[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Drove Hyd-Blr-Thrissur-Blr-Hyd over the Onam weekend.

I was waiting for your trip updates (here, as well as in HVKFF in FB).

Onward stayed at Ibis,Hosur Road-completely avoid.Waste of time.Looks lovely from the outside,matchbox sized rooms,bathrooms that can barely fit one person without touching the walls.Bad food & overpriced.An apology of a budget Accor Hotel

Never knew this! Thanks for this update, as I almost suggested this hotel to a friend.

Stopped for breakfast at Vaikuntham SB.There is an ATM open now there

The Axis Bank ATM has been there for at least 4 months.

Taking this road to Palladam is NOT RECCOMENDED

Was planning to try this next time, will avoid it, thanks to you

Stopped at Village County in Kollengode.Lousy place but then there are no other options

Have you tried Gayathri International on the NH-47 itself? Heard it's decent, but can't compare it with Village county as I don't have any reliable info on the latter.

Sherwood is no more what it was.The whole place was too much of a dust bowl.

Sherwood is the only place that hasn't fallen. The entire area surrounding it is, like you said, a dust bowl. Especially the area near the Vignan Nagar bus stand.

[denver85]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

-Took the NH47 all the way till Avinashi Bypass and then took the left below the second/third(sorry I missed this one)flyover onto the state highway to Palladam
-Taking this road to Palladam is NOT RECCOMENDED.Reason there is a huge ROB being constructed over Palladam Railway station and there is no alternate road to pass through to the other side.There is a narrow dirt path to cross the construction area and then take a left followed by some messy turns to get back to the highway on the other side.Overall be sure to lose to 30-45minutes as there is barely space enough for one auto to pass through.For a minute I was left wondering if my Figo would make it to the other side seeing the amount of place under the flyover.

Ranjith sir, I usually takes the left from Chengapalli and takes the route through Uthukuli, Tirupur bypass to reach Palladam. Always prefer this route as we will get maximum toll roads, roads are in good condition,traffic is ok, lot of food options (A2B in Tirupur town is one of my favorite). The gMap link is here: http://goo.gl/maps/rdjeV. Hope you had a nice trip

Regards,
Deepak Erancheri

[ampere]

Originally Posted by denver85

Ranjith sir, I usually takes the left from Chengapalli and takes the route through Uthukuli, Tirupur bypass to reach Palladam.

Good to note that Tirrupur has a bypass. Was not aware of it. Hence I always suggested the Kangeyam option. How good is the bypass?
Thanks for mentioning it. That's a good point. Also is A2B on the ring road at Tiruppur?

EDIT : I see its on the Avinashi road. For that alone we need to get into the town ?

[denver85]

Originally Posted by ampere

Good to note that Tirrupur has a bypass. Was not aware of it. Hence I always suggested the Kangeyam option. How good is the bypass?
Thanks for mentioning it. That's a good point. Also is A2B on the ring road at Tiruppur?

EDIT : I see its on the Avinashi road. For that alone we need to get into the town ?

A2b is in the Avinashi road. Here is the exact location: http://goo.gl/maps/8iScC
I used to take this route : http://goo.gl/maps/qi76B if I plans to go A2B. This road avoids all the signals(There is only one near the A2B/bus stand which will be a free left if we are going to palladam) in Tirupur town. I never faced any bottlenecks in this route even in the evening timings. The traffic might be heavy in the Tirupur-Kangeyam road. But it's manageable and flowing.
Bypass is in good condition and relatively traffic free(Other than in intersections). There are some speed humps on the way.

[naveen.raju]

What's the current condition of the road from Thrissur - Palghat - Coimbatore - Salem? I'm driving to Blore during the 2nd week of Oct. I have been using this stretch for many years now and havent used any alternate routes. I would like to stick to the same route if possible.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

What's the current condition of the road from Thrissur - Palghat - Coimbatore - Salem? I'm driving to Blore during the 2nd week of Oct. I have been using this stretch for many years now and havent used any alternate routes. I would like to stick to the same route if possible.

Mannuthy kuthiran vadakkencherry alathur was bad to horrible during onam time.the alternTe routes are in excellent and pristine conditions

[denver85]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

What's the current condition of the road from Thrissur - Palghat - Coimbatore - Salem? I'm driving to Blore during the 2nd week of Oct. I have been using this stretch for many years now and havent used any alternate routes. I would like to stick to the same route if possible.

Kuthiran should be avoided at any cost as per the latest report. The roads are bad starting from Pattikad all the way till Vadakkenchery. The traffic and roads near the Walayar are still even after the repair works.
Better to stick to alternative routes. Prefer the Ernakulam-thrissur-Wadakanchery-Chelakkara-Alathur-Kollengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Tirupur Ring road-Chengapalli-Salem-Hosur-Bangalore (http://goo.gl/maps/zWNm1)

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by denver85

Ranjith sir, I usually takes the left from Chengapalli and takes the route through Uthukuli, Tirupur bypass to reach Palladam. Always prefer this route as we will get maximum toll roads, roads are in good condition,traffic is ok, lot of food options (A2B in Tirupur town is one of my favorite). The gMap link is here: http://goo.gl/maps/rdjeV. Hope you had a nice trip

Thanks never knew you were DeepakThanks for the route suggestion,maybe some other time.But frankly the Perundurai-Kangayam-palladam-pollachi road would put any of the 4 laned NHs to shame.Its an awesome road with no hint of uneven surface or potholes.Hats off to the PWD

Originally Posted by silversteed

Have you tried Gayathri International on the NH-47 itself? Heard it's decent, but can't compare it with Village county as I don't have any reliable info on the latter.

