[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Have to admit that i have not tried this, but i still prefer the 4 lane road since pedestrian and 2 wheeler traffic is more predictable. Driving till Mettur itself is a pain if you are travelling during peak traffic, which usually is the case for me in the morning (onwards) and evening (return) time. Was religiously taking this when the construction was at peak on salem stretch and when i finally shifted back to NH it suddenly became less strenuous.

Maybe ill try out next time when am at leisure. Thanks

Its only between Mecheri & Mettur you would get stuck with heavy traffic. Once you turn right from Ammapettai you could literally cruise your way through with very little traffic on both sides of the road. Only after you cross Sathyamangalam would you have high bus traffic but the road is wide enough to continue cruising.

Originally Posted by coolclouds

This route will help to skip high traffic stretch between Perunthurai & L&T toll. How about road signs/directions? (I always pass CBE between 12-2am)

During the entire stretch the only time I was not able to overtake peacefully was once I turned into NH47 at Karumathampatti.

The two areas where you would have issues with road signs if you cannot read or recognize Tamil at all is between Ammapettai and Athani and from Annur to Karumathampatti as most of the signs would be in Tamil.

If you do this stretch once during day time you would never miss your way because its that straight forward.

[Jaggu]

Sure will give it a try and bug you for details before i try this and definitely day time the first time around.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

The two areas where you would have issues with road signs if you cannot read or recognize Tamil at all is between Ammapettai and Athani and from Annur to Karumathampatti as most of the signs would be in Tamil.

I can read!! (Thanks to Rapidex Tamil book!!)

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

There is nothing to worry about night driving on this road, it would be better in the night because of very little traffic and the small villages & towns also would be quite. Karumathampatti is on NH47 from this point onwards its the same road to Palakkad. L&T byepass and Neelambur byepass are the same.

I have tried this route a couple of times. One major drawack on this stretch is, lack of facilities (good hotels/rest rooms etc). Other wise , it is a dream drive.

But, this is not a concern, cos, in this stretch, on a regular basis, you will come across small towns like anthiyur, athani till sathyamangalam.

It is on these roads that you can sing it loud "country roads, take me home"

[sj_koova]

I plan to take this route on 30th Aug. Have to reach Cochin Airport by 1pm. I guess 3AM start from Bangalore would be fine.

I actually hate the Bhavani-Coimbatore drive. More than the road, it is the attitude of drivers on this stretch that troubles me. I hope the Sathyamangalam route will keep my brain cool!

While returning, I will take Kumali->Theni route. Escape from NH47.

[tortoise]

I second pypkmsrikanth. This is a beautiful road and I have taken it twice. The first time I had trouble getting into SH165, but then I drove an additional 15 kms through proper village roads ( yes..with all those farms and farmhouses ) and joined KArumathampatti.

Sathyamangalam road (NH209) is winding and drivers should be very careful especially at night. But for sure it will take an additional hour of one's schedule compared to the Salem road ( in my experience ), but you will be smiling and driving rather than with a frown

[coolclouds]

Trichur-Palghat is almost OK (rough filling done) except for a small stretch between Kuthiran and Vaniyampara.

[sonygabriel]

We went to kottayam during the Independence day weekend, and drove through one of the routes suggested..

Ktym - Kumali - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - B'lore (about 625 kms in all).

Roads are great except for some small patches of bad road in Ktym - Kumali route, and few deviations you need to take in NH7 as the 4 laning is still happening.

Thoroughly enjoyed the TN roads straight, smooth and very less traffic. Trip took longer as it was raining hammer and tongs and very difficult to drive under the heavy rain at night on NH7 (as many places are still not completed). Avoid this stretch at night (b/w Dindigul & Salem)

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by sonygabriel

We went to kottayam during the Independence day weekend, and drove through one of the routes suggested..

Ktym - Kumali - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - B'lore (about 625 kms in all).

You could have tried the Thopur-mettur-bhavani-perundurai-kangayam-dharapuram-oddanchatram-batlagundu route. This way you can avoid the boring NH 7 and enjoy the beautiful state roads

[bijuks]

Originally Posted by joecherian

You could have tried the Thopur-mettur-bhavani-perundurai-kangayam-dharapuram-oddanchatram-batlagundu route. This way you can avoid the boring NH 7 and enjoy the beautiful state roads

Is that advisable in night? - I guess no.

