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Date of the journey:- December 2019
Distance travelled:- 258 miles
Heading in the general direction of Mysore. Not wanting to get either the overnight sleeper bus or train. We chose to use the local bus network again.
distance between Murdeshwar and Mysore was too far to be done in one hit. A pin on the map gave us an overnight stopover in the town of Sulia. Having not had any WiFi for a couple of days, research into what was at Sulia for us to see and do was non-existent. As was the booking of accommodation. So we were having to wing it and hope that it all turned out ok.
To get the bus, we first had to make our way back out of Murdeshwar onto the main road, National Highway 66. This had to be done in a tuk tuk as, for some reason, the town buses didn’t go out there. So we were told. The tuk tuk ride was only 30 Rupees and dropped us off on the correct side of the road to get the bus.
After a short wait, we boarded the first bus heading South. The bus conductor advised that there was no direct local bus to Sullia. Advising us that we would need to go to Bhatkal KSRTC bus station first, a short 20 minute journey costing 25 Rupees each.
From Bhatkal, the next bus journey would take us to Udupi KSRTC bus station, an hour and 50 minute journey, costing 95 Rupees each.
At Udupi, the next bus to Mangalore KSRTC bus station was boarded for an hour and 20 minute journey costing 65 Rupees each. At Mangalore it was a convenient place to grab a bite to eat, so using the luggage storage facility at the bus station, 30 Rupees a bag, we left the backpacks and went to eat.
The last leg of the day’s travels took us from Mangalore to Sullia KSRTC bus station, a 2 and a half hour journey for 88 Rupees each, arriving there at 1730 hrs. The accommodation was plentiful and as the town was not a tourist destination, it was reasonably priced as was eating out.
With Sullia not being on the tourist trail and being the only Westerners there. We did attract a number of second looks and stares from the local residents. A smile from us would get a huge grin and generally a wave back.
A short 300m walk from the bus station we found Kattekar Lodge, lodging, that from the outside, didn’t look very inviting. When we looked at the deluxe room with air conditioning, we were pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The only downside, the mattress was wrapped in plastic, which crunched every time we moved in the bed.
From the overnight stop at Sullia, it was another 4.5 hour local bus journey to get to Mysore KSRTC bus station at a cost of 159 Rupees.
Again we hadn’t pre-booked any accommodation in Mysore. So we deposited our backpacks in the left luggage storage, allowing us to go in search of some accommodation. A 10 minute walk from the bus station was Hotel Sandesh The Prince, where we decided to stay.