[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by cooljai

Will be driving back to Bangalore from Pathanamthitta on Saturaday, 30th April. Would like to avoid the Avinashi stretch and try alternate routes. We plan to start early in the morning around 4 Am. The different routes that we wanted to try were
1) Chalakudy- Valparai- Pollachi- Perundurai
2) Punalur- Tenkasi- Dindigul
3) Annur- Sathy- Chamrajnagar
Would be travelling with family (Parents, Wife and baby). Which one of these would be faster and most comfortable (Prefer 4 lanes)

Cooljai,

Your best bet would be Kumily - Cumbum - Theni - Dindigul - Bangalore route. Roads are pretty good except for a couple of stretches and the traffic is sparse till Salem.

[PatienceWins]

I am back after my drive to Kerala.

I went from Bangalore to Kottayam using Theni>Kumily route. I started from Bangalore at 11:45 PM and reached Kottayam at 12:15 PM. I lost close to 45 minutes because of the traffic jam before Atibelle toll. I should have taken the Sarjapur-Atibelle route (you can reach the toll gate from beneath the flyover) instead of taking the Silkboard>Ecity>Atibelle route. I really enjoyed Kumily route with the awesome scenery and twists. I would not recommend this route if you are travelling with people having travel sickness. The road condition is very good, except for the small ghat section in Kumily.

I came back via Thrissur>Palghat>Salem route. The road work till Thrissur is fully complete - very good road condition. I avoided Avinashi stretch by going via Sulur> Palladam>Kangeyam>Perundurai route - very good road condition and less traffic, but it is a little longer. I took the wrong turn to Erode from Perundurai and joined Salem route at Sankari - I lost some time in the process. Very good road condition throughout.

[ranjitp1]

Just for the benefit of people driving within and into kerala,there is a state-wide "hartal" on 29th Apr,2011.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Cooljai,

Your best bet would be Kumily - Cumbum - Theni - Dindigul - Bangalore route. Roads are pretty good except for a couple of stretches and the traffic is sparse till Salem.

+1. I think from Pathanamthitta you could reach Karukachal via Maramon - Mallappally and then reach Ponkunnam - Kanjirappally - Mundakkayam - Kumily - Cumbum - Theni - Dindigul - Salem - Thoppur - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore.

The route is slightly bad from Vandiperiyar for like 10 kms [rough with small potholes] and then the section from Kumily till you reach lower periyar [ghat section]. Then rest of the roads are mostly good for small rough patches near Dindigul. Once you reach Dindigul, its AWESOME 4 lane toll roads till Hosur.

[Soccerfan]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

I am back after my drive to Kerala.

I came back via Thrissur>Palghat>Salem route. The road work till Thrissur is fully complete - very good road condition. I avoided Avinashi stretch by going via Sulur> Palladam>Kangeyam>Perundurai route - very good road condition and less traffic, but it is a little longer. I took the wrong turn to Erode from Perundurai and joined Salem route at Sankari - I lost some time in the process. Very good road condition throughout.

Planning to do the same to avoid avinashi strecth

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by Soccerfan

Planning to do the same to avoid avinashi strecth

Avoid Avinashi esp in the nights. I had taken that route y'day and the drive was horrible with bad roads and the incessant rain made it worse

[cooljai]

Originally Posted by lloydofcochin

Cooljai,

Your best bet would be Kumily - Cumbum - Theni - Dindigul - Bangalore route. Roads are pretty good except for a couple of stretches and the traffic is sparse till Salem.

@lloydofcochin, came from Bangalore through that route, so wanted to try some other route while going back. Moreover have some "travel sick" passengers

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

. I avoided Avinashi stretch by going via Sulur> Palladam>Kangeyam>Perundurai route - very good road condition and less traffic, but it is a little longer. I took the wrong turn to Erode from Perundurai and joined Salem route at Sankari - I lost some time in the process. Very good road condition throughout.

