[XLR8]

Hi all,

I too got back from Kerala last afternoon.
The onward journey was Bangalore-Mysore-Sulthan Bathery-Beenachi-Nadavayal-Kuttiady-Nadapuram-Mahe
Due to a personal emergency, our on ward journey started really late (8 am) on Saturday. I was mentally prepared for traffic blocks but this was crazy. It took me close to 4.5 hours to get to Mysore and was home after 11 hours of torturous driving.

The return journey; Mahe-Kuttiady-Makkiyad-Manathavady-Kutta-Nagarhole-Hunsur-Srirangapatna-Bangalore
Left at 7:30 am on Tuesday. Was home (IndiraNagar) by 3:30 pm.
The route taken for the return journey was very decent and short.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by KnightRider77

I dream of the day when one can drive through God's Own Country on beautiful stretches of road while admiring the nature's bounty that this land possesses...

For us it is other way. Raods are excellent once enter Kerala from Virajpet.
I went to Kannur last weekend and came back yesterday. Took the usual Periyapatna-Siddapura route.

Good News: Coorg border to Siddapura road is newly laid and in good condition.

I heard that some major work happening at Hunsur-Gonikoppa stretch. Any update?

[Nalin Kumar]

Last Friday I drove from Bangalore to Payyanur. Usually I take the Mysore - Hunsur - Virajpet - Iritty - Taliparamba route. But this time took the Mysore - Madikeri - Sullia - Cherkala route. This appears to be the easiest as of now, with just 7-8 kms of bad stretch/renovation works near Sullia (but easy to manage). Started from Bangalore at 4 15 PM and reached home in Payyanur at 12 15 AM with a 25 min break at Channapatna, 10 min at Cherkala and 15 min at the level cross on NH 17.

[RajeshK]

I rreached Payyanur and came by Bus. The bus took Periayapatna - Siddapura - Virajpet route. Road was seems to be okey as I didn't felt much inside the bus. I will be going back to Bangalore on 30th by car.

Originally Posted by Nalin Kumar

Last Friday I drove from Bangalore to Payyanur. Usually I take the Mysore - Hunsur - Virajpet - Iritty - Taliparamba route. But this time took the Mysore - Madikeri - Sullia - Cherkala route. This appears to be the easiest as of now, with just 7-8 kms of bad stretch/renovation works near Sullia (but easy to manage). Started from Bangalore at 4 15 PM and reached home in Payyanur at 12 15 AM with a 25 min break at Channapatna, 10 min at Cherkala and 15 min at the level cross on NH 17.

Nalin, this is an excellent news. I have never tried the route via Sulya. Is it better than Panathur - Bhagamandala, any idea..?? I may try this route on my return.

[mempheS.D]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

I will be going back to Bangalore on 30th by car.
.

Im starting from thalassery towards bangalore by car on 30th around 12 noon. The route I will take is mananthavady-kutta-hunsur. The reason being that my onward journey was pleasant except for the bad stretch near kutta.

So if all goes well I should be in bangalore by 9pm.

I heard the road work near gonikoppal is on in full swing but I wouldnt take that risk with a fully loaded car fearing any possible bottoming out!!!!!

[Nalin Kumar]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

I rreached Payyanur and came by Bus. The bus took Periayapatna - Siddapura - Virajpet route. Road was seems to be okey as I didn't felt much inside the bus. I will be going back to Bangalore on 30th by car.

Nalin, this is an excellent news. I have never tried the route via Sulya. Is it better than Panathur - Bhagamandala, any idea..?? I may try this route on my return.

Thanks Rajesh. I dont have any idea about Bhagamandala route - just heard that it not in good shape. Yes, you may try this route. The total distance may come to around 415 kms, but worth it. From Payyanur to Jalsoor (border) you get very smooth road. Then upto Sullia road expansion work is on. Real bad stretch is limited to Sullia - Sampaje section, but patchwork is in progress. From Sampaje the wider ghat road begins and next bad stretch is only at Srirangapatna byepass!

Happy motoring

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by Nalin Kumar

Thanks Rajesh. I dont have any idea about Bhagamandala route - just heard that it not in good shape. Yes, you may try this route. The total distance may come to around 415 kms, but worth it. From Payyanur to Jalsoor (border) you get very smooth road. Then upto Sullia road expansion work is on. Real bad stretch is limited to Sullia - Sampaje section, but patchwork is in progress. From Sampaje the wider ghat road begins and next bad stretch is only at Srirangapatna byepass!

Happy motoring

Nalin Kumar, thanks a lot for the update. I am back in Bangalore today and after much debate, I took the same route which Latheesh took. The main setback is the distance..via Jalsoor / Sulya is almost 30-40kms more..

Originally Posted by Latheesh

For us it is other way. Raods are excellent once enter Kerala from Virajpet.
I went to Kannur last weekend and came back yesterday. Took the usual Periyapatna-Siddapura route.

Good News: Coorg border to Siddapura road is newly laid and in good condition.

I heard that some major work happening at Hunsur-Gonikoppa stretch. Any update?

There is some pothole filling work (making omlets with tar mix...!!!!!!) is going in full swing on Perumpadi - Siddapura route. Only pending is 1-2 kms just after the Perumpadi check post. With this there is no potholes till Siddapura now, but still road is rough and uneven. After Siddapura towards Periyapatna, the road is very good (some stretches are newly re-laid) till the forest check post. Once you entered the Mysore district area, there are big potholes and you need to be very careful. The total length of bad road is around 6-7kms only.

