[ampere]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Ampere - Sorry if my post was confusing. I was weighing between continuing on NH 209 and pass through Coimbatore VS coming through Karumathampatti --> NH47 and then getting on to NH209.
My overall plan is to go via Kanakpura road through Sathyamangalam to enjoy the forest and winding roads plus avoid the long queues at Toll Plaza (saving Toll money is a bonus, but not a must)
Please let me know if you have alternate suggestions

I thought I understood correctly @gadadhar. What I was trying to mention is, if you consider taking NH209 end to end Pollachi, it may not be a good idea. Instead from Karumathampatti take the road to Palladam and there on to Palladam-Pollachi SH.

Going via NH209 through the city any way not recommended. I was saying not to take the CBE-Pollachi section of NH209 also, but go via Palladam for the last leg.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by ampere

I thought I understood correctly @gadadhar. What I was trying to mention is, if you consider taking NH209 end to end Pollachi, it may not be a good idea. Instead from Karumathampatti take the road to Palladam and there on to Palladam-Pollachi SH.

Going via NH209 through the city any way not recommended. I was saying not to take the CBE-Pollachi section of NH209 also, but go via Palladam for the last leg.

Many thanks ampere, I got it now and will go by your advise of taking the Palladam route.

[kala]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Ampere - Sorry if my post was confusing. I was weighing between continuing on NH 209 and pass through Coimbatore VS coming through Karumathampatti --> NH47 and then getting on to NH209.
My overall plan is to go via Kanakpura road through Sathyamangalam to enjoy the forest and winding roads plus avoid the long queues at Toll Plaza (saving Toll money is a bonus, but not a must)
Please let me know if you have alternate suggestions

If you're travelling over the long weekend, avoiding NH7/47 makes a lot of sense. The queues at the toll gates can easily eat up an hour or more.

As Ampere mentioned, the CBE-Pollachi section of NH209 also sees a fair amount of traffic, probably the reason he suggested going via Palladam. The routing possibilities would be :

(1) Continue past Karumathampatti on the Annur-Karumathampatti road (SH165) via Somanur-Karanampatti and join the Palladam-Pollachi road at Kamanaickenpalayam. I've tried this road upto Karanampatti a few months ago and it's sort of OK except for some 2-3 kms around Somanur where you need to cross the railway track and pass through some rough roads inside the town. I think the road from Karanampatti and Kamanaickenpalayam may also be OK since TN state highways are generally reasonably well maintained.

(2) At Annur instead of turning towards Karumathampatti continue to Avinashi and take the Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi route. Not sure how bad crossing Avinashi town is, but don't think it would be much worse than crossing Somanur in option (1)

(3) A variant of this - Use the Mettupalayam-Avinashi road to get to Avinashi (turn left from NH209 at Puliampatty itself instead of going upto Annur). Not sure about current road conditions - I've taken this road once a few years ago and it was quite decent then. Might save you a few kms.

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by kala

If you're travelling over the long weekend, avoiding NH7/47 makes a lot of sense. The queues at the toll gates can easily eat up an hour or more.

As Ampere mentioned, the CBE-Pollachi section of NH209 also sees a fair amount of traffic, probably the reason he suggested going via Palladam. The routing possibilities would be :

(1) Continue past Karumathampatti on the Annur-Karumathampatti road (SH165) via Somanur-Karanampatti and join the Palladam-Pollachi road at Kamanaickenpalayam. I've tried this road upto Karanampatti a few months ago and it's sort of OK except for some 2-3 kms around Somanur where you need to cross the railway track and pass through some rough roads inside the town. I think the road from Karanampatti and Kamanaickenpalayam may also be OK since TN state highways are generally reasonably well maintained.

(2) At Annur instead of turning towards Karumathampatti continue to Avinashi and take the Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi route. Not sure how bad crossing Avinashi town is, but don't think it would be much worse than crossing Somanur in option (1)

(3) A variant of this - Use the Mettupalayam-Avinashi road to get to Avinashi (turn left from NH209 at Puliampatty itself instead of going upto Annur). Not sure about current road conditions - I've taken this road once a few years ago and it was quite decent then. Might save you a few kms.

Thanks Kala. It will be great if there are any recent updates from the above routes. I see that none of them pass through Palladam as suggested by ampere, is that a different route all together?

