Drive from bangalore to mangalore and udupi. Review on Mangalore

Before venturing into this tour of driving from bangalore to mangalore, I tried very hard to gather information from various websites in the net. But I never found a latest review, so had no idea of the road conditions. So finally thought of contributing in this line myself. Others who are planning this same journey will benefit a lot, I feel. This journey took place on 10.sep.2010. Friday was a holiday and we had 3 days to complete our journey. 3 days is very little time to complete a journey from bangalore to coastal karnataka and back, but still we went.

On the cloudy friday, sharp at 8:30 am, we left our home. 5 of us - myself, wife, father, mother and a family friend, got packed into my indica vista quadrajet and left. We took the nice road from bannarghatta road and drove along at 100 km p hour. Tumkur road toll was 85 bucks, can you believe! But the distance was not less, and it also saved us from the bangalore traffic. We soon reached tumkur road, and then neelamangala. We took the left turn to catch NH 48. Signs of bad roads were there already and we knew it was only trailor. The film was yet to start.

The initial part of somewhat bad patches of road after Neelamangla, disappeared and the roads became pretty good. Vehicle marched at high speed. Cool breeze and sweet music and warm conversation and jokes inside the car made it a lovely experience. Occasional cattle, dogs would cut the way requiring constant vigil on the part of the driver. Driving has never been an act that demanded exertion on my part. I have always enjoyed driving and never get tired.

Good food was hard to find on the way and we stopped at occasional places to drink tender coconut water, tea and so on. The greenery on both sides of the road was so refreshing for the eyes.

We reached the shirdi ghat section early in the evening and the rains had started very badly by then. The roads had turned hostile and the potholes welcomed the tyres of the vehicles with open arms. Driving became more difficult by this time because now it was hard to gaze the depth of the potholes. The bottom of the car had already hit a couple of times and through this mistake of hitting the bottom, I had been learning the art of driving through bad potholed indian roads. One important thing I learnt was never land both of your wheels(left and right) on a pair of potholes at the same time. Always have one end of the car on firm ground and then put the other side of the car  inside a pothole. this way you will not end up hitting the road with your car bottom. I soon followed this rule and can vouchsafe, was saved from spoiling my car.

Finally we reached Mangalore. It was dark by this time. Immediately we started hunting for a lodge so that we could rest our tired bodies. It kept pouring making our task difficult. Getting a descent hotel is as tough as finding a decent groom to marry off your daughter. Some rooms had a pungent smell inside, others were highly priced. Finally we got one which suited us - Shaan Plaza near city center. Very decent room - no foul smell, very cleanly maintained. We had to pay 600 rs. for 24 hours for one room. Parking was provided too. Good enough.

Next day morning hit the road. Target was some good beach where we could spend time lying on sand. Kaup beach came on the way. Because that day was Ganesh Chaturthi, so most of the junta had busy time celebrating, and beach was almost deserted. This Kaup(pronounced kapu) was a mixture of stones and sand. We spent some time here and then again moved ahead towards Udupi.

Saw Krishna temple in Udupi and then marched towards Malpe beach. Were welcomed by the rotten smell of dried up fish from left and right. This place is massively used for fishing. Finally reached the beach where there was no smell coming.

Unwinding in an open restaurant that was facing the beach, we ordered for our lunch. The sky had clouds all over with occasional glimpse of sunlight dazzling against the infinite sea water. The crows waited for their turns to gather bits and pieces/left overs from our lunch. This place was good, really good.

After the lunch we went to the sea. Drenched our legs into the salty water and lied down with the face facing the sun. It felt good. When our heart was satiated with Malpe beach beauty, we decided to move farther ahead to have a glimpse of the Marawanthe beach where sea as well as a huge pond offers a great view. So we left Malpe and headed towards Marawanthe.

From Udupi to Marawanthe, road is very bad. We drove for 2 hour approx. and finally we were there. The darkness had begun to settle and there was no trace of sun, so we were little sad for having missed the sunset view which so many people have recommended a must-see here. This place was nothing great I felt. There were rocks on beach. We got down and had tea. Wack. Bad tea. Sat on the rock and enjoyed the sea view, in the evening as it became dark. Finally decided to come back to Shaan plaza hotel. That was it our second day was finished. Now left with the last day, Sunday.

We didn't get up early. Lazed late till 10 o clock and finishing morning ablutions, left at 11'o clock. Had icecream from a famous ice cream parlour and then started searching for NH 48. Soon we again hit the Shirdi Ghat.

This time we stopped at many places in Shirdi Ghat to enjoy the scenic beauty of numerous waterfalls against the verdant hills. Nature has endowed this place with matchless beauty which one has to see to believe. And I can tell you this scenic beauty of Shirdi Ghat was the best part of our whole journey. Anyways, soon Shirdi Ghat section was over, and we kept on driving.

We reached home at 12 O' clock at midnight. With a heavy heart of Monday morning blue, we retired to sleep. The journey had been better, if we had another extra day(or best two days) in our hand. In which case we would have visited Murudeshwar and Jog falls and it would have been a lovely experience.

Anyways, it was not a bad experience by any means.

I hope this description helps you if you are planning such a journey. Do let me know about your expereiences or if u have any query.