[ampere]

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

I can come back to Bangalore via Salem.

Adding to Ranjit take the Kanakpura road to Bandipur via Chamarajanagar/Gudlupet bypassing Mysore. You would save some time there.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Scenic definitely the Bandipur-Mysore route.Faster definitely the Salem route.

Scenic yet slower is fine. But the roads are in good condition right? I don't want to end up with a flat tyre in a Forest area with a bunch of guys scared to death!

Originally Posted by ampere

Adding to Ranjit take the Kanakpura road to Bandipur via Chamarajanagar/Gudlupet bypassing Mysore. You would save some time there.

Shoudn't be an issue as I'll be reaching Mysore pretty early in the morning.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Added_flavor

Scenic yet slower is fine. But the roads are in good condition right? I don't want to end up with a flat tyre in a Forest area with a bunch of guys scared to death!



Shoudn't be an issue as I'll be reaching Mysore pretty early in the morning.

Roads are great. You'll definitely not get a flat tyre because of the road. . The forest section will have speed-breakers at regular intervals. But again, that is only a concern for those who want to dash through the forest. Only other thing to consider is that apart from the Bangalore-Mysore stretch, this route is a 2 lane highway. Traffic will be minimal till around Nilambur. Since you are starting early Bangalore-Mysore will also be comfortable. There is a shift start at Toyota plant in Bidadi around 5am. So if you get on Mysore road around this time, you may encounter loads of Toyota employee buses till the turn-off to the Toyota plant.

The Nadugani ghat (Between Gudalur and Nilambur) is a twisty road. A driving enthusiast delight but people prone to the motion sickness generally dont like it.

[devil_klm]

Just back after a round trip to kerala/Kollam. Route was bangalore-selam-madhurai-rajapalayam-senkottai-punalur-kollam. Road condition was very good. All maintenance work were done due to sabarimala season. Took 12 Hours to kollam and 13 Hours to come back. Distance was 800km one side.

[sv1976]

Good news for regualrs on Bangalore-Calicut route. I just did a return trip last weekend. Wayanad stretch of NH 212 is almost back to its original glory days. The work between Kalpetta and Sulthan Bathery is complete and done decently. Few really bad areas are completely redone and all other potholes patched up nicely. The stretch between Kerala border to Muthanga checkpost is bad (drivable though) and I hope they complete this work also soon.

Three new speed breakers immediately after you take right from Gundalpet towards Bathery. Watch out for these especially when approaching Gundalpet town from Bathery side in speeds above 90.

The forest area after entering from Karnataka side till almost the middle has a few new speed breakers without any markings or signages and you can miss them easily in shadows of the trees. There are atleast 12-15 new ones at every 300-500 meters.

Thamarassery Ghat continues to be in excellent condition. Overall, i would now recommend NH 212 vis-a-vis Gudallur-Nilambur route to Calicut.

[kala]

Originally Posted by sv1976

The forest area after entering from Karnataka side till almost the middle has a few new speed breakers without any markings or signages and you can miss them easily in shadows of the trees. There are atleast 12-15 new ones at every 300-500 meters.

You forgot the 3 ditches that still remain (the depressions where they removed old speedbreakers from). Those in my opinion are far more dangerous than the unmarked humps because they're virtually invisible till you reach within about 5 to 10 meters from them - and by then you'll not be in a position to brake if you're at speeds about 45-50 kmph. So do watch out for these in the mid-portion of the forest on the Karnataka side..

[sv1976]

Originally Posted by kala

You forgot the 3 ditches that still remain

Oh yes i missed that. The problem is even if you spot them early and slow down, its a bit difficult to go in and out of the ditch in one go. Becasue of its depth and width, you might just get stuck in there. I struggled in two of these ditches both ways.

My advise would be once you enter the forest area, do not go above 45-50kmph and be attentive through out. This part is no longer the stretch you could zip through earlier caring only for an animal crossing.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by sv1976

Oh yes i missed that. The problem is even if you spot them early and slow down, its a bit difficult to go in and out of the ditch in one go. Becasue of its depth and width, you might just get stuck in there. I struggled in two of these ditches both ways.

My advise would be once you enter the forest area, do not go above 45-50kmph and be attentive through out. This part is no longer the stretch you could zip through earlier caring only for an animal crossing.

