[sansvk]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Wanted to return home fast and took NH47-NH7 all the way while returning. As usual, its ideal for speeds above 100 and its complete four lane from L&T exit till Salem except for a three lane flyover. Left L&T exit at 9.45pm and reached Electronics city in four hours.

So when you say complete 4 lane, have they completed the section from Avinashi Bypass to L&T? or is it the same wide roads with diversions on to the service road etc. Haven't been there since Dec.

[mykal shoemaker]

Originally Posted by ampere

I dont remember any ghats on the Mecheri-Pennagaram stretch. It mostly goes through fields. Good avenues, but hardly remember any ghats on this stretch.

For people who drive on ghat sections like Ooty 32 hair pins or Kalpetta 14 hair pins, this is just a small slope. .
Palacode, Mettur, Mecheri areas are beautiful areas to relax and drive.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mykal shoemaker

For people who drive on ghat sections like Ooty 32 hair pins or Kalpetta 14 hair pins, this is just a small slope. .
Palacode, Mettur, Mecheri areas are beautiful areas to relax and drive.

Palacode yes. But some how I was not too happy driving around Mettur. Too much of truck traffic. Pennagaram to Mecheri is a beautiful road. Even I have been on that stretch a couple of times. But some how did not recollect ghats. (Hillocks yes). But with green fields and trees, its a sight to beckon.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ampere

Palacode yes. But some how I was not too happy driving around Mettur. Too much of truck traffic. Pennagaram to Mecheri is a beautiful road. Even I have been on that stretch a couple of times. But some how did not recollect ghats. (Hillocks yes). But with green fields and trees, its a sight to beckon.

Ampere, I agree with you on the truck traffic in mettur. Instead of going to mettur, one an go via Mecheri, Nangavalli, Idappadi, Sankagiri and then join the NH. Roads around Mecheri Railway station are basically mud roads. But after from this, very good roads all the way.
Infact in April i drove on the above mentioned route.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by sansvk

So when you say complete 4 lane, have they completed the section from Avinashi Bypass to L&T? or is it the same wide roads with diversions on to the service road etc. Haven't been there since Dec.

Yes, four lane is complete all the way till L&T. One flyover is open one side and traffic allowed both ways. Those bumps on top of flyovers still exists and roads are not marked. Also, toll booths are yet to be constructed.

There is no reason to skip this road till L&T even at present condition.

Btw, I drove to Salem today and happened to have lunch at Hotel Golden Falcon, Shoolagiri (McD fuel station). To my surprise, veg meal was tasty and the price was half of what we pay at Saravana Bhavan.

[ramzsys]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Those bumps on top of flyovers still exists and roads are not marked..

Felt like reached Coimbatore in no time, except for the flyover bumps(kept widows down; the tire squeal of the over-enthusiastic cars ahead helped!)

And the return yesterday night was not a pleasure at all. An accident after Dharmapuri bypass ending; one way traffic in a small section before Krishnagiri(they are re-laying the tar), frustrating toll gate queue such that i ended up driving through TVS only to bypass Attibelle toll.

An unusual 7 hours from end to end with a half an hour break in between.

[binand]

Rishi Raj Singh, the man who managed to reduce the accident statistics on Kerala's roads, is quitting the post of Transport Commissioner it seems. He is unhappy about the constant meddling in his job by the Minister for Transport (Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan). The tipping point is the minister's decision to overturn Mr. Singh's order on enforcing rear seat belts in the wake Gopinath Munde's death.

Link (in Malayalam):

http://www.mathrubhumi.com/story.php?id=461487

[silversteed]

Drove to Palakkad from Bangalore early this morning via Kanakpura-Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Annur-Karumathampatty-Walayar. End to end, it took me about 6.5hrs, virtually non-stop. Wanted to take a break at Ramavilas hotel in Sathy town, but we passed the area a lot earlier than expected and it wasn't open yet. The roads are excellent all throughout, conducive for moderate speeds, thanks to the twisties and many villages and also the Dimbham ghat. There's a nasty, deep cut in the road on the Kanakapura road at about 18km distance from Silk Board junction.

It was drizzling once we entered the Sathyamangalam forest, sparse traffic and great roads combined, gave me a wonderful feeling.

After the CBE bypass road that ends at Madukkarai, the road condition keeps us on our toes till Walayar, and then, the confusing diversions take charge. There are stretches where both sides of the WIP 4-lane highway are properly surfaced, and traffic flows in either direction on both sides of the divider. Interestingly, no proper signboards. It's a mess. The last 30km took us about an hour and a half, despite having good surface.

This time, I might take the same route back to Bang-galore, considering the time lost in toll booths on NH47-NH7 route, and also the crappy road condition after Krishnagiri.

[Twiny]

Driving back from Kottayam to Bangalore today.. Any latest news on route via Kumily

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by Twiny

Driving back from Kottayam to Bangalore today.. Any latest news on route via Kumily

Good road. The best road to take out of Kottayam to go to Bangalore

[anilagdr]

Originally Posted by Twiny

Driving back from Kottayam to Bangalore today.. Any latest news on route via Kumily

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Good road. The best road to take out of Kottayam to go to Bangalore

I know the scenic beauty of the ghats beckons anyone at this time of the year. Be aware that monsoons have started in Kerala (officially) and consequently the roads in Ghat sections can get blocked any time by landslides etc. without any notice. So plan and proceed accordingly.

[gk_fiesta]

I wanted to clarify on couple of routes.

Will be driving from Kochi to Blr this month end. Want to skip Pkd and Cbe, to take Pollachi route.

