[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

No trucks to cross Walayar from 1st April (Mathrubhumi: Malayalam)
Folks preparing for the Good Friday-Easter trip may take note of the above. If the strike continues from 1st April, Walayar may be a breeze to cross. But if the strike is just for a day and gets over by 2nd; then there could be a huge traffic jam as all the trucks would try to bring the goods into the state at the same time.

Not sure if the AIMTC is only going on strike, or blocking the checkpost. If it's the latter, then Pollachi-Kollengode-Alathur route will be choked, and Alathur-Nenmara, Kollengode-Nenmara and Vadakkenchery-Nenmara routes will anyway see extra traffic owing to the festival.

[sachinpk]

Friends, next week it is time to make another Kerala visit. Train tickets on Bharthiya Rail are in WL, and I don't have much hopes on getting a confirmation. That means I would have to go by four wheeler. I will also have a mandatory "passenger drop" at Perambra, Kozhikode Rural dt.. Need the expert advice, for the route to be taken from Bangalore. I plan to leave by around 0430hours from South East Bangalore.

1. I find the Kanakapura route which is a pleasure to drive. But with the bridge repairs going on, what would be the better road to take?
2. Can I start off on Kanakapura route, and then later join into the Heggadevanekotte (HD Kotte) route, to proceed towards Bawali, Kaattikkulam & Mananthavady. This may be the shortest route available.
3. Any other better options expert drivers have in mind? I don't want to get into the Bangalore-Mysore highway, if I have a chance. With ladies travelling, which route may have good toilets/food points on the way?

PS: If GPS coordinates can be shared, it would really help me. I would punch them onto my MMI GPS device and plot the route.

Thanks!!!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

PS: If GPS coordinates can be shared, it would really help me. I would punch them onto my MMI GPS device and plot the route.

Apart from Kanakpura road:

If Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet is bad in terms of 4-laning, how about Mysore-Handpost-Mananthvady-Kalpetta-Calicut?

Start early to beat the Mysore road rush.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

how about Mysore-Handpost-Mananthvady-Kalpetta-Calicut?
Start early to beat the Mysore road rush.

Sure. This is worth a try. BTW, does the above route go through the town/village of 'Yedayala/Hedayala'? *. I can force my fellow passengers to help me start early, so that I can save them from the mad rush on the Bangalore-Mysore highway. If I take this route food, and toilets I am sure would not be a problem. What is the latest trend of unmarked speed breakers on the Bangalore-Mysore stretch?

PS: Wanted to see this place, after reading about a Keralite thief who made big after starting a business at this place. Chap had even chance of becoming an MLA, but the Thiruvananthapuram Police played spoil sport .

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ampere

If Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlupet is bad in terms of 4-laning, how about Mysore-Handpost-Mananthvady-Kalpetta-Calicut?

Google Maps link
Is this the way? The road goes through the heart of Mysore city, but I guess there would not be much of a traffic jam etc. Thanks in advance !

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

1. I find the Kanakapura route which is a pleasure to drive. But with the bridge repairs going on, what would be the better road to take?
2. Can I start off on Kanakapura route, and then later join into the Heggadevanekotte (HD Kotte) route, to proceed towards Bawali, Kaattikkulam & Mananthavady. This may be the shortest route available.
3. Any other better options expert drivers have in mind? I don't want to get into the Bangalore-Mysore highway, if I have a chance. With ladies travelling, which route may have good toilets/food points on the way?

PS: If GPS coordinates can be shared, it would really help me. I would punch them onto my MMI GPS device and plot the route.

Thanks!!!

For a 4.30 am start, simplest option would be to stick to Mysore Route. As ampere mentioned, because of the 4 laning work between Nanjangud and Bandipur Forest, the best route is Mysore-Handpost-Bavalli-Katikulam-Manathavady-Kalpetta-Calicut (You don't need to touch HD Kote). Problem with this route is that once you leave Mysore, there is no family friendly stopping point till Kattikulam (~2 hours drive). Mysore road minus the traffic is perfectly fine, Humps are all well marked and apart from a few, are properly constructed ones.

