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The Vaikom-Kottayam road via Kumarakom is in very good condition now. I drove through though road last Sunday. It saves a cool 10 kms when compared to the road via Ettumanoor.

Drive is very scenic and you can pass-by through beautiful Venice like places with lot of water bodies (figurative).

It also saves you from the mad traffic from Ettumanoor to Kottayam. BTW are you from Vaikom?

Just reached Bangalore from Kochi via Walayar and absolutely no issues. Have seen some KeSRTC buses forming a convoy at border towards CBE with police escort.

An update on Mettur route:
Took Thoppur-Mettur - Bhavani route while going to Kochi on 24th eve just to see the road condition. Read somewhere that the road condition is getting better but it was horrible with bad stretches/speed breakers, local traffic etc etc. Today evening, while coming back, took Edappadi - Omallur route. 90% is excellent and remaining OK. Also tarring work is going on here and there.

Yes. will be great if We see a Widening of this road at least in some parts.

from Ernakulam to Kottayam which route is shorter(faster) when You choose Kumarakom highway? is it Cherthala-Kumarakom-Kottayam or the Vaikom-Kumarakom route? consider road conditions also.

What regn was your car? I am in Bangalore now, and planning to return (to Kerala) on Friday from here. I am driving a KL regd car.

I came to Bangalore via Kozhikode-Bathery - the traffic was awful due to road works. I do no want to go back via that route. Was thinking of the Gudalur-Vazhikadavu route instead.

Were there many KL cars in the route via CBE?

I was driving a non KL registered car but have seen several KL registered cars around border. My Sister was in Coimbatore (around Sivaram nagar) in a KL7 registered car for 3 days during Christmas and never faced any issues.

I have a Wagon R 2007 model with mileage less than 25000 kms. I propose to travel to Kerala from Mumbai in the car sometime March -April 2012. Can I get some advice on the precautions I need to take by way of preparing the car for the long journey and in terms of driving and the route I can take? I would also like to halt mid-way and which can be the ideal place and the hotel? Thanks in advance.

Since your car has done just 25K, I don't think you need to worry about precautions. Just do the regular service/oil change and drive. Do a tire check since its 4 yrs old. The road via Hubli-Bangalore-Coimbatore is in great condition till Avinashi and so so around Coimbatore. If you belongs to north Kerala, you can go via alternate routes.

Route 1:

Mumbai-MPEW-Satara-Kolhapur-Belgaum-Hubli-Nelamangala-NICE Road-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad

Halt on Day 1 at Hosur,if you are a moderately fast driver,else you would have to do your 1st stay at Hubli and second stay at Hosur and then carry on.

Would suggest that you post further queries on the following thread for more accurate replies.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-kerala-4.html

between Angamaly and Perumbavoor in MC Road, there is Huge traffic congestion these days. particularly in Kalady Junction. the long line of vehicles starts almost from Vengoor in northern direction to Okkal, after Periyar Bridge. it took almost 40minutes to ferry off from the traffic block for the Bus I was travelling.

The shortest route from Eranakulam to Kottayam is via Thripunithura -> Thalayolaparambu. You will not touch Vaikom in that case.

Thripunithura -> Vaikom -> Kumarakom road would be quite close to the above road, in terms of distance.

In Vaikom-kumarakom route, turning right from Thanneermukkam bundu will take you to Cherthala. Area in and around is very beautiful too.

Travelled from (1) Changanacherry to Alleppy and (2) Changanacherry to Thiruvananthapuram last week.

Changanacherry-Alleppy road is in good condition now. Couple of gutters that had developed after the rain are all closed now. There is an odd-gutter here or there still. Watch out for the deployment of speed radars. Kerala Police is watching your speed limit in this road. I spotted one, but we were way below the speed limit, as my wife was driving.

Changanacherry-Thiruvananthapuram trip was done via MC road which passes via Thiruvalla - Chengannur - Panthalam - Kottarakara (by-pass) - Venjaranmoodu - Kilimanoor. The road condition is very good from Chengannur onwards all the way to Thiruvananthapuram. The road was widened and relaid somewhat recently and so preferred this one over the national Higway via Kollam, which I heard is not in good condition.

Eateries are available all through the route. There are speed breakers from Chengannur to Kottarakara and beyond and so so you got to be cautious. Also, I saw a police van with speed radar near Technopark at Kazhakoottam. This is another thing to watch out for.

Seems like lots of speed checks in Kerala these days. Last week while coming from Bangalore I was caught for speeding on Palakkad-Shornur road near Ottapalam, fined Rs 300. Roads are pretty good in many places and police is making good advantage of it.

Going back via Mannarkad this Saturday. Will start to Bangalore from there on Sunday morning by the usual CBE bye-pass, Salem, Bangalore route.

Did Kochi - Bangalore on 27th. Saw an interceptor pulled over near Trichur to collect fine from lorries. Surprised to see that they were targeting lorries as highway police did earlier instead of speed checking.

If you see a good road in Kerala, think atleast a dozen times before flooring the accelerator. The official speed limit for LMVs on highways in Kerala is 70kmph. Of late, the government has invested in getting more radars and traffic police are conducting speed checks on almost all good patches of roads.

Recently, police have started using their regular jeeps for speed checks - earlier, the interceptors were distinguishable from distance and hence one could take evasive efforts - but now, its the normal police jeep that stands innocuously on the road side. The guy with the radar would be standing away from the jeep, below a tree or something - he would resemble the guys who do engineering measurements (except for the uniform).

As a thumb rule, I try to, either follow the 70kmph limit or keep a look on police jeeps.

Another idea that Kerala Police does is to follow your vehicle. If you are above the speed limit, they'd overtake you and block you - and penalise for overspeeding. So, if you see a police jeep following you, reduce speed to 70kmph or less, until the jeep gets off your hook. Also, try not to overtake a police jeep if its already going above 65kmph - it could be a trap!

Was that a Police Interceptor, or one from the Motor Vehicles Department? The Interceptors of the MVD would have a red band across its length, while the one from the Traffic Police would have a blue band.

MVD guys are usually behind trucks and buses, while Traffic Police guys prefer private cars. MVD guys usually target tipper lorries - they'd chase them and fine them!

To remind all, if you see a good road in Kerala, don't floor the accelerator. Be cautious if you planning to go fast.