[Latheesh]

Planning to start from Ecity at 5 AM on Friday and hit Mysore road by 5.30 after picking up my friend from HSR.

[shefiu]

Looks I'll be travelling to Payangadi early morning tomorrow (around 3AM).

How do the roads around Gonikoppal look? is the route via Periyapatna still the better option?

I'm hoping to reach around 10 AM with a 30 min refreshment break somewhere on the way.

Also thought of taking Mysore ring road as opposed to the KRS road - unless the work is more or less complete there.

[Anoopscv]

Originally Posted by shefiu

Looks I'll be travelling to Payangadi early morning tomorrow (around 3AM).

How do the roads around Gonikoppal look? is the route via Periyapatna still the better option?

I'm hoping to reach around 10 AM with a 30 min refreshment break somewhere on the way.

Also thought of taking Mysore ring road as opposed to the KRS road - unless the work is more or less complete there.

Hunsur-Gonikoppal is the improved existing option now. KRS road is reasonable without much hassle considering the shortest distance to reach hunsur.

[shefiu]

Thanks for that Anoop. I have just heard some bad news that there is a hartal in Kannur district tomorrow.

Since I will be taking the deviation from Vallithode and heading down via Sreekandapuram, would you guys reckon I can avoid this completely?

[Anoopscv]

Originally Posted by shefiu

Thanks for that Anoop. I have just heard some bad news that there is a hartal in Kannur district tomorrow.

Since I will be taking the deviation from Vallithode and heading down via Sreekandapuram, would you guys reckon I can avoid this completely?

Yes, State-wide Hartal Tomorrow.

As you are heading to Pazhayangadi , will not be able to avoid it(more than 100kms to cover from KA border) and I am not sure about the intensity of the hartal. How about starting now by 11'o clk?

[RajeshK]

Originally Posted by Anoopscv

Yes, State-wide Hartal Tomorrow.

As you are heading to Pazhayangadi , will not be able to avoid it(more than 100kms to cover from KA border) and I am not sure about the intensity of the hartal. How about starting now by 11'o clk?

My preference would be start tomorrow afternoon around 2pm so that you can reach Pazhayangadi by 10pm at least. Hunsur - Gonikoppal route will be the best option as of now

[shefiu]

This is an absolute disaster.. when will the politics in our district and even state for that matter ever change. Had completely planned out the itinerary and now this.. completely confused :/

Edit: how about leaving at 12PM so that I would reach the border by 6PM or 6.30 since I would take a lunch break on the way?

[sivadas]

Did a 'Kannur and return' over the long weekend. Started by 5.15am (from electronic city) and as mentioned before, used the Kanakapura-Malavalli-Bannur route to reach Mysore. Then used the regular Gonikoppal route. It was a refreshing change not using the Mysore road! Upto Malavalli roads are excellent and route was very scenic. Only issues is that you will not find any place to address natures call (mainly while traveling with family). I went inside a Fuel station at Malavalli in search of rest room. The Petrol bunk owner was kind enough to let us use the rest room there. Post Malavalli road becomes relatively jerky, but still can keep a comfortable speed of 60-80. Beware of the humps near each village, but none of them will test your car's GC. Used the Mysore outer ring road to hit Hunsur road. Breakfast at Halli Mane was not to my liking. Unfortunately no other option :( As mentioned by many, the 8Kms of road near Anechowkur was bad but manageable. Once you reach near Kannur town (Mele Chovva), traffic was just horrible. Reached home by 12.30pm, overall a good and fast journey.

As my parents were accompanying us, return journey was slower, started only by 10am.
We had packed some lunch knowing the trouble eating outside. Had a break at Cafe coorg (at the beginnin of Gonikoppal), here you can have decent food if needed.
I could feel that Anechowkur road had worsened due to the incessant rain over weekend.
If not leveled or tarred, this section of road can become unusable in no time.
Again decided to take the Bannur-Kanakapura route thinking Mysore road could be crowded. For obvious reasons, this time journey was not as peaceful as morning. Still I could manage decent speed till Malavalli. Malavalli to Kanakapura was quite a breeze though there was good amount of traffic. Post Kanakapura, you are greeted with our lovely BMTC buses and also hoards of endearing two wheeler friends. Took some time to reach the NICE road after which it was very predictable, reached home by 6pm.
Would like to hear from others who have used the regular Mysore road during the same time.

[shefiu]

Hi guys,

Headed down to Payangadi yesterday afternoon.

Firstly, without the great community that is team-bhp and precise info provided by members such as Rajeev, Anoop, Sivadas and many others who can't be listed here. Thanks to you guys I hadn't as many mistakes as I would have going blind.

