[prasad14]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

e Bhagamandala - Panathur stretch, I belief it is manageable (~26km down the hill)

I did Bhagamandala-Panathur stretch in Jun, it is very much doable. Its a narrow, winding road with hardly any traffic and passes thru dense forest.

Prasad

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by prasad14

I did Bhagamandala-Panathur stretch in Jun, it is very much doable. Its a narrow, winding road with hardly any traffic and passes thru dense forest.

Prasad

Prasad, do you have any update post monsoon...?

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Prasad, do you have any update post monsoon...?

Unfortunately no, Rajesh. But the roads were holding pretty well and I didn't encounter any stretch which was bad and had the potential to further deteriorate during monsoon. Given that this road has sparse traffic and absolutely no heavy vehicles (only mini-buses and small lorries can ply), I would presume the conditions might not have further gone bad. But this is just a hypothesis.

Prasad

[kaushik60]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Mananthavady to Iritty via Perya-Nidumpoil-Peravoor is in good condition except patches around the couple of hairpin bends on perya ghats.
===============Thezhechovva-Kannur town-Puthiyatheru can get heavily chocked during peak hours.

Thanks for the updates, Will tell my folks to look out for those hairpin bends.
And I guess the curves are preferable to traffic, so sreekandapuram will be better option!

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Kaushik, If your final destination is Payyanur, you can think about Mysore - Madikeri - Bhagamandala - Panathur - Kanhangad - Payyanur. I am not aware of the latest condition of the Bhagamandala - Panathur stretch, I belief it is manageable (~26km down the hill)

Other option is Kushalanagara - siddapura - Ammathi - Virajpet - Iritty - Srikantapuram - Thalipparamba - Payyanur. This will better/shorter than Nagarhole route, but ~30km more than the regular Hunsur - Gonikkoppal route.

Thanks
Rajesh

Rajesh, I did consider the SIddapura-Ammathi-Virajpet option, but I heard that that the Nagarhole route will be better. I will re look into this.
But your other suggestion regarding the Madikeri-Bhagamandala-Kanhangad route is exciting!Thanks for that.

Originally Posted by prasad14

I did Bhagamandala-Panathur stretch in Jun, it is very much doable. Its a narrow, winding road with hardly any traffic and passes thru dense forest.

Prasad

Thanks for the update Prasad. This route sounds the most exciting amongst all I have come across. So I guess I will finalise on Mysore-Madiker-Bhagamandala-Kanhangad-Payyanur!

It's been only a few days since I joined Team-BHP and I'm already beginning to love this place. Where else could I get such updated and immediate information. Brilliant! Thanks to everyone!

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by prasad14

Unfortunately no, Rajesh. But the roads were holding pretty well and I didn't encounter any stretch which was bad and had the potential to further deteriorate during monsoon. Given that this road has sparse traffic and absolutely no heavy vehicles (only mini-buses and small lorries can ply), I would presume the conditions might not have further gone bad. But this is just a hypothesis.

Prasad

Prasad, there are few local buses plying in this route including one or 2 K(a)SRTC buses. Close to the KA checkpost down the hill, there was some construction going on some time back b'cose this you can spot some construction vehicles. Other than these, it is as you said, very very lonely planet..!!!

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by kaushik60

It's been only a few days since I joined Team-BHP and I'm already beginning to love this place. Where else could I get such updated and immediate information. Brilliant! Thanks to everyone!

Welcome Kaushik to team-bhp world. You'd love every minute, every post. Please update the latest road conditions once you are back. Travelog with photos would be even better.

Prasad

[kala]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Prasad, there are few local buses plying in this route including one or 2 K(a)SRTC buses. Close to the KA checkpost down the hill, there was some construction going on some time back b'cose this you can spot some construction vehicles. Other than these, it is as you said, very very lonely planet..!!!

I had done this stretch in August, and the conditions were fairly decent. I did see at least 5-6 vehicles during that trip whereas when I did the same route exactly a year ago (August 2011) the only vehicle I saw in the entire stretch was an autorikshah right in the middle of the forest !!

