[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by karthiksubraman

Quick (and dumb) question - when driving from Bangalore to reach Coimbatore, how does one turn off from the GQ road on Thoppur to hit Mecheri -> Mettur?

No question is dumb!

I am not good at place names, but here goes. Once you descend from the ghat section (before Thoppur) you have a left turn and a 1 plus kilometre of flat stretch with a sharp left hand at the end. The road to Mettur branches off on to the right just after that.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by karthiksubraman

Quick (and dumb) question - when driving from Bangalore to reach Coimbatore, how does one turn off from the GQ road on Thoppur to hit Mecheri -> Mettur?

After the ghat,you would find lorries all over the place and after that the right to Mettur.Dont worry,excellent & big signages are avlbl for the turn off to Mettur.

[bijayks]

Hi,

I had been to Kerala via CBE during the first weekend of September and the route I took is a follows

Bangalore -> Mysore -> Chamrajnagar -> Dimbam -> Satyamangalam -> CBE

The route is pretty good except for some bad patches between Chamraj nagar & Dimbam; I must say that after the BJP govt came in, they are concentrating on betterment of roads; there is work going on in this section to widen roads and also re-lay the black top.

The 27 hairpin bends in 9 kms between dimbam & Bannari is what makes me take this route!! I just enjoy the turns. The other reason is that after Mysore up till about CBE, the road is all to yourself except for some truck.

I have not used the NH47 for almost 3 years thought I do a trip to Kerala once in 3 months or so.

[mech]

Originally Posted by karthiksubraman

Quick (and dumb) question - when driving from Bangalore to reach Coimbatore, how does one turn off from the GQ road on Thoppur to hit Mecheri -> Mettur?

As soon as the ghat section ends, there will be a police baricade and a sign board with two or more cities and one of them is Paghat ->. take that right and it will lead to mettur.

[PRADEEP KUMAR]

Did this stretch 4 days back, as you turn off into mettur road for upto 15 kms before mecheri road is fully potholed,watchout. beyond that it is good as ever.

[coolclouds]

You will find many humps (set of two humps each) all over the GQ at Thoppur Ghat (You can't skip it). Check for the big road sign across the road after next junction (Thoppur), turn right. Thats it!

[addyhemmige]

Hi,

Me and a couple of friends are going to Parambikulam for this long weekend (Oct 2). I would like to to know which is the best way to reach there. I know for sure that I will have to go to Pollachi and then to Parambikulam. So I have identified these routes.

1. Bangalore-Hosur-Denkanikottai-Pennagaram/Dharmapuri-Thoppur-Bhavani-Avinashi-NH47-Podanur-Pollachi-Parambikulam

2. Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Thoppur-Bhavani-Avinashi-NH47-Podanur-Pollachi-Parambikulam

3. Bangalore-Kollegal/Mysore-Chamrajnagar-Dimbam-Sathyamangalam-Annur-Avinashi road-NH 47-Podanur-Pollachi-Parambikulam

Which of these three will be most viable? All these 3 routes have a maximum of 20 kms difference between them (according to Google maps). We will be starting on Thursday night and plan to reach Parambikulam early in the morning.

Please update on the road conditions on all the three routes. Also, please let me know if there are adequate signboards (in English, none of us know Tamil), because we wouldn't want to get lost at night when there will be on one to ask directions. Feel free to suggest any other alternate routes as well.

I am keen to avoid Hosur road during the weekend as I guess it will be choc-a-block with traffic. So, if I get any form of encouragement to take other routes, I'll be the happiest man.

[mech]

Route 2 has all the sign boards in english and tamil. So it will not be a problem for you guys. After Avinashi, there is a L&T Palghat byepass road before entering the Coimbatore city. You can take that toll road till Pollachi road as there are many intersections in these roads. You can take a left there and head towards pollachi. Dont need to go to Podanur.

[coolclouds]

As suggested by Mech, Route 2 is good as you are traveling on night thus no importance to sceneries. Bommasandra flyover is through and after Electronic city, the roads should be free all the way.

[csentil]

Originally Posted by bijayks

Hi,

The route is pretty good except for some bad patches between Chamraj nagar & Dimbam; I must say that after the BJP govt came in, they are concentrating on betterment of roads; there is work going on in this section to widen roads and also re-lay the black top.

How is the Nanjangud - Chamrajnagar sector? There used to be a couple of bad patches in it.

Is the Thimbam ghat section road condition good. Usually the road from TN border always is good.

The original shortest route to Coimbatore is Bangalore - Kollegal - Shivanasamudra - Chamrajnagar - Sathy - Cbe. But the Kollegal - Chamrajnagar road section has never been good. I remember just one person in TBHP who did that route and said it was a nightmare. Must hire an SUV one of these days and try that route out!!

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by addyhemmige

Hi,

Me and a couple of friends are going to Parambikulam for this long weekend (Oct 2). I would like to to know which is the best way to reach there. I know for sure that I will have to go to Pollachi and then to Parambikulam. So I have identified these routes.

1. Bangalore-Hosur-Denkanikottai-Pennagaram/Dharmapuri-Thoppur-Bhavani-Avinashi-NH47-Podanur-Pollachi-Parambikulam

Just in case you plan this route, you won't have to hit back Thoppur. The exact route is Hosur > Denkanikottai > Anchetty > Pennagaram > Mecheri > Bhavani > and rest as usual.

