[pramodpk]

I have done Chengapalli->Salem->Brookefields via Varthur in 4.5 hours with a break of 35 mins in between. Total distance 310 Kms.
I have done this twice. Entered the 4 lane road at 11:45 AM and reached Brookefields at 4:15 PM.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

I guess the best person to answer the fastest drive possible on this stretch is CSENTHIL !!! ... Remember reading before that he did BLR-CBE in 4 hours and so would like to read his comments.

Yep....... these are the posts for details... Isn't that an awesome timing with awesome civic

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2214590

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2134675

-Ravi

[jkrishnakj]

I am off to CBE friday morning, onwards through the customary highway. I plan to return via the Sathy route. With so many posts talking about the road being good and the scenery great, i dont want to give it a miss. Its been ages since i came in that route, due to very bad roads.

Talk of timing, the best i have achieved in my several trips to Coimbatore and back is 5 hours door to door ( only once..) - JP Nagar to Ganapathy. Ofcourse, its a function of what time you hit the roads and on what day. The lone time of 5 hours was when i left Bangalore at 3.00 AM and reached my home at Ganapathy at exactly 8.00 AM.

All other trips have taken a minimum of five and half hours, with atleast one break of 10-15 minutes. I found Saturday mornings to be terrible, especially, if you leave Bangalore around 6 AM. It takes for ever to get cleared in the several tolls that come.

[ampere]

[quote=jkrishnakj;2445171
Talk of timing, the best i have achieved in my several trips to Coimbatore and back is 5 hours door to door ( only once..) - JP Nagar to Ganapathy. Ofcourse, its a function of what time you hit the roads and on what day. The lone time of 5 hours was when i left Bangalore at 3.00 AM and reached my home at Ganapathy at exactly 8.00 AM.
[/QUOTE]

And all this through the GQ? Do you take Avinashi-Annur for Ganapathy or stick to the regular road after Avinashi?

[bijayks]

@jkrishnakj - do update on how is the route via Sathy. I am planning to take the route to during the weekend of 15th Aug.

[jkrishnakj]

Ampere - All thru the GQ untill Avanashi, cut into Annur road for Ganapathy.

@Bijay - I couldnt go this friday, thanks to my beast spending more time than expected at the TASS. I shall be going the following week and shall update, if possible with photos as well. Given the recent feedback from many who have taken this route, i think you should go ahead for your 15th august trip.

[jkrishnakj]

I did a round trip this weekend.

Onward was :

JP Nagar, Kanakapura Road ( Home ) - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamarajnagar - Dhimbam - Bannari - Sathy - Annur - Ganapathy, Coimbatore (Home )

The roads are "Awesome". State highways, but absolutely a delight to drive on. We had breakfast at a place called Nandhini, just near the Kollegal Bus Stand. The idlis were hot and the vadas were crisp.

This time, i could reach Coimbatore in exactly 4 hours and 50 minutes. This includes the 17 minutes break that i had for break fast. I took this road after a long time and was quite happy with the way the roads are. There are one/two small stretches of narrow roads that go thru towns, but barring that, its smooth all the way.

The scenery is great as well.

Top this - You dont have to pay any TOLL at all.

For the return, i wanted to take the same route. Crossed the ghats after Bannari and entered Dhimbam. Just crossing Dhimbam, i saw a "Y" and there was a sign post in English. Left said - Chamarajnagar and Right said - " Kollegal - 78 KM's ". Stopped the safari at this place, and asked a motorist on the road conditions. He said that its very good. Took the route less travelled. The roads were great for the first 30 KM's. No one in the front and none behind, passing thru some really dense forest areas. Crossed the Tamilnadu forest checkpost ( you have to make an entry there ) and the entered the Karnataka forest Checkpost ( one more entry )

That's when the true colours of the road showed up. Infact, for almost 11 KM's or so, there were NO roads at all. One odd tractor passes you. Imagine my Safari taking a beating to the under body - that bad. Barring this very miserable stretch, we enjoyed the drive thru this lonely road, passing through some really remote villages, the scenes etc..Effectively, i could by-pass Chamarajnagar and reach Kollegal.

Despite this bad stretch, i could still do home to home in 5 hours and 55 minutes.

Came home and checked Google, but this road doesnt show up.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Came home and checked Google, but this road doesnt show up.

Are you referring to the Hasanur-Kollegal SH? Its known to be very bad?

This is the broken Google route link:
Kollegal-Hasanurghat Rd to Kollegal, Karnataka - Google Maps

[ravib]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I did a round trip this weekend.

Onward was :

JP Nagar, Kanakapura Road ( Home ) - Kanakapura - Malavalli - Kollegal - Chamarajnagar - Dhimbam - Bannari - Sathy - Annur - Ganapathy, Coimbatore (Home )

The roads are "Awesome". State highways, but absolutely a delight to drive on. We had breakfast at a place called Nandhini, just near the Kollegal Bus Stand. The idlis were hot and the vadas were crisp.

This time, i could reach Coimbatore in exactly 4 hours and 50 minutes. This includes the 17 minutes break that i had for break fast. I took this road after a long time and was quite happy with the way the roads are. There are one/two small stretches of narrow roads that go thru towns, but barring that, its smooth all the way.