For your question 2. There is an option. Details in this post by bhpian binand. But it has unexplored sections.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3659432

The latest update by bhpian kala in the Bangalore-Calicut thread indicates that the Gundlepet-Bandipur section is not too bad now in spite of the road work. So you do have the option of Kanakpura-Malavalli-Talakad-T Narsipura- Chamrajnagar-Gundlepet-Bathery-Calicut. If you end up getting delayed and can start only after 5.30-6am, then this is the route to take (assuming you are leaving on the long weekend morning). Again point to note is that, no family friendly places to stop till Nijaguna, CHamrajnagar or CCD/Misty Rock Gundlepet.

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Google Maps link
Is this the way? The road goes through the heart of Mysore city, but I guess there would not be much of a traffic jam etc. Thanks in advance !

Yes, this is the route. Since you would be crossing Mysore around 7am with a 4.30am start, going through the city should not be an issue. You can also hit SH 33 by taking the ring road from Columbia Asia signal (turn right)

Below is also my go to post for this route by binand. Very useful.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3507902

[kala]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Friends, next week it is time to make another Kerala visit. Train tickets on Bharthiya Rail are in WL, and I don't have much hopes on getting a confirmation. That means I would have to go by four wheeler. I will also have a mandatory "passenger drop" at Perambra, Kozhikode Rural dt.. Need the expert advice, for the route to be taken from Bangalore. I plan to leave by around 0430hours from South East Bangalore.

1. I find the Kanakapura route which is a pleasure to drive. But with the bridge repairs going on, what would be the better road to take?
2. Can I start off on Kanakapura route, and then later join into the Heggadevanekotte (HD Kotte) route, to proceed towards Bawali, Kaattikkulam & Mananthavady. This may be the shortest route available.
3. Any other better options expert drivers have in mind? I don't want to get into the Bangalore-Mysore highway, if I have a chance. With ladies travelling, which route may have good toilets/food points on the way?

PS: If GPS coordinates can be shared, it would really help me. I would punch them onto my MMI GPS device and plot the route.

Since you need to touch Perambra en-route, the route via Mananthavady-Kuttiyadi will be perfect. The route is :

Bangalore-SH17-Mysore-HDKote Handpost-Bavali-Kattikkulam-Mananthavadi-Niravilpuzha-Kuttiyadi-Perambra-Calicut

Mananthavadi-Niravilpuzha is reportedly a little bit rough, but the rest of the roads should be good (Have only hearsay information about the section after Mananthavadi, but till there I travelled last week as well - the roads are very good except for the speedbreakers on SH17 and the forest stretch)

SH-17 is OK to travel in the early mornings. There are speed breakers present even now, but the number seems to have come down a bit lately. With a 4:30 AM start I'm not sure you'll find any restaurant open on SH17, so Mysore might the best bet for a breakfast stop. Note that there is hardly anything after you cross Mysore till you enter Kerala (Kattikkulam and Mananthavadi have decent hotels)

The Google Maps route connecting the points mentioned above should be adequate for navigation.

[silversteed]

Many of the speed-breakers/uneven expansion joints on the stretch between Avinashi and Neelambur (towards CBE side) have been smoothened out with a fresh layer of asphalt:







We saw some people assessing the quality of the new layer, at the start of this stretch. So, motorists have something to be happy about. This also would mean that the days of free smooth roads (albeit those nasty expansion joints) are over as the tolls would also be operational in a few months time.

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

Did Bng-Koc yesterday. Started from Bangalore at 12:30pm and reached Kadavanthara at 11:00pm! The Coimbatore to Mannuthy stretch was horrible expect the 4 lane portions. The metro work in Aluva Edapally stretch also slowed us down. Last time the Kochi-Bng trip had taken only 8.5 hours taking the pollachi route...of-course starting time also made a difference that time.

