[vandemanw]

Originally Posted by TonyJames

Is it worth a try?

I did this route a year ago on the way back from Kotagiri- Mettupalayam. Superb 2 lane roads, great scenery. Travelling in the early afternoon also meant sparse traffic. GMaps also showed this route to be quicker over the Avinashi-Salem route. Some ongoing road construction may slow you down in the Mettur area, but nothing too bad.

[TonyJames]

Originally Posted by vandemanw

I did this route a year ago on the way back from Kotagiri- Mettupalayam. Superb 2 lane roads, great scenery. Travelling in the early afternoon also meant sparse traffic. GMaps also showed this route to be quicker over the Avinashi-Salem route. Some ongoing road construction may slow you down in the Mettur area, but nothing too bad.

Thanks for your Suggestion and took this Route today and it was a neat Two Lane.

Bangalore (Yemalur) - 5:40 AM
Hosur - 6:25 AM

There was slight traffic due to ongoing bridge construction near sipcot even during morning hours.

Krishnagiri - 07:00 AM
Dharmapuri - 07:35 AM

Saw Flyover construction of Hosur Rayakottai Dharmapuri 4 lane with good progress. Guess this should complete in a year.

Halt at SaiSangeet at 07:45 AM. Personally prefer their taste over others.



Left Hotel at 08:05 AM

And after crossing Thoppur took the two lane via Mecheri - Mettur - Sathyamangalam

Crossed Sathyamangalam around 10 AM.

Sathyamangalam to Mettupalayam stretch was little tight with traffic but it was only during the last 20 kms so it was fine.

Reached Mettupalayam at 11:05 AM

Overall journey time with break is 5hrs and 25 Mins.

Also my i20 Diesel delivered some incredible performance and mileage. Will be missing these Diesel cars in coming years.

[Passatman]

Originally Posted by subbu567

Hello Folks,

Driving to Pazhani(Palani) from Bangalore on 11th Feb. It is my wife and I visiting Lord Muruga in our Jimny AT. No pressure on time and no kids so planning to take :

Planned start at 5 am. And pit stops as we roll with no fixed plan. We are Ok to reach say by 4 pm.

Any opinions / Suggestions? Many thanks

Subbu.

Hi!
Kollegal has some good restaurants and one can spot them as one drives through the town till the left turnoff to Dhondeling etc.
I have tried breakfast at these joints and they offer piping hot idly & tasty dosas . Not too much choice like pongal, upma , puri as in bangalore but if idly dosa will suffice , you won't be disappointed.
Have a safe and fun drive! And enjoy the scenary in the forest drive.

[subbu567]

Just back from the BLR- Palani trip

11th Feb

5 am start from Hennur- Mysore road-Maddur Exit- Breakfast at Maddur Tiifany's(640 am)-Kollegla-Dhondenling-Germalam- Dhimbam Ghats- Satyamangalam- Palladam- Dharapuram - Palani

Reached at 215 pm- distance 415 kms - drive time-7 hrs 20 mins-(We took several breaks, longest one at Dhondenling for bout 30 mins)

Roads were good for the most part- The worst section was immediately after taking the right towards Dhondenling from Kollegal-Anthiyur road. Has huge craters randomly for about 15-20 kms. Low GC vehicles should avoid this in stead proceed till Hanur and then take a right towards Dhondenling, about 10kms more but should take the same time. The road was otherwise scenic, and beautiful just like a wow On Sunday we just had 4-5 vehicles crossing from the opposite side. A word of caution - Immediately after the forest check post (20 rs for cars) they have laid new tarmac - while the surface is butter smooth, the edges are nearly a foot deep If there is a larger incoming vehicle, given the narrow width of the road, crossing will require some planning, sedans can not manage. Spent some time in beautiful Dhondenling village and then proceeded towards the Dhimbam ghats. Dhimbam ghats had very little traffic(crossed between 915-10am). Requires watchful eyes on right turning hairpin bends as the larger vehicles tend to turn into the outer lane, that is our lane, for their left turns- So smaller vehicles should drive momentarily on the wrong lane-Should not pose any problem as long as you are watchful.

the road from Bannari till Palani- via sathy, Puliyampatti, Palladam, Dharapuram was decent but all town crossings had heavy traffic and slowed us down.
Returned via Dindigul- Bangalore NH44 route on 13th- But took a break at Salem outer in a highway hotel- Green Ridge- decent for a night's shack up with an attached restaurant.