We had luch at one of the hotel @ Periyapatna and while talking to the malayali owner, he told that the regular Hunsur - Gonikkoppal road will soon close completely for repair and it may take 2-3 months.

Instead of taking the regular Srirangapatna byepass, we came via the Mysore ring road. The road is not fully done, so do not get tempted with the good stretches. Also please keep an extra eye on the huge road hump just before the exit to Bangalore road. This is really really huge and you may get stuck badly...!!! Since it is day time, I could escape without much damage..!!

Thanks
Rajesh

[xotiq]

Had taken hunsur-gonikoppal-virajpet route while going. Road condition bad, but not anywhere close to the horrible condition this road was in 4-5 years back.

While returning, tried siddapura-periyapatna-hunsur-OOR (mysore). Much better than option mentioned above, though there are some patches which forces you to slow down and 'offroad'.

None of the above is as threatening to your vehicle as much as the 'Mega Monster Hump' just before exit from Mysore Outer Ring Road towards BLR. Our Ertiga with 191mm of clearance (195/65 R15) had a faint scrape on this monster hump.
High probability of vehicles with normal 170mm clearance becoming beached whales................Please be careful on this strech..!!!

Also caution advised while driving on this stretch- since there are absolutely no signs warning of work going on / sudden diversion.

[menonrajesh]

Just finished my trip : Bangalore - Parassinikadavu - Calicut - Bangalore.

While going to Parassinikadavu, took the route : Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Periyapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi town-Virajpet-Makutta-Iritty-Irikkoor-Mayyil-Parassinikadavu.

The road from Blr-Mysore highway to Hunsur Road via Ranganthittu Bird Sanctury is not great, a SUV in 80+ KMPH will glide over, but not for any other cars..Sidhapura-Ammathi-Virajpet roads are really bad in some areas, overall not a great stretch. Looks like Sidhapura-KushalNagar-VirajPet was better choice albeit its around 40KMs extra. Decision to take Mayyil route to Parassinikadavu was good without touching Taliparamba, short and good roads, a bit narrow though. Took close to 8 hrs to reach Parassinikadavu from Bangalore with a 45 min breakfast stop. Total distance was around 360 KM.

Road from Parassinikadavu to calicut was good, but couldnt do good speeds due to heavy traffic. Took 2 hrs 15 minutes to cover 96 KMs. Saw a couple of accidents too on the way - I think its the same story in all Kerala roads - all roads being good but heavy on traffic and prone to accidents.

Calicut-Bangalore was smooth journey, traffic was a lot better in Mysore road (at least there were no blocks/jams) - just that you need to be very careful while driving and it takes a lot of concentration and stress to drive in this road.

Thanks everyone for the tips on the routes, appreciated.

PS : Forgot to add : Saw one Etios (black coloured, if I am not wrong) with TBHP sticker parked near RajaRajeshwaran Temple in Thaliparambu on 29th night. Couldnt meet the BHPian though.

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by menonrajesh

Just finished my trip : Bangalore - Parassinikadavu - Calicut - Bangalore.

While going to Parassinikadavu, took the route : Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Periyapatna-Siddapura-Ammathi town-Virajpet-Makutta-Iritty-Irikkoor-Mayyil-Parassinikadavu.

...... Decision to take Mayyil route to Parassinikadavu was good without touching Taliparamba, short and good roads, a bit narrow though. Took close to 8 hrs to reach Parassinikadavu from Bangalore with a 45 min breakfast stop. Total distance was around 360 KM.

Good that you have taken this route and thank for the update. This is the shortest route to reach Parassinikkadavu from Iritti. Is the road is too curvy..?I have never travelled this route.

Thanks
Rajesh

[menonrajesh]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

Good that you have taken this route and thank for the update. This is the shortest route to reach Parassinikkadavu from Iritti. Is the road is too curvy..?I have never travelled this route.

Thanks
Rajesh

well, Mayyil route is narrow and with some ups and downs..but not a trouble to drive. Not for high speeds as you wont get visibility to long distance most of the time.

[Jaggu]

So now am totally confused which route to take, i need to get from BLR to Kannur this weekend. I don't mind 20-30 kms more if the roads are better off. Definitely will if its more scenic

Ill be driving solo for the onward journey and returning the very next day, so don't want to put Snowie or myself through torture of bad roads.

[Mighty_Lothar]

Jaggu,

You can contentedly opt for Bangalore->Mysore->Hunsur->Periyapatna->Siddapura->Ammathi->Virajpet->Iritty Route. I drove back from Kerala yesterday through the same route and found the roads are much better than it was before couple of months. There are some appalling stretches once you enter into Siddapura route but should be doable by any car.

LOTHAR

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by Mighty_Lothar

Jaggu,

You can contentedly opt for Bangalore->Mysore->Hunsur->Periyapatna->Siddapura->Ammathi->Virajpet->Iritty Route.
------
There are some appalling stretches once you enter into Siddapura route but should be doable by any car.

LOTHAR

Thanks Lothar. Any other option apart from this to avoid the appalling stretchs?

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Thanks Lothar. Any other option apart from this to avoid the appalling stretchs?

Jaggu, this is roughly around 5-7kms and easily driveable. If you still need to avoid this, better go till Kushalanagara and take the deviation to Siddapura but this will be longer by around 20kms.

Thanks
Rajesh