I happened to travel to Mangalore from Bangalore by a
Rajahamsa, during the day on the 27th of December, 2014. As the route via Mysore and Madikeri
was being suggested by the authorities for the buses from Bangalore, I
decided to take this route to reach Mangalore; I had never travelled
along this road earlier.
As I was of the opinion that the number of buses on Bangalore - Madikeri - Mangalore route were low, I started off from home early. I thought of waiting for BMTC route number 60 series near my home, but after a 5 minute wait on the Bull Temple Road bus stop (near More Mega Store) I decided to walk upto Royan Circle in Chamarajapet from where all Kengeri / University / RR Nagar bound buses from Majestic and KR Market arrive. The ride from Royan Circle to Bapujinagar lasted less than 5 minutes and the fare was about rupees 8 or 9.
It was about 6:55 AM and my hopes of being able to catch a direct bus were high; I was of the impression that the buses on this route were low but was actually wrong; just that KSRTC does not advertise them. Although they are nowhere close to those plying along the Hassan - Sakleshpur route, the number of buses doing this route is not entirely insignificant. I was also surprised to see a Bangalore - Kasaragod Sarige service in the morning.
After blasting the urinal guard for lack of maintenance despite collecting a fee, I walked to the Mangalore / Madikeri platform. There were 2 buses bound to Mangalore waiting - a Sarige that terminated at Mangalore and a Rajahamsa headed to Udupi; I chose the latter. Although the original board of the bus (in Kannada) said that it was a Mysore - Udupi service, a second board beside it had "Bengaluru" written on it in Kannada. However, I confirmed with the driver before boarding the bus that it would take me to Mangalore (the driver and conductor were calling only Mysore and Madikeri bound passengers).
The fare was about 543, if I am not wrong. Although the scheduled time of departure was 7:15 AM, he unwillingly moved out of the bus station at 7:30 AM. This was my second journey on the Bangalore - Mysore route by a Rajahamsa in the recent times and on both the occasions I felt that there were not many takers for Rajahamsa service between the 2 cities. Almost all the passengers in the bus were headed to either Kushalnagar or Madikeri.
I guessed that the bus would stop for breakfast at Maddur in one of the 2 bus stations that are located opposite to each other, as it actually did. I skipped breakfast as I had had it at home. A few passengers bound to Mandya boarded the bus at Maddur. as you may all know, the first commercial halt for Rajahamsa buses is Mysore; Mandya bound passengers were dropped off at some point near the railway station. It was about 10:20 when we arrived at Mysore for a brief halt of 5 minutes.
The bus was almost if not entirely full at Mysore. I expected him to go past Irwin Road take a left at JLB Road and then right towards Hunsur Road, which is also known at Vinoba Road in Mysore City limits. But he went through a slightly longer route to cover all the boarding points within the city (but again, there seemed to be no takers for Rajahamsa services on Mysore - Hunsur / Periyapatna etc. routes).
Rajahamsa has no stops at Hunsur and Periyapatna. The first stop after Mysore was at Kushalnagar bus station and it lasted about 5 minutes. I was expecting him to stop here for lunch, but he did not. A few people alighted at Suntikoppa and then finally the bus reached Madikeri at around 2:50 PM where we had time for lunch. The food was below average at the restaurant inside the bus station, but I had no choice; the luxury of time to explore restaurants was missing; I really wondered how the drivers and conductors manage with such food on a regular basis.......
The bus moved effortlessly and fast through the Sampaje Ghat section. The road was entirely good within Mysore and Madikeri districts but repair works were going on in Dakshina Kannada district. The next stop was Sullia and then Puttur; the town of Sullia is fine, but Puttur is one messy town. It was almost 6 PM and Mangalore still seemed far to me (although it was'nt really as far.....)
I got my life back when we arrived at the NH 48 junction at Mani, but the drama was yet to end...a few metres ahead, there was a traffic jam and all vehicles had come to a halt!!!!!!! For the next 5-6 Kms the bus just crawled and about 40 minutes went down the drain. Apparently there was some car festival at Kalladka which was responsible for the mess.
By the time we arrived crossed Kalladka, the driver indicated that the lack of adequate fuel to reach even Mangalore let alone Udupi and hence we drove into the BC Road depot for fuel. I was seated at the right side and could see everything....
The person at the depot asked the driver : "Udupi - Mysore gaadi thaane??"
Driver (in their characteristic casual tone) : "Howdu. Aadre Bengalurige extra trip madidvi. Eega Bengalurinda bandiddu naavu"
Depot person : "Raatri matte trip ide alva??"
Driver : "Raatri 10:45 ge. Namdu naale off ide, adakke ivattu namdenu duty illa"
Depot Person : "Hey 20 litre haaku".....the probably the rest of the fuel needed for the night departure, would be filled in the Udupi depot. After this, the driver had to enter the details of the bus in a register and sign. There was another form, which only the driver had to sign. Conductor played no role here.
Finally we arrived inside Mangalore City and just after the Pumpwell stop (Mahaveer Circle) I just woke up from my seat as I could no longer sit. The conductor said "Sir inna kutkoli, bus stand doora ide". I told him that I had to alight at Jyoti Circle. The road that the KSRTC buses take to reach the Bejai bus station had been closed for some reason due to which the bus dropped me at a certain point before Jyoti circle, from where it deviated to the right; it was 7:45 PM then (12 hours and 15 minutes from Bangalore to Mangalore!!!!!!!). I do not know the exact name of the point where I was dropped off but I knew that I was not far from Balmatta Road where my hotel was located. I boarded a local bus and alighted near the Syndicate Bank stop on Balmatta Road and walked to my hotel..........
