[mjothi]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Friends:

Planning to drive down to Madras this Thursday morning - any updates (read 'speedbreakers/potholes') to remember for a Civic?

Thanks!

No worry. its all good roads. Only thing I missed is the greens. There are huge difference all through the roads. Both sides, hills etc are all brown in color. i hate summer.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by mjothi

No worry. its all good roads. Only thing I missed is the greens. There are huge difference all through the roads. Both sides, hills etc are all brown in color. i hate summer.

Thanks ! Me too - imagine going to Madras NOW - no alternative !

[DWind]

Hi,
I am starting for Mysore tommorrow. Will be taking the GQ till e-city and then take NICE to Mysore road. Since I will be starting at 4 AM I will be in Bangalore at 7:30 or 8 thereabouts which is peak hour. Is there a better route with good road and less traffic to byepass Bangalore? Please let me know.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DWind

Hi,
I am starting for Mysore tommorrow. Will be taking the GQ till e-city and then take NICE to Mysore road. Since I will be starting at 4 AM I will be in Bangalore at 7:30 or 8 thereabouts which is peak hour. Is there a better route with good road and less traffic to byepass Bangalore? Please let me know.

NICE is the best you can get. As earlier mentioned, be sure to take the service road (the one on the extreme left) once you go past the BETL start point.

PS: BETL : Bangalore Elevated Toll Road, which starts at E-City Campus on Hosur Road/NH7

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Planning to drive down to Madras this Thursday morning - any updates (read 'speedbreakers/potholes') to remember for a Civic?

I drove to Chennai and back on 10/11 April 2010 in my Fiat Linea on NH 7/46/4. I thoroughly enjoyed the highway and city driving: no potholes, no speed-breakers, extremely blissful driving. The problem of bottom-scraping arises on NH 4 towards Tumkur, not on this route.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by ampere

NICE is the best you can get. As earlier mentioned, be sure to take the service road (the one on the extreme left) once you go past the BETL start point.

Thanks ampere! I used to do Chennai-Bangalore regularly 6 months ago and wish I could do something about the 2 wheeler traffic in Hosur towards AL factories. They are there everywhere on the road vying with cars and trucks going at 60 KMPH with no Rear view Mirrors nor helmets. Should write to AL about this as they need to take care of their employees.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DWind

Thanks ampere! I used to do Chennai-Bangalore regularly 6 months ago and wish I could do something about the 2 wheeler traffic in Hosur towards AL factories. They are there everywhere on the road vying with cars and trucks going at 60 KMPH with no Rear view Mirrors nor helmets. Should write to AL about this as they need to take care of their employees.

Thats is very true. One should be very careful about this. Hosur is full of such traffic. And also at the signals, you get the feeling that people are coming on to you from all sides (even the third dimension).

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

I drove to Chennai and back on 10/11 April 2010 in my Fiat Linea on NH 7/46/4. I thoroughly enjoyed the highway and city driving: no potholes, no speed-breakers, extremely blissful driving. The problem of bottom-scraping arises on NH 4 towards Tumkur, not on this route.

Agreed - I was there last weekend. very un-eventful, except for a couple of friendly races.

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Folks:

Apart from A2B at Chinar, are there any new places to stop/eat on this stretch from Bangalore - Madras and back?

Must be equal to or better than A2B !

Thanks.

I took food from a hotel called Krishna Inn (?) near Shoolagiri. It was pretty good. There is also a CCD next to it. Comes on the left side when coming form Bangalore.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by vasoo

I took food from a hotel called Krishna Inn (?) near Shoolagiri. It was pretty good. There is also a CCD next to it. Comes on the left side when coming form Bangalore.

Thanks for the info.

I think I need some way to program my car to beep when potential eating places are in the horizon.

At about 125 - 140 kmph, I'm not able to see anything other than the yellow boundary lines

After much effort, yesterday, I saw Hotel Ganapathi (to your left while coming from Madras) whiz past my windshield immediately after the Kanchipuram junction (but before the bridge). I have heard that this place is good.

[mjothi]

There is also one new hotel right in the krishnagiri junction. This comes next to the Bharat petroleum bunk when coming from Chennai, after you take the right to bangy.

Anyone tried this?

[jaganm]

I just did a return trip over the weekend. A few points that may be helpful

- Avoid A2B as a eating stop. Virtually every car stops there, which makes for a longer wait. We stopped at one of the other places around 10km before A2B (can't remember the name). Decent food, but expensive as hell. 35 bucks for a plate of idly-vada!!
- Avoid taking the ring road in Chennai. The metro construction makes it a nightmare. It took me a good half an hour longer to get to KK Nagar through this road than my usual road (via Porur)

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by jaganm

I just did a return trip over the weekend. A few points that may be helpful

- Avoid A2B as a eating stop. Virtually every car stops there, which makes for a longer wait. We stopped at one of the other places around 10km before A2B (can't remember the name). Decent food, but expensive as hell. 35 bucks for a plate of idly-vada!!
..

The place where I took food also was pretty expensive. One plate idly vada was 32, 20 for two idly and 12 for vada! Very tasty though...

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jaganm

I just did a return trip over the weekend. A few points that may be helpful

- Avoid A2B as a eating stop. Virtually every car stops there, which makes for a longer wait. We stopped at one of the other places around 10km before A2B (can't remember the name). Decent food, but expensive as hell. 35 bucks for a plate of idly-vada!!
- Avoid taking the ring road in Chennai. The metro construction makes it a nightmare. It took me a good half an hour longer to get to KK Nagar through this road than my usual road (via Porur)

I think you were referring to Sri Krishna Inn. The campus which houses Coffee Day also.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by ampere

I think you were referring to Sri Krishna Inn. The campus which houses Coffee Day also.

Can someone tell me where exactly this place is?

Are there any landmarks BEFORE we reach this place?

Thanks.