[Accent Martin]

Originally Posted by vjjustin

You took 7 hrs even after starting so early? What was the average speed?

I am thinking about going home and was expecting ~6 hrs would be enough till Angamaly (If I start around 8AM, I was thinking I could reach by around 2PM - may be I was too optimistic).

Was it because of the road conditions or were you at cruising speeds?

My car is an Accent had it been a German, then may be it would have been a different story.

Well, in my opinion, that was a decent time to clock considering I was travelling with my wife and son. Also I always slow down after I enter kerala given the road without dividers + the strict speed limits.

Buddy, 6 hours for Bangalore - angamaly is little risky. Its better to reach a bit late to your destination than to not reach at all.
Enjoy your drive

[vjjustin]

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

My car is an Accent had it been a German, then may be it would have been a different story.

Well, in my opinion, that was a decent time to clock considering I was travelling with my wife and son. Also I always slow down after I enter kerala given the road without dividers + the strict speed limits.

Buddy, 6 hours for Bangalore - angamaly is little risky. Its better to reach a bit late to your destination than to not reach at all.
Enjoy your drive

That makes sense.

I never drove that stretch myself. I went till Krishnagiri last month; the roads were really great and was clocking good speeds. Hence was thinking even with a 90 kmph avg, I could cover around 500km in 6 hrs in that road. I should also plan for a lunch break, I guess, or start early.

OT: I usually drive at cruising speeds. Even with XUV, I rarely do 100+. I value my life and am not a crazy driver/teenager (into 30s), but thanks for the advise.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by vjjustin

I am thinking about going home and was expecting ~6 hrs would be enough till Angamaly (If I start around 8AM, I was thinking I could reach by around 2PM - may be I was too optimistic).

Bangalore-Angamaly is about 500km. To do it in 6 hours (assume it's a non-stop drive), you must average about 85kmph. There are 9 toll booths (excluding the 3 on the L&T bypass), each would take you approximately 2+ minutes in the best case (slow down from cruising speeds, pay and resume cruising), there goes ~25minutes. The Madukkarai-Walayar stretch of 15km would need at least 25-30 minutes. In effect, you have to do ~480km in 5.5hrs. The 120km inside Kerala would take you at least 2.5 hours, due to the speed enforcement as well as traffic. Boils down to covering 360km in 3 hours, or your moving average has to be in excess of 120kmph.

Of course I haven't added the delays caused by the characteristic overtaking manoeuvres of trucks (one at 10kmph and the other at 10.2kmph), the swarm of two-wheelers near Salem, Palakkad-Thrissur private buses on Kuthiran, etc.

In short, it's way too dangerous IMO

Originally Posted by Accent Martin

6 hours for Bangalore - angamaly is little risky. Its better to reach a bit late to your destination than to not reach at all.

Well said, mate

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by vjjustin

You took 7 hrs even after starting so early? What was the average speed?

I am thinking about going home and was expecting ~6 hrs would be enough till Angamaly (If I start around 8AM, I was thinking I could reach by around 2PM - may be I was too optimistic).

Was it because of the road conditions or were you at cruising speeds?

By the way, 4:45 AM to 1:15 PM is 8hr 30 mts, not 7 hr.
Its a decent speed. I usually clock the same time for my trips as well with 90-100 kmph cruising speed.
A slow drive few weeks back (max 70kmph) took 9hr 45 mt, a fast drive few months back ( 120 kmph cruising till CBE) took 7 hr 30 mt.

Below is a news article from todays paper; shows some bad stretches near Kuthiran.

[coolclouds]

I travelled by Golden Pearl Scania yesterday. It left Angamaly at 11pm after a dinner break and reached E.City at 6am. There was a fuel break/driver change in between!

So, its possible to do good timings with a good car.

[sachinpk]

Just got back after a quick trip to Kozhikode.

Onward: Bangalore-Mysore-Handpost-Kattikulam-Kuttiadi ghat-Kozhikode suburbs.
Started of at around 0430hrs from Bangalore. Took the Bangalore-Mysore state highway. It has been years that I took this route. I see that the number of random speed breakers have come down, but there are still some rude surprises out there. And there is also slow moving traffic even at around 0500hrs. And to add to our woes, the morning shift at Toyota (near Ramananagaram) was just starting, and there was a huge convoy of their vehicles.

