Road Trip - BLR to GOA
For a popular holiday destination, getting to Goa is not always easy. And the holiday season is most certainly not the best time to use public transport. The airlines charge "full fare" (read:"this-is-the-holiday-season-and-we-want-to-fleece-you-fare") and fly only the extremely inconvenient afternoon time slot. Trains are not available every day and the buses (last resort) are packed like sardines. So driving down was the best options for us.
There are 3 main routes you can take from Bangalore to Panjim
- NH 4-4A : Bangalore-Belgaum-Panjim or
- NH 48-17 : Bangalore-Nelamangala-Mangalore-Panjim or the not very commonly used
- NH 4-206-17 : Bangalore-Tumkur-Honnavar-Panjim
And the difference ?
Well, NH4 is going to be great road once it is fully functional. 4A will probably be a mess always due to the trucks carrying ore from the Belgaum mining belt, but this route is pretty straight forward and ... the "main route". The coastal route via Mangalore is scenic but the longest route of the three. I personally find the third route the best option currently. Its got its bad patches (... a couple when we traveled this time), you pass through quite a few villages and towns and the roads are narrow in a few places ... but there is comparatively very little traffic (and this means the badly behaved trucks and buses too) on this route and its generally hassle free. I don't think you do too badly on time either.
I tracked a lot of data this trip using my not-so-nice Magellan Sportrak Color GPS handheld. (It's display sucks during daytime and the maps are not very detailed)
Trip Data (Return)
Altitude Range (Return)
Happy motoring. Drive safe.
