[karthik247]

Originally Posted by M516

hey Jaggu.

will be leaving at the same on the same highway in a very light green coloured OHC.

lets see if we catch up on each other.

Rgds
M516

Man...did u make it to TVM??
You said u'd make it to the meet!!?

[Sankar]

When was the meet is it over? I'm in trivandrum right now, would've loved to come by. I'll be here for a couple of weeks.

My trip was fine, except for a puncture.

[karthik247]

Originally Posted by Sankar

When was the meet is it over? I'm in trivandrum right now, would've loved to come by. I'll be here for a couple of weeks.

My trip was fine, except for a puncture.

There wasn't any meet...!!!
Anytime anywhere, i'm in

[M516]

Hey

I did make it to Triv. Sorry was not able to check TBHP while was on the trip.

Very sorry, will be back in July end or Aug Beginning.. and Karthik I will catch up on ya then and it ll be beer. I wonder karthik If by any chane you spotted a light green honda in Triv. Pretty small town , noticed one Honda from Delhi with a Kit there, spotted it quite a few times.
Jaggu sorry man , we started at 6 in the morning and we took the hosur Salem Madurai Road and into Triv.
Will post pics of the same in the coming days

More Later

Rgds
M516

[kb100]

yup... hosur - salem - madurai - tvm is by far the fastest way to Tvm from Bangy.... Nothing else compares!

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by kb100

yup... hosur - salem - madurai - tvm is by far the fastest way to Tvm from Bangy.... Nothing else compares!

can you quote the distance? MOst airbus take the tvm-kollam-cochin-salem-bangy route ; why is taht so?

and

tvm-nagerkoil-madurai-i slept-i slept-chennai

profit of these routes or shorter distance?

If i remember right, tvm- bangy and tvm-chennai are of almost same distance

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by jkdas

can you quote the distance? MOst airbus take the tvm-kollam-cochin-salem-bangy route ; why is taht so?

Pickin up and droppin off mallu passengers en-route to tvm..

People gettin off at palghat, thrissur bye pass, cochin, alapuzha, kollam and wherever they like en-route.

People gettin picked up from kollam, kayankulam, alapuzha,cherthala,kochi,angamaly,aluva,thrissur and sometimes from palghat too.

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by kb100

yup... hosur - salem - madurai - tvm is by far the fastest way to Tvm from Bangy.... Nothing else compares!

Is this still the fastest and best?

And can someone post the distance breakup if one drives via Salem or Mettur or Madurai please.

[hvkumar]

Bangalore-Trivandrum (via Madurai):

Bangalore-Hosur 40 kms-Krishnagiri 50 -Dharmapuri 55- Toppur 27-Salem 38- Namakkal 54 - Karur 46- Dindigul 76- Madurai 66- Virudhunagar 43- Tirunelveli 107- Nagercoil 80- Trivandrum 70, totalling 752 kms

Bangalore-Trivandrum (via Coimbatore)
Bangalore-Hosur 40 kms-Krishnagiri 50 -Dharmapuri 55- Toppur 27-Mettur Dam 35-Bhavani 47-Perunthurai 25-Avinashi 37-Coimbatore bypass 27-Palakkad 61-Trissur 61-Ernakulam bypass 78-Trivandrum 220, totalling 763 kms

[gkrishk]

I have done Trivandrum-Bangalore and back by road several times. The standard route Krishnagiri-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Ernakulam is one I no longer use because of its poor surface and the insufferable traffic all along the Kerala segment if you do it by day.
So now I find travelling through Tamilnad for as long as possible is better-its shorter by about 60 km, better roads, and less traffic. You can go Krishnagiri-Salem-Karur-Dindigul-Thirumangalam(avoiding Madurai). From thirumangalam you can either go on NH7 to Nagercoil or take the NH208 to Rajapalayam-Shencotta and cross the Western Ghats into Kerala. On both alternate routes there are short segments of bad road-Shencotta to Thenmala and Panagudi to Nagercoil (15-20 km). Everywhere else the roads are very good although roadworks are ongoing in many places.

[dilips]

Originally Posted by gkrishk

I have done Trivandrum-Bangalore and back by road several times. The standard route Krishnagiri-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Ernakulam is one I no longer use because of its poor surface and the insufferable traffic all along the Kerala segment if you do it by day.
So now I find travelling through Tamilnad for as long as possible is better-its shorter by about 60 km, better roads, and less traffic. You can go Krishnagiri-Salem-Karur-Dindigul-Thirumangalam(avoiding Madurai). From thirumangalam you can either go on NH7 to Nagercoil or take the NH208 to Rajapalayam-Shencotta and cross the Western Ghats into Kerala. On both alternate routes there are short segments of bad road-Shencotta to Thenmala and Panagudi to Nagercoil (15-20 km). Everywhere else the roads are very good although roadworks are ongoing in many places.

I am intending to start on 11th morning to Tvm. Doing the whole distance for the first time. Am deciding between NH7 and NH208 after Thirumangalam. Which one is better from roads, traffic and scenery? Also, can you suggest me some good veg eateries / stopovers along the way ?

[hvkumar]

dilips, Nh208 has less traffic and gets scenic after crossing Schecottah. But be prepared for some ghat roads once you enter Kerala, and road is twisty all the way to TVM - plus, lots of small villages aftter Palode. After Tirumangalam, big owns are Rajapalayam, Srivilliputtur, Tenkasi, Schencottah, Tenmala, but being conveional highway facilities are not great. Tenmala also has a eco-park.

[dilips]

Thanks a lot. I am starting tomorrow morning. The most distance I covered uptill now was Bangalore- Kumarakom. I feel I am much more prepared for this due to the team-BHP... a special thanks to Hvkumar

[hellstar]

@ dilips i am starting at around 0300 Hrs from bangalore on the same route , can we team up ?

[anainar]

I just made the trip Bangalore-Nagercoil and back last week. Quiet nice roads, except for some frequent diversions.. Here is a gist..

While going got stuck at Electronic city traffic for more than 45 minutes. Started from Bangalore at 1:30 PM. Could reach Salem only by 6:45 PM. Broke for tea/light snacks. Left Salem by 7:00 and reached Madurai by 11:00 PM. Salem - Namakkal stretch is really bad. Beyond that it was nice till Madurai. Stayed overnight at Madurai Residency, went to the temple the next morning and left Madurai by 12:30 PM.Reached Tirunelveli by 2:45 PM, took a break for lunch at Aryas and reached Nagercoil by 4:30 PM.

Return was very peaceful. Started from Nagercoil by 10:30 AM.Reached Tirunelveli bypass by 11:30,Tirumangalam by 1:15PM,bypass all the way to Kodai road. Stopped for lunch at Kodairoad at 2:15.Started again, reached Salem bypass by 6:15, took a break for tea/snacks. Started the journey again and could reach Hosur by 10:00 PM, break for dinner at Renaissance grand, reached Bangalore at around 11:30 PM.

Madurai-Nagercoil stretch is very nice,except for some diversions,but silky smooth drive. Was able to touch 160kmph safely in my corolla. Beyond Madurai roads get touchy.Madurai-Dindigul is two lane roads once in a while. Dindigul-Karur is also two laned for some, some stretch is four laned. Lot of work going on. Karur - Namakkal is mostly four lane. Namakkal-Salem is the worst stretch.

Overall, it was very nice drive and I felt great after pushing myself to drive non-stop for 12 hours. I would definitely drive again if I have to and no worries at all.

Nainar