That aside.

The idea then was to avoid all modes of public transport and head to Mumbai from Bangalore. The car was the only answer.

Onward Road Condition

(See attached Map)

Road conditions from Bangalore to Tumkur is good only after Neelamangala. We started early at about 3 AM but still managed to get bogged down by insane truck traffic on Tumkur road. I did have this half baked idea to take NICE road and get out faster, but somehow picking up a friend from Sarjapur road and then traveling half a world around Bangalore did not make sense at that time.

At 6 AM, still sitting at a Cafe Coffee Day outside Tumkur made a lot of sense of the NICE road plan. The Mytas Construction going at a less than desired pace, the section from Yeshvanthpur till Neelamangala is exceptionally bad. Anyone taking this road should try and avoid it at all costs. Taking the NICE road will save you some time, but only ‘Some’.

The Route taken from Bangalore till Mumbai.

At about 630 AM we headed out straight into Tumkur. Had read on online Forums that the condition of the Tumkur Bypass was less than ordinary. We tried to avoid that and went through the city instead. That took some more time than usually needed. The rain and mud helped as well.

After about 45 minutes and out of Tumkur, we punched the gas on the nicely laid out NH4 before us. Road conditions from Tumkur till Chitradurga is excellent. Toll gates are there to thank for the better roads. It’s definitely a welcome change after the harrowing experience through Tumkur and Neelamangala.

This does change drastically after Chitradurga. But that later.

The Diversion

A possible route to Pune and Mumbai also exists via NH13 and Solapur, which happens to intersect NH4 (and actually merge for a while) on this route. At some parts of this section, the signage does read as NH13 and that was enough to prompt us to stop and ask for directions (from probably the worst guy ever). The direction to Pune was for the Solapur route, and that meant that we were headed on NH13 instead of NH4 for the next few minutes crossing about 20 odd kilometers. Realizing the problem, we promptly stopped, turned around and headed back to find NH4, did not take long, gave dirts to the chai wala who thought otherwise and continued.

The Bad stuff

The section of road from Davangere (after Chitradurga) till Ranebennur on NH4 is exceptionally bad. It actually makes you like Swine Flu (or any other disease) better than the road travel. The construction of NH4 on this sections is stopped, half done, stalled etc. Not a single section of the road is either un-touched and left as it was old, or complete as it should be. The 60 odd kms feel like a million. You also feel like personally killing the next guy collecting toll at the next booth.

And the good stuff

Well if that toll booth comes, what comes with it are excellent roads after Ranebennur. Things start to fly. Haveri till Hubli, the roads improve further. The Hubli – Dharwad bypass is excellent, though only 2 lanes and no median. Things after Dharwad are a dream run. Although we managed to cross Dharwad at about 2 PM, Pune came up easy by 5 PM. And then there was Mumbai – Pune expressway. By 9 PM we were sipping tea in a Hotel Room and planning our next day.

The Return Path

We did not want to experiment much. There were two drivers and I had to be in Bangalore by next morning. After finishing our meeting somewhere deep inside Mumbai, we headed out. By this time it was already 4 PM, which surely meant that a complete night drive was in store. The first leg was my turn.

Got out of Mumbai in the next 2 hours and reached Pune by 8 PM, although we wanted to have dinner but the impending danger of Swine Flu made us drive all the way till outskirts of Satara in the next hour for some chicken. Swines were not on the menu.

Zip zap

Great roads combined with zero traffic and the occasional sleepy toll booth and patrol guy meant that we were already getting ready for the Ranebennur till Davangere battle by first signs of Sunlight. 4 AM driver change went off smoothly, I have this 4 AM and 4 PM problem when I just have to grab that 1 hour nap, after which I am ok for the next whole day (although not recommended)

By 9 AM we were about to get into Tumkur when we dogged down by a stray jumping though the median, the dog survived, the car, even though I braked, took a hit on the bumper and all the pedestrian safety stuff worked and showed the crumple zones. First hit in so many KMs of highway drives.

Worried by the crack and the delayed entry into Bangalore, we still managed to miss the NICE road and landed in extreme traffic accentuated by rain from the previous night. But no point going into details of that. After dropping my friend at Sarjapur Road, I was home by 1 PM, it had taken us longer to get into Bangalore that actually get out of Mumbai and travel till Dharwad.

Next time, take the NICE road.

The Hoysaleshwara Temple at Halebidu

That’s when you get on your horse and get out, in our case, “Horse Power”

Halebidu is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu (which was previously called Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra) was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples.

Well that’s what Wikipedia or Wiki Travel has to say about it, and they are not much off the mark when they say “best example”. It is probably The Best if not, at least one of the Top 5 Architecture pieces of India (that includes The Taj as well, mind it).

Getting to Halebidu (or Halebid, as known in english)

Its fairly simple. Get to the North of Bangalore and get on NH4 headed towards Tumkur. For this you definitely need to start really early as the road can be a pain after 7AM. Our plans to start early did not materialize with a baby in tow. Nevertheless, we were off and out passing Yashvanthpura Railway station and Metro Cash and Carry on NH4 by about 7AM. The road has a major bottle neck at the Outer Ring Road crossing near Peenya. Crossing this bottle neck takes a while even when there is no traffic on road. You an blame it on Bangalore’s town planners who managed to create a “Staggered” junction for the ORR and NH4, so that vehicles that want to continue on the ORR will have to turn right, get on to NH4 and then turn left after a 100 meters, pain.