Are these 3 ditches very deep? Can they be crossed comfortably with 5 people and luggage in a small car (ritz)?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Are these 3 ditches very deep? Can they be crossed comfortably with 5 people and luggage in a small car (ritz)?

I did not feel the ditches were an issue to cross. Basically they are narrow trenches (maybe a foot wide and yes quite deep). The challenge is seeing the ditches as there are no indications and unlike a hump, it is not very visible from a distance especially with the shade of the forest. So for a person unaware that these are coming it will be an issue if you hit it at speeds.

If you just maintain a conservative speed and watch out for these 3 trenches, crossing is not an issue.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I did not feel the ditches were an issue to cross. Basically they are narrow trenches (maybe a foot wide and yes quite deep). The challenge is seeing the ditches as there are no indications and unlike a hump, it is not very visible from a distance especially with the shade of the forest. So for a person unaware that these are coming it will be an issue if you hit it at speeds.

If you just maintain a conservative speed and watch out for these 3 trenches, crossing is not an issue.

Thanks Sir! Any problem I should face for a fully loaded Ritz? Probably bottom scraping ?:(

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by ankan.m.blr

Thanks Sir! Any problem I should face for a fully loaded Ritz? Probably bottom scraping ?:(

It is not wide enough for the whole tyre to go in. So i dont think there is any chance of bottom scraping.

Note: This is based on my drive on Dec 31st.

[kala]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I did not feel the ditches were an issue to cross. Basically they are narrow trenches (maybe a foot wide and yes quite deep). The challenge is seeing the ditches as there are no indications and unlike a hump, it is not very visible from a distance especially with the shade of the forest. So for a person unaware that these are coming it will be an issue if you hit it at speeds.

If you just maintain a conservative speed and watch out for these 3 trenches, crossing is not an issue.

Originally Posted by sv1976

My advise would be once you enter the forest area, do not go above 45-50kmph and be attentive through out. This part is no longer the stretch you could zip through earlier caring only for an animal crossing.

The technique I use to spot these trenches as well as the unmarked humps is to keep watching the shoulder of the road on both sides. On all these places, you'll find the road shoulders to be devoid of all grass because a lot of vehicles move over from the tarmac onto the road shoulder to avoid the speed breakers / trenches.

So slow down as soon as you see white sand on both sides of the road for about 15-20 feet - you will in all probability find a trench or an unmarked speedbreaker in the middle of it.

And as for speeds, I think it is anyway better to limit your speed to below 60 within the forest. Learnt it the hard way after I escaped by whisker colliding with an elephant mother/calf combination who was sprinting right through the center of the road towards me as I was just coming out of a curve at around 80 kms or so. This was about 2-3 years back, and from then on I make it a point to limit my speeds to 50-60 kmph max in the forest sections.

[dhanushmenon]

Anyone has an update of the latest on roads from Arakkonam to Kochi? Especially the stretch from Perundurai to Thrissur.

Intend driving down from Arakkonam on 24th Jan. Most probably I will be driving by night. Last time I crossed Coimbatore by night (on 4th Jan) was a nightmare in itself. Un lit roads, un marked diversions, reckless trucks and what not!!!

Latest update would be of much help.
Thanks in anticipation

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Anyone has an update of the latest on roads from Arakkonam to Kochi? Especially the stretch from Perundurai to Thrissur.

Intend driving down from Arakkonam on 24th Jan. Most probably I will be driving by night. Last time I crossed Coimbatore by night (on 4th Jan) was a nightmare in itself. Un lit roads, un marked diversions, reckless trucks and what not!!!

Latest update would be of much help.
Thanks in anticipation

I prefer the Perundurai-Kangayam-Palladam-Pollachi-Govindapuram-Kollengode-Pallasana-Pallavoor-Alathur-Pazhayannur-Wadakancheri-Thrissur-Kuttanellur-NH47-Kochi.Roads are excellent all throughout.Took the route as recent as last week and its in supreme condition.Perundurai to Thrissur took me under 4hours/210kms

http://goo.gl/maps/JBfdi

[DieselLover]

Which is the best route to Kodaikanal from thrissur. Planning to do a family trip sometime next month. Also suggest if it is better to hire a local cab for sight seeing in Kodaikanal. I don't want to take own car if parking is a pain. I will be probably visiting during a weekend.