Last time when I went through batlagundu-oddanchatram in mid-May, this stretch was very very bad with lots of construction happening.

But, saw recent posts in bhp and found that this stretch is good now.

The roads Oddachantram-Dharapuram-Kangayam-Perundurai is very good two lane road having some small towns in between with humps. So, night driving, one should be vey careful. One good part is that traffic is less.

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by sonygabriel

We went to kottayam during the Independence day weekend, and drove through one of the routes suggested..

Ktym - Kumali - Theni - Dindigul - Karur - Namakkal - Salem - B'lore (about 625 kms in all).

Roads are great except for some small patches of bad road in Ktym - Kumali route, and few deviations you need to take in NH7 as the 4 laning is still happening.

Thoroughly enjoyed the TN roads straight, smooth and very less traffic. Trip took longer as it was raining hammer and tongs and very difficult to drive under the heavy rain at night on NH7 (as many places are still not completed). Avoid this stretch at night (b/w Dindigul & Salem)

Took the same route today From Bangalore to Changanacherry and the drive was excellent barring a bad stretch just after Kumily. After Kumily it started raining and the thick fog meant that the visibility was almost nil, had to drive with head light & hazard lights switched on. The total distance covered from BEML Gate, Bangalore to Changanacherry was around 620 kms.

[sj_koova]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Trichur-Palghat is almost OK (rough filling done) except for a small stretch between Kuthiran and Vaniyampara.

Anyone else did Trichur-Palghat this week? How better is it from June?
I am planning to take this route to reach Cochin Airport from Bangalore.
Will reach Palghat via Mettur-Sathyamangalam.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by bijuks

Is that advisable in night? - I guess no.

Last time when I went through batlagundu-oddanchatram in mid-May, this stretch was very very bad with lots of construction happening.

But, saw recent posts in bhp and found that this stretch is good now.

The roads Oddachantram-Dharapuram-Kangayam-Perundurai is very good two lane road having some small towns in between with humps. So, night driving, one should be vey careful. One good part is that traffic is less.

yesterday , i came home to tirvandrum and was pleasantly surprised by the lovey roads .

Started from home at 0400 Hrs from Banaswadi , bangalore parked my car at my home at trivandrum , kannamoola at 1430 hrs .

Route taken : Bangalore -> Krishnagiri->Salem -> Nammakal -> Dindiguil -> rajapalayam -> tenkasi -> Shencottai-> Kulathupuzha-> Trivandrum

dist : 700 Kms approx door to door
Drive time : 10 hrs including a stop for break fast and one for lunch must be over an hour of stop time .

Lovely roads all the way till kerala border and the ghat section ( some deviations and rough road cut offs in between but nothing that would hamper a pleasant journey) , after which the uneven surfaces dont allow you to do anything over 60 kmph.

this is by far the fastest trip to TVM , which was a pleasant surprise , because i was not driving over 140 kmph at any point in time . Cruising at 120 kmph most of the time.

I reached shencottai at 1300 hrs the rest of the trip slowed us down cosiderably but the greens and the lovely scenery kept us good company... about 20 kms on this last section is horrible , but the rest was rain affected roads are very driveable no huge caters .

saw a bad accident at Thirumangalam before rajapalayam, tanker and car , in all saw about 9 accident most of them trucks only the one at thirumanagalam involved a car .

[menonrajesh]

Originally Posted by sj_koova

Anyone else did Trichur-Palghat this week? How better is it from June?
I am planning to take this route to reach Cochin Airport from Bangalore.
Will reach Palghat via Mettur-Sathyamangalam.

I did this weekend (BLR - TCR) and I was stuck for 30 minutes just before the bridge in Vaniyampara and kuthiran. Remaining part of journey was smooth, but the above mentioned wait undid all the good feeling.

[vivekkr_99]

Hi,
Has anybody done the Thrissur - Calicut - Kannur route of late? I'm planning to drive to Kannur this weekend. Would like to know the road conditions in this route. Can anyone help me?