[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by redrage

Just a small update, route from Hunsur to Virajpet Via Gonikoppa is in tatters! A bone breaking journey. At least felt that in my Esteem. Other cars might not feel the strain. While coming back i took the route from Bagmandla road to Madikeri (again bad) But after reaching Madikeri road upto Hunsur was a dream.

The road just after Madikeri town upto Periyapatna and on is just a blast to drive. An absolute drivers delight!

If you are going to the Gonicoppa / Virajpet area in south Coorg, after Hunsur do not take the road via Pancholi. The better solution is to drive till Periyapatna and from there you take a left which goes to Anechowkur gate. This road is only about two or three km longer but it means a lot more driving on the highway and the bad road section is reduced.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by pganapathy

If you are going to the Gonicoppa / Virajpet area in south Coorg, after Hunsur do not take the road via Pancholi. The better solution is to drive till Periyapatna and from there you take a left which goes to Anechowkur gate. This road is only about two or three km longer but it means a lot more driving on the highway and the bad road section is reduced.

Is this joins from right side at the Forest checkpost...? Hope this is not so narrow route. Hows the road surface? bumpy..?? I always thought of exploring this route, but end up taking the direct route to Hunsur.

Thanks
Rajesh

[pganapathy]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Is this joins from right side at the Forest checkpost...? Hope this is not so narrow route. Hows the road surface? bumpy..?? I always thought of exploring this route, but end up taking the direct route to Hunsur.

Thanks
Rajesh

Yup, that is the road. OK width wise, enough for two cars. Not great, but shorter distance wise on the bad road than the Hunsur turn off via Pancholi. Between 10 and 15 km on this road to Periyapatna.

Worth taking this route as the bad road is much shorter and distance wise you drive less than 5 km extra, most of which is on the highway.

[tachobells]

Could someone please update on the latest road condition from Bangalore to Madikeri via Nelamangala->Channarayapattana->Arakalagud->Kushal Nagar?

I'm driving to Madikeri tomorrow. I'll be taking the usual Mysore->Hunsur->Madikeri route while going.

But while returning, I'm thinking of taking the Channarayapattana->Nelamangala route. Is it good now?

[harishv]

Hi friends. Need some assistance.
Is it better to travel from Bangalore to Coorg or Mangalore to Coorg ? Which route has better roads ? Would appreciate if someone can share some info.

[Manas5]

Hi folks,

I'm going to head to Porcupine Castle, Pollibetta. Has anybody done "Bangalore – Mysore – Hunsur – Gonikoppal – Pollibetta" recently. Just wanted to know how the road condition is. Is it a good idea to skip periyapatna that'd save about 20-25 kms?

[kala]

An update on SH88 road conditions. The stretch between Madikeri and Suntikoppa was blocked and traffic was being diverted via Madapur when I was returning from Madikeri yesterday. Not sure of the reason, could have been mudslides because when I travelled towards Madikeri on Friday morning there were one stretch where there was a landslide and earth moving equipment had just cleared half of the road.

Weather is lovely in Madikeri if you're on a trip to just relax. Rains off and on, but not too heavy. Hills covered in mist all day long. Abbi falls looks majestic since there's plenty of water.

[luvurride]

Gentlemen

A quick update of the road conditions during my recent trip to Coorg.

The destination was Virajpet, not Madikeri.

So as suggested by fellow bhpians, I skipped the Gonikoppa route and took the Periyapatna-Siddapura route onward.
Reality check: Even this is not recommended. Incessant pour of rains has ravaged the roads for about 15kms in this section as well. There were just too many potholes which slows you down considerably.

On return, I decided to head via Madikeri, which is the best route recommended, although being about 25kms in excess. But as luck would have it, as @kala pointed out, there was a diversion welcoming us on the outskirts of Madikeri which put us onto Somwarpet. The road was excellent though.

Just before Somwarpet, came the turn of event. I checked the GPS to find out that the route via Channarayapatna will be the shortest. The joy of avoiding Mysore-Bangalore highway also aided the mind to decide and take this.

So just when all the fellow motorists were turning towards Kushalnagar, I decided to proceed to Somwarpet. Stopped outside at a gas station and inquired the attendant. He precisely pointed out the route that the GPS suggested. On the road conditions, he said that the stretch from Shanivarasanthe-Arakalgud was bad. Considering the shorter distance, we decided to brave it.

So the route was Madikeri-Somwarpet-Shanivarasanthe-Arakalgud-Holenarsipura-Channarayapatna-Nelamangala. You hit the Bangalore-Hassan highway at Channarayapatna.

