[sachinnair]

Originally Posted by ampere

What you should have done:

Chennai-Tindivanam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Bhavani-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Palakkad.

Its smooth sailing all the way.

Thanks. I have to drive back on 25th. I'll take this route. But I'd rather prefer the NH47 for the Erode-Salem stretch. I find the Bhavani route a bit frustrating. Plus, I'll have my parents travelling with me. Dad will lose his cool everytime I try to overtake a truck on this stretch. And with them around, I won't be able to vent my feelings as I would really like to. (I can fluently swear in three languages and know assorted cuss words in some others)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinnair

Thanks. I have to drive back on 25th. I'll take this route. But I'd rather prefer the NH47 for the Erode-Salem stretch. I find the Bhavani route a bit frustrating. Plus, I'll have my parents travelling with me. Dad will lose his cool everytime I try to overtake a truck on this stretch. And with them around,

Bhavani IS on NH47. Its basically Avinashi-Perundurai-Bhavani-Sankari-Salem.

[belvaisudheer]

Originally Posted by kala

Believe me - the stress of driving in the Kerala traffic during the day can spoil the fun of the entire holiday !!

I take this and would not like to take any chance. A slight change in the plan should put things back on track. I would be driving to Blore to drop my parents and our luggage and would start my trip from Bangalore. Then take the normal route. With this I should be able to do Blore to Munnar in one go

[murajith]

Update on ooty-manjoor-mulli-mannarkad route.

I took this route yesterday(19-Dec) from bangalore to thrissur.It was my first time drive through this route.

Road condition:
1. Bangalore-bandipur-theppakkadu-kallati-ooty : after diversion from theppakkadu, first 3-4kms was patchy, but pretty driveable. After thats its freshly laid and well marked road. 36 hairpins was thrilling one with mist, thick fog and oncoming traffic.
2. Ooty-lovedale-manjoor: good roads, though narrow and misty.
3. Manjoor-geddai-mulli: first 2-3kms from manjoor connecting to geddai road is bad. After that roads are mostly good to excellent, though narrow and grass/bushes into the road(making it more narrow). Seems like there was rains in last couple weeks, couple of small landslide (mud/stones on road). Last 3kms befor mulli is patchy.
4. Mulli-Mannarkkad: At mulli checkpost,i was clearly told by the forum to take the main coimbatore road that connects to anakkatti road. However the forest guard inisted (as favour to save my time and miles) to take a right. Well there was no road on right: . Yet, i took the small path filled with rubbles and slush (yes there was no road). 200mts and i crossed into kerala(a nice interstate boindary), into a tribal settlement. Next 3kms (felt like 10kms) was gravel laid path leading to attapadi, agali, thavalam and to anakkatti road. Last stretch of anakkatti road was patchy and full of traffic. (Dont take right at mulli checkpost even if the guard recommend, unless you have an SUV and want to try some offroad. I was lucky that i didnt get a flat tire on my vento)
5. Mannarkkad-cheruplassery-ottappalam-mayannur-chelakkara-thrissur (and on to kodungallur): excellent road.

Total 16hrs journey from home, 13hrs drive (3hrs break at bandipur and ooty)...and delight was distance was shorter than salem highway and gave a economy of 19kmpl

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by sachinnair

Thanks. I have to drive back on 25th. I'll take this route. But I'd rather prefer the NH47 for the Erode-Salem stretch. I find the Bhavani route a bit frustrating.

Are you referring to the Mettur Bhavani route. If so, the roads are good on this route but the lorry traffic is high. But from bhavani on NH47 either you can go via Sankagiri, Salem and NH7 route or the Mettur Bhavani route.
In the latter, you can avoid 2 toll plazas namely Sankagiri and Omalur.

[kala]

Originally Posted by kala

And here is the link for the alternate route that I tried on Saturday and seemed very decent.

http://goo.gl/maps/7Yzqa

Report on a slightly better option :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3607237

[sayoojl]

Hi,I am planning to go to pathanamthitta from thalassery.google suggests thalassery-calicut-thrissur-chalakudy-muvatupuzha-palakuzha-pala-mutholy-vazhoor-ranny-pathanamthitta.Is this route ok or is there any other alternative?I have no idea about the road conditions after chalakudy.Please advise.thanks

[S_U_N]

Need urgent help on getting to Thekkady tomorrow. What is the best route from Vythiri? Will leave at 6:30 AM.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Need urgent help on getting to Thekkady tomorrow. What is the best route from Vythiri? Will leave at 6:30 AM.

Check with regulars too. But here is my assessment.

Vythri-Thamarassery-Areacode-Malappuram-Kottakal-Kuttupuram-Edappal-Arikavu-Erenellur-Trichur-Angamally-Muvattupuzha-Pala-Kanjirapally-Kumily-Thekkady

Route Link

Notes:
- Route from Vythri to Malappuram is narrow.
- You latch on to NH17 at Kottakal and come till Edappal.
- At Edappal take the SH to Kunnamkulam
- You can bypass Kunnamkulam by taking the Arikavu-Erenellur road.
- You head to Trichur.
- Beyond that you get on to the GQ NH47 4-lane till Angamaly
- Get off the 4-lane at Angamaly to MC road.
- Get-off MC road at Muvattupuzha and divert to Pala and there on to Kanjirapally/Kumiy/Thekaddy.

[mykal shoemaker]

Originally Posted by kavu75

Bad to hear this. Any particular reason or just one off case?
I am planning to take this route sometime next week, probably crossing this area afternoon 3pm - 4pm. Any recent updates on Aryankavu- Punalur - Adoor road condition?
I am traveling from Bangalore to Pandalam and considering 2 options.
1. Dindigul - Kumily - Mundakayam - Ranni - Pathanamthitta - Pandalam
2. Thirumangalam - Rajapalayam - Shenkotttai - Punalur - Adoor - Pandalam

I think option 2 is better, but little worried about the above news.

