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Just traveled Thrissur-Shoranur-Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Angadipuram-Mankada-Manjeri-Edavanna-Nilambur-Nadugani-Gudalur-Mysore-Bangalore yesterday.

Thrissur to Pattambi is excellent - the roads are in really good shape, well laid and marked. The works on the flyover at Wadakkanchery is progressing pretty well - the last span has been laid. They need to lay the road over it, and complete works on the side rails. The bridge should be opened in another month or so - going by the pace of the works.

Pattambi to Perinthalmanna is a mixed bad - there were no bad roads anywhere, but the surface is not great. Potholes have been patched up - but very crudely patched. The surface is not even, and would throw passengers around.

Perinthalmanna-Angadipuram-Tirurkad is great. Tirurkad to Manjeri was very crowded and surface is good at places and uneven is some places. Manjeri to Nilambur is good - but has to cross quite a lot of crowded junctions. Nilambur to Vazhikadavu was heavily crowded.

Vazhikadavu to Nadugani: Roads within Kerala were great. Well paved and well marked. The last few kms in Kerala were not in great shape - lots of potholes and roads washed away in some places. Roads get really bad in Tamilnadu - the roads get narrow as well. Some works, like culverts or embankments were in progress - so at some places hardly a lane was open. Toll collection in the section is still there - they seem to charge hefty rates for no reason. Cars pay Rs. 20, while Sumo/Innova types have to pay Rs. 25. What is the purpose of levying money on this section?

Nadugani-Gudalur is decent - watch out for people walking on the middle of the road. Gudalur to Bandipur is average - some bad patches here and there.

Bandipur to Gundlupet is also average. The roads were fairly good after Gundlupet. Mysore-Bangalore was heavily crowded.

binaiks,
thanks for the update. for the perinthalmanna-nilambur route you could have selected the road via kalikavu/ melattur instead of manjeri to avoid all those crowded junctions. toll@ nadugani is still a mystery, they collect the toll but do/ provide nothing special in that route.

Actually, Manjeri route was selected since we had a stop in a place on that route. From Perinthalmanna, we had to go to Angadippuram (Thirumandhamkunnu temple) and then to attend a function at a place near Manjeri.

I am planning a trip to Wayanad from Bangalore (via nagarhole) next weekend - any updates on the road conditions. Also one of my friends was mentioning of unbearable temperatures..But the resort manager said its just pleasant to warm during day and cool at night - Could anyone help on this

I was there last weekend - days are indeed quite warm, especially since it has been threatening to rain every afternoon/evening and so it is quite cloudy. Nights are quite pleasant, though I wouldn't really call it cool.

Any particular reason why you're travelling through Nagarahole ? If a visit to the WLS is what you're after, please check with the Forest department if they have resumed safaris there (it was suspended 2-3 weeks ago due to the forest fire in Nagarahole). If not I'd recommend the Gundlupet-Batheri route, roads are in much better condition on that route.

Many people might have already written about this, but I thought I will add a bit of mine too: Went to Suchindram temple from TVM and came back. Went by NH route since I had doubts about other alternate routes which anyway merge into NH after some distance through Vizhinjam, Poovar etc.,. People call this NH? It is a torture to drive through this corridor! It took me 2 1/2 hrs to traverse the 68 km distance! One of my friend told me that from Chennai to Nagercoil , he took seven hours and from Nagercoil to TVM he took 2hrs 45 minutes! I did not believe him then, now I do!

Does anyone have any updates on the road construction status on Dindigul-Theni section. ? I have a trip down to KL this weekend and hence was planning to take this route.

Bhpians,

I have a drive coming up to Calicut next week. I can start from Bangalore only after 7-8pm so the route via Bandipur is ruled out. I'm thinking of going via Hunsur - Gonikkopal - Kutta.

How is the road condition on that route? Is it safe for a night drive? How many hours should I budget for the drive? What time does the Bandipur WLS gates close at the Kerala side? Unfortunately I have to return the same day :Frustrati

Thanks in advance.