Thanks to the forum members for helping to plan this drive.

All through Jimny kept us planted and engaged, returned an overall trip mileage of 12.9 KMPL over 951 Kms.

Some photos below :

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by subbu567

5 am start from Hennur- Mysore road-Maddur Exit- Breakfast at Maddur Tiifany's(640 am)-Kollegla-Dhondenling-Germalam- Dhimbam Ghats- Satyamangalam- Palladam- Dharapuram - Palani

Thanks for the update!

I am thinking of taking this route to Kochi this Friday, but can only start by 8AM. Planning to take Kanakapura road.

I have done this route in 2015 and found the eateries and rest room options were almost nonexistent. How is the situation now?

[subbu567]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I have done this route in 2015 and found the eateries and rest room options were almost nonexistent. How is the situation now?

You have to have breakfast at Maddur Tiffany's or any other that you may find on Kanakapura road. I dont remember seeing any until we reached Sathy after taking the Dhondenling road.

Also pls be mindful- the height of the newly laid road on this stretch was almost 8-10 inches at many places. So sedans or Low GC cars cant get off the road at all

[kala]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Thanks for the update!

I am thinking of taking this route to Kochi this Friday, but can only start by 8AM. Planning to take Kanakapura road.

I have done this route in 2015 and found the eateries and rest room options were almost nonexistent. How is the situation now?

If you're planning to start only at 8, there are a couple of decent options for breakfast between Bangalore and Kanakapura. One is Udupi Upahar which is on the left side just after you pass the Art of Living Ashram and the other is Mandarathi Vybhava which is midway between Kaggalipura and Harohalli bypass (again on the left side).

For lunch your best bet would be something on NH 544 after you join it at Karumathampatti (Or Coimbatore in case you plan to go through the city). There is almost nothing noteworthy between Chamarajnagar and Coimbatore.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by bejoy

I am thinking of taking this route to Kochi this Friday, but can only start by 8AM. Planning to take Kanakapura road.

Originally Posted by subbu567

You have to have breakfast at Maddur Tiffany's or any other that you may find on Kanakapura road. I dont remember seeing any until we reached Sathy after taking the Dhondenling road.

I definitely wont recommend Kanakpura road for CBE. Esp the one towards Germalem. Its quite broken from Kollegal exit.

Originally Posted by kala

If you're planning to start only at 8, there are a couple of decent options for breakfast between Bangalore and Kanakapura. One is Udupi Upahar which is on the left side just after you pass the Art of Living Ashram and the other is Mandarathi Vybhava which is midway between Kaggalipura and Harohalli bypass (again on the left side).

For lunch your best bet would be something on NH 544 after you join it at Karumathampatti (Or Coimbatore in case you plan to go through the city). There is almost nothing noteworthy between Chamarajnagar and Coimbatore.

Good to see you after a long time!


As regards to Kanakpura road quite some changes that are coming up:

• Besides the Kanakpura town bypass, this road is also now being re-aligned near Cauvery. Many of you who visit Shiva Samudaram would have seen the road snake around the hill and go near Cavery. Now they re-aligned it to go straight and arrive at the bridfge on Cauvery.
  
• A new bridge on Cauvery is coming up
  
• Post the bridge where the exit to Madhyaranga temple and second waterfall comes up, there is new alignment to skip the the Sathyagala town as well.
  
• And then there is a brand new bypass for Kollegal town. No more snaking in the town. The road totally skips Kollegal and directly realigns with Uttmballi and continues (this is west of Kollegal)
  
• East side not be left behind, there is a new bypass which connects directly to the Kollegal-Hanur-Mettur road.
  
• A new toll booth is also coming up on Kanakpura road as well

[swiftgeorge]

I plan to take the Coimbatore --> Sathyamangalam --> Dhimbham --> Chamarajanagar --> Nanjangud --> Mysuru route on my way back to Pune from Thrissur. Have done the trip via Bangalore multiple times and wanted to explore a more scenic route and attend to some minor work in Mysuru enroute.