So where do you take the deviation to Sulur ?? I know the Kerala roads after Walayar will hit the L&T road and then join the Coimbatore - Avinashi highway. How far from this place is the deviation to Sulur? Any landmarks or so ?

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

So where do you take the deviation to Sulur ?? I know the Kerala roads after Walayar will hit the L&T road and then join the Coimbatore - Avinashi highway. How far from this place is the deviation to Sulur? Any landmarks or so ?

On the L&T bye-pass itself. If you dont see Sulur itself, watch out for Trichy indication. The road is NH-67 (Kovai->Trichy highway) and you will be on this road through Sulur-> Palladam->Kangeyam. From Kangeyam, you divert to left towards Perundurai. Cross Perundurai town and go straight on the old NH-47 road to hit the new 4-lane road.

[kittigadu]

I did the BLR - Kottayam during the weekend on my Jeep.
Took the Dindigul-Theni-Kumli-Mundakayam route. Route was excellent and almost empty. Lost a lot of time on the hills. Took us 11Hrs to reach Kottayam.

On my way back on sunday, took the Mavattupuza-Trissur-CBE-Salem route. Started at around 1:00 pm and got royally beaten on the Trissur - CBE stretch. For the first 10 Kms out of Trissur we really cursed ourselves for taking this route. The road is full of patches and the jeep's suspension made the matters worse. Speed fell to 45kmph till i reached the border. Heavy oncoming traffic and circus tricks of some TN registered vehicles is irritating.

Surprisingly there was no jam at the border checkpost. Thats the saving grace. After a few kms of good road from the border, the happiness soon disappeared just after crossing the last toll out of CBE. It was dark and raining cats and dogs and the stretch between CBE and Avanishi and a little further was the worst experience i ever had. Speed fell to around 25-30 kmph. Trucks lined up and small cars were scared to get into the diversions.

Finally got onto the four lane after a painful journey cursing everything under the sun, picked up some speed and finally reached bangalore at around 2:30 am. It took 14 Hrs for the return journey and were tired like hell.

A few observations worth mentioning.

1. While i heard horrible stories of how the bus drivers in kerala are, surprisingly it was not how i felt. They were good.

2. Most vehicles, in fact all vehicles there have both the outer rear views and autos in special have 2 sets on each side.

3. Overall, the people there have a better driving sense. Also they honk less.

4. While on the hills, most local drivers never overtake in the turns. Also, most drivers never cross the line on to the other side of the road.

5. People on the streets are warm and helpful but cant speak anything else other than malayalam. Only a few could manage hindi and English is out of question even in the cities.

6. English signboards are adequate but the road side milestones are almost in Malayalam.

7. Roads between towns are not properly laid. I mean the road surface is uneven. Feels like the contractor never used the road roller. And in a jeep, its constant bounce. Esp Kottayam to changanacherry. Kottayam to mavattupuza etc.

8. Never do the Trissur - CBE - Bhavani stretch in the night.

Regards,
Krishna.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

I avoided Avinashi stretch by going via Sulur> Palladam>Kangeyam>Perundurai route - very good road condition and less traffic, but it is a little longer. I took the wrong turn to Erode from Perundurai and joined Salem route at Sankari - I lost some time in the process. Very good road condition throughout.

Originally Posted by ajithbr

On the L&T bye-pass itself. If you dont see Sulur itself, watch out for Trichy indication. The road is NH-67 (Kovai->Trichy highway) and you will be on this road through Sulur-> Palladam->Kangeyam. From Kangeyam, you divert to left towards Perundurai. Cross Perundurai town and go straight on the old NH-47 road to hit the new 4-lane road.

So I guess this is one of the right deviations on the L&T bye-pass. I have seen Pollachi boards on the way, but never noticed Trichy. So what will be the approximate distance from L&T bye-pass deviation till Perundurai in this route?

Originally Posted by kittigadu

A few observations worth mentioning.

1. While i heard horrible stories of how the bus drivers in kerala are, surprisingly it was not how i felt. They were good.