[kala]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

I see that none of them pass through Palladam as suggested by ampere, is that a different route all together?

Both the routes via Avinashi (2 and 3) pass via Palladam. (Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi). In only the first one you join the Palladam-Pollachi road a little bit south of Palladam - at Kamanaikenpayalam.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Abhnag

Ranjit, thanks a ton for your map - put it on google maps and drove to Alleppey and back over the extended weekend. This route has absolutely no problems.

Started from Bangalore at ~6pm Thursday, stopped overnight at Salem (slight annoyances due to the highway being widened but otherwise not many issues)
Started from Salem next morning and drove to Alleppey through perundurai, kangayam, palladam, pollachi route - really good roads without any problems.

While returning, started off at 10am from Allp and reached Bangalore only by 11pm - mostly because of the toll plaza traffic (not to mention people who zoom ahead and decide to nose their way into the lane somewhere in front) but the roads are really good.

Thanks again for the inputs

Glad to know you had a safe drive.Could you please advise details of the hotel you stayed overnight at Salem.Thanks

[govigov]

update: No change in road condition between ernakulam and trivandrum. Some of the areas in alapuzha have inter locking tiles, (less than 3 meters) negligible in my opinion. Alapuzha - ambalapuzha remains like hell. Few places in between aroor - cherthala have their potholes closed, only to be opened the next day. This is the update from today. Roads from krishnapuram palace till trivandrum is smoother than rest of the stretch.

Heard kottayam - Changanaserry is hell. Not sure though.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by govigov

Heard kottayam - Changanaserry is hell. Not sure though.

Chingavanam - Ettumanoor is bad as far as MC road is concerned.

[wins2807]

Hi guys,

Are the roads to munnar,thekkady and allepey still bad.My route for the weekend road trip goes like this http://goo.gl/maps/c8w9T.

Thanks/Vinay

[binand]

Malayala Manorama is reporting that the Ernakulam district collector has frozen all bank accounts of NHAI, since they didn't repair the national highways on time. This is going to be fun. :-)

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bi...RIAL&BV_ID=@@@

[Gypsy]

Recently went on a trip to calicut 8 August. Took banglore - kanakpura - kollegal - chamarajpet - gundlupet - wayanad - calicut. Reached gundlupet in 3 hours. Road till chamarajpet is good. From there the drive is fun if you have stiffer suspension. Roads are pretty alright ...but narrow. Drive is faster than Mysore road due to low traffic and no humps. Use this route only during day. You never know where the road will turn. Kerala stretch is very good. Very few pot holes

[G2 JANZ]

Hellons,

Anybody traveled through valparai - Athirappally route recently? Heard the road was closed due to land slide. Is it open now and how is the road condition?

Thanks in Adv.

[bdman]

Originally Posted by binand

Malayala Manorama is reporting that the Ernakulam district collector has frozen all bank accounts of NHAI, since they didn't repair the national highways on time. This is going to be fun. :-)

Looks like the animosity between Govt of Kerala and NHAI runs deep..

http://newindianexpress.com/states/k...cle1519937.ece

[Abhnag]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Glad to know you had a safe drive.Could you please advise details of the hotel you stayed overnight at Salem.Thanks

Stayed at a hotel called Salem Castle - realised there is a reason it is ranked 8 of 12 on Trip Advisor. :P Anyway, just for the night, it is ok, I guess.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Abhnag

Stayed at a hotel called Salem Castle - realised there is a reason it is ranked 8 of 12 on Trip Advisor. :P Anyway, just for the night, it is ok, I guess.

Budget hotels in Salem are a sham imo.if stay in Salem is a must then either Grand Estancia or Park Plaza(both quite steep upwards of 2500 dbl)or Cenneys inside the town.The best option for travellers towards Kerala and CBE is to stay at Travellers Inn http://www.travellersinn.net/travellers/gallery.html (discovered by Pramodpk) during his drives.Extremely well maintained even after so many years and right above the Sree Saravana Bhavan at Vaikuntam Toll Gate on nH47(before sankari).Hardly 30mins from Salem.Maybe next time you could check this out.

PS:for people intending to stay here,please ensure you call ahead and book as many have been reporting that they havent been able to get accomodation via walkins.