[ampere]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Ampere, do you have latest update on the road condition from Tindivanam to Tiruvannamalai? I am driving to Melmaruvathur using the Krishnagiri - Arcot- Cheyyar - Vandavasi route. On the return, I want to visit Tiruvannamalai. If the Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai road is in shambles, then I will have to give Lord Annamalai a miss.

Its not all that great. I hear its still bad. See this update:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3407365

[lina]

Drove from podicherry to bangalore yesterday and i used this route:
pondicherry - tindivanam - vandavasi - cheyyar - arcot - ranipet - chittoor - kolar - bangalore

Roads are mostly good along this route and i took a total of 5.5 hours including one break for about 30 minutes. Total distance was around 350 km.
left pondicherry at 9 am and was in indiranagar, bangalore by 2:30 pm

individual segment conditions:
pondicherry - tindivanam -> 4-lane, excellent and very little traffic. avg speed 100 kmph easily. Toll = Rs. 37
tindivanam - arcot -> 2-lane state highway. very good and very little traffic. avg speed 70 kmph
arcot - chittoor - Karnataka border -> narrower 2-lane. no potholes but not as smooth as the TN stretch. a lot of container truck traffic which can be slightly irritating because they are pretty slow along uphills. the roads are still good though. avg speed - 50 kmph
karnataka border - mulbagal -> currently 2 lane, but 4-laning work going on. traffic is very less and roads are good. avg speed 70 kmph.
mulbagal - bangalore - 4 lane, excellent and not much traffic. avg speed 100 kmph. toll = Rs. 61 + 15

stopped for a 30 min break at "jeevan cafe" in arcot. they had decent parotas and idiyappams. the coffee was good too. sadly they were out of idlis and dosas by 11:30 am.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by lina

karnataka border - mulbagal -> currently 2 lane, but 4-laning work going on. traffic is very less and roads are good. avg speed 70 kmph.

This is good to note. Was not aware that 4-lane work has started beyond Mulbagal toward state border. Lets see when they complete it!

[theexperthand]

Guys - I am planning to drive down to Pondy this week. Thanks to excellent inputs from this thread, I have decided to take the much preferred Krishnagiri - Arcot - thindivaram route.

My plan is to reach Pondy by Thursday noon and start back by saturday morning. Our main focus on this trip is on food - especially sea food, continental and French. From variuos reviews, I have got names like satsang, Cafe Xtasi,Rendevous, baker street, villa shanti etc, but the reviews are often confusing. So, please help us with suggestions. And oh, we are pure non-vegetarians, so any place where we can get a good non vegetarian breakfast and or English \ European breakfast will be awesome

--Anoop

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Guys - I am planning to drive down to Pondy this week. Thanks to excellent inputs from this thread, I have decided to take the much preferred Krishnagiri - Arcot - thindivaram route.

My plan is to reach Pondy by Thursday noon and start back by saturday morning. Our main focus on this trip is on food - especially sea food, continental and French. From variuos reviews, I have got names like satsang, Cafe Xtasi,Rendevous, baker street, villa shanti etc, but the reviews are often confusing. So, please help us with suggestions. And oh, we are pure non-vegetarians, so any place where we can get a good non vegetarian breakfast and or English \ European breakfast will be awesome

--Anoop

I would suggest Baker Street for French / European breakfast. Last time I visited Pondy, I enjoyed their quiche, tart & pizza.

[lina]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Guys - I am planning to drive down to Pondy this week. Thanks to excellent inputs from this thread, I have decided to take the much preferred Krishnagiri - Arcot - thindivaram route.

My plan is to reach Pondy by Thursday noon and start back by saturday morning. Our main focus on this trip is on food - especially sea food, continental and French. From variuos reviews, I have got names like satsang, Cafe Xtasi,Rendevous, baker street, villa shanti etc, but the reviews are often confusing. So, please help us with suggestions. And oh, we are pure non-vegetarians, so any place where we can get a good non vegetarian breakfast and or English \ European breakfast will be awesome

--Anoop

if you are living around east bangalore, i would recommend taking old-madras road and the route i took. the traffic and toll will be a lot less. also, bear in mind that this week there will be a mass exodus from bangalore to TN and kerala thanks to puthandu+vishu+easter which implies huge pile-ups at toll booths.

in pondy, my favourite lunch/dinner restaurant is villa shanti. the food is easily the best. the restaurant in de l orient is also really good. for breakfast, satsanga, rendezvous, cafe des arts and for pizza, cafe xtasi. rendezvous is good for lunch and dinner too. just had a goan-style red-snapper there last week, amazing. and dont forget to have the hot chocolate at zuka. it is to die for. baker street is awesome for pastries and small snacks.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

I would suggest Baker Street for French / European breakfast. Last time I visited Pondy, I enjoyed their quiche, tart & pizza.

