[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Has that ghat section improved that much ? Couple of months back, it could be negotiated no higher than 30-40

Sorry if I confuse you.
I didn't mean that you can do 80+ at Kuthiran. I was talking about the road after Kuthiran where you can do good speed though the surface is not smooth.

[StarrySky]

The 4-laning work in Thrissur-Angamaly stretch is nearing completion. Among the flyovers, the ones at Alwaye, Chalakkudy and Thalor are still incomplete. So there are some delays around these places. Other than that, the entire stretch is now 4-lane. In my weekend Ekm-Thrissur trip, I could hit avg.speed of 58km/h for Ekm-Tcr leg and 55km/h on the way back - staying mostly between 70-80kmph, occassionaly 90 and touching 100 a couple of times (I started quite early on both occassions).

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by joecherian

I am planning to drive to Cochin this wednesday and would like to know whether it is still advisable to try out these diversions

(a) Thrissur to Palakkad is via Wadakancherry-SHoranur-Ottapalam-Palakkad

(b) Perundurai - Kangeyam - Palladam - Sulur - L&T to avoid Avinasi

I am also driving to Cochin this Saturday. Planning to take the Kanakapura, Kollegal, C'Nagar, Sathy, L&T Bye-pass, NH47 route. Apparently roads are better these days on NH47.

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by vasoo

I am also driving to Cochin this Saturday. Planning to take the Kanakapura, Kollegal, C'Nagar, Sathy, L&T Bye-pass, NH47 route. Apparently roads are better these days on NH47.

How are the roads in Sathy > C Nagar >Kollegal >Kanakpura ? Last thing I heard was, the roads were very bad.(may be couple of months earlier). have you travelled in this route in recent past ?

Also any updates on Thoppur > Mettur > ammappetai section ? Through this, I can connect to Sathy from ammapettai (roads from ammapettai - sathy -cbe are very good). Only doubt is in Thoppur > mettur >ammapettai section

[psvinay]

Driving to Kerala from BLR tomorrow and would like to know the road conditions of the below route. Can any one travled recently in this route comment?

BLR -> Mysore -> Gudelpet -> Gudalur -> Nilambur -> Wandoor -> Pandikkad -> Perinthalmanna -> Perimpilavu -> Kunnamkulam -> Guruvayoor.

Thanks in adavance.

[mallumowgli]

Gundlupet-Wandoor : Excellent roads
Wandoor - Pandikkad : Some 15-16 culverts were being constructed as on November 2010. Road was non-existent then. Dont know the current status
Pandikkad to Guruvayur : Decent road, though not super good

[kala]

Originally Posted by joecherian

How are the roads in Sathy > C Nagar >Kollegal >Kanakpura ? Last thing I heard was, the roads were very bad.(may be couple of months earlier). have you travelled in this route in recent past ?

C Nagar-Kollegal-Kanakapura-Bangalore is in quite decent condition except for some roadwork between Malavalli and Kanakapura (and of course 3 or 4 villages between Chamarajnagar and Kollegal where the road is very narrow). Haven't travelled the Sathy-C Nagar stretch for a while now. The last time I did that route (about 2 years back) the roads were good till about 20 kms before C Nagar, and then that last stretch was pretty bad with a lot of potholes. Since they have repaired the whole of NH 209 since then, there is a possibility that even that stretch might be in good shape now.

[ajman28]

Originally Posted by psvinay

Driving to Kerala from BLR tomorrow and would like to know the road conditions of the below route. Can any one travled recently in this route comment?

BLR -> Mysore -> Gudelpet -> Gudalur -> Nilambur -> Wandoor -> Pandikkad -> Perinthalmanna -> Perimpilavu -> Kunnamkulam -> Guruvayoor.

Thanks in adavance.

Perumbilavu to Gvr should be a breeze. Did the stretch this weekend and found no issues.

Btw, 4 laning work is on for the stretch from LnT bye pass to Walayar on NH47. No major worries but you could get seriously stuck if you get entangled with the trucks. My personal advice is to keep an extra hour in mind for this stretch.

