Road trip - Bangalore to Honnavar

I have been wanting to do this trip from bangalore for a while now . I have done this route in parts on few occasions but it was going to take some effort to do a 430 km trip on single lane roads with lots of traffic which could take anywhere between 8–10 hours .

It is far easier to access the west coast of India from bangalore if one wants to through waynad /calicut or sakleshpur /mangalore or Hubli /ankola or even Dharwad/panjim for that matter .Nevertheless I decided to do this road trip and that too all alone for company and document it for others interested in attempting a trip to this part of the western ghats in the future .

It was a sunday mid morning start as it is always difficult to start early on a sunday from your home .It is culmination of ‘dusshera’ week of holidays which is a popular festival in Karnataka . Many are out on the roads but the morning still seemed fairly sedate by bangalore standards . I make it quite easily to nelmangala 40 kilometers from bangalore though the four lane expressway is full of fast moving traffic not willing to give each other any quarter.For travellers getting out of bangalore on NH4 there are quite a few options for a good breakfast if early in the morning . Kamat brand of hotels and restaurants serves a nice south Indian fare with decent toilets and they have quite a few branches enroute right upto Hubli .I make it to Tumkur in little over an hour and turn left and westward after the toll booth on the NH4 . This brings me to the ring road which helps avoid the town of tumkur .The inner ring road is in need of repairs and the 10 kms or so is a maze of people, two wheelers and four wheelers all trying to keep going without any respect for road rules .Tumkur is 70 ams away from bangalore and is a educational and industrial hub .Being conveniently located a short distance from Bangalore on the main arterial highway to Pune and Mumbai it has been earmarked to be developed as a future ‘smart city ‘.

A T junction brings me to the NH206 to shimoga and the road is well surfaced from here on with clean double divider lines . what is not going well is myriad two wheelers on the road slowing me down considerably . This would be the story of the day !The scenary is brilliant ! The day is little cloudy and the weather is not too warm ( which perhaps explains all the people out on the road ). The road undulates with mix of agriculture on the sides . As I travel further in the plains towards the ghats , there are water bodies galore . Some are bunded and some have wild lotus and lilies flowering in abandon. Coconut and betel nut groves dot the landscape . The slow traffic helps me take in more of the outside .

A small town of Gubi is 15 Kms from tumkur with a population of 17,000 people. I cross through a single file of shops on either side . 50 kms away is Tiptur with a population of 100,000 people and it serves as a hub for coconut based industries .A little mountain on the right with a temple on the top of it appears as a stark object as we enter Arsikere which is 30 kms from Tiptur . I file it in my memory for future exploration .It also has a lake by the sides of the road . I later gather that ‘Arasi’ means queen in Kannada. ‘kere’is a water body Therefore, it is the "queen’s Pond’. Arsikere is the taluk headquarters, a major railway junction on the South Western Railway, and a central place for tourists who visit nearby places that do not have rail access, such as Belur, Halebidu, and Shravanabelagola.

The progress is slow towards Shimoga from Arsikere with some traffic hold ups , tractors carrying agricultural supplies and crops demanding right of way and many of the local population using the highway for their local commute mostly in their two wheelers .A herds of ponies on the road near shimoga makes me wonder how they got there in the first place . I see another herd after a dozen or so kilometres . They stream right down the middle of the road as the traffic on either side keeps them in that fashion . Surely ! there is a story somewhere !

Shimoga (also called Shivamogga in Kannada) is a city on the banks of the Tunga River and is the administrative headquarters of the Shimoga district.set at 569 m above sea level surrounded by lush green paddy fields, arecanut and coconut groves shimoga is the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats also called ‘malnad’ locally. The city is popularly known as Capital of Malnad.The name of the city is derived from the term “Shiva-Moga”, “Moga in Kannada means Face hence meaning Face of Shiva”. An alternative etymology is that the name is derived from the term “Sihi-Mogge”, meaning “sweet pot”. The district formed the southern tip of Emperor Ashoka’s Mauryan Empire in the third century BC.[citation needed] It was ruled during later centuries by the Kadambas (4th century), Chalukyas (6th century), Gangas, Rashtrakutas (8th century), Hoysalas (11th century), and the Vijayanagara rulers (15th century). The city got an independent identity under the Keladi Nayaka rule during the 16th century[citation needed], reaching its pinnacle under the rule of Shivappa Nayaka. From the late 17th century onwards, the city was a part of the Kingdom of Mysore until the independence of India in 1947, when Mysore merged into the Republic of India.- courtesy wikipedia_shimoga or shivamoga as it is sometimes referred to has seen plenty of development in the last decade . today it is on the threshold of modernness with wide roads , a railway station , a huge bus stand , hospitals , college and other varied institutions and some three star hotels to boast of. The economy is still agrarian though !

Just outside shimga on the road to Sagar I stop for a meal . It is late and I haven’t had much to eat after I had my breakfast at home . There are rows of hotels and fast food inns alongside and one has a ‘bar attached ‘sign, meaning liquor is served there . I decide to try out a new entree called “Vinayaka hotel and fast food’ . Place is basic but the two separate kitchen serves both north and south indian fare . I opt for some naan and dal . I must say I am surprised with the amazing authenticity of naan( bread) from the ‘Batti’ ( a contraption of a hollow drum with hot coal inside and the bread stuck to the inside to bake ) along with a small plate of ‘Dal’ ( Indian lentil curry ) . I am also served a chutney ( sauce ) of chilli and tomato which is hot but extremely delicious . The plate is complete with some lime and onions to taste . I ask the guy and the cook where they belong to and they tell me that they are from a neighbouring town and the cook worked at ‘maharaja’ hotel in Satara in bordering Maharastra for many years before venturing to this place . nice ! with a promise to stop by next time and a handsome tip for a great meal . I leave as I am worried about nightfall spoiling my view for the rest of my journey !I cross the town of 'Sagar' quickly as the roads are clearer . This town of Sagar is not be confused with a bigger city of the same name in Madhya Pradesh . This is a small sleepy town but has all amenities for the tourists because of the mighty ‘jog falls’ in 'Gersoppa' .The traffic seen now is clearly and mostly from the tourists to Jog falls which is 30 kms away from sagar on my route .

