out with flying colors.

Going downhill, the gearbox selects lower gears to give you ample control without having to keep a foot on the brakes! I preferred shifting to manual and selecting a higher gear to let the car roll. Did the Hubli - Ankola stretch in 2 hrs 10 mins.

Stopped at Kamath Ankola for lunch. Karwar is a quaint port town with beautiful canopied roads, dotted with Navy establishments, a Warship museum and the like. The road from Karwar to up to Madgaon is single carriage with the Arabian sea keeping you company.

There is a Rs. 250 toll for Private vehicles entering Goa which is not charged by any other state in India. Apparently, it is to dissuade people who want to drive in to Goa just to buy liquor. I had an incredible (for India) average speed of 82 km/h till the Karnataka border.

Roads are considerably narrower in Goa and the quality dropped quite a lot. There were huge craters at places which were scary, navigating in a hatchback. Took us 3 hrs to cover 120 kms! Reached the resort at 3.20 pm.

3 days of listless roaming around later, we headed back to Bangalore.

On the way back, I took the Ponda road as I wanted to cover Doodhsagar. After reaching Doodhsagar (1.5 hrs), I got to know that due to monsoons, only bikes cross the river and I have to sit pillion. It started raining and we were in no mood to get soaked. So skipped it and headed towards Hubli.

Upon entering Karnataka, roads took a turn for the worse. In fact, they are horrible on this stretch and is best avoided. This route is suitable only for buses. While the ghats are sharp and the hills beautiful, sprinkled with streams, rivulets and small falls all through the forest range, the road itself is ridiculously poor and needs all your concentration. While the GT’s suspension setup is soft and it absorbs bad roads quite well, it takes a lot of time and effort to choose the best of the worst parts of the road!

Spotted peacocks and snakes crossing the road. While the speed limit through the forest range is 30 km/h, most cars honked noisily and sped past me thoughtlessly. Anyway, got to the Karnataka check-point and a further 80 kms later, reached Hubli. Took 5 hours to cover 170 kms!

Entered Hubli in search of the famous sweet shops to buy the Dharwad Pedha. Since we’d already entered, we decided to finish dinner and stopped at Taj Lakeside. Nice hotel with a restaurant overlooking the lake. They cooked up some nice burgers, pasta and fries with much needed coffee.

Left the hotel at 6 pm and took 45 mins to get out of Hubli. Crazy, ill-managed traffic and bad roads compounded the exit. Hit the highway as it was getting dark and kept up a steady 110 km/h. Reached Chitradurga at around 9 pm and from there, the super stretch. Driving at night on the Hubli - Chitradurga sector takes quite an effort and is taxing. The Chitradurga - Tumkur stretch is better but with not much activity, one risks dozing off at the wheel. The missus dozed off and I found some cars doing 140 km/h to keep me company. No breaks apart from stopping to pay tolls (there are plenty). Reached Nelamangala at 11.15 pm and took the NICE road. Home by 11.45 pm. Effectively, did the Hubli Bangalore stretch (430 kms) in 5 hrs 45 mins where 45 mins was for just getting out of Hubli!

A fantastic road trip. Planning to head down south next. Stay tuned.