[hamster]

Please avoid the Chitoor route especially now with the current political situation.
One of my colleagues has been to his native in Andhra on vacation and is yet to return back to Bangalore(was expected on Monday).

If you are leaving Chennai @ 6 AM, with all your breaks and at decent speeds(max 100kph), you will reach Bangalore only by 11 - 11:30 AM, even via GQ.
Expect a lot of buses ferrying the employees to their factories early in the morning till Sriperumbudur. 11-11:30 AM, the peak hour traffic in Bangalore should have subsidised.

If still paranoid about it, try the Hosur-Bagalur-Chikkatirupati->Hope Form-> ITPL-> KR Puram-> Tin Factory route. This route has one draw back. You can expect truck traffic after 11 AM all the way before Hope Farm till KR Puram.

[suresh_gs]

VISIT TO PERIYA ANJANEYAR TEMPLE AT AMBUR

Hi Folks,
On the account of Hanuman Jayanthi (14.12.2013), I had been to this temple along with my wife and kid.

The specialty of this temple is that Lord Hanuman is shown stamping Shani bhagwan with his foot which, I think, is not seen in any of the hanuman temples. The temple ambience was great and well maintained too.

For more details , please refer the link

http://www.periyaanjaneyartemple.org/history.htm

I took the route shown below for the onward journey. It was a mixed experience as far as the road conditions were concerned. For the return journey, I stuck to the NH.



ONWARD JOURNEY

I left Bangalore at 2:30 PM. For a change I did not take the attibele-rayakottai road as the road conditions are not that great. Moreover I have been on this stretch quiet a number of times in the recent past. So I paid toll at attibele and stuck to NH.

It was slow moving traffic all the way from the KA-TN border till the start of the flyover in Hosur. 6 lane work is going on in full swing. Once I got down the Hosur flyover, I took a U turn towards the Rayakottai road.

Along the hosur rayakottai stretch, the road is generally good at most of the places, while at other parts, the tarmac has been broken. No deep potholes as such but beware of the broken road at such parts. Overall I would rate this road as 70% good and 30% bad.

HOSUR-RAYAKOTTAI ROAD




Once I crossed rayakotai, I took the road to krishnagiri. The first 3 kms or so is a narrow road but a good one. The road is also winding at some places and then the road gradually widens up.

Trust me folks, my instantaneous speed on this road was 100 kmph. Driving was a sheer pleasure on this stretch. Traffic was also less. On google maps, the road from rayakottai to krishnagiri is not shown as a SH. Distance wise compared to the regular krishnagiri route on NH, this route is about 20 kms more. Of course you avoid paying toll at krishnagiri. One will enjoy driving on this road.

RAYAKOTTAI-KRISHNAGIRI ROAD




We then took a break at Hotel Vasavi at krishnagiri. After about 40 mins or so, we started on our journey . Proceeded on the NH till i reached Bargur.

ROAD TO BARGUR



BARGUR-TIRUPATTUR ROAD



From bargur, I took the bargur-tirupattur road. The best of the lot I would say. Butter smooth road all the way from bargur till tirupatur. This road will put to shame even the NH . If driving on rayakottai-krishnagiri road was sheer pleasure, driving on bargur-tirupattur road was sheer bliss.

Traffic was high in tirupattur town. Once I crossed tirupattur, broken road greeted me all the way till I rejoined the NH. It is drivable but one has to be cautious to avoid the broken stretches. This is the famous SH 18 from Vellore to Salem via Tirupattur.
I believe work is going on to lay a new road. I saw quite a number of drainage pipes that had to be laid. Definitely it was not a smooth drive on this road. The only plus point is you avoid paying toll at Vaniyambadi.

Once I reached Ambur, I had a tough time locating the temple. Inside Ambur town, the lanes are narrow. If 2 cars come on the opposite direction, it will test your skills as to how to cross each other without causing any scratch marks on the cars.
We spent about 1 hr in the temple. The prasadam was yummy.

For the return journey, as told earlier, I stuck to the NH. Fortunately, traffic was less all the way till Bangalore. I left the temple at 8:30 PM and reached home by 11 PM.

Overall a mixed experience for me as far as driving was concerned. Still I enjoyed the drive.

Cheers…

[ampere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I took the route shown below for the onward journey. It was a mixed experience as far as the road conditions were concerned. For the return journey, I stuck to the NH.

If you like alternative routes, you should also try the option via Venkatagirikota. Drive on NH234 to Gudiayatam and exit in between for Ambur.
Now to reach V Kote you can take multiple options depending on where you live in BLR.

- Sarjapur-Baglur-Malur-Bangarpet-V Kote (Quite patchy roads)
- Kolar-Bethamangala-V Kote

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ampere

If you like alternative routes, you should also try the option via Venkatagirikota. Drive on NH234 to Gudiayatam and exit in between for Ambur.
Now to reach V Kote you can take multiple options depending on where you live in BLR.

- Sarjapur-Baglur-Malur-Bangarpet-V Kote (Quite patchy roads)
- Kolar-Bethamangala-V Kote

Thanks for your feedback. With the birth of the second member in the family, i have cut down on trips temporarily. In about few months time, i should be back on track.

I have driven on kolar-bethamangala route to Bangaru Tirupati. Very good 2L road but traffic is on the higher side. The bargur-Tirupattur route is a treat to drive. Awesome 2L road. Infact from Tirupattur, there are 2 routes to go to Vellore. One via SH 18 that connects you on to the NH after vaniyambadi toll. This road was in the process of being relaid when i went. Broken tarmac at many places.
The other route is SH122 that takes you to Vellore via Alangayam. I have no idea about this route. With this route, one can avoid toll at Pallikonda too

[ampere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

The other route is SH122 that takes you to Vellore via Alangayam. I have no idea about this route. With this route, one can avoid toll at Pallikonda too

Many use the Alangayam road to reach the Kavalur Observatory. With the 4-lane usage has come down, unless one wants to use it specifically.