The scenery is great as well.

Top this - You dont have to pay any TOLL at all.

For the return, i wanted to take the same route. Crossed the ghats after Bannari and entered Dhimbam. Just crossing Dhimbam, i saw a "Y" and there was a sign post in English. Left said - Chamarajnagar and Right said - " Kollegal - 78 KM's ". Stopped the safari at this place, and asked a motorist on the road conditions. He said that its very good. Took the route less travelled. The roads were great for the first 30 KM's. No one in the front and none behind, passing thru some really dense forest areas. Crossed the Tamilnadu forest checkpost ( you have to make an entry there ) and the entered the Karnataka forest Checkpost ( one more entry )

That's when the true colours of the road showed up. Infact, for almost 11 KM's or so, there were NO roads at all. One odd tractor passes you. Imagine my Safari taking a beating to the under body - that bad. Barring this very miserable stretch, we enjoyed the drive thru this lonely road, passing through some really remote villages, the scenes etc..Effectively, i could by-pass Chamarajnagar and reach Kollegal.

Despite this bad stretch, i could still do home to home in 5 hours and 55 minutes.

Came home and checked Google, but this road doesnt show up.

Just curious to know, are there any night time restrictions in this route?
My friend frequently travels to CBE and i can recommend this route, if there are no time restrictions. What time did you start from B'lore and reached CBE?

-Ravi

[jkrishnakj]

Not sure Ampere. This deviation came immediately after Dhimbam. If i look very carefully at your link, i guess, this is the road i must have taken.

@ Ravi : No, i dont think there is any time restriction on this route. I started at 5 AM from JP Nagar and reached my house at CBE at 9.50 AM. On the return, i started at 10 AM and reached JP Nagar at 4 PM.

[ampere]

@Ravi,

I dont think there are any restrictions on night travel at Dimbam, since there are no wild life sanctuaries.
But just that it may be a bit lonley at nights as there are hardly many places to break.

But for a day journey, its beautiful to drive through.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by ampere

@Ravi,

I dont think there are any restrictions on night travel at Dimbam, since there are no wild life sanctuaries.
But just that it may be a bit lonley at nights as there are hardly many places to break.

But for a day journey, its beautiful to drive through.

There are lot of night-time government buses (both of Karnataka and Tamilnadu, the latter being more frequent) from Mysore to Coimbatore/Erode/Sathy/Madurai etc. and one of my friends recently went to Trichur from Bangalore in an evening KSRTC bus that took Mysore->Sathy->Coimbatore->Palakkad route.

For a night journey, it would be a good idea to just piggy-back one of those buses. You wait for a few minutes just before the forest entry (or even better would be just after Hasanur) and you will surely get one bus in about 15 minutes. I say this because you may suddenly encounter wild-life on the road and hence it would be good to have a company then.

Also, note that there are some road-side home-attached eateries near Hasanur where the government buses stop for food. And I can assure you that they serve great idly/dosa/porotta too !

And please be careful on Sathy->Kovai stretch as there are too many sharp curves on an absolute beauty of a road inviting you to break 100+ line in your speedo. And dont expect oncoming vehicles to dim their lights too

[csentil]

The direct Dhimbam - Kollegal route is best avoided during night times. The check posts will basically not allow you further on. I'm surprised that the TN or KA checkpost did not warn you about the road condition.

A few posts earlier another Team BHPian did the same stretch i believe and had commented on the really bad state of the roads from Dhimbam to Kollegal.

[addyhemmige]

Originally Posted by ampere

@Ravi,

I dont think there are any restrictions on night travel at Dimbam, since there are no wild life sanctuaries.
But just that it may be a bit lonley at nights as there are hardly many places to break.

But for a day journey, its beautiful to drive through.

The Dimbam-Chamarajanagar road passes through BRT Tiger Reserve as does the Dimbam-Kollegal road. There are no night travel restrictions on the 1st route, but I'm not very sure about the second route. This route literally divides the Sathyamangalam Wildlife Sanctuary and the BRT Tiger Reserve. The Sathyamangalam WLS has been proposed to be notified as a Tiger Reserve.

Originally Posted by csentil

The direct Dhimbam - Kollegal route is best avoided during night times. The check posts will basically not allow you further on. I'm surprised that the TN or KA checkpost did not warn you about the road condition.

True. The checkposts, usually will not allow you go further unless you have a very good reason. This area is prime elephant territory.

[MoonRunner]

Traveled Bangalore- Coimbatore - Kodaikanal - Bangalore (1st - 4th September)

Took following route to Coimbatore
NH 7
Bangalore - Krishnagiri- Salem
NH 47
Salem- Bhavani - Avinashi
State Road
Avinashi- Annur
NH 209
Annur Coimbatore

All the way road was very good. Except small ghat section after Krishnagiri. Until Avinashi it was a 4 lane highway (2 on each side, be prepared to pay toll more than 200 )
Avinashi to Coimbatore is in bad shape (Confirmed by another set of friends who traveled the same day ) so took the smaller but good road to Annur and then to Coimbatore