Cheers

Vindy

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

Did Bng-Koc yesterday. Started from Bangalore at 12:30pm and reached Kadavanthara at 11:00pm! The Coimbatore to Mannuthy stretch was horrible expect the 4 lane portions. The metro work in Aluva Edapally stretch also slowed us down. Last time the Kochi-Bng trip had taken only 8.5 hours taking the pollachi route...of-course starting time also made a difference that time.

Cheers

Vindy

Any traffic at walayar check post? Also, how's the stretch between Walayar and Thrissur?

[VindyWheels]

There was heavy traffic all through and Walayar was a lucky escape. We were forced to follow a bus which was going through the right (wrong) side of the 4 lane portion. The left side was packed with trucks and a few cars in between. With the divider on one side and trucks on the left back and front it will be painful if you get stuck. To that extend the 4 lane has made it worse

We never got stuck anywhere, but the traffic was stressful. Only once we reached the 4 lane Mannuthy stretch we could breathe easy.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Any traffic at walayar check post? Also, how's the stretch between Walayar and Thrissur?

[mithunkb]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Any traffic at walayar check post? Also, how's the stretch between Walayar and Thrissur?

Travelled from Bangalore to Thrissur last week. End of CBE bypass to Walayar is a complete mess as usual. But once you cross the border , you will be pleasantly surpirised by the road quality. Almost 80% of the four lane work is completed. You can expect the toll collection to start in 3 months. Walayar border to Chandranagar is a breeze. But expect some madness at the checkpost as the left lane will be completely occupied by trucks. You will be forced to go wrong side and there is no marking/indication for that.

Chandranagar to Thrissur on the NH will be the most time consuming part in the entire 480kms. The 80 odd kms will take anywhere between 1.5 to 2.5 hrs if there is no incidents in the kuthiran area. Road conditions are OK but traffic will slow you down. In Palakkad to Vadakkumchery stretch , 4 laning is in progress and lot of diversions are to be expected. Vadakkumchery to Mannuthy stretch is usual 2 lanes with average road quality. Expect slow moving traffic in the kuthiran stretch.

[hothatchaway]

How bad is the stretch from mysore - nanjangud - Gundlupet? Is it bad in terms of surface quality or does one get stuck in traffic snarls?

Travelling to Wayanad next weekend and will have to pass through S.Bathery. Will start early by 4AM. Dont really want to take Kanakpura road at that early hour in addition to the birdge closure issue.

Any pointers?

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Nenmara route will be crowded during next weekend due to Nenmara Vela (Festival). Anybody traveling to Kerala for Easter may take NH47 all the way via Coimbatore or Kollengode-Alathur-Vadakkancherry.

I will be returning from Munnar on April 3rd afternoon and was planning to take Munnar - marayoor- Udumelpet-Pollachi-Kollengode-Nemmara-Vdakkenchery-Thrissur route. Would taking Kollengode-Alathur route avoid the festival traffic?

I would like to stick to the Adimali route if the Kollengode-Vadakkenchery section is going to be too crowded.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

How bad is the stretch from mysore - nanjangud - Gundlupet? Is it bad in terms of surface quality or does one get stuck in traffic snarls?

Travelling to Wayanad next weekend and will have to pass through S.Bathery. Will start early by 4AM. Dont really want to take Kanakpura road at that early hour in addition to the birdge closure issue.

Any pointers?

With a 4am start, you will not run into any traffic snarls. During peak times the Mysore - nanjangud stretch has heavy traffic. With your start time you will pass the stretch around 7am. So should not face any significant traffic. The road surface is a little rough, but nothing to be concerned about. One point to note is that road widening is happening in a big way between nanjangud and bandipur forest entrance. So be prepared for deviations and rough stretches.

Are you headed to bathery or some place else? If your destination is more towards kalpetta side, it would be better to take mysore-hand post- bavalli- kattikulam- mananthavady route to wayanad. You can find detailed descriptions in the last few pages of the Bangalore- calicut thread.