Originally Posted by lina

if you are living around east bangalore, i would recommend taking old-madras road and the route i took. the traffic and toll will be a lot less. also, bear in mind that this week there will be a mass exodus from bangalore to TN and kerala thanks to puthandu+vishu+easter which implies huge pile-ups at toll booths.

ibaker street is awesome for pastries and small snacks.

Thank you Ankan and Lina. Will try the places definitely

I stay near Singasandra ( near to electronic city) and was planing to start by 4.30 am, so not really sure if I have to take the Kolar route.

--Anoop

[racer_ash]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

----
And oh, we are pure non-vegetarians, so any place where we can get a good non vegetarian breakfast and or English \ European breakfast will be awesome

--Anoop

You can also try Rendezvous. Its a famous restaurant serving awesome pizzas and various varieties of non vegetarian food, including seafood. We were regular visitors here during my PG days.

[lina]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Thank you Ankan and Lina. Will try the places definitely

I stay near Singasandra ( near to electronic city) and was planing to start by 4.30 am, so not really sure if I have to take the Kolar route.

--Anoop

thats almost hosur so no point taking OMR. GQ it is!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

I stay near Singasandra ( near to electronic city) and was planing to start by 4.30 am, so not really sure if I have to take the Kolar route.

Originally Posted by lina

thats almost hosur so no point taking OMR. GQ it is!

As @lina (I have a hunch his name is Anil ) said, since you stay near Electronic City, no need to take the Kolar route. Take the Hosur/Krishnagiri option. And if you start by 4:30, you should be there for a late breakfast itself ! Have a safe drive.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its not all that great. I hear its still bad. See this update:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3407365

Hi Ampere, Completed the trip over the weekend. Here is the update on this route.

Bangalore- Krishnagiri-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Melmaruvathur joining NH7. Good roads all the way through. Have been confirmed by many others also earlier.
Melmaruvathur - Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai. Took the risk of taking this route even with the warning as I did not want to miss Lord Annamalai's darshan and it had been a long time because of bad roads. The Tiruvannmalai - Tindivanam road widening is about 30% complete. No work has started in about 20% section. 50% of the road has only one way and pretty bad state when we have opposite traffic coming in. Luckily I was driving in the afternoon and the opposite traffic was sparse. Hence we managed ok. But the comments from the Chennai folks are absolutely right. The road has to be taken with care and night driving is a strict no-no because one side is fully dug up and one can easily fall over when vehicle is coming with hi beams on from opposite direction.

Tirvannamalai-Thanipadi-Harur-Morappur-Kariamangalam to join NH45. Almost good roads 90% of the way. Few rough patches between Thanipadi and Harur, but definitely manageable. No deep potholes.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Melmaruvathur - Tindivanam - Tiruvannamalai. Took the risk of taking this route even with the warning as I did not want to miss Lord Annamalai's darshan and it had been a long time because of bad roads.

Great update Gopi. Hopefully the works get sooner.

You could have also done : Vandasi-Chetpet-Tiruvannamalai.

Roads should have been better.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by ampere

.

You could have also done : Vandasi-Chetpet-Tiruvannamalai.

Hey, why din't you tell me that route before? I never quite thought about that. I will try it next time. Thanks for pointing this alternate option.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Hey, why din't you tell me that route before? I never quite thought about that. I will try it next time. Thanks for pointing this alternate option.

Sorry! I some how always thought you may end up not going to Tiruvannamalai. So never realised that! The reason this came to mind was many use the Vellore/Acot - Polur/Arani road to Tiruvannamalai; esp those who come from Chennai. So was thinking was not try this option? Roads I don't think all that great, but they surely won't be that bad either.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by gopikb

Hey, why din't you tell me that route before? I never quite thought about that. I will try it next time. Thanks for pointing this alternate option.

You can even try the Vellore-Arni-Vandavasi route. The roads here too are good 2 lane roads