The whole problem with hotels and restaurants in Kerala is that the moment they have a Bar in the premises,the whole place becomes shady.Gayathri is no different sadly.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

...the Perundurai-Kangayam-palladam-pollachi road would put any of the 4 laned NHs to shame.Its an awesome road with no hint of uneven surface or potholes.

It's pure bliss while driving at night - more like driving on a runway, with all the reflectors on the lane marking and on the sides

The whole problem with hotels and restaurants in Kerala is that the moment they have a Bar in the premises,the whole place becomes shady.Gayathri is no different sadly.

Hmmm...true

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

-At Pollachi,go straight till the end of Palladam Road,take a right and proceed towards the signal junction at dead end with the bus stand to your left.At the junction take a left onto Palakkad Road.Proceed for three kilometers till you encounter a Forest Checkpost.At the CP,take a left and keep straight for approx 2kms and the road ends on the Kollengode road.Landmark:Axis Bank ATM.Take right at the junction.Left takes you back to Pollachi via Zamin Uthukuli

Can you show this in Google? Would be helpful.

Also was wonderful catching up with Bhpian NPV at DRDO complex.Ampere-next timeI got fed up driving in the city.4 hours Attibele-Keys was too much for me to handle

There is always a next time! Your drives would anyway wont stop!


If it was not for meeting people, breaking journey in Bangalore is really painful. Much better option is to stay in Hosur and next day take Baglur-Sarjapur-Hoskote-Devanahalli and keep going.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

-Took the NH47 all the way till Avinashi Bypass and then took the left below the second/third(sorry I missed this one)flyover onto the state highway to Palladam
-Taking this road to Palladam is NOT RECCOMENDED.

Thanks for this update!
For now, Bangalore folks can simply take the Kangeyam turn off at Perundurai or even go upto the Vaikuntam toll, maybe stop at the Saravana Bhavan for breakfast and then take the turn off towards Uthukuli and then reach Palladam directly (as per denver85's post above) .

Return drive we stopped for breakfast at the brand new Sree Saravana Bhavan Classic at Sankari (this one is to your left and cannot miss it).It is approx 10kms before the Vaikuntham toll gate.Nice place,aircon,washrooms all swanky

Good find, don't remember seeing this in April. Also, good that its on left side when driving towards Bangalore.

Took the Attibele-Dommasandra-Varthur-Whitefield-Graphite India-Keys Hotel route.Varthur....

At that time in the morning, all routes to Keys would have been bad!

Also was wonderful catching up with Bhpian NPV at DRDO complex.

Nice meeting you, albeit a quick meet - I can finally put a face to the name. And thanks for the coffee, definitely a longer meet next time

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

What's the current condition of the road from Thrissur - Palghat - Coimbatore - Salem? I'm driving to Blore during the 2nd week of Oct. I have been using this stretch for many years now and havent used any alternate routes. I would like to stick to the same route if possible.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Mannuthy kuthiran vadakkencherry alathur was bad to horrible during onam time.the alternTe routes are in excellent and pristine conditions

Originally Posted by denver85

Kuthiran should be avoided at any cost as per the latest report. The roads are bad starting from Pattikad all the way till Vadakkenchery. The traffic and roads near the Walayar are still even after the repair works.

Kuthiran - Mannuthy stretch has been paved newly and the road is good now. The Vadakkenchery-Walayar stretch is patchy

Naveen - your new rubber (hope you would have got them by then!!) may not be in danger on the vadakkenchery-walayar stretch, but the ride may not be very comfortable due to the patchy patchwork

Walayar-Madukkarai has been repaired and is ok. From there on it is the old L&T bypass and the other Avinashi 4-lane stories. So take your pick - time or smooth roads

[rameshnanda]

I did Vadakkenchery-Thrissur yesterday. The roads are mostly good. The last 7 kms to Thrissur was challenging for my Linea. It was average to bad.

Are there any recent takers in the route Thachampara-Palakkayam-Siruvani-Coimbatore section? Need to know the road condition.

[govigov]

The pothole map of Kochi.



credits to original creator/uploader.

[denver85]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Are there any recent takers in the route Thachampara-Palakkayam-Siruvani-Coimbatore section? Need to know the road condition.

Currently, forest department is not allowing private cars in this route. I heard even TN side is strict on security. For visiting Siruvani dam, we need to take a forest vehicle from the Palakkayam check post. Not sure if we can get a special permission to drive through. Visited dam in Nov 2012.