[Snehal Sekhar]

Just got a day to go for my Bangalore - Pondicherry - Chennai - Bangalore ride, but there seems to be a small hitch in my plan and I may not be able to make it to Chennai. As of now, I am keeping my options open but wanted to find out if I don't go to Chennai and rode back to Bangalore, how about coming back via the Pondicherry - Cuddalore - Kallakurichi - Salem - Dharmapuri - Bangalore road. How is the condition of this stretch? Are the roads well laid and hassle free?

[zombiedriver]

The road from ulundurpet to bangalore via Salem is superb but the stretch between cuddalore to ulundurpet hasn't been in the best shape since 6 months.

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by zombiedriver

but the stretch between cuddalore to ulundurpet hasn't been in the best shape since 6 months.

Thanks zombiedriver! Any road work / widening going on with a lot of deviations or are the roads pothole ridden and unevenly surfaced? Just checking if it is worth taking the trouble to go on this route. Since I am coming via Krishnagiri - Arcot - Vandavasi route to Pondi, wanted to take a different route on my return journey.

[zombiedriver]

It's been a couple of months since I've been on that route. At that point it was pot hole ridden. I've been using the pondy tindivanam villupuram route the last few times because we travel with our dog and he was very uncomfortable. I am considering using that route again this Saturday, if I do end up doing that I'll update this thread with the latest condition. It's only a 60km stretch and on a bike it shouldn't cause too many problems

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Thanks zombiedriver! Any road work / widening going on with a lot of deviations or are the roads pothole ridden and unevenly surfaced? Just checking if it is worth taking the trouble to go on this route. Since I am coming via Krishnagiri - Arcot - Vandavasi route to Pondi, wanted to take a different route on my return journey.

Pondicherry-Tindivanam-Vandasi-Cheyyar-Arcot-Krishnagiri-Bangalore is as smooth as it can get provided, you take the bypasses for Tindivanam, Vandavasi and Cheyyar.

Even with a 100km of SH, one can cover the whole distance in about 5.5/6 hours at a sedate pace.

PS: Please refer to the previous posts for Google links to the bypasses.

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by ampere

Pondicherry-Tindivanam-Vandasi-Cheyyar-Arcot-Krishnagiri-Bangalore is as smooth as it can get provided, you take the bypasses for Tindivanam, Vandavasi and Cheyyar.
PS: Please refer to the previous posts for Google links to the bypasses.

Thanks ampere! I was actually enquiring about the Cuddalore - Ulundurpet - Salem route for my return journey to Bangalore.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Since I am coming via Krishnagiri - Arcot - Vandavasi route to Pondi, wanted to take a different route on my return journey.

If you want to try a different route, you could try this:

Pondy-Viluppuram-Tiruvannamalai-Thandrambattu-Thanipadi-Harur-Kambainallur-Karimangalam-NH7-Krishnagiri-Hosur-Bangalore.

Excellent and scenic countryside roads, should be perfect for a ride!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Thanks ampere! I was actually enquiring about the Cuddalore - Ulundurpet - Salem route for my return journey to Bangalore.

So basically you dont want to take the same route on the way back. If thats the case, then take what luvurride mentions. Please note, Pondicherry-Villupuram is a bit narrow.

Once you cross Tiruvannamalai, you wont find any hotels to break till you hit the four lane at Karimangalam.

[ns94]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Just got a day to go for my Bangalore - Pondicherry - Chennai - Bangalore ride, but there seems to be a small hitch in my plan and I may not be able to make it to Chennai. As of now, I am keeping my options open but wanted to find out if I don't go to Chennai and rode back to Bangalore, how about coming back via the Pondicherry - Cuddalore - Kallakurichi - Salem - Dharmapuri - Bangalore road. How is the condition of this stretch? Are the roads well laid and hassle free?

There is no point taking Cuddalore route for Salem. The best bet would be Villupuram->Ulundurpet->Kallakurichi->Salem. You would witness heavy traffic in Pondy-Villupuram road (40km approx) but once you cross Villupuram town its four lane all the way till Salem.

[Snehal Sekhar]

Just back from my Pondicherry ride and this is the update on the road condition from Bangalore to Pondi.

Onward journey route taken:

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-NH45 towards Trichi then NH 66 onwards to Pondicherrry.
Bangalore - Arcot: 4 lane highway and super roads
Once you turn right from Arcot and take the Cheyyar - Tindivanam road, it is a single lane road that goes through villages. At every village junction there are speed breakers. The roads are narrow and a few bad patches near some junctions. At some places there are no signs in English to direct you on the correct road, so if you can't read Tamil, it is advisable to stop and ask the local folk if you are on the correct path.

On my return leg I took the Pondicherry - Vilupuram - Ulundurpet - Salem - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri - Bangalore route. The distance is longer be around 50 kms, but it is all highways from Vilupuram all the way to Bangalore. From Pondi to Villupuram it is around 45 kms, but the roads are in very bad condition and it took me close to 1 hr 15 minutes to cross this stretch. From Vilupuram till Salem, the highway roads are two lane in most places, but the suddenly narrow down to single lane roads and that is when you must be careful since people coming from the opposite direction tend to come on to your lane when overtaking. From Salem till Bangalore it is a four lane highway all the way to Bangalore.

[ampere]

In fact per my opinion, just for the fun of taking the new route, Villupuram-Uludurpet-Salem-Bangalore may not that much of a fun. Its just plain four lane and distance you cover is much higher too.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

From Vilupuram till Salem, the highway roads are two lane in most places, but the suddenly narrow down to single lane roads and that is when you must be careful since people coming from the opposite direction tend to come on to your lane when overtaking. From Salem till Bangalore it is a four lane highway all the way to Bangalore.

I too observed this while going to Kumbakonam from Bangalore. Certain stretches of NH79 are 2 lane roads and then we have the usual 4 lane roads.

[rawnak]

I just got back from Bangalore - Pondy weekend trip.

Road Conditions
===========
We took Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar bypass -Vandavasi bypass-Tindivanam bypass -NH45-NH 66 onwards to Pondicherrry.
Highway till Arcot is 4 lane each side, very smooth
From Arcot (Highway 5) to Tindivanam is 1 lane each side with no divider.
Road surface is smooth except very small stretches of broken patches
and speed bumps in village area.
Google Maps was very accurate, without Google would have got lost easily
since signboards are not everywhere from Arcont to Tindivanam.

Food stops
=======
Good eating joints till Arcot like A2B, Saravana Bhavan, Ambur Biryani, etc
From Arcot to Tindivanam, no food joints

Entry Tax for Cabs
===========
There is Rs1k entry tax for Tamilnadu and 1k entry tax for Pondicherry.

Took 6 hrs(excluding food stops) from Bangalore to Pondicherry.


Cheers
rawnak

[rajathv8]

Originally Posted by rawnak

We took Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar bypass -Vandavasi bypass-Tindivanam bypass -NH45-NH 66 onwards to Pondicherrry.
Highway till Arcot is 4 lane each side, very smooth

Thanks rawnak.
Does anyone know the condition of road from Arcot to Kanchi? I may need to drive down on the weekend.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by rajathv8

Thanks rawnak.
Does anyone know the condition of road from Arcot to Kanchi? I may need to drive down on the weekend.

The best option for you will be to go to Vellore, join the NH, proceed along the same till you take an exit to Kanchi. You can expect traffic in kanchi town.