[ampere]

Originally Posted by bdman

Hosur to Salem (6-8pm) NH7 slowly being destroyed due the various diversion related to new overpasses. but great stretches in between where you can hit high speeds. Again heavy traffic, mostly lorries. The glare from oncoming traffic is unbearable and dangerous as you approach villages with cross streets and invisible cyclist etc. Salem city traffic is quite bad as you have to inch through a couple of roundabouts/circles. Tolls galore!

Hosur-Salem ? I thought its only till Krishnagiri ? Its should be very nice beyond with almost no traffic, but some trucks here and there.

Then I made an almost fatal error. I missed the turn from SH58 to SH74 and found myself on the NH47. So instead of doing the 70km round about trip from "G" to "J" I took the 30 km "shortcut". What a DISASTER!. Words cannot describe how bad the road condition is. It's not just your wheels that hit the potholes, your entire vehicles goes in and out of the "craters".

This where you need the GPS to see where you are going next, esp at nights where you dont have any one to help/assist.

[bdman]

Originally Posted by ampere

Hosur-Salem ? I thought its only till Krishnagiri ? Its should be very nice beyond with almost no traffic, but some trucks here and there.



This where you need the GPS to see where you are going next, esp at nights where you dont have any one to help/assist.

May be I took a wrong turn. I was in Salem all right. I confirmed with a passerby.

I think I may have programmed a via point incorrectly GPS - I got the coordinates out of googlemaps, had to convert the format and enter them into the Garmin. Plus it was 3am and I was running on 3hours of sleep..

[ampere]

Originally Posted by bdman

I think I may have programmed a via point incorrectly GPS - I got the coordinates out of googlemaps, had to convert the format and enter them into the Garmin. Plus it was 3am and I was running on 3hours of sleep..

Yes thats true. And in the Pollachi-Kollengode-Alathur road, its very easy to get diverted to NH47 toward Vadakkancherry. Basically at Kollengode, you should make sure you are the right road to Alathur. That should set it correctly.

But yes 3Am is a wrong time!

[NPV]

Originally Posted by bdman

Salem to Erode (8pm-9pm): Great roads, well marked. traffic begins to thin. Tolls continue.

Erode to Palladum (via Perindurai) (9pm-10:30pm). This road is UNBELIEVABLY good! Great surface, curvy and well marked. I was shocked! Never expected this. And I was doing higher average speeds on this road than than NH7.

If you were headed to Perundurai and then Kangeyam and Palladam why did you go to Erode ?
From Salem, get onto NH47 and the turnoff to Perundurai/Kangeyam is right on NH47 after Bhavani, you don't have to go to Erode.

[silversteed]

For people not familiar with the Perundurai-Kangayam route, the turn off from NH-47 four laned road is approximately 52km from the NHAI wayside amenity centre at Vaikundam. There is a Sree Saravanabhavan hotel with lodging, and a few other small shops at this amenity centre. There are signboards about 500m before the junction where you need to turn left towards Kangayam.

As for losing directions in Pollachi, Kollengode or Alathur, it's suggested to use a GPS navigation device or Google Maps (preferred).

[ampere]

Best way to Note Perundurai exit :

- 2-3km before the town, there is a board which Perundurai 2km (I think that is 2)
- If you miss this and you see Aryas on your right or Annalkashmi on your left, be aware you have missed the first exit to the town. The second exit is right adjacent to Hotel Anna Lakshmi.

[bdman]

Originally Posted by NPV

... NH47 after Bhavani, you don't have to go to Erode.

You are right. I just remember seeing signs for Erode. I did turn off before.

Originally Posted by silversteed

...As for losing directions in Pollachi, Kollengode or Alathur, it's suggested to use a GPS navigation device or Google Maps (preferred).

Correct. On the way put of Bangalore on NH&, there are some new flyovers that are not on the maps and GPS offers unnecessary corrections while you are on it. I missed the Kollengode and then failed to correct my course possibly because I because got used to the unnecessary corrections offered by the GPS on NH7, and GPS immediately "recalculated" and sent my on my to NH47 hell.

@silversteed: since I missed the SH74 stretch, how does the surface and traffic compare with SH58 and 67? I wanna try it on the way back tomorrow.

