[kala]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

From Kochi? Heard from some sources that it is from Trivandrum. Can anyone confirm?

As per Manorama online, his body will be taken to Trichur from Trivandrum tomorrow afternoon, and the funeral will be on 25th morning at Trichur.

[sv1976]

Palakkad-Thrissur NH 47 update:

Took NH 47 from Palakkad to Thrissur today during my Bangalore-Cochin trip. Contrary to majority of recent posts here, i found the conditions absoultely drivable. There is considerable amount of patch work done compared to Aug 2010. But expect a slow (usual) and bumpy ride. Thrissur-Ernakulam is 'good' at most places including the diversions but if you are used to covering Palakkad-Ernakulam in 2.5 hours during daytime, fasten your seat belts, sit back and be mentally prepared to enjoy the ordeal. The traffic is horrible and may take you anywhere between 3.5-5 hours.

[bejoyr]

Yes, as per news, the body will be taken on Friday, however we can expect some traffic due to people travelling to Trichur on Saturday morning for the funeral.

I am travelling from Bangalore to Kottayam on 25th Saturday, but hope that will not affect me since I will be reaching that stretch during afternoon only.

[psvinay]

Planning to drive to Kodungallore from Bangalore tomorrow (25th). With the info that, Leader's body will be taken from Tvm to Trissur - Poogunnam through NH (according to Mathrubhumi) and the proposed start time from TVM is today evening, I want to avoid Trissur alltogether. I want to try Gudalur-Nilambur-Wandoor-Perinthalmanna-Perimpilavu -Kunnamkulam-Guruvayoor-Kodugallore route. Any one travelled in this route recently? What is the condition of this road (Gudalur - Kunnamkulam)?

[govigov]

people,

i need inputs on the roads which connects these places in these order.

Palarivattom
Mahe
Kannur
Mangalore
Udupi
Kollur
Jog falls
Shimoga
Shringeri
Bellur
Shravanabelagola
Masinagudi
Palarivattom

over night halts planned at

Kollur
Shringeri &
Masinagudi

Need input on places to stay at Shringeri and Masinagudi.

The above to places are planned and can be changed if it is a bad location to stay.

The first halt is fixed for Kollur and cannot be changed.

What are the other places to see in this route?

Have given 1 extra day allowance, so if there is a nice place to halt and visit, that can be added to the itenary.

regards,
govigov

[nairrk]

From palarivattom -
Thalassey - Mahe roads are not in good condition - some stretches are bad.
Kannur - okay and Good.
Near kanhangad to kasaragode the roads were very bad (a moth back). I have seen some places they were doing patch works. Similar situation in the kerala mangalore border. I met with heavy traffic congestion due to potholes.
Mangalore - udupi stretch, the roads are good.
again near kundapura -some part of the roads were having big potholes. thereafter upto kollur the roads are good.

[pramodpk]

Drove from Bangalore to Vaikom on Dec 24th. Started from Bangalore(Kundalahalli) at 4:58 AM and reached Vaikom at 3:40 PM.

Total distance - 580 KMs.
Time Taken - 11 Hours 45 Mins (Including break of 1 hour)

We were slowed down by fog till Krishnagiri. Small potholes have started appearing between Hosur and Thoppur. Had to wait around 7 mins at the Thoppur toll.

The four laning work between Perundurai and Coimbatore bypass did reduce the speed but not much. All diversions have been tarred. We encountered a huge traffic pile up at the last diversion just 1 Km ahead of the Coimbatore bypass.

There was heavy truck traffic on the Coimbatore bypass. The toll amount of Rs 31 on this is too high.

We did not encounter any traffic Jam at Walayar but in Kerala we were slowed down by heavy truck traffic. Walayar to Palakkad is in decent shape.

I was little worried about the Palakkad Thrissur section. This section is in pretty good shape now. Patch work has been done. Some sections have good surface. The Kuthiran stretch that had huge potholes is completely patched up. The ride is bumpy but there are no deep potholes. We did not encounter any traffic jam in the Palakkad Thrissur stretch. Except the Kuthiran stretch, the road surface is good mostly good. We were slowed down only by truck traffic. Our average speed was 48 Km/h, which is not bad on a Kerala NH at peak time. The Palakkad – Thrissur NH 47 can be done at any time of day. This should be at least 30 mins shorter than the Ottappalam- Shornur route.

After Thrissur we encountered a traffic pile up at Angamaly. Angamaly to Aluva looks to be newly laid. From Aluva, we took the Kalamassery, HMT Junction, Sea port airpot road, Irumpanam, Tripunithura, Vaikom route. HMT junction to Seaport airport road was the worst section in the entire trip. This is about 1 kM.

Trip Sheet

[ampere]

If Vaikom was the target, why not NH220 via Theni/Kumily? That should have been more hassle free.

[vasoo]

I reached Kottayam from Bangalore through Dindigul, Theni, Kumily route yesterday. I would say that about 80% are good roads, 10% rough and another 10% pretty bad. Was surprised to see the NH7 between Bangalore and Salem breaking up and uneven in many places. Hope they will repair them soon. There are some fairly bad sections between Kambam and Kumily and then from Kumily to Vandiperiyar. Traffic was extremely heavy on most sections, mainly due to holidays, and Sabarimala season.

Started from Bangalore at about 5.15AM, heavy fog on the way, stopped at CCD in Soolagiri at about 6.30AM and then went on till Aristo Inn at Karur bye-pass for breakfast at about 9AM. Passed Dinidigul and then the trip was slowed down considerably. Did not find many decent hotels and finally ended up having lunch at Himarani Hotel near Vandiperiyar at about 2PM. The traffic density was very high from Kumily till the turn off to Erumeli and was mostly held up behind some slow moving trucks or bus in the ghat roads. Xmas shopping was cause of traffic jams in many small towns till we reached Kottayam at about 6PM. Total breaks in between was about 2 hours.

