Originally Posted by ajithbr

Beyond this, absolutely NOTHING DECENT till you enter Pondicherry town.

There is a decent eatery called Arya's Garden on NH 45 at the junction of Tindivanam bypass and Tindivanam access road.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Back from a "sooper" drive to Pondy and back a couple of hours ago. Will post some details later, but the short summary of bye-passes on the newly popular Arcot route to Pondy is as follows:

Here are some details of my Pondy drive last week-end. Hope these points will be helpful !
Please note that I am an extremely slow driver and so you may surely better this timings. Check with regulars on this route and they can vouch for a 5-6 hours drive. The 2L part is about 95 kms and you can easily do 80+ kmph speed (and cover this in less than 90 minutes) in the current situation except when you are crossing Vandavasi and a couple of relatively big villages on the route.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

There is a decent eatery called Arya's Garden on NH 45 at the junction of Tindivanam bypass and Tindivanam access road.

Did not notice the same as I was busy looking at LHS for the exit to NH-66 since I was driving here first time. But wanted to know whether the place has good toilet facilities just in case I drive on the stretch (full/partial) between Trichy->Chennai. For a Pondy trip, I think this will be just a pass since Pondy would be just only half-an-hour away from here. And also, I somehow liked tea on a couple of the tea-stalls on either sides immediately after the exit to NH-66.

[theMAG]

Came back from a weekend Pondy mini-vacation drive.

Onward route: BLR-Sripuram(Golden Temple)-Aarani-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondy.

Positives: Good route most of the way.
Negatives: Bad stretch between Aarani-Vandavasi. Got caught offguard at the sudden potholes after clean looking stretches. Was more watchful during the return drive.

Return route: Same till Aarani. However, after Aarani, I was directed to the Arcot route by the locals, and did not regret it. The road was better and took the Arcot bypass. Not sure how much extra commute this added though, compared to the onward route. But much better overall road quality.

[ampere]

A Question of the evening visit to the Vellore Temple:

How does one plan to see the evening lights of the golden temple?
Typically its late by the time one gets to see the lights and has to plan to return back home?

If like @mag one is visiting Pondicherry, one can at most visit the place on the way during day time.
How about the brilliantly lit lights at night?

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by ampere

A Question of the evening visit to the Vellore Temple:

How does one plan to see the evening lights of the golden temple?
Typically its late by the time one gets to see the lights and has to plan to return back home?

Go for it, its a sight to behold but then no camera's allowed. If you plan to see the evening lights and head back, start your return journey by 8:00pm. You can beat the mad traffic in bangalore since you would need at-least 3 hrs to get here.

[deetjohn]

Planning a BLR - PY trip over a weekend (Start Saturday early morning and return Sunday evening).

We have shortlisted this route below.

BLR - Krishnagiri - Vellore - Kanchipuram - Chengalpattu - Kalpakkam - ECR - PY. The destination is St James Court Beach Resort.

How is this route?

And should we pick a different route on the way back? Looking for good roads. Heard BLR - Chennai - PY is the best option, but that is too much of a detour.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Planning a BLR - PY trip over a weekend (Start Saturday early morning and return Sunday evening).

We have shortlisted this route below.

BLR - Krishnagiri - Vellore - Kanchipuram - Chengalpattu - Kalpakkam - ECR - PY. The destination is St James Court Beach Resort.

- One you are leaving on a sat and are back by sun. That is very short.
- Of that 6-8 hours would be on travel per day.

So good to extend by a day at least.

Instead of Chengalpet, go via Vandavasi. Do check Ajit's post of how to get on to the Cheyyar SH near the Palar bridge at Arcot.
(Krishnagiri-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-PY)
Any reasons for ECR? Access to ECR via Kanchi would be traffic prone (and so is the ECR itself)

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by ampere

- One you are leaving on a sat and are back by sun. That is very short.
- Of that 6-8 hours would be on travel per day.

So good to extend by a day at least.

Can't take leave. Has to be done over the weekend. Will try for a early morning start on Sat.

Originally Posted by ampere

Instead of Chengalpet, go via Vandavasi. Do check Ajit's post of how to get on to the Cheyyar SH near the Palar bridge at Arcot.
(Krishnagiri-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-PY)

This one? http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2687838

Originally Posted by ampere

Any reasons for ECR? Access to ECR via Kanchi would be traffic prone (and so is the ECR itself)

Never been on ECR. So want to try it. And St James' is alongside ECR right?

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Never been on ECR. So want to try it. And St James' is alongside ECR right?

Yeah just a few kms into ECR from Pondicherry towards Chennai, it's located on the right hand side. You cant miss this place coz they have a board put up outside indicating the route to the Resort.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Can't take leave. Has to be done over the weekend. Will try for a early morning start on Sat.

If you start by 5AM, you should be in by 11-12. But do note if you go via Kanchi/Chegelpet, you may get delayed due to traffic in the towns.

This one? http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2687838

Yes that is the one I was referring to.

Never been on ECR. So want to try it. And St James' is alongside ECR right?

Do note traffic is high on ECR. For the fun of it you can take the following:

Route link

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you start by 5AM, you should be in by 11-12. But do note if you go via Kanchi/Chegelpet, you may get delayed due to traffic in the towns.

Is the traffic really that bad at Kanchi & Chegelpet? We are thinking of starting by 5:30AM.

I am not able to relate to the route given by ajithbr. Not well versed with the surroundings there and don't have a GPS. And can't afford to get lost.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Is the traffic really that bad at Kanchi & Chegelpet? We are thinking of starting by 5:30AM.

I am not able to relate to the route given by ajithbr. Not well versed with the surroundings there and don't have a GPS. And can't afford to get lost.

Here is the link that I am referring to.

NH 48 to SH 122, State Highway 122/SH 4 - Google Maps


- Go past Vellore. Drive till Arcot. Where you see the bridge.
- Cross the bridge and come back to see the SH on the left for Cheyyar.

[r_devakumar]

What about the the route Krishnagiri - Thiruvannamalai - Thindivanam - Pondichery? Seems to be a shortest one from Bangalore, but i don't have any idea about the road conditions between Krishnagiri and Thindivanam.

If you are taking other routes (vellore - aarani) better to avoid ECR. Instead, GST - Thidivanam - Pondy will be better one.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by r_devakumar

but i don't have any idea about the road conditions between Krishnagiri and Thindivanam.

That is the worst part, which makes every one take the route Arcot/Vandavasi.

If you are taking other routes (vellore - aarani) better to avoid ECR. Instead, GST - Thidivanam - Pondy will be better one.

Vellore/Arani takes you back to Tiruvannamalai. Better to go via Arcot/Cheyyar. Unless the Arani-Vandavasi section is good.