The roads take a touristy turn now and road sides are flanked by temporary tents at many places. People hawking steamed and barbecued Corn from these temporary structures but they could be nearly all year round . This eat is popular with the tourists from the number of vehicles parked around these shops . bare bodied people with towels around their torso ,wet from their trek to the waters at the jog falls are enjoying their time with friends and family and off course barbequed corn .Also possibly aided by some intoxicant to bolster their boisterousness both on the ground and behind the wheel as I would witness. Things are beginning to get wilder now with huge rain clouds gathering over me and lightening streaking across the skies . It is sure to rain and why this is of significance is that this region has had more than its share of the monsoons this season . So much so that the whole area was under a spate of flooding and resulting landslides just a few weeks ago . Shimoga district recorded the highest rainfall in decades this season . Would I get caught in this stretch and let rain spoil my trip . Hell ! no ! A beautiful stretch of road just before jog with paddy fields on either side and mountains in the distance catches my eye. Rain clouds make it nearly pitch dark above but the sunlight streaming in from the sides is a mesmerizing sight. I stop to take some photographs ! I can see the mist from the gigantic falls gather overhead a few kilometers from the ‘jog’.Perhaps one can hear the sound too if shorn of the noise from the traffic and the rains and thunder at that time . I strain to catch something as I cross the bridge from the far side which leads across the river just above the precipice ,but I know that I shall have to give the falls a miss as I need to reach Honnavar before nightfall which finally I don’t !It will be travesty if I do not describe the jog falls in all its glory but for this article I shall just quote some excerpts from the wikepedia.

Jog Falls is created by the Sharavathi River dropping 253 m (830 ft), making it the second-highest plunge waterfall in India after the Nohkalikai Falls with a drop of 335 m (1100 ft) in Meghalaya.Sharavati, a river which rises at Ambutirtha, next to Nonabur, in the Thirthahalli taluk and takes the northwesterly course by Fatte petta, receives the Haridravati on the right below Pattaguppe and the Yenne Hole on the left above Barangi. On arriving at the frontier it bends to the west, precipitates itself down the Falls of Gersoppa, and passes that village (properly Geru-Sappe), which is some 29 kilometres distant, discharging into the sea at Honnavar in North Kanara.The Sharavati, flowing over a very rocky bed about 250 yards wide, here reaches a tremendous chasm, 290 m (960 ft) deep, and the water comes down in four distinct falls. The Raja Fall pours in one unbroken column sheer to the depth of 830 ft (250 m). Halfway down it is encountered by the Roarer, another fall, which precipitates itself into a vast cup and then rushes violently downwards at an angle of forty-five degrees to meet the Raja. A third fall, the Rocket, shoots downwards in a series of jets; while the fourth, the Rani, moves quietly over the mountain side in a sheet of foam. The Tourism Department has built steps from the viewpoint to the bottom of the hill where the waterfall can be seen at the opposite side. There are approximately 1400 steps built to reach the bottom of the hill.

My drive from Jog to Honnavar is not easy . A thunderstorm spoils my intended sightseeing . I am forced to concentrate on the road which is downhill one moment and climbing in another instant . The terrain has been cut originally through the forest from the point of view of least resistance and not necessarily the shortest distance , I suppose . The narrow roads under my car’s headlamps meander through villages and inhibitions skirting the Shravati wildlife sanctuary. To my surprise , there is unending stream of traffic coming from both sides and the slowness because of the rains makes us all single file. what saves the day driving in this kind of weather perhaps is that the surface is still okay at the fag end of the monsoon .Amazing twists and turns of the ghat road in sleeting rain and thunderstorm makes this another experience which I had not bargained for and in a way enjoyable but the seemingly unending drive towards the last stretch in the night gets me a little flustered .Finally the roads are broader and the surfacing a lot better . I am in ‘Honnavara’ !Honnavar is a coastal town with the river shravati joining the sea and a long bridge over the same connecting the NH17 . The estuary is truly magnificent and the town is one of my favourites with lovely views of the sea , a beach , a railway station and good road connectivity . This town of now twenty thousand people has some great history with the pepper queen of 15th century using it as her port of export to Europe . ships travelled to Honnavar in those days for pepper and spices and was the major port for the French and Portugese . The coastal food is delectable and fresh and there is a multitude of places to try . It enjoys the charm of the sea and the river and the beauty of the hills all located closely .I make it to Honnavar town in 9 hours from bangalore . roughly it took me 5 hours to shimoga and 4 from shimoga to Honnavar with few stops . I have been treated to some lovely sights along the way and some frustrating time behind the wheel but it was an experience I would not have missed out on . If I were to do a two day trip one way , the ‘places to see’ listed above in the article could be even more delightful with the jog as a centrepiece . Any of the towns mentioned could be a useful to spend the night as well .

Verdict - the sights and sounds of the journey is awesome but driving for nine hours point to point through a maze of people and commuters is a downer . Do it in stages if you can! The roads , the forests , the landscape ,the vegetation is all going to undergo a major transformation in the next few years so it is necessary to see what is now before it changes for the worse . Do it and you will be better for it !

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