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[bdman]

Ok.. Mods, before you freak out, I cannot edit the previous post above, so here is the next post and it is going to look consecutive.

I had the opportunity to do silversteed route, http://goo.gl/maps/yxHhm without any mishaps, on the return. However, my opinion is that the route G to J is not worth it. It took me 3 hours! For 2 reasons. The state Highways in Kerala not as nice as those in Tamil Nadu mainly because of the traffic and density of population it runs through especially during day time. Also, Garmin GPS just refused to want to continue on this road (because it thought it was a footpath?) and kept wanting me to U-turn and get back on NH47. I've learned that the mapping of roads in Tamilnadu is far more accurate than Kerala.

My recommendation is to bite the bullet and do the nasty crater filled 30km NH47 stretch between Alathur and Manuthy. It may take 1.5 hours and may leave your left leg sore, but for now it appears to be the quickest option.

Another observation: There is a HUGE difference in driving in Kerala during day and night. Day time travel takes twice as long due to traffic congestion and traffic cops who have decided to take the 70kmph speed limit seriously and monitor it with Radar guns even on Sunday afternoons. Watch out!

[ranjitp1]

Some pictures of the infamous nh47.picture courtesy and credits mmade thrissur forum on facebook.

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Some pictures of the infamous nh47.picture courtesy and credits mmade thrissur forum on facebook.

Which part of the NH47 is this? Kuthiran to Mannuthy?

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ramzsys

Which part of the NH47 is this? Kuthiran to Mannuthy?

The second one is a little ahead of the Kerala Agricultural University gate near Mannuthy. No idea about the first one.

[tharian]

In a way I am happy my trip this week is postponed. I was supposed to drive blore-calicut-kottayam-bangalore in a Figo.
Looking at these conditions, either my car would be swallowed or stuck in one of these craters or the underbody would look like these roads.
Sorry state of affairs.

Regards

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by bdman

The state Highways in Kerala not as nice as those in Tamil Nadu mainly because of the traffic and density of population it runs through especially during day time...

Another observation: There is a HUGE difference in driving in Kerala during day and night. Day time travel takes twice as long due to traffic congestion and traffic cops who have decided to take the 70kmph speed limit seriously and monitor it with Radar guns even on Sunday afternoons. Watch out!

I agree to your point that it's difficult to maintain a good average speed on KL State Highways due to the density of traffic.

Originally Posted by bdman

My recommendation is to bite the bullet and do the nasty crater filled 30km NH47 stretch between Alathur and Manuthy. It may take 1.5 hours and may leave your left leg sore, but for now it appears to be the quickest option.

The pictures above, in post #5349 would change your opinion.

Originally Posted by tharian

In a way I am happy my trip this week is postponed. I was supposed to drive blore-calicut-kottayam-bangalore in a Figo.
Looking at these conditions, either my car would be swallowed or stuck in one of these craters or the underbody would look like these roads.
Sorry state of affairs.

What you fear will happen if you take the Kuthiran route. There are alternate routes for you on your return leg, ie., Kottayam-Kumily-Dindigul-Salem-Bangalore, OR, Kottayam-Angamaly-Thrissur-Wadakkancherry-Chelakkara-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-Kangayam-Salem-Bangalore.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by silversteed

What you fear will happen if you take the Kuthiran route. There are alternate routes for you on your return leg, ie., Kottayam-Kumily-Dindigul-Salem-Bangalore, OR, Kottayam-Angamaly-Thrissur-Wadakkancherry-Chelakkara-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-Kangayam-Salem-Bangalore.

Yes, I was planning on taking the second option anyway since I have been following these threads. But I had no clue on the Wynad roads to Calicut and road condition between Calicut and Kottayam and if NH17 was better than Thrissur route.

[bdman]

Originally Posted by bdman

My recommendation is to bite the bullet and do the nasty crater filled 30km NH47 stretch between Alathur and Manuthy. It may take 1.5 hours and may leave your left leg sore, but for now it appears to be the quickest option.

Originally Posted by silversteed

The pictures above, in post #5349 would change your opinion.

I actually did the Alathur to Mannuthy stretch in my Duster at 3:00am and the vehicle survived. If I had taken a look at the photos before hand, I probably would not have risked it.