Just as we exited Somwarpet, we were flagged to stop by a Sante Fe and new Fiesta, both headed to Bangalore, but seemed to have lost/confused on the route. I said I never have tried this route, but said am confident of reaching Bangalore though! I think they believed it, as they followed. About 10kms, I had to stop as one of the kids in my car made me to. So I asked them to proceed.

Somwarpet-Shanivarasanthe:


Just after Shanivarasanthe, a local elderly gentleman gave us precise directions to latch onto the Arakkalgud road. There started the fun part. The roads were really bad that I had to crawl in 1-2 gears most of the time.



But thankfully, this was only for about 5 kms and the road got better.

We reached the junction at Mallipatna where we joined the road from Kodlipet. On hindsight, probably Shanivarasanthe-Kodlipet-Arakkalgud might have been a better choice.

Mallipatna-Arakkalgud:



When we exited Arakkalgud, I spotted the SantaFe/Fiesta on my RVM. Either they lost their way or probably took the Kodlipet route. Anyway, it was all fun after that as the roads were excellent till Channarayapatna, except a 2km stretch of untarred road just after Holenarsipura. SantaFe/Fiesta kept company with reasonably good speeds till we caught onto the 4-laned expressway after Channarayapatna.

Overall, the distance was about 255kms and was really fun exploring a new route. Here is the route link: https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...mra=pr&t=m&z=9
It took about 7 hours with a 1.5 hour break.

A parting pic:

[kannan666]

Thanks for the update as well as for the alternate route, will keep this in mind when I am travelling to Coorg in the near future !

[rogercharlie]

Originally Posted by kala

An update on SH88 road conditions. The stretch between Madikeri and Suntikoppa was blocked and traffic was being diverted via Madapur when I was returning from Madikeri yesterday.

How was the road condition on the diverted route? How much longer was the diversion?

Thanks in advance!

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by rogercharlie

How was the road condition on the diverted route? How much longer was the diversion?

Thanks in advance!

It is almost double. 54kms vs the usual 30kms. There is a diversion in Madapur that puts you back into Madikeri-Mysore road, but even this was blocked that day. So we were directed to go all the way to Somwarpet(about 5kms before the town). Here is the link for this route:
http://goo.gl/maps/mVOJd

I did drive till Somwarpet, until which the road is very good. But since I continued further to Shanivarasanthe, I do not know about the road from Somwarpet-Kushalnagar.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by luvurride

It is almost double. 54kms vs the usual 30kms. There is a diversion in Madapur that puts you back into Madikeri-Mysore road, but even this was blocked that day. So we were directed to go all the way to Somwarpet(about 5kms before the town). Here is the link for this route:
http://goo.gl/maps/mVOJd

I did drive till Somwarpet, until which the road is very good. But since I continued further to Shanivarasanthe, I do not know about the road from Somwarpet-Kushalnagar.

Approximately what time did you pass through this road? The Madapura-Sunticoppa diversion was just ahead of the fork where the barricade was put up. You could have taken a right turn there. I contemplated taking the Shanivarsante-Arkalgudu-Channarayapatna road to Bangalore, but I knew the conditions on the road and my friend who was in his Vento would not go there. So we had to take the regular route via Mysore.

I left Madikeri at around 4 pm I think

[kala]

Originally Posted by rogercharlie

How was the road condition on the diverted route? How much longer was the diversion?

I followed the Somawarpet route (same route shown in the map @luvurride had posted), but took a right turn at Madapura and reached Suntikoppa. Total of about 30 kms to Suntikoppa instead of the usual 15. But the road is much narrower than SH88 and very curvy and has occasional potholed sections - but nothing to be too concerned about. Took me about 50 minutes to cover this instead of the usual 15 minutes.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Approximately what time did you pass through this road? The Madapura-Sunticoppa diversion was just ahead of the fork where the barricade was put up. I left Madikeri at around 4 pm I think

I left Madikeri by about 2.45pm. When I reached the Madapura fork, there was a policeman who did not let us take it, but rather pointed towards Somwarpet. Pretty much all the vehicles that were tagging along had to do this at the time. Since you passed through an hour later, I'm guessing they might have allowed the route. But then, any idea on why and where the regular route was closed?

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by luvurride

I left Madikeri by about 2.45pm. When I reached the Madapura fork, there was a policeman who did not let us take it, but rather pointed towards Somwarpet. Pretty much all the vehicles that were tagging along had to do this at the time. Since you passed through an hour later, I'm guessing they might have allowed the route. But then, any idea on why and where the regular route was closed?

I saw a policeman at the junction and he was least interested in directing me to either Sunticoppa or Somwarpet. No idea on why the road had closed. I asked one policeman why the road had closed and he replied "Road close aagide saar" (road is closed saar). That's it, no reason whatsoever.