Guys, please pardon me for the length of this post. I know it got excruciatingly long
. But thanks a lot for reading and kudos to your patience if you have really read upto this point 
As I was of the opinion that the number of buses on Bangalore - Madikeri - Mangalore route were low, I started off from home early. I thought of waiting for BMTC route number 60 series near my home, but after a 5 minute wait on the Bull Temple Road bus stop (near More Mega Store) I decided to walk upto Royan Circle in Chamarajapet from where all Kengeri / University / RR Nagar bound buses from Majestic and KR Market arrive. The ride from Royan Circle to Bapujinagar lasted less than 5 minutes and the fare was about rupees 8 or 9.
It was about 6:55 AM and my hopes of being able to catch a direct bus were high; I was of the impression that the buses on this route were low but was actually wrong; just that KSRTC does not advertise them. Although they are nowhere close to those plying along the Hassan - Sakleshpur route, the number of buses doing this route is not entirely insignificant. I was also surprised to see a Bangalore - Kasaragod Sarige service in the morning.
After blasting the urinal guard for lack of maintenance despite collecting a fee, I walked to the Mangalore / Madikeri platform. There were 2 buses bound to Mangalore waiting - a Sarige that terminated at Mangalore and a Rajahamsa headed to Udupi; I chose the latter. Although the original board of the bus (in Kannada) said that it was a Mysore - Udupi service, a second board beside it had "Bengaluru" written on it in Kannada. However, I confirmed with the driver before boarding the bus that it would take me to Mangalore (the driver and conductor were calling only Mysore and Madikeri bound passengers).
The fare was about 543, if I am not wrong. Although the scheduled time of departure was 7:15 AM, he unwillingly moved out of the bus station at 7:30 AM. This was my second journey on the Bangalore - Mysore route by a Rajahamsa in the recent times and on both the occasions I felt that there were not many takers for Rajahamsa service between the 2 cities. Almost all the passengers in the bus were headed to either Kushalnagar or Madikeri.
I guessed that the bus would stop for breakfast at Maddur in one of the 2 bus stations that are located opposite to each other, as it actually did. I skipped breakfast as I had had it at home. A few passengers bound to Mandya boarded the bus at Maddur. as you may all know, the first commercial halt for Rajahamsa buses is Mysore; Mandya bound passengers were dropped off at some point near the railway station. It was about 10:20 when we arrived at Mysore for a brief halt of 5 minutes.
The bus was almost if not entirely full at Mysore. I expected him to go past Irwin Road take a left at JLB Road and then right towards Hunsur Road, which is also known at Vinoba Road in Mysore City limits. But he went through a slightly longer route to cover all the boarding points within the city (but again, there seemed to be no takers for Rajahamsa services on Mysore - Hunsur / Periyapatna etc. routes).
Rajahamsa has no stops at Hunsur and Periyapatna. The first stop after Mysore was at Kushalnagar bus station and it lasted about 5 minutes. I was expecting him to stop here for lunch, but he did not. A few people alighted at Suntikoppa and then finally the bus reached Madikeri at around 2:50 PM where we had time for lunch. The food was below average at the restaurant inside the bus station, but I had no choice; the luxury of time to explore restaurants was missing; I really wondered how the drivers and conductors manage with such food on a regular basis.......
The bus moved effortlessly and fast through the Sampaje Ghat section. The road was entirely good within Mysore and Madikeri districts but repair works were going on in Dakshina Kannada district. The next stop was Sullia and then Puttur; the town of Sullia is fine, but Puttur is one messy town. It was almost 6 PM and Mangalore still seemed far to me (although it was'nt really as far.....)
I got my life back when we arrived at the NH 48 junction at Mani, but the drama was yet to end...a few metres ahead, there was a traffic jam and all vehicles had come to a halt!!!!!!! For the next 5-6 Kms the bus just crawled and about 40 minutes went down the drain. Apparently there was some car festival at Kalladka which was responsible for the mess.
By the time we arrived crossed Kalladka, the driver indicated that the lack of adequate fuel to reach even Mangalore let alone Udupi and hence we drove into the BC Road depot for fuel. I was seated at the right side and could see everything....
The person at the depot asked the driver : "Udupi - Mysore gaadi thaane??"
Driver (in their characteristic casual tone) : "Howdu. Aadre Bengalurige extra trip madidvi. Eega Bengalurinda bandiddu naavu"
Depot person : "Raatri matte trip ide alva??"
Driver : "Raatri 10:45 ge. Namdu naale off ide, adakke ivattu namdenu duty illa"
Depot Person : "Hey 20 litre haaku".....the probably the rest of the fuel needed for the night departure, would be filled in the Udupi depot. After this, the driver had to enter the details of the bus in a register and sign. There was another form, which only the driver had to sign. Conductor played no role here.
Finally we arrived inside Mangalore City and just after the Pumpwell stop (Mahaveer Circle) I just woke up from my seat as I could no longer sit. The conductor said "Sir inna kutkoli, bus stand doora ide". I told him that I had to alight at Jyoti Circle. The road that the KSRTC buses take to reach the Bejai bus station had been closed for some reason due to which the bus dropped me at a certain point before Jyoti circle, from where it deviated to the right; it was 7:45 PM then (12 hours and 15 minutes from Bangalore to Mangalore!!!!!!!). I do not know the exact name of the point where I was dropped off but I knew that I was not far from Balmatta Road where my hotel was located. I boarded a local bus and alighted near the Syndicate Bank stop on Balmatta Road and walked to my hotel..........
Guys, please pardon me for the length of this post. I know it got excruciatingly long
. But thanks a lot for reading and kudos to your patience if you have really read upto this point 
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