I drive a 2012 Civic and will only have 1 passenger with me along with a fair bit of luggage on this leg. Please advise road conditions on this section - Civic is not known for its ability to clear tall obstacles on the road. I took the Bandipur route via Gudalur --> Nilambur --> Perinthalmana on my journey to Thrissur and scrapped through with a few bottom hits on the speed breakers inside Bandipur.

I will be having a 4 am start from Thrissur, hence expect to reach Sathyamangalam around 9 am. Is this a good time to hit Dhimbham - meaning would the trucks be out in full force by then?

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by ampere

I definitely wont recommend Kanakpura road for CBE. Esp the one towards Germalem. Its quite broken from Kollegal exit.

Thanks, I skipped Kanakapura road and took Mysore road->Maddur Exit->Malavalli->Bannur->T-Narasipura->Chamarajanagara->Sathy. Very good roads overall. Started at 8:30 AM after casting vote and breakfast at home and reached Coimbatore by around 2PM.

Originally Posted by swiftgeorge

I plan to take the Coimbatore --> Sathyamangalam --> Dhimbham --> Chamarajanagar --> Nanjangud --> Mysuru route on my way back to Pune from Thrissur. Have done the trip via Bangalore multiple times and wanted to explore a more scenic route and attend to some minor work in Mysuru enroute.

The roads are excellent. Just skip Coimbatore city and go through Annur (I believe Google suggests the same). I made the mistake of going through Coimbatore city, just that we were running late for lunch and thought of hitting a nice restaurant, but in the process took a lot of time and there are many broken roads in city owing to pipeline work.

Also, don't expect much greenery as it is peak summer, also the car AC will have a tough time keeping the temperature in check.

Originally Posted by swiftgeorge

I drive a 2012 Civic and will only have 1 passenger with me along with a fair bit of luggage on this leg. Please advise road conditions on this section

Roads are in excellent condition. I heard that the Chamarajanagara-Nanjangud-Mysore road is also excellent. There are many humps before the forest area after Sathy and I saw sedans having no issue going over them.

Originally Posted by swiftgeorge

I will be having a 4 am start from Thrissur, hence expect to reach Sathyamangalam around 9 am. Is this a good time to hit Dhimbham - meaning would the trucks be out in full force by then?

Yes, time should be ok and the ghats are just fine, I climbed down at around 12:30 pm and there were no trucks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by bejoy

Thanks, I skipped Kanakapura road and took Mysore road->Maddur Exit->Malavalli->Bannur->T-Narasipura->Chamarajanagara->Sathy. Very good roads overall. Started at 8:30 AM after casting vote and breakfast at home and reached Coimbatore by around 2PM.

Even this sometimes is a dicey affair. The culprit being Dimbham. You can get stuck sometimes thanks to trucks. Need to watch out.

[swiftgeorge]

Originally Posted by ampere

Even this sometimes is a dicey affair. The culprit being Dimbham. You can get stuck sometimes thanks to trucks. Need to watch out.

Apologies for the noob question - before the Pune Mumbai Expressway started there was a large board, outside a Police Station located adjacent to the old Mumbai Pune Highway near Talegaon, that gave information whether the ghat was open or closed. The board was maintained by staff from the Police Station based on updates from colleagues located in a Chowki in the ghat.

Is there something like this before the Dhimbam ghat? or do I have to solely depend on Google updates at that point in time and hope for the best.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by swiftgeorge

Is there something like this before the Dhimbam ghat? or do I have to solely depend on Google updates at that point in time and hope for the best.

At least am not aware of any. Others can comment. But my point is even if you have this board, and you come this far, there is no alternate.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by swiftgeorge

Is there something like this before the Dhimbam ghat? or do I have to solely depend on Google updates at that point in time and hope for the best.

Originally Posted by ampere

At least am not aware of any. Others can comment. But my point is even if you have this board, and you come this far, there is no alternate.

I'm with the unit of current here.

As Monsieur Ampere said, there really is no way to take another route except backtrack towards T-Narasipura at least. A vehicle breakdown or an accident on the Dimbham ghat section is enough to cause a block that would take a few hours to clear. The police who have to step in and regulate traffic would themselves take a lot of time to reach the spot (if it's all the way up) because they have to start from the plains.