[amitoj]

Originally Posted by ampere

There would be at least a 100Km difference. But it is still worth it. The Krishnagiri-Tiruvannamalai road which is about 120km, is a real pain and totally takes away the joy of driving.
Hence its better to do this extra 100Km.

Hey Ampere, in terms of time taken, how much would the difference be between the two routes?

Also, how much would be the time taken if one were to head towards ECR from Chengalpattu?

I will probably be going to Pondi sometime in June. Monsoon will be in full swing, right?

[narayans80]

Brat001, It would be adding close to 80-100 kms. The advantage is getting a hassle free, suspension happy drive.

BLR-Kanchi ~ 270 kms
Kanchi-Chengalpattu 35 kms
Chengalpattu-TIndivanam 63 kms
TIndivanam-Pondy 40 km
~~~~~

Also, how much would be the time taken if one were to head towards ECR from Chengalpattu?

Mahabs (ECR) is another 28 kms East of Chengalpattu. If you are looking to take the ECR more, you can drive all the way upto Maduravoyal (Madras), take the Chennai Bypass to NH45, take a left at Vandalur towards Kelambakkam (will get you on Old Mahabalipuram Road), the ECR link road from Kelambakkam will land you near Kovalam on ECR. The advantage is getting more 4-laners this way

I will probably be going to Pondi sometime in June. Monsoon will be in full swing, right?

Pondy gets NE monsoon, not SW monsoon. So monsoon is like late October, November, early December. In June it will be hot summer :P

[figo_united]

I had taken the following route when I went to pondy around 6 months ago.
Again, It will be around 100km more than the tiruannamalai route, but the roads are very good. its via salem - attur - kallakurichi - ulundurpet - villupuram.



I also travelled to kanchipuram recently, so can vouch for that route to be awesome as well. Till kanchipuram, it is actually better than the route I have attached. Not sure about the route post kanchipuram.

[ampere]

@figo_united,

Do you mean to say, Salem-Ulundrupet was good inspite of work on the NH68?
If so, that is good.

[narayans80]

Figo, I'd love to hear about the Salem-Ulundurpettai stretch as well. Am leaving tomorrow afternoon, comtemplating on using it on the return. The latest info from vigneshA on the NH68 thread didnt sound encouraging though.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Figo, I'd love to hear about the Salem-Ulundurpettai stretch as well. Am leaving tomorrow afternoon, comtemplating on using it on the return. The latest info from vigneshA on the NH68 thread didnt sound encouraging though.

When I went on that route (6 months ago as mentioned previously), road repairs were happening on some stretches, but it was being done on only one side of the road, and the other side was left free, and was in good condition. Since I travelled in night, there was not too much traffic too, and the drive was smooth.
Really cant comment on the current state.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Mahabs (ECR) is another 28 kms East of Chengalpattu. If you are looking to take the ECR more, you can drive all the way upto Maduravoyal (Madras), take the Chennai Bypass to NH45, take a left at Vandalur towards Kelambakkam (will get you on Old Mahabalipuram Road), the ECR link road from Kelambakkam will land you near Kovalam on ECR. The advantage is getting more 4-laners this way

Will this be the shortest route (time-wise) to ECR from Chengalpattu?

Originally Posted by narayans80

Pondy gets NE monsoon, not SW monsoon. So monsoon is like late October, November, early December. In June it will be hot summer :P

Ah right. I guess hot summer is also ok. The gentle sea breeze would be even more welcome in the evenings.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Will this be the shortest route (time-wise) to ECR from Chengalpattu?

If you want to goto Pondicherry and not Mahabs, NH45 is any day faster compared to ECR.
You get 4L all the way till Pondicherry (NH45 and NH66)

NH66 is 4L from Tindivanam to Pondicherrry.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Will this be the shortest route (time-wise) to ECR from Chengalpattu?

The shortest route will certainly be the regular route via Thirukalukundram which will join the ECR near Kalpakkam or alternatively you can join near Mahabalipuram depending on your destination. You will easilly take atleast 30 minutes to reach Vandalur Jn. from Chengalpattu. Add another 20/25 minutes atleast to reach Muttukadau from there.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Hey Ampere, in terms of time taken, how much would the difference be between the two routes?

Also, how much would be the time taken if one were to head towards ECR from Chengalpattu?

I will probably be going to Pondi sometime in June. Monsoon will be in full swing, right?

Sorry I saw this question just now. There would be a difference of 20km (between NH45 and ECR). But that can translate into significant time difference as ECR would have heavy traffic and also the fact that its a 2L as against NH45/NH66 which would be 4L all the way.

1. If its for the pure fun of ECR, take it while you are coming back.
2. If you plan to visit Mahabs again do it on the way back from Pondicherry.
You can do both drive and Mahabs and it may not be tiring. Your drive gets split.

[rk_sans]

Had been to pondy last week. While going took the Tiruvanamalai route. Roads are bad till Gingee but you can drive in this road only in day time not in night time. Appx 320 Kms
Coming back, took the most preferred route, Pondy- Tindivanam - Chenglapet - Kanchipuram - Bangalore. Awesome roads, no complain about it at all. Appx - 420 Kms

Difference in Kms 80 - 100 kms compared to the earlier route.
Toll amount paid Rs.205
No. of tolls 7

Rs.20 Toll 1 Athur Toll(Tindivanam - Chenglapet )
Rs.25 Toll 2 Chennasamudram Toll
Rs.45 Toll 3 Penkonda
Rs.35 Toll 4 Vaniyabamdi
Rs.25 Toll 5 Krishnagiri
Rs.20 Toll 6 Attibele
Rs.35 Toll 7 BETL

Also, there is a new toll coming up after Pondy towards Tindivanam, not started yet. So total 8 tolls from bangalore to Pondy

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Rs.45 Toll 3 Penkonda

That toll plaza on NH 46 is located at Pallikonda.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you want to goto Pondicherry and not Mahabs, NH45 is any day faster compared to ECR.
You get 4L all the way till Pondicherry (NH45 and NH66)

NH66 is 4L from Tindivanam to Pondicherrry.

So i took the suggested route and it was awesome.
BUT i think i took the wrong road from Kanchipuram to Chengalapattu. I got onto the NH45 Bypass road and that was not so good. I should have stayed on the road to Chennai a bit more? The turn to NH45 would have come on that road itself?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by amitoj

So i took the suggested route and it was awesome.
BUT i think i took the wrong road from Kanchipuram to Chengalapattu. I got onto the NH45 Bypass road and that was not so good. I should have stayed on the road to Chennai a bit more? The turn to NH45 would have come on that road itself?

I think there is only one SH between the two towns. So you should have taken the right road only. This will join the NH45 bypass before it enters Chengalapattu town. The only point is how you get on to this SH in Kanchi.

I thought that the Chengalpattu GQ bypass was in place. Should not have been any issue. This is news to me!

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by ampere

I think there is only one SH between the two towns. So you should have taken the right road only. This will join the NH45 bypass before it enters Chengalapattu town. The only point is how you get on to this SH in Kanchi.

I thought that the Chengalpattu GQ bypass was in place. Should not have been any issue. This is news to me!

You are right. I dont see any other road connecting the two towns on google maps either. The road i took had innumerable speed breakers, with huge caravans of trucks on both sides and a lot of buses too. It was an undivided two lane road. The surface of the road was also not much to talk about.
Still, i made it to pondicherry in about 5.5 hours, including a stop for lunch and a missed turn at Tindivanam.