The Long Story
-----------------

For many of you the length of this could possibly bore you, or you many not be interested in useless details, I've tried to put a nutshell paragraph at the end that you could skip through to.

Left Bangalore (Indiranagar) a little before 12 PM and decided to set my sights on Cafe County as my first destination. Being the afternoon and our wonderful Bangalore traffic, not mention the spectacular roads - it took about 40mins to travel the 14-odd k.m. distance to get to Bangalore-Mysore road. There was quite a bit of traffic on the Mysore road and it was only after Channapatna, or Maddur really that I could cruise at 80-100km/h speeds.

Side-thought: Lots of lunatics on the road criss-crossing at each instance and the heavy vehicles sticking to the right is really annoying, not to mention dangerous. We really need a 3 lane highway to Mysore where the right-most lane would be allocated for fast-moving vehicles. A distant dream and even if we did get it, its not like the majority of our janta's mentality would change.

Got to Café County at 3:20PM and the odo read 188 k.m. I was heavily reliant on Google Maps and being mid afternoon with no shade for my phone, it had overheated before I got to the KRS turn - which I actually took. Here I made the first mistake of asking some college-going kids if I was on the road, while they said it was a couple of kms ahead. After getting back on to the road I realised my error and ended up taking the Mysore Ring Road and taking the right turn at the "Hinkel Signal" to get on to Mysore - Hunsur road. I'm guessing I could have reached a little earlier and saved up on some kms if I took the KRS road.

With the Hartal yesterday, I stayed at bit at the restaurant and set off at 4:10 PM taking my time and cruising at around 60 km/h where possible. I had thought the roads would be straight-forward through Gonikoppal and to get to the Anechowkur check post. Hence let my phone cool off for when I reached the bottom of twisties. Turns out this was my 2nd mistake and first blunder. I realised that I had taken the Periyapatna route only after I had passed Periyapatna and carried on straight for about 3-4kms. Backtracked and decided against going back down the entire stretch to see how the direct route was. Hence got on the Periyapatna to Anechowkur road - a 12km back-breaking, patience-testing piece of road that was ravaged by the recent rains. At the end of it, I was so excited in seeing the check post that I squealed in delight. I later realised that this was the route we used to take years ago when I used to frequent Mysore for my studies.

From Anechowkur I opened up a bit with the welcome smooth roads which seemed like silk compared to the nightmare I just went through. It was relatively smooth sailing and it started raining for a short while, when I hit Bittangala and commenced the descent. This was when I surprised myself and thanked the Lord for having a Hartal. The trip down was a delight with no oncoming traffic the entire stretch. When I passed Perumbadi checkpost I could see a few travellers who were waiting on the sides and started to follow me down . Never before did I see this stretch so smooth and pot-hole free, with the exception of a few spots at the bottom. It just brought a smile to my face taking the twisties and I wish I had more enjoyable car with me at the time!

Reached Kootupuzha bridge at 6:15PM and could see that traffic had slowly begun to commence. There were also trucks stopped on the sides that started moving at the time. Here is where I thought I'd try Google Maps suggestion and take the deviation from Vallithode and go to Sreekandapuram via Ullikal/Payyavoor rather than the normal route of Iritty / Irikkur. Distance was shorter by a few kms but this was unknown territory and roads were regularly riddled with potholes and craters. The fact that it was dusk and getting dark fast made matters worse. It also meant I was going through some pretty narrow stretches that made me check and recheck GMaps if this indeed was the route or if I was gonna get to another destination.

Breathed out a sigh of relief as I hit Sreekandapuram. Lots of twisties and not much traffic, but still a risky route to take at night - lots of defensive driving necessary. Took the right onto Edapally - Panvel highway and the left turn onto Taliparamba road. By this time it was already 7:25. Finally reached home at 7:45. The odo read 349.9. Not too shabby I guess with what would be about 10kms extra thanks to my mistakes and backtracking, the roughly 50min break at Hunsur and the traffic getting out of Bangalore.

On the way back going to have my family with me so hopefully I won't make the same mistakes.

In hindsight, I feel if I left at 3AM, it could be possible to reach Payangadi by 9:30AM, with a well timed 20min break and of course provided I wouldn't have made any mistakes.

The Short Story
-----------------

For those of you just keen on the finer points - Bangalore-Mysore at off peak times would still be doable. The bumps are a sore point but I feel its good they are there since there are plenty of u-turns (horrific that many are on bends) and it would help avoid accidents.

Mysore ring road is almost done (at least the parts that matter to us), I feel it should be complete in the new year provided things don't slow down.