I prefer either -
- the link from Karumathampitti to Annur and then on to Sathy-Chamrajnagar-Kanakapura-Blr OR
- hit NH 47 and then NH 4.

For Sathyamangalam route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, through Pollachi, which will touch Karumathampitti.

For NH47, NH4 route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, to the point where we touch NH47.

Thanks!!

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by gk_fiesta

I wanted to clarify on couple of routes.

Will be driving from Kochi to Blr this month end. Want to skip Pkd and Cbe, to take Pollachi route.

I prefer either -
- the link from Karumathampitti to Annur and then on to Sathy-Chamrajnagar-Kanakapura-Blr OR
- hit NH 47 and then NH 4.

For Sathyamangalam route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, through Pollachi, which will touch Karumathampitti.

For NH47, NH4 route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, to the point where we touch NH47.

Thanks!!

I have one more suggestion to make. Drive till Salem via NH7 and deviate towards Perundurai, Kangeyam, Palladam, Pollachi, Kollengode and Alathur. From Alathur you get back to NH47. Roads from Perundurai to Pollachi are good 2 lane roads. You can break at Pollachi (Sakthi Hotels). After crossing pollachi from Kerala border onwards, roads are narrow but good to drive.

[5u3zEr0]

Originally Posted by RajeshK

For Bekal, you can either take the Madikeri - Bhagamangadala - Panathur - Kanhangad - Pallikkere - Bekal
or
Hunsur - Gonikoppal - Iritty - Thalipparamba - Payyanur - Nileswar - Kanhangad Town - Bekal. In this, around 6-8km in the Hunsur - Gonikkoppal road tarring is not complete. But not an issue for any type of cars. Other than this, there is no issue about the roads.

For Bekal to Kalpetta, you can take Nileswaram - Payyanur - Thalipparamba - Iritty - Peravoor - Kottiyur Boys town - Manathawadi - Padinharethara - Kalpetta. The Kottiyur temple festival will be starting end of May till end of June (27days) so there could be traffic in this road and I am not aware of the road condition between Mananthawadi to Kalpetta.
Rajesh

Thanks for your input Rajesh.

I read your post when I had started my trip and was in Mysore. I finally ended up taking the regular route to Bekal that is Hunsur – Madikeri – Sampaje – Sulia – Bekal. Once I reached Madikeri, I asked a few drivers about which route to take and they all suggested the Sampaje – Sulia road. In hindsight I don’t know if that was the right decision because there are still quite a few section of bad roads and small roads and little traffic.
And then I made a mistake at Jalsoor and went towards Puttur instead of the left to Kasargod/Bekal. But the mistake was fun in the sense that the road was twisty, wide and flat and I really enjoyed the drive for the 20 odd kilometers before I thought I should take a break and then found out that I was on the wrong road. I had an Innova behind me who wanted to overtake me but could not as through the curves I was much quicker and then on the straights he would try to come close. The Tjet was a joy to drive in this section!

Anyway I had to backtrack to Perla through some single laned village roads where I joined the highway again to Bekal. I started at 08:00 from Mysore and we were at the resort in Bekal around 13:45.

From Bekal to our resort near Padinha thara, I took the Payyanur – Taliparamba – Iritty – Boys town – Manathavady – Padinhathara route. This was one of the most frustrating drives I have driven with high traffic upto Taliparamba. After which we decided to take the interior roads to avoid the traffic but these were full of twisties and the average speed was really low. It took us four hours to do just 190 kms!! And the road were from good to average to poor in only small sections.

Originally Posted by kala

I think the first route may be better in terms of traffic - the roads are quite OK all through except for some small rough sections between Boys Town and Mananthavady (around Talapuzha). the Mananthavady - Kalpetta road is excellent, and I think it may be better to take that road even if you come on the Kuttyadi-Tharuvana road. (From Tharuvana take the left turn and go towards Panamaram and then Kalpetta instead of turning right towards Padinjarethara. The road via Padinjarethara / Pinangode to Kalpetta is somewhat patchy in spite of some repairs they seem to have done recently)

Thanks Kala for your input. Since our resort was close to the Banasura sagar dam we took the Mananthavady – Tharuvana – Padinajathara route.

Hi Ampere, you were right about the traffic on the Kasargod- Kannur section, quite frustrating, nevertheless had a good ten days holiday with three nights each in Mysore, Bekal and Wayanad.

[SAPVEN]

Originally Posted by gk_fiesta

I wanted to clarify on couple of routes.

Will be driving from Kochi to Blr this month end. Want to skip Pkd and Cbe, to take Pollachi route.

I prefer either -
- the link from Karumathampitti to Annur and then on to Sathy-Chamrajnagar-Kanakapura-Blr OR
- hit NH 47 and then NH 4.

For Sathyamangalam route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, through Pollachi, which will touch Karumathampitti.

For NH47, NH4 route - Require the route details (with updates on road quality) from Vadakkenchery, to the point where we touch NH47.

Thanks!!

I am planning to take this route myself, to and fro, and so your best route would be

1. Ekm -Vadakkenchery -Nemmara -Kolengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Avinashi.
2. Avinashi -Annur-Sathy-Chamarajnagar-Kollegal-Malavalli-Kanakpura-Blr.

The Vadakkenchery-Pollachi stretch is supposed to be in very good condition and then onward it is a confirmed smooth sailing.

FOR using NH4, u will need to reach Krishnagiri. For this, your route will be :

1. Ekm -Vadakkenchery -Nemmara -Kolengode-Pollachi-Palladam-Kangeyam-Perundurai(NH47).
2. Perundurai-Bhavani-Mettur-Thippur-Krishnagiri (NH4)-Hosur-Blr.

Happy motoring