Have to go to Thrissur and plan to return through NH47 next weekend.

[raghu.t.k]

Completed the 1st leg of chennai -TVM to Palakkad quite comfortably. Started from Anna Nagar on 25th around 08:00 and crossed Walayar around 5:30pm. Was pleasently suprised to see Walayar empty, off all the trips done.

Planning to leave for Kunnamkulam today via Kumaranellur (need to visit relatives there) today, and then head for TVM tomorrow.

Fingers crossed on the final stretch, since I have not done this stretch, other than a night trip to Chottanikkara temple once.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Small potholes have started appearing between Hosur and Thoppur.

All diversions have been tarred.

Walayar to Palakkad is in decent shape.

This section is in pretty good shape now. Patch work has been done. Some sections have good surface. The Kuthiran stretch that had huge potholes is completely patched up. The ride is bumpy but there are no deep potholes. Except the Kuthiran stretch, the road surface is good mostly good.

Angamaly to Aluva looks to be newly laid. HMT junction to Seaport airport road was the worst section in the entire trip. This is about 1 kM.

Trip Sheet

Thanks Pramod, very useful since I am driving from Kottayam this weekend. But wanted to include some scenic route and was thinking of Satyamangalam or Munnar but without compromising much on road condition.

[vsbabu]

I went to Palakkad last weekend. Took Perundurai - Kangeyam - Palladam - Sulur - L&T to avoid Avinasi. While going, I got stuck in Perundurai for 20 minutes and then in Kangeyam for some 15m on Friday evening. While coming back, from L&T road to out of Perundurai only took 1.25 hours on Sunday morning. Great roads, hardly any traffic. 3 weeks ago when I drove via Avinasi, it took me some 2.5 hours to get to 4 lane road after getting out of L&T.

Directions:
- After Bhavani, watch out for the signboard that says "Nasiyanur Byepass"
- Immediately after that byepass ends, you will see a small board and an exit on to the left for Perundurai. Take that.
- Go through Perundurai town. You will hit two junctions - keep going straight. Boards to follow are Palani, Kangeyam or Dharapuram.
- Go past Kangeyam. Towards the end of the town, you will hit a junction/circle with big green direction boards towards both straight and right side roads.Take right - board says Coimbatore 68km.
- Just keep going. After few kilometers, you will hit a t-junction. Take left. And then a right after some 100m. That road looks very small with no board. But that is the right one. It becomes excellent after a short while.
- Straight on to Palladam. Sulur comes after Palladam. Follow boards to Coimbatore. It is all straight without any junctions.
- Some 3-4km after Sulur, you will hit L&T byepass. Turn left and proceed to Palakkad.

While coming back:
- Take right towards Trichy Road on L&T byepass (there is a signboard that says Trichy Road). I believe it is the second junction (first one being to Pollachi) after you get into L&T byepass
- Straight through Sulur - Palladam. Follow boards to Karur and Trichy. At t-junction, again left and then right.
- End of this road is Kangeyam junction. Left there. Straight will take you to Karur.
- Right within Kangeyam, there is a funny junction with two roads straight and a sharp right. Take a right at the junction around a mini circle and follow the right side straight road. Sharp right takes you to Erode. There is a board that say Perundurai at the junction.
- Cross Perundurai, go under 4 lane road (careful here - after you go under 4 lane road, you do not join a service road, but the highway to Bangalore - wait, look hard for on-coming vehicles - most doing 100+kmph). Take right.

All the boards I've mentioned above have English signs.

Most of this road have ample space and lane for mopeds - that I find to be very nice. Almost all two wheelers use that and it makes driving easier for cars. Another plus point is that this route hardly has any of those maniac buses that you see often on Avinasi road. For 15km more, you get lot more peace of mind.

Also, I usually take SH86 from Sankari to Omalur avoiding Salem. While it takes some 10m longer though it is short on distance, it is a decent scenic drive that breaks the monotony of highway driving.

Last Sunday, my timings were like 8:15am Palakkad junction; 9:00am fuel fill at Ettimadai; 9:15am exit from L&T byepass; 10:35am exit from Perundurai; 12:10pm stop at Thoppur A2B; 12:50pm start from A2B; 2:40pm home at Koramangala.

[ampere]

I saw in another thread that NH67 is in good shape from Karur to CBE. That also adds up to the fact that its good to join NH67 at Kangeyam and drive to CBE instead getting stuck Avinashi.

The detour is hardly 20 Km more, but worth every inch, as it would take one directly beyond the dreaded Avinashi-CBE route.

Great Update there.

[coolclouds]

I drove from Cochin to Bangalore yesterday. Angamaly-Trichur is far better than last month. Trichur-Palghat is patched up at most of the places and easily doable. Coimbatore-Avinashi was also fine as all the diversions are tarred.

I did Coimbatore-Avinashi by noon so there was not much traffic.
Started at 8am, reached home at 6pm with tea, breakfast and lunch breaks, 3 adults, 2 boys, 550.5 kms door to door (via Salem)

[prsnck]

Guys,

Have anyone traveled calicut-bangalore through nanjangud-gundelpet-sultanbattery route recently this week or before. Have plans to travel on 02nd Jan towards bnglr.

I had horrbile time while I did a calicut trip from bangalore during Nov 13th.
Because of the incessant rains most of the roads nanjangud-gundelpet and s. battery - calicut was in pretty bad condition too, with not even the patch work done. Encountered big big potholes enough to swallow a M800 kind of and cant' escape at all any of those. Even the ghats was in pretty bad condition except for the interlock ones. Took more than 9 hours to complete and it was tad tiring even with a super fast Swift.

rgrds
prsn