Be careful of the ORR crossing marked in a circle, and remember to take a Left at Neelamangala

Leave that behind and you are technically out of Bangalore and headed straight towards Tumkur. But then that’s where you are not going, you are headed to Hassan on NH48, the same road that snakes through the infamous Shiradi Ghats and gets into Mangalore. To get on this road you will have to turn left at a non desrcript junction on NH4 at Neelamangala. Yes, its easy to miss, and if you do not watch out, you will hit the Toll Road to Tumkur and forget that you ever had to take a turn. Why? well the Toll Road is a picturesque one and you will love every minute that you spend on it.

We missed the junction and got on to the Toll Road.

The Toll Gate after Neelamangala, if you have reached this spot, then you have already missed the turn.

Once on this road, we were ecstatic and went on driving the next 15 Km to reach a Cafe Coffee Day. Finished with the staple dose of Cilantro Sandwich and Cappuccino, we headed off and reached Tumkur, only to realize that “Opps! We were to take a left turn somewhere!!”

The view from Cafe Coffee Day on the Tumkur Toll Road. Easily one of the best maintained roads.

Headed back, and as luck would have it, Neelamangala is about 500 meters from the start of the toll road and we got to the much awaited Left. After the left, NH48 is not as bad it  is made out to be, its a perfect two way road with near perfect surface and guard rails on both sides. The road is also marked clearly for lanes and shoulder, we knew it then that even if we got delayed, driving back in the night will not be a major issue.

(Our return Path is not described in this post. Its easy to get back to Bangalore from Hassan as long as you hit the right road. Traffic is more after sunset on NH48)

Word of advice: If you are headed to Halebidu via Hassan, take a left turn at Neelamangala. If you miss that turn, wait for the Toll Gate, turn back and take the right. You can ask the chaps at the Toll Gate for direction as well.

NH48 to Hassan and Mangalore snakes though central Karnataka

After Neelamangala

NH48 is a paradise to drive on till Hassan. The road is well laid, has clear markers and turns very gently every now and then. Most parts are lined with trees and green fields. maintaining speeds north of a ton is not difficult. Although you need to be careful at places where the road climbs and then dips down. Visibility of oncoming traffic is zero at these places and any amount of Honking or Blinking will go unnoticed by even the best.

NH48 to Hassan after the left turn at Neelamangala

Green, green, green

Very soon you will pass Solur, Kunigal, Yadiyur, Hirisave (important if you want to visit Shravan Belgola), Channaraypatna, and you are in Hassan. The road rarely looses composure, except for parts where it is being constructed or widenend. But that’s minimal damage.

In Hassan

Once you are in Hassan, or little before Hassan, you have to turn right to get on the state highway to get to Halebid. This again is a nondescript turn and very easy to miss. Not to worry though as you can do the same through Hassan town as well. You won’t lose much time here. Plus, there will be a lot of tourist taxis and buses that are headed in the same direction and it’s easy to just follow them. Make sure they are approximately headed in the same direction though, chances are 90% tourist vehicles will be headed to Halebidu.

You need to be on SH57 to head to Halebidu. The roads are clearly marked on milestones, finding the right one should not be a challenge.

The road is narrow will very little scope to overtake. Take SH57 from Hassan and then SH58 from Bellur

State Highway 57

SH57 from Hassan till Bellur

A large lake / reservoir lined with Windmills

You can either take a little offroad route via village roads as shown in the Map or go a little bit around via Bellur and on NH58 till Halebidu. Both ways its fine, the road quality is nothing great but the scenery around it is. Each spot is like a Picture Postcard. The road twists and turns through villages and fields over small rivers and next to large lakes. The road is very narrow and overtaking something can become a challenge here.

If you are stuck behind a bus or a slow moving Sumo, stop and wait for sometime. Let the view clear and then continue on. This way you will have enough field of vision to enjoy the surrounding. You can also use some spare horse power and offroading capabilities of your ride to overtake the slow one, but its not recommended.

Once you reach Halebidu, its easy to find the temple. It’s just about the only thing there and finding a parking nearby is a breeze. Park the car, avoid the local salesmen and women trying to sell various replicas of the statues and get into the temple compound.

Another closeup of the Temple

More about the temple is here

Photographs: Aparajita Ghosh, Shubhodeep Das. Maps: Courtesy Google.

Here’s how you can minimize the damage to your time from the Notorious Bangalore Traffic during the daytime.

Approach from NH7

A little outside of Bangalore is Chikka Ballapur, leave NH7 at this junction and get on to the regular (non 4 lane) NH207. Created as a bypass long back, the NH207 runs alongside Bangalore touching NH4 at Hoskote and through Sarjapur finally touching NH7 again at Attibele after Electronic City. The road is fairly well maintained and has very little traffic during the daytime.

Turn into NH207, at Chikka Ballapur and continue till Attibele to get back on NH7 avoiding Bangalore completely

Approaching from North – West on NH4

If you are approaching from NH4 in the North, chances of avoiding traffic completely is minimal. However you can minimize the damage by getting on to the Ring Road right after crossing Peenya Industrial Area. Continue on the Ring Road till Marathalli Junction. Take a left here and get onto NH207 to avoid the Hosur road construction zone completely and get back on NH7 at Attibele.

Turn on to Ring Road after Peenya Industrial Area and continue straight till Marathalli Junction. Take a left to get on to NH207 near Varthur lake. Areas marked in dark circles are heavy traffic zones.

If you do have to get into the city. The recommended time will be before 7 AM and after 11 PM. Anything in between can cause a lot of time, specially if the roads are unknown to you.

Any other tips on avoiding and bypassing Bangalore are welcome.