The route we took saw us drive down to Belgaum in Karnataka, and then through the twists and turns of the Chorla Ghat before depositing us near temple-rich Ponda. Once past the Maharashtra State border and into Karnataka, the roads improve significantly. Bizarrely enough, there seems to be a corresponding improvement in road sense among the road-users. I can barely recall trucks or four-wheeled rickshaws hurtling towards us down the wrong side of the road once we drove into Karnataka. This remains the case in Goa as well. As you move beyond the small town of Nippani, the roadscape of NH 4 becomes very picturesque until the turn off into Belgaum city. If you miss the turn and continue straight down NH 4, you will find yourself in the southern city of Bengaluru. So be sure to take the correct turn. The painful portion of this route is that a part of it runs through the crowded throngs of Belgaum city. Again, the compact dimensions of the Merc saloon suit it well and navigating through the rushes of bikes, mopeds, scooters, cars, rickshaws and pedestrians is done easily. The light steering also helps things immensely, as does the low-end grunt from the two-litre engine.
Things begin to get really interesting once you move away from the city and head towards the Chorla Ghat. The road surface is nice enough to put sections of NH 4 to shame and the countryside it cuts through is extremely beautiful. The Karnataka-Goa border is a solitary check-post where the authorities will only stop you if you’re headed into Karnataka and they are mostly interested to know if you’re transporting any alcoholic beverages out of Goa, the commodity being much cheaper in Goa than in other parts of the country.