I made the mistake of travelling via Periyapatna to Gonikoppal. Periyapatna to Anechowkur checkpost is every drivers nightmare - 12-14kms of pure hell with faint good stretches that give you false hope. Hopefully won't make this mistake on the way back.

Bittangala all the way down - fantastic drivable roads. I guess I'll see the traffic on the way back but driving down was a breeze considering the hartal.

Those travelling to Payangadi and upwards - please don't use Google Maps (there might be very few who would use - if at all, but hey there might be a few naive as me). Rather travel to Sreekandapuram via Iritty / Irikkur.

Hope I didn't leave out anything. Should be able to give a quick update after I head back in a few days about the regular roads that the gurus use.

This is the first time I'm trying to contribute, please bear with me for any errors.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by sivadas

Would like to hear from others who have used the regular Mysore road during the same time.

We started from Ecity, picked friend from HSR, and took city roads to hit Mysore road. Reached Mysore road flyover by 6 and exited from Mysore road by 8 (Srirangapatana). Had break fast at Cafe County at Hunsur, took 1.5 hr break between Hunsur and Gonikoppal.

We Reached Perumbadi check post by 12 noon, and home at Thazhe chovva by 2 PM.

Total time = 8 hr 45 minutes (including 1 hr 30 min break)

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by shefiu

I had thought the roads would be straight-forward through Gonikoppal and to get to the Anechowkur check post. Hence let my phone cool off for when I reached the bottom of twisties. Turns out this was my 2nd mistake and first blunder. I realised that I had taken the Periyapatna route only after I had passed Periyapatna and carried on straight for about 3-4kms.

The deviation to Gonikoppal from Mysore-Madikeri road is fairly well marked. It is almost like a Y fork of which the right goes to Madikeri/Periyapatna and left towards Gonikoppal. It is around 7 kms after Cafe county.

Originally Posted by shefiu

I guess I'll see the traffic on the way back but driving down was a breeze considering the hartal.

Don't worry, the traffic on Perumpadi ghats is usually sparse except between 3 AM and 4 AM and between 10 PM and 11 PM when the numerous Bangalore-Kannur buses ply on it.

[Anoopscv]

I reached kannur yesterday. Gonikoppal road section is getting worse after the continues rain (made of mud road). Could see road widening work going on.

[sivadas]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

We started from Ecity, picked friend from HSR, and took city roads to hit Mysore road. Reached Mysore road flyover by 6 and exited from Mysore road by 8 (Srirangapatana). Had break fast at Cafe County at Hunsur, took 1.5 hr break between Hunsur and Gonikoppal.
We Reached Perumbadi check post by 12 noon, and home at Thazhe chovva by 2 PM. Total time = 8 hr 45 minutes (including 1 hr 30 min break)

Thanks Latheesh. Actually I was asking about return journey, especially on the Mysore road condition during the evening time

[shefiu]

Back to Bangalore.

Left Payangadi at 5:40 AM and reached Indiranagar at 1:15 after taking a 40 min break at Cafe Coorg at 8AM.

Thankfully opted for the Payangadi-Iritty route. Was raining all the way till I reached Cafe Coorg, but was a pleasant drive this time considering it was early morning and dark for only a short bit of time. Driving up the ghats was again a cinch and took just over 30 min with little to no traffic the entire stretch.

Took the direct route through Gonikoppal. The rains have made it a slush-fest, had to get the car washed as soon as I got to Bangalore. Road rollers are there on the side and the road does have it's share of bumps. However potholes have already formed and if not completed soon enough it will be back to square one.

Got on to KRS road this time. This road really needs a re-tarring. I feel the ring road route is better and can be done quicker, even though its about 4-5kms longer.

Travelling in the mornings on the Mysore-Bangalore road is really irritating, especially after Mandya. We have buses/trucks hogging the right, and bikes/rickshaws hogging the left. How the heck are we supposed to overtake? It beats the hell out of me.

Got to the outer ring road by 12:15 which means I had gotten in right at the nightmare traffic time. Travelling through the narrow over bridge to get to MG Road and finally Indiranagar took an hour.

I don't think I'll be making the trip by road again any time this year unless there's an emergency. Train to Kannur takes 12 hours, but I can sleep the entire time and reach Kannur fresh but hey that's my opinion and I'm sure to get flogged for saying that on t-bhp.

Next year I'd gladly take the challenge up again, hopefully by then the roads would all be sorted.

[shreyaskr]

Hi all,

I'm travelling to Kelakam, Kannur from Bangalore, this Saturday. I googled and found 2 routes but not sure of the road conditions. Please suggest a good route of the two or any other.