There are a couple of biking routes to Polur. Many bikers take this trail.

[Waxeloquent]

Thanks Hamster, will take the GQ, forgot about the AP problem.

Cheers

[Mr_Bean]

Hello Bhpians,

I am driving down to Chennai tomorrow at 5 AM, planning to take the national highway (Attibele-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Chennai). No doubts with this route as I've taken it many times.

I was hoping to take the same route while I return back on Monday, but I have an unplanned stay at Mahabalipuram for a night.

Can you please comment on the route to take from Mahabalipuram to Bangalore (HSR LAyout)? Further details on the road conditions would help.

Rgds,
Vinod

[binand]

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

Can you please comment on the route to take from Mahabalipuram to Bangalore (HSR LAyout)? Further details on the road conditions would help.

Mahabalipuram-Kelambakkam-Vandalur-Oragadam-Sriperumbudur and then follow the regular Chennai-Bangalore route. I just took this route from Kelambakkam onwards last weekend, and it was great throughout.

For Mahabalipuram-Kelambakkam, you can take East Coast Road for which you need to pay toll, or Old Mahabalipuram Road for which you don't. I think the former is a lot better than the latter. If you are coming by ECR then take the left turn at Kovalam towards Kelambakkam.

Edit: Forgot that you can reach Oragadam via Chegalpattu-Singaperumal Kovil as well. I think the latter also has pretty good roads. I am not sure about Chengalpattu-Kanchipuram though.

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by binand

Mahabalipuram-Kelambakkam-Vandalur-Oragadam-Sriperumbudur and then follow the regular Chennai-Bangalore route. I just took this route from Kelambakkam onwards last weekend, and it was great throughout.

For Mahabalipuram-Kelambakkam, you can take East Coast Road for which you need to pay toll, or Old Mahabalipuram Road for which you don't. I think the former is a lot better than the latter. If you are coming by ECR then take the left turn at Kovalam towards Kelambakkam.

Edit: Forgot that you can reach Oragadam via Chegalpattu-Singaperumal Kovil as well. I think the latter also has pretty good roads. I am not sure about Chengalpattu-Kanchipuram though.

Thanks binand for the inputs.
I will take the kelambakkam route, i have been through it earlier to reach annanagar..

Originally Posted by Mr_Bean

Can you please comment on the route to take from Mahabalipuram to Bangalore (HSR LAyout)? Further details on the road conditions would help.

You can consider Mahabalipuram>Chengalpattu>Walajabad>Kanchipuram>V ellore>Krishnagiri>Bangalore. The road near Walajabad was not good, when I drove on that route. But, this route involves driving through Kanchipuram as there is no bypass available. But, the advantage is, food break can be taken at the genuine Hotel Saravana Bhavan - there are 2 outlets, one at Gandhi Road and the other near bus stand, both being on the way - in Kanchipuram.

[connect2prashan]

Hi all who travelled in this stretch recently. How is the road condition. I am travelling to Bangalore this weekend. I will be taking the toll road: chennai-vellore-ambur-krishnagiri-hosur-bangalore.

The road is pretty good after vellore. I want to know the chennai - vellore stretch.

It's been 4 months I last took this road. And it was average at that time. Advise on the road condition now.

[Waxeloquent]

Drove from Chennai to Bangalore via GQ. Till Vellore the road was full of patches and staff buses. After that it was fine, even in Hosur town. Took 6 hrs with a 1/2 hr BF break at
Aru Suvai restaurant after Sriperumpudur Nokia.

Cheers

[connect2prashan]

I left Guindy today morning at 5:45. Reached Bangalore by 11 after a 15 min fuel/bfst break post vellore.

The road from chennai - almost vellore was patchy. But I managed to maintain 60-65 kmph (avg).

[vipinendran]

Originally Posted by Bangalorean

I just did Bangalore-Chennai-Bangalore in my Mahindra Quanto, and here's the latest update w.r.t. route conditions and traffic:


The real problems start near Sriperambadur. Too many trucks, buses, cars, minivans, tempos etc. on that four-lane road. Lot of waiting and slow-moving traffic.

Reached T.Nagar in Chennai at 8:40. It took me just 6 hours in spite of all the traffic on Poonamale high road and Sriperambadur, which is not bad at all

You could try branching of from sriperambadur via mudichur road to tambaram as discussed in this thread many times. You could then take the GST road to t.nagar, branching off at Katipara, via Ashok Pillar or via Anna salai, depending on which place in T.Nagar you want to go. I am sure you could save 20 to 30 min. How is your Quanto doing, I have one, and quite often take it to bangalore to visit my co-brother who works for cisco and stays at Indira Nagar.

[Bangalorean]

Originally Posted by vipinendran

You could try branching of from sriperambadur via mudichur road to tambaram as discussed in this thread many times. You could then take the GST road to t.nagar, branching off at Katipara, via Ashok Pillar or via Anna salai, depending on which place in T.Nagar you want to go. I am sure you could save 20 to 30 min. How is your Quanto doing, I have one, and quite often take it to bangalore to visit my co-brother who works for cisco and stays at Indira Nagar.

Quanto is working great. Had a few minor compplaints, but they were resolved to my satisfaction. Quite satisfied with the vehicle so far.