Did Kochi-Bangalore yesterday. The road is still bumpy near Walayar else everything fine. The diversions too are ok. The work is in progress between Krishnagiri and Hosur, expect traffic block at ghat section during peak hours.

There is a MOBO restaurant (did I spell it correct?) in L&T highway near Pollachi exit. The ambiance and food was very good.

Also, saw another restaurant after Toppur toll gate towards Bangalore in the left side (not A2B)

lloydofcochin, Its been a while I took Kutta road so not sure about current situation, though have heard that it is much better than what it used to be. However, I dont think it will bring down time much, Kutta route used to take around 3~4 hrs more than Bandipur route. I would suggest you make an early morning start from Bangalore; say around 3am or so. That way you can reach Bandipur as gates open and be in Calicut by 9am or so. Last month it took me exact 6 hrs in my Alto with a stop over of around 20 mins in CCD. This way you can avoid traffic on Mysore road.

Both KL and KA side gates closes at 9PM. However once you are in forest you dont need to worry about that. Ie, suppose you cross KL side gate at say 08:30 PM and reach KA side gate in forest past 9PM also no issues. They wont ask you to stay inside forest or return back :)

I second this suggestion. Make an early morning start and you can easily reach Calicut without much fuss. I prefer it more than the stressful night driving via Kutta, which will not give you much gain. The roads are in very good condition and that is a bonus. I too am driving to Calicut this Friday (23rd) morning, on the same route. I've been on that route couple of weeks back and it drains you out a lot less. I would suggest this, as you have a return journey also the same day.

Thank You Suhas. I too was thinking about an early morning start but not too sure that I'll get enough rest since I have to return the same day after attending a friend's engagement. I'm expecting one ore friend to join in and in that case he can share the driving duty :)

Friends,

Any advice on the Udumalaipet - Munnar road? Am thinking of a Munnar plan for next week from Coimbatore. If that road is not a good choice any alternatives?

Kutta route, in whatever state, is not a comfortable one to drive during night due to many reasons. So, my first choice would always be a 3AM start from Bangalore to reach forest entry gate by 6.30AM (6 AM to 6.30 AM, expect some mad rush when the gate opens) and Calicut by about 9 AM. But, not sure 9AM is too late to reach for you and also whether you will feel comfortable on driving back on the same day.

So, here is my (slightly half-hearted) choice if I have the same constraints as I have tried this once and did not find it more tiring than 2-way drive on the same day. Since you need to go via Hunsur, why not take Hunsur->Thalassery->Calicut route. I have done Hunsur->Thalassery in about 3 hours and the roads are much better than Kutta->Mananthavady->Kalpetta route and also you will never feel lonely with lots of traffic (unlike the totally isolated, if you discount the occassional bus/lorry, Kutta route). And Thalassery->Calicut can be done in about 1.5 hours during non-peak hours. So, here is roughly the timings I had:
Bangalore->Hunsur(3 hours), Hunsur->Thalassery(3 hours) & Thalassery->Calicut(1.5 hours). Adding about half-an-hour break in between for a tea-break, it is roughly 8 hours drive door-to-door. Again, I am an extremely slow driver and there are many in this forum who drives upto Thalassery in about 5 to 5.5 hours non-stop and that is about an hour less than what I may take. Please consider this option and try start a bit early, say 6 PM so that you can reach Calicut around 1 AM and have enough sleep. BTW, where exactly are you going to Calicut?

Route mentioned by ajithbr is an excellent option. Many buses going towards Kozhikode from Bangalore are taking this route nowadays. The difference in terms of distance is also marginal. Via kutta it is around 380km and via Telicherry it is 390km. Only thing is you have to plan up your timings so that you avoid driving Telicherry-Kozhikode during peak hours, else getting through the stretch from Telicherry upto Mahe town and crossing Mahe town would be royal pain!