[narayan]

Just finished the Chennai - Palakkad stretch. Found lot of bad stretches after the 2nd Ullundurpettai toll. Took the usual Avinashi - Cbe bypass route. Lots of diversions all along and drive was quite bad. Cbe bypass - Palakkad stretch was also very bad. Rains have decimated whatever road was left there. Toll charges have gone up dramatically and somehow felt it was a total rip off in most stretches. On the way back will try the pollachi palladam route. Hopefully that's better.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayan

On the way back will try the pollachi palladam route. Hopefully that's better.

Definitely worth it. In fact even for onward journey you should have taken that. At least there are no diversions and roads are very good.

The only catch is to find the road to go past Pollachi. Can be a bit irritating, but much more a pleasant experience than going through diversions.

But do note take the Pollachi-Palladam-Kanngeyam-Perundurai option, instead of Palladam-Tiruppur.

[rajni]

Originally Posted by binaiks

IMHO, Palakkad-Ottapalam-Shoranur-Wadakanchery-Thrissur is any day better.

I drove from Kerala to Bangalore in last weekend and wanted to try this route. But, unfortunately I missed the deviation from Kulappalli and the MapMyIndia redirected me to the Mysore route. When I realized that I have missed the Palakkad route I tried to catch up the Palakkad road with help of GPS as I wasn't sure the condition of the road via Wayanad. But, it turned to be too expensive and I ended up driving a lot of time through narrow village-kinda roads. So, one warning to fellow BHPians who tries the above route - Don't miss the deviation at Kulappali.

Ranjitp1 has explained both the routes at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2875924. See the following quotation.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The route from NH47 Thrissur bypassing Walayar and Palakkad is as below:(TCR-Wadakancheri-Vazhacode Jn-Chelakara-Pazhyannur-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-CBE)If you want you can take the Pollachi-Palladam road and rejoin NH47 via Sulur as well.

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...4,6,7&t=m&z=15

Dont forget to pick up your banana chips from SNR at Alathur on this route.SNR Banana Chips

The other Route going from Thrissur via Ottapalam to Palakkad is as below:

https://maps.google.co.in/maps?saddr...4,6,7&t=m&z=13

My reccomended route would the Option-1 as it bypasses Palakkad as well as Walayar Checkpost as well as the NH47 between Thrissur and Palakkad.Roads are excellent and traffic is less as well.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Did Coimbatore-Ernakulam today through regular NH47 itself. The road was bad but very little traffic!!

Hope all are looking for alternate routes!

Did you go via Kuthiran? How is the condition now? What is the status of repair work?

[ontheroad]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Did you go via Kuthiran? How is the condition now? What is the status of repair work?

Still very bad. Yesterday had 6 hours block due to breakdown of some trucks. Info from Manorama.

Had a Tcr-Varkala-Tcr trip. Road conditions are bad between Haippad and Kollam-Alleppy border near Kayamkulam. Rest of the roads are without potholes

[vasoo]

I reached Bangalore in two parts, with a 5AM start from Kottayam. Ktym > Ekm (Vytilla) > Thrissur Bye-pass > Mannamangalam road > Patturackal > Shornur Road > Kulappully > Vaniyamkulam > Cherpulassery > Sreekrishnapuram. And then next day at 5AM from Skpm > Mannarkad > Palakkad bye-pass> Walayar > Salem > Bangalore.

Ktym Ekm is in excellent condition except after Thripunithura. Rest good all the way except near Vaniyamkulam. Rest good to decent again till Walayar, rough road there till Ettimadai and decent from there to L&T bye-pass and better from there till 4 lane start and good most of the way rest, except for the works between Krishnagiri and Bangalore.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by vasoo

And then next day at 5AM from Skpm > Mannarkad > Palakkad bye-pass> Walayar > Salem > Bangalore.

.

maybe the next time if you do this route,you might want to try S.puram-Mundur-Olavakode-Palakkad bypass and onwards.S.Kpuram mundur is wide roads and less traffic as well.Thanks for the update

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by rajni

.... But, unfortunately I missed the deviation from Kulappalli and the MapMyIndia redirected me to the Mysore route. When I realized that I have missed the Palakkad route I tried to catch up the Palakkad road with help of GPS as I wasn't sure the condition of the road via Wayanad. .... So, one warning to fellow BHPians who tries the above route - Don't miss the deviation at Kulappali. ...

Actually Kulappully is the only place where you need to turn when coming from Thrissur to Palakkad, rest are all straight roads.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

maybe the next time if you do this route,you might want to try S.puram-Mundur-Olavakode-Palakkad bypass and onwards.S.Kpuram mundur is wide roads and less traffic as well.Thanks for the update

Well, my place is closer to the Mannarkad > P'manna road (near Aryambavu) and not exactly at Skpm. Hence it is easier for me to reach that road and go through Mannarkad than Mundur road. Ant at early morning, crossing Mannarkad is pretty easy, unlike in the day time. Roads are pretty good either way.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

maybe the next time if you do this route,you might want to try S.puram-Mundur-Olavakode-Palakkad bypass and onwards.S.Kpuram mundur is wide roads and less traffic as well.Thanks for the update

Originally Posted by vasoo

Well, my place is closer to the Mannarkad > P'manna road (near Aryambavu) and not exactly at Skpm. Hence it is easier for me to reach that road and go through Mannarkad than Mundur road. Ant at early morning, crossing Mannarkad is pretty easy, unlike in the day time. Roads are pretty good either way.