Travelled through Aryankavu on last Saturday (20th) from Bangalore. As I travelled around 10.30 PM there was no blocks. But traffic is denser on thirumangalam - Shengottai section due to Sabarimala season.
Roads are not that great and due for re-tarring on many stretches. As my journey was towards Kulathuppuzha side, deviated from Thenmala and don't know the condition of Punalur road.

[kavu75]

Originally Posted by mykal shoemaker

Travelled through Aryankavu on last Saturday (20th) from Bangalore. As I travelled around 10.30 PM there was no blocks. But traffic is denser on thirumangalam - Shengottai section due to Sabarimala season.
Roads are not that great and due for re-tarring on many stretches. As my journey was towards Kulathuppuzha side, deviated from Thenmala and don't know the condition of Punalur road.

Thanks for the updates.
Tomorrow morning I am planning to take this route. If Thirumangalam - Rajapalayam - Shenkotttai section is not great I may consider taking the following route from Thirumangalam.
Thirumangalam - kovilpatti - Sankarankovil - Puliyangudi
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/9....d9.1725368!3e0

Even though this route is 25-30km more, I can cover more distance in 4-lane NH7 itself and I hope this will be faster.
Any decent place to take breakfast near Namakkal - Karur section?

[sjcherian]

Planning Chennai to Aluva on Dec 26th via Tindivanam, Salem, Coimbatore, Palakkad and return on Jan 3rd. Saw posts a few pages back about trucks causing a delay in Wayalar. Any tips regarding good stopping points along the way and diesel bunks & road updates will be much appreciated. Also is there checking for a PUC certificate on route ?

[joecherian]

Originally Posted by sjcherian

Planning Chennai to Aluva on Dec 26th via Tindivanam, Salem, Coimbatore, Palakkad and return on Jan 3rd. Saw posts a few pages back about trucks causing a delay in Wayalar. Any tips regarding good stopping points along the way and diesel bunks & road updates will be much appreciated. Also is there checking for a PUC certificate on route ?

for petrol bunks, you can have a pit stop at ulundurpet where in you have the BP COCO as well as adyar ananda bhavan. This bunk is around 180 kms from Chennai and is around 3-4 kms before ulundurpet toll plaza.

My usual fuel stop is this bunk and then next fuelling joint is the BP COCO bunk on seaport airport road. That will get me till Ulundurpet on my return trip.

for PUC, I haven't seen anything on this route but then that also might be because, I mostly does this drive at night. Better to take the PUC from chennai itself so that you don't have to hunt for the same.

For the return trip, do look out for a KA registered TBHP stickered city. I am as well planning my return trip from Cochin on 3rd.

[sachinnair]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

The map you posted suggests you plan to go from Kannur to Payyannur via Pappinishery-Payangadi. Avoid this route as there is widespread construction and widening activity going on (KSTP roads project). Instead, stick on to the NH66, via Taliparamba. Link here: http://goo.gl/maps/NGkkV



NH 17 (now NH 66)stretch from Kannur to at least Payyannur is in very decent shape.

Unfortunately, no option to bypass Kannur town. Be prepared to face heavy congestion from Melechovva to Pallikunnu if you hit the town in peak hours.

I drove up to this resort called Oyster Opera in Padnne on the 17th, a few km south of Kanhangad and back on the 20th.

Unfortunately, I had to depend on Google Maps and navigate, and took the original route. Sandsun is right and this stretch is bad. On my return journey the resort staff advised I take the highway, and that was in good shape.
Somewhere after Payyanur there is a diversion where the arrow points smaller vehicles to the right, towards a road that has a lot of construction activity. This road has a few bad patches, but is less crowded, hence faster. The driver of the taxi we had hired the previous day had also suggested this route

The drive through Kannur town was not as congested as I had expected; but it could be because I passed Kannur at about 11:00 am on both days. On the return leg, Thalassery was jammed. On a whim we diverted onto a side road, hoping it would be parallel to the main road, and our gamble paid off.

Kozhikode: I bypassed Kozhikode on the onward journey, and followed Binand's suggestion of driving upto Atholi. It worked. Only, at Atholi I missed the left turn (no signboards) and had to backtrack. There was some lag in the navigation app at times. Also, there is a lot of road laying on this road (before Azhinjilam, IIRC) and traffic was blocked for an hour.

As for Palakkad to Kozhikode, the Mannarkad-Perinthalmanna- Kavungal bypass route seems best.

Onward journey- Started from Palakkad at 6:30 am and reached Padanne at 4:00 pm. Ten hours with 6-7 breaks for tea and stretches, getting lost and backtracking about one km, one hour lost to roadwork and 15 minutes at a railway crossing.

On the way back, i started at about 10:00 am (delayed breakfast at the resort; my intended time of departure was 8:30). I had to drop a friend at Kozhikode on the Mini Bypass. Reached around 3:00 pm. Stopped for a quick lunch, then back via the old road (no Atholi this time), stopping only once for tea before Perinthalmanna and reached home by about 7:30 pm.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by sjcherian

Also is there checking for a PUC certificate on route ?

Regardless of whether there is checking or not (it is unpredictable on the highways, you never know when/where they may be a check) it is always a good practice to carry a PUC. Sometimes when cops fail to find anything amiss with your documents, they will bring up the PUC thing. I always make sure the PUC is valid before I embark on any trip.