Dont think you drove thru the most notorious stretches ! Kannur - Calicut, Aluva - Cochin, Kottayam - Cochin are some of the routes which I know well !! And yeah, whenever you see the "green" KSRTC bus, please bow your head and move the car off the road at any cost!

Originally Posted by kittigadu

3. Overall, the people there have a better driving sense. Also they honk less.

4. While on the hills, most local drivers never overtake in the turns. Also, most drivers never cross the line on to the other side of the road.

+1. I have noticed that the drivers in Kerala stick on to the rules. Surprisingly / Shockingly, they even dim the lights in the night !!

Originally Posted by kittigadu

5. People on the streets are warm and helpful but cant speak anything else other than malayalam. Only a few could manage hindi and English is out of question even in the cities.

The tip will be to get hold of guys who are dressed well than asking the shop wallahs. Am sure any guys [mostly] in shirt / trousers will try and provide you answers in English itself [please dont flame me, its just a tip].

Originally Posted by kittigadu

7. Roads between towns are not properly laid. I mean the road surface is uneven. Feels like the contractor never used the road roller. And in a jeep, its constant bounce. Esp Kottayam to changanacherry. Kottayam to mavattupuza etc.

Two worst roads I ever drive. You will feel you are on a see-saw !! There are no pot holes, but you will be thrown up & down every single feet you move here in both the stretches.

Originally Posted by kittigadu

8. Never do the Trissur - CBE - Bhavani stretch in the night.

So the roads are still in bad shape in Bhavani - Mettur stretch? I saw that they have the raw materials for re-tarring dumped on the sides in these stretch. I avoid this now and go straight to Salem and then to Thoppur.

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by cooljai

@lloydofcochin, came from Bangalore through that route, so wanted to try some other route while going back. Moreover have some "travel sick" passengers

If you want to try a different route then the best bet would be to go for the MC Road, NH47 & 7 combo or you can avoid MC Road by crossing over to Alapuzha via the AC road so that it would be easy on the travel sick pax. My advice would be to start early so that you can hit Palakkad before the traffic picks up. Only stretch that would be frustrating would be the Avinashi one but then you have few alternate routes mentioned in some previous posts.

I had taken the Tenkasi route last month and I felt that the Kumily route was better. Kottarakkara to Punalur stretch is bumpy and then you have the ghat section to Tenkasi and there after the roads are pretty good 2 lane till you hit the NH7 in Thirumangalam from there it is the beautiful 4 lanes till Bangalore.

[cooljai]

Just came back to Bangalore, the route was Pathanamthitta- Thiruvalla- Chenganachery(AC road)- Alappuzha- L&T byepass- Sulur- Palladam- Kangeyam- Perundurai and then on to the regular NH47/ NH7.
The roads are newly tarred from Chertala onwards, and almost all the flyovers, except the one in Aluva are now open for traffic. Started from home around 5 Am, Could finish the stretch between Nedumbassery to Mannuthi in 45 minutes.
The traffic was a bit slow from the Junction we turn towards NH67 till Sulur, and after that there was very light traffic. Could cruise around 100. The Kangeyam Perundurai SH96 was also well maintained and had a peaceful drive.

[vasoo]

Anybody recently went through Nilambur > Wandoor > Pandikkad > Melattoor > Mannarkad road ? Is the railway crossing at Melattoor open now? It was closed for works when I went there last year and had to go through Perinthalmanna. How is the road condition is this segment now? Planning to drive down this weekend.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vasoo

Anybody recently went through Nilambur > Wandoor > Pandikkad > Melattoor > Mannarkad road ? Is the railway crossing at Melattoor open now? It was closed for works when I went there last year and had to go through Perinthalmanna. How is the road condition is this segment now? Planning to drive down this weekend.

I did Nilambur-Wandoor-Pandikkad-Pattikad-Perinthalmana-Pattambi-Thrissur last week and the stretch between Nilambur and Pattikad is just average with road and culvert works in progress at many locations and bad roads in some other sections,not to mention the dense traffic.An average of 50kmph is the best that can be expected on this stretch.