I find the Cherpulasery - Mundur road less preferable, since it is a panchayat style road, which though is unbroken, has that typical wavy nature. You cant go above 60kmph on this stretch. Also it is narrower than the Mannarkad-Palakakd NH.

But it is actually a decision between the devil and the deep blue sea, since the NH nowadays has crater like potholes. And there is a risk of tanker/trailer breakdown at the twin hairpin bends

[A350XWB]

I just came back from a week long vacation in Kerala. I drove down to my native, Pathanamthitta from Gottigere, Bangalore (623 Km). Took the NICE Road-Hosur-Salem-Dindigul-Theni-Cumbum-Kumily-Mundakkayam-Erumely-Ranni route. It took me around 10 hrs, but the drive was pleasant. The roads upto Dindigul is excellent, from Dindigul to Cumbum and upto the Kerala boarder, road widening is in progress, but the condition is not too bad. KK road from Kumily till Mundakkayam has some bad stretches due to the recent rains. Overall, the drive was very relaxed.

The next leg was from Pathanamthitta to Calicut University. I took the MC road-Angamaly-Thrissur-Kunnamkulam-Kuttippuram-Edappal route (302 Km). The roads are in good condition, but there was a horrible slow moving traffic near Valanchery which took considerable amount of time to clear. Overall, the condition of the roads are very good and the drive is pleasant.

The final leg was Calicut University to Gottigere, Bangalore (375 Km). Used the Kalpetta-Sultan Bathery-Gundlupet-Chamarajnagar-Kollegal-Malavalli-Kanakpura route. The roads from Kalpetta till Bathery is full of crater sized potholes and is in horrible condition, especially the stretch from Kalpetta to Meenangadi. The roads just after the Karnataka border is freshly laid, but I think it was done by some Bangalorean contractor. An unbelievable number of humps have been added which are not well marked. Well, they have put 2 circles at either end of the road to mark the hump. The roads after that are in usual shape, not bad at all.

One thing which I noticed is that they have installed signals in all the major junctions, which is good. But most villagers seem to think of these as mere fancy lighting.

[B103]

I went from Bangalore to Guruvayoor last weekend. Started on Friday evening from Bangalore and reached Salem. Stayed at Sree Saravana Bhavan overnight and resumed journey next day morning. The journey after that was pretty bad. Before Coimbatore, there are lot of traffic diversions to the service road for bridge constructions. The road after the L&T by-pass and before Walayar is almost non-existent. From Palakkad, I went via Ottappalam -> Pattambi -> Kummankulam -> Guruvayoor. Unfortunately, I lost close to 1 hr in a traffic jam at Ottapalam town.

On the way back, on Sunday, I tried a different route and it kind of worked. I took Guruvayoor -> Vadakkaancherry -> Chelakkara -> Pazhayannur -> Alathur -> Kollengode -> Meenakshipuram -> Pollachi -> Palladam -> Kangayam -> Perundurai -> Salem -> Bangalore. Being a Sunday, I did not face any blocks anywhere except the two inescapable toll boths at Krishnagiri and Hosur. The road was in good condition throughout.

It was raining intermittently slowing down the drive. Usually I see many team-bhp cars on the road to Kerala. This time I don't remember seeing any.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by B103

On the way back, on Sunday, I tried a different route and it kind of worked. I took Guruvayoor -> Vadakkaancherry -> Chelakkara -> Pazhayannur -> Alathur -> Kollengode -> Meenakshipuram -> Pollachi -> Palladam -> Kangayam -> Perundurai -> Salem -> Bangalore.

This route is the least traffic prone at the moment and the most scenic of the lot and especially now with the road between Vazhacode and Pazhyannur having been widened,its a lovely road to drive on.

[pariwar]

Originally Posted by B103

Guruvayoor -> Vadakkaancherry -> Chelakkara -> Pazhayannur -> Alathur -> Kollengode -> Meenakshipuram -> Pollachi -> Palladam -> Kangayam -> Perundurai -> Salem -> Bangalore.

Very interesting indeed. Must try this the next time around.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Very interesting indeed. Must try this the next time around.

Yes, it is a very interesting route though u will not be able,to increase speed due to the fact that the roads are narrow and hence,will have to keep the speed at around 50-60 kph, but if u are using a GPS be careful after kollengode before alathur, there is a new road which connects that road to NH 47 and the GPS might take u through that route and u will experience the horrible NH 47 for around 20 odd kms.

[B103]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

If u are using a GPS be careful after kollengode before alathur, there is a new road which connects that road to NH 47 and the GPS might take u through that route and u will experience the horrible NH 47 for around 20 odd kms.

True. This problem had been around and the trick is to reset destination in GPS and proceed further e.g: when you are near to Kollengode, reset the destination to Alathur.

Else, it may take you through the shortest route which may not be desirable in many cases esp. in India