We reached Mysore city by around 0650hrs, and decided to have our breakfast at Kamat Lok Ruchi(?) on Nanjangud road. We went through the city, traffic was sparse and apart from MapMyIndia taking us right through the middle of the city, every thing was uneventful. We were the first customers at Kamat, and was served with piping hot idlis and vadas. Drove down the state highway towards Handpost, and it was a really well laid road. And early that morning, with some little fog etc., that route gave us some of the most beautiful sceneries we have seen in Karnataka. I was also on the look out for the village/town Hedayala (Yedayala?), but missed it. In 1980s a thief from Kerala had settled down here, started his business and was even slated to stand for MLA elections. Unfortunately Kerala Police caught him before that. After handpost the roads are good, but very narrow. There are also some scenic places (I saw a lake/water body at a distance), on this route. Roads were good all the way till 4th mile, past Mananthavadi. After that I noticed that roads are ill maintained and with pot holes right till Niravilpuzha bridge. Roads after this point once again are in excellent condition till the suburbs of Kozhikode.

Return: Kozhikode subrubs-Kuttiadi Ghat-Pana Maram-Meenangadi-Sulthan Bathery-Gundlupet-Chamarjanagar-Kanakapura-Bangalore
Started the journey at 1100hrs. It was raining heavily all the way, till we crossed Sulthan Bathery. After that there were good drizzling all the way till we reached Gundlupet. The heavy rains, fogs on the ghat section, plus pathetic roads after Niravilpuzha did increase our journey time a bit. From Meenangadi it is the national highway till the Bandipur forest border, and it was in real good condition. From the forest border till a few kilo meters before Gundlupet, there is some road construction activity going on. So again had to reduce speed. The Gundlupet-Chamarjanagar road also was not in good condition. After Chamarjanagar the road condition improved, but I noticed that the vehicle density on the roads is also now increased. After we crossed the narrow bridge, and was nearing Malavalli I noticed that biker gangs have started using these roads for their illegal stunts. Young boys, no helmets and using modified bikes doing wheelies and what not. But looks like Mandya District police is also aware of this, and I saw that police mobiles were active near Malavalli and Halagur. In the place near Malavalli, the police jeep was neatly parked to a road side coconut plantation. There were a huge set of vehicles pulled aside, and I thought that some village festival is going on. I crossed the police jeep, and went around a corner only to see a large number of motor cycle riders hiding at the corner and peeping out to see if the police jeep has moved on.

From Kanakapura the vehicle density again increased, and the reduction of day light ensured that my speeds came down even further. It was around 1930hrs when we entered NICE road toll (after a break of around 30 mins at The Kitchen, Kanakapura). From what I could figure out, looks like the Bangalore-Mysore high way was even in a worse condition. I made the right calculation to avoid that route, today.

binand, thanks for your timely updates on the non-existent road between Handpost and Nanjangud.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Return: Kozhikode subrubs-Kuttiadi Ghat-Pana Maram-Meenangadi-Sulthan Bathery-Gundlupet-Chamarjanagar-Kanakapura-Bangalore
Started the journey at 1100hrs. It was raining heavily all the way, till we crossed Sulthan Bathery. After that there were good drizzling all the way till we reached Gundlupet. The heavy rains, fogs on the ghat section, plus pathetic roads after Niravilpuzha did increase our journey time a bit. From Meenangadi it is the national highway till the Bandipur forest border, and it was in real good condition. From the forest border till a few kilo meters before Gundlupet, there is some road construction activity going on. So again had to reduce speed. The Gundlupet-Chamarjanagar road also was not in good condition.

Hi Sachin, Thanks for the updates. Few questions.

1. Any reason you took the Kuttiadi route as opposed to the regular Adivaram-Vythiri-Kalpetta route?
2. How is the road condition between Bandipur and Gundlepet due to the construction? It was quite bad when work started. Are there too many bad patches and diversions?
3. Gundlepet-Chamrajnagar is bad in patches or has it become bad throughout? This road was relaid recently and had become a good surface apart from some sections, hence the question

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

1. Any reason you took the Kuttiadi route as opposed to the regular Adivaram-Vythiri-Kalpetta route?

My place of visit (wife's house) is closer to Perambra, Kozhikode Rural Dt. . Hence, this is the easiest route to take for me.

2. How is the road condition between Bandipur and Gundlepet due to the construction? It was quite bad when work started. Are there too many bad patches and diversions?

The roads inside the forest are excellent. The road work is happening right from the forest border at KA side for around 10kms. There are no major diversions. People just use another part of the same road, while one part is getting retarred. I crossed this point after a heavy rain fall, and drizzling still happening. The road was slushy, but even sedan types cars could go through. There are no very deep pot holes.