But in spite of the loneliness (or may because of it) , it is a indeed wonderful drive !

[kaushik60]

Originally Posted by prasad14

Welcome Kaushik to team-bhp world. You'd love every minute, every post. Please update the latest road conditions once you are back. Travelog with photos would be even better.

Prasad

I'm afraid I wont be able to put in a travelog with pics, as it is my parents who are driving down. I'm sitting at office in Pune! But I'll be sure to get the latest updates on road conditions from them, and post them on this thread.

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by kala

But in spite of the loneliness (or may because of it) , it is a indeed wonderful drive !

Absolutely. Its one of the wonderful drives you'd get to drive in this part of the world. I was doing a solo ride on my Bullet and frankly I was scared to stop for small breaks worried about a 1-on-1 with some wild life. The forest is so thick that I had this weird feeling of a Python dropping on me from a tall tree whenever I took a break for photos (and I stopped right in the middle of road and to get a honk you'd need to wait for atleast 30mins). In the exciting one hour ride I came across 2 cars and a couple of jeeps. Wonderful drive.

Prasad

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by kaushik60

This route sounds the most exciting amongst all I have come across. So I guess I will finalise on Mysore-Madiker-Bhagamandala-Kanhangad-Payyanur!

It's been only a few days since I joined Team-BHP and I'm already beginning to love this place. Where else could I get such updated and immediate information. Brilliant! Thanks to everyone!

Welcome to the team, Kaushik.
Bhagamandala-Panathur-Kanjhangad seems to be the best option for your parents.
Further, I am driving upto Madikeri and Bhagamandala from Bangalore (part of a 2 day coorg tour) this weekend. Would be able to give you a precise and latest update on condition of the roads from Mysore to Bhagamandala via Madikeri.

[kaushik60]

Hey!
My parents completed a Mysore-Payyanur drive yesterday. It was supposed to happen next week but it got advanced. Here are the updates.

Route taken: Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta-Mananthavady-Periya-Iritty-Sreekandapuram-Payyanur

I actually wanted them to go through Madikeri-Bhagamandala-Kanhangad, but they were excited to be driving through Nagarhole, so they choose that route. Road conditions are as follows.

1. Mysore-Hunsur: Four lane, breeze of a drive
2. Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta: Decent road, some potholes, but not unmanagable. Only things to watch out for are huge unmarked speedbreakers!
3. Kutta-Mananthavady: Save a small portion of the road near Tholpetty, the roads are good.
4. Mananthavady-Iritty: As was mentioned earlier on the forum there are a few bad stretched as the ghat winds down, but nothing that will be a hassle. Most of it is good.
5. Iritty-Sreekandapuram-Payyanur: Slightly more traffic, but good curves on good asphalt.

Hope this helps!

[sandsun7]

Read today in Mathrubhumi daily Bangalore edition that The Karnataka state government has decided to take up the repair of Hunsur-Gonikoppal road on an urgent basis and Rs. 32 crore has been allocated for the same . The decision was taken on the behest of the governor Sri. H. R Bharadwaj. The stretch from Hunsur to Anechowkoor (22kms) will be reasphalted after widening. Tender for the work has already been floated, and the work is expected to be complete within 2 months says the report.

[Latheesh]

Went to Kannur on 21-Nov and Came back on 2nd Dec - Took Periyapatna-Siddapura route. Condition remains the same

Next trip is planned during Christmas vacation

[RajeshK]

Today my brother went to Payyanur via Mysore (ring rd)- Kushalanagara - Siddapura - Ammathi - Virajpet - Makkutta - Irikkur - Srikantapuram - Thalipparamba - Payyanur. As per him the road is very bad between Siddapura and Virajpet, still it is driveable. Though there are many potholes till Siddapura from Kushalanagara, but it is quite manageable.

Latheesh, how did you felt about the stretch till Siddapura from Virajpet?

Thanks
Rajesh

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Next trip is planned during Christmas vacation

Take the nagarhole route. Definitely worth it.