[sachinpk]

Gents, wanted to know the road conditions near Kodaikanal & Palani areas. I am planning on a trip during the upcoming festival seasons. Rain hits normal life in Kodaikanal hills ; is the news as of 01 September 2022, but things should have changed (for the better) now.


Google Maps shows a travelling time of 9-11 hours from Bangalore to Kodai, but wanted to get some expert opinion from TeamBHP as well .

Moderators: I could not find a thread regarding these places so opened up a new topic.

[Mnjdnght]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents, wanted to know the road conditions near Kodaikanal & Palani areas. I am planning on a trip during the upcoming festival seasons. Rain hits normal life in Kodaikanal hills ; is the news as of 01 September 2022, but things should have changed (for the better) now.


Google Maps shows a travelling time of 9-11 hours from Bangalore to Kodai, but wanted to get some expert opinion from TeamBHP as well .

Moderators: I could not find a thread regarding these places so opened up a new topic.

I did a Bangalore - Kodai - Bangalore trip recently starting from Bangalore on Sep 15 and returning on Sep 17. While going it took me 7.5 hrs and the return took 8 hrs, mainly due to hold up on Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road. I took the Dindigul - Bathlagundu - Kodai Ghat Road to Kodai. The road was in decent shape. There is culvert work happening at frequent spots about 20-30 KMs from Kodai all the way until you turn towards Kodai from the Palani branch off. These could be potential jam spots depending on your time of travel. I left Bangalore at 4:30 AM and covered the ghats between 10:30 and 12. There are some narrow-ish sections which just need a bit of caution. I don't recollect any specific road issue other than this but I am sure there were the occasional potholes etc. that didn't bother much and hence not in memory. Kodai town itself has some potholes in patches, but, once out of town towards various tourist spots, the roads are fairly ok again.

We had taken a local taxi for some local touring and the driver mentioned that the Palani road is not in good shape. He said there were some landslides on that road during heavy rains earlier in the month that damaged portion(s) of the road.

My suggestion would be to stick to the main route to Kodai and you should do well. If you have to go to Palani, then of course you'll have to brave the Kodai - Palani road which I hope works out for you. Have a good trip.

[sachinpk]

A quick update. Did the Bangalore-Kodai-Palani-KL trip this week. Started of very late from Bangalore at around 1100Hrs. Reached Kodaikanal at around 2030Hrs.

Bangalore-Kodaikanal: There seemed to be very heavy traffic till Salem. Too many slow trailer trucks, leading convoys of angry cars following. Since we started late decided to skip a full fledged lunch (+45 to 60 mins) and went in for packed lunch. That seemed to be a wise idea, as we could save some time. From Salem till Dindigul the road was excellent with much less traffic. At one point Google Maps even said we should be at Kodai by 1930Hrs. We had to take a break at Dindigul. At least at the place where the road to Kodai deviates, there are no good restuarants & wash rooms. Found one decent place around 6-7 kms towards Kodai. Started climbing the hills at around 1800Hrs. The roads were good, but culvert work is going on in short stretches.

Kodaikanal-Palani: Left Kodaikanal town at around 1300Hrs. There was heavy traffic within the town limits as it was a holiday season. We decided to have lunch on the way which turned out to be a big mistake. Palani is only 64kms away, but the ghat roads meant the speeds would be very low. The road was good, and in two places they have patched up the road which got destroyed in the land slides. LMVs, two wheelers can easily use the road now. I also noticed few TNSTC buses, but did not see any trucks or private buses on the ghat road. It was only at around 1600Hrs we reached suburbs of Palani, and some how managed to find a decent hotel which had some food left.