[addyhemmige]

Thanks for all the responses guys.

There is a slight change in plans though. I will probably take route 3 via Chamarajanagar as I have to pick up a friend in Mysore. The route as of now looks like

Bangalore-Mysore-Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Annur-Avinashi road-NH 47-Pollachi-Parambikulam.

Is the route feasible at night? As i have told earlier, none of us know Tamil and if there are no english signboards, it will be a problem. I don't think I will have a problem until I reach Sathyamangalam. Google maps shows a lot roads running next to each other in the Coimbatore region & it is a bit confusing. Please suggest the best route to take after Sathyamangalam.

Also, I am getting conflicting reports on the conditions of the Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam section. Can anybody please update the latest conditions?

@bijayks, can this route be done in a Baleno without any broken backs or broken cars?

[pypkmsrikanth]

If you are going via Sathyamanglam, the route is marked well its going to be NH209 for you all the way upto Pollachi. I was actually planning to suggest the following route for you initially

Bangalore - Thoppur - Bhavani - Perundurai - Kangeyam - Dharapuram - Pollachi this way you don't need to touch Coimbatore at all. The roads are decent all the way. In case you are forced to go via Mysore then the better option for you is to go via Chamrajnagar and Sathyamangalam. What you could possibly do to avoid driving through Coimbatore is to take up the this route.

Continue beyond Sathyamangalam upto a place called Annur, at Annur you will have to take a left (marked as Avinashi) continue for half a km or so you would find the right to Karumathampatti continue towards Karumathampatti where you would join the NH47 from here you could either take the byepass and join the Pollachi road.

The Jn. at Annur marked through Google Maps


The Karumathampatti Jn and onwards to Coimbatore byepass, actually you could continue beyond NH47 towards Somanur on the same road and reach Pollachi without any trouble if you are aware of the towns there and a splattering of Tamil, since your group would have neither I think taking the byepass and coming back to NH209 would be a better option

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

If you are going via Sathyamanglam, the route is marked well its going to be NH209 for you all the way upto Pollachi. I was actually planning to suggest the following route for you initially

Bangalore - Thoppur - Bhavani - Perundurai - Kangeyam - Dharapuram - Pollachi this way you don't need to touch Coimbatore at all. The roads are decent all the way. In case you are forced to go via Mysore then the better option for you is to go via Chamrajnagar and Sathyamangalam. What you could possibly do to avoid driving through Coimbatore is to take up the this route.

Continue beyond Sathyamangalam upto a place called Annur, at Annur you will have to take a left (marked as Avinashi) continue for half a km or so you would find the right to Karumathampatti continue towards Karumathampatti where you would join the NH47 from here you could either take the byepass and join the Pollachi road.

The Karumathampatti Jn and onwards to Coimbatore byepass, actually you could continue beyond NH47 towards Somanur on the same road and reach Pollachi without any trouble if you are aware of the towns there and a splattering of Tamil, since your group would have neither I think taking the byepass and coming back to NH209 would be a better option

As of now, the plan is to pick up the friend from Mysore and go via Chamarajanagar/Sathyamangalam. I would have taken the route you have suggested if I was traveling during the day. Since, I am traveling through the night, I wouldn't want to take a risk by leaving the NHs.

If I happen to go through Coimbatore by taking NH209 from Sathyamangalam, is it easy to go through it or around it? I plan to cross Coimbatore sometime between 0200 & 0330 in the morning. It will help if you can provide directions from entering the city to exit on the NH209 towards Pollachi

Alternatively, If I break off from NH209 at Annur and go via Karumathampatti, what will be the approximate distance between Annur & Karumathampatti and how is the road condition? Is the right turn to Karumathampatti (from Annur) marked in english?

If I travel on other roads, even though I cannot read Tamil, I can manage to communicate a little bit somehow and get on the right road. But, where am I going to find someone on the road who is patient enough to understand a hybrid version of Tamil (which has lot of inputs from other languages, which only I speak) at that unearthly hour???

[csentil]

The road from Chamrajnagar to Thimbam goes through thick forests. Drive carefully as you could encounter wildlife. Elephants and bison on the road are not exactly visible in the nite

The thimbam ghat section is like 27 hairpin bends. You will encounter lorry/bus traffic though not much. Give way and be caeful!

The moment you enter Sathy, you will see boards marked Coimbatore. Just ask "coimbatore" and they will point ou the direction. You basically have to go through the town a bit and get to the other side. But its a NH so you won't have a problem. If I remember correctly, there is a small distance which is one way. I'm not sure as I did this quite sometime back.

The road from Sathy to Coimbatore is not at all a problem. It is NH and there are boards. Watch out for some steep curves. The road is well laid and will allow you to zoom however the curves are rather steep at places and not well banked. Lot of accidents in the night happen due to overspeeding.

When you enter Annur, the road will curve to the right, after that there will be a fork.

Take the left side of the fork. Essentially from Sathy its a straight road to Coimbatore.

Once you enter Coimbatore, which should be Ganapathy, you will hit a junction where you need to take left. You will then cross a railway bridge, a small bridge which is under construction and then head towards Gandhipuram bustand. Keep going straight at the junctions. Finally you will hit a main road where you can only take left or right. Take left, then right at the signal.

I suggest you ask someone before you keep venturing on, as the lefts and rights will get confusing