[Soccerfan]

hey guys

im planning to drive down to bangalore from kochi on good friday. Can somebody help me with the best route (Nh 47) from kochi to bangalore? also please suggest which would be the best time to start from kochi. it will be great if you can list 1-2 good restaurants on the way and some quality fuel bunks

thanks in advance
kiran

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

hey guys

Can somebody help me with the best route (Nh 47) from kochi to bangalore?

thanks in advance
kiran

Since you have already mentioned it as Nh47, I guess there is no confusion. Better to stick to the time tested Nh47/NH7 combo.
I had been to cochin last wednesday. Roads are decent with no much issues. Palghat-Trichur section also has improved (though bit bumpy).

[Soccerfan]

Originally Posted by joecherian

Since you have already mentioned it as Nh47, I guess there is no confusion. Better to stick to the time tested Nh47/NH7 combo.
I had been to cochin last wednesday. Roads are decent with no much issues. Palghat-Trichur section also has improved (though bit bumpy).

thanks for the reply joe. just wanted to see if i need to go till salem to join NH 7 or is there a bypass to avoid Salem? Also need your inputs on fuel bunks and restaurants

The route that i see in google maps is palakad, coimbatore,avinashi, bhavani, salem, dharmapuri, hosur. I hope this is the best one??

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

thanks for the reply joe. just wanted to see if i need to go till salem to join NH 7 or is there a bypass to avoid Salem? Also need your inputs on fuel bunks and restaurants

The route that i see in google maps is palakad, coimbatore,avinashi, bhavani, salem, dharmapuri, hosur. I hope this is the best one??

with roads being 4 laned, i would advice you to stick on nh47 , join nh7 at salem. Only issue might be the under construction area upto Avinashi.

As of fuel bunks, what i do normally is tank up in ekm and then fill it up again at thoppur A2B BP bunk or shoolagiri HP bunk. The shoolagiri HP bunk is much better compared to the A2B bunks.

As of restaurants, the ones that I normally stop are Rajabhojanam on Cbe -Salem stretch, which is quite decent. For the next break, you can stop at shoolagiri HP bunk which has CCD, MacD and one normal veg restaurant.

[coolclouds]

Since you are traveling on Good Friday, the traffic won't be much. The route mentioned is correct and bye passes are in place for these cities.

[Soccerfan]

Originally Posted by joecherian

with roads being 4 laned, i would advice you to stick on nh47 , join nh7 at salem. Only issue might be the under construction area upto Avinashi.

As of fuel bunks, what i do normally is tank up in ekm and then fill it up again at thoppur A2B BP bunk or shoolagiri HP bunk. The shoolagiri HP bunk is much better compared to the A2B bunks.

As of restaurants, the ones that I normally stop are Rajabhojanam on Cbe -Salem stretch, which is quite decent. For the next break, you can stop at shoolagiri HP bunk which has CCD, MacD and one normal veg restaurant.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Since you are traveling on Good Friday, the traffic won't be much. The route mentioned is correct and bye passes are in place for these cities.

thanks joe for the reply.The shoolagiri HP bunk - is it on the left side on the way to bangalore?

cool clouds - i m planing for an early start from kochi around 6AM. Hope I can reach blr by evening around 4?

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

thanks joe for the reply.The shoolagiri HP bunk - is it on the left side on the way to bangalore?

No. On the right (wrong) side coming towards Bangalore.
As you approach Shoolagiri, you see 0.5 kms towards right to that place first where the junction is like a Y junction. Again, a bit further, you see 0.5 kms to Shoolagiri to right where the junction is a proper T junction. Just take right and then immediately take left on the service lane. If you are not aware, the HP bunk also has a good Veg Restaurant "Srikrishna Inn" and also "Cafe Coffee Day" and good toilet facilities.
To return to the route/direction to Bangalore, follow the same route in the reverse or else, it is a longer route.

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

cool clouds - i m planing for an early start from kochi around 6AM. Hope I can reach blr by evening around 4?

You should be easily making it. Budget around 3 hours to Walayar including breakfast stoppage, then another 2 hours to Avinashi. After about 15 kms, you enter the super-fast no-stop-required (except tolls) 4-lane all the way to Bangalore.

BTW, I always start around 6 AM from Bangalore and reach Ernakulam by 4 PM. So, reverse should be possible as you cover Kerala roads on non-peak hours as compared to my afternoon/evening timings.