3. Gundlepet-Chamrajnagar is bad in patches or has it become bad throughout? This road was relaid recently and had become a good surface apart from some sections, hence the question

Gundlupet town area had pot holes, Terakanambi side again was a big mess. In between these places roads were suddenly good at many points, for short stretches (1-3 kms), then again it becomes patchy. So now I would put that most of the route is patchy, with some good stretches in between.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by arjithin

By the way, 4:45 AM to 1:15 PM is 8hr 30 mts, not 7 hr.
Its a decent speed. I usually clock the same time for my trips as well with 90-100 kmph cruising speed.
A slow drive few weeks back (max 70kmph) took 9hr 45 mt, a fast drive few months back ( 120 kmph cruising till CBE) took 7 hr 30 mt.

We did EKM->BLR yesterday.
Started at 2:45 pm, reached palakkad @5:45. I had a temple visit break of 20 mins. Chandranagar to walayar was a breeze, super smooth. Then it was a major pain, until madukkarai, but only for 12-13 kms, thankfully. Took a snack break for 30 mins @ 6:30 @gowrishankar. Started back at 7pm, and then on, it was steady cruising @100/110 until bangalore, reaching home in bellandur @1130pm. The driving time is 8 hrs b/w BLR<->EKM, with lots of weekend traffic. Even if the traffic was sparse, I dont think it would make a difference of more than 30 mins. Hence, if angamaly <-> BLR takes anything less than 7 hrs, then, yes, I would definitely presume there will be some rash driving involved somewhere.

Originally Posted by arjithin

Below is a news article from todays paper; shows some bad stretches near Kuthiran.

bore the brunt of this yesterday (sunday) evening. Lots of absolute standstill jams and slow manouvers. The "repair" quality was pathetic. Some creaters are HUGE. Still there were the usual crop of boy racer pvt buses, tempos and toddy carrying boleros.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

We did EKM->BLR yesterday.
Started at 2:45 pm, reached palakkad @5:45. I had a temple visit break of 20 mins. Chandranagar to walayar was a breeze, super smooth. Then it was a major pain, until madukkarai, but only for 12-13 kms, thankfully. Took a snack break for 30 mins @ 6:30 @gowrishankar. Started back at 7pm, and then on, it was steady cruising @100/110 until bangalore, reaching home in bellandur @1130pm. The driving time is 8 hrs b/w BLR<->EKM, with lots of weekend traffic. Even if the traffic was sparse, I dont think it would make a difference of more than 30 mins. Hence, if angamaly <-> BLR takes anything less than 7 hrs, then, yes, I would definitely presume there will be some rash driving involved somewhere.



bore the brunt of this yesterday (sunday) evening. Lots of absolute standstill jams and slow manouvers. The "repair" quality was pathetic. Some creaters are HUGE. Still there were the usual crop of boy racer pvt buses, tempos and toddy carrying boleros.

Any repair being carried out? Are the craters only in the ghats? How is the progress of road widening between Mannuthy and Palakkad?

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Any repair being carried out? Are the craters only in the ghats? How is the progress of road widening between Mannuthy and Palakkad?

no work was going on since it was raining. The craters are all over the place, right from mannuthy to vadakkanchery. Even in smooth sections (non-ghat) there will be potholes which will catch you by surprise, in case you are not maintaining distance behind the vehicle ahead. All of them, 3/4 to 1 feet away from the shoulder of the road (exactly where your left tyre is) , in a perfect round/ellipse shape, and deep enough to expose the 4-th layer of old tarmac - this can kill wheels. I would recommend sticking to <70kph speeds even in smooth sections and strictly maintain distance (that is how I escaped many potholes which an unlucky swift in front of me, didn't). The ghat section is totally gone, where even a two wheeler will have to choose the lesser devil among many potholes. If it is raining in the night - be ready for some puncture/bent/broken wheels.
Regarding widening - rocks have been blasted in some of the "gorge" sections of the ghat - and most areas along the road are dug-up and getting prepped for rock laying followed by tarmac.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

We reached Mysore city by around 0650hrs, and decided to have our breakfast at Kamat Lok Ruchi(?) on Nanjangud road.

It is Kamat Madhuban. You should see the afternoon rush there, I remember having to spend close to 1 hour once to have lunch served.

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Drove down the state highway towards Handpost, and it was a really well laid road. And early that morning, with some little fog etc., that route gave us some of the most beautiful sceneries we have seen in Karnataka.

That indeed is a very beautiful highway. Still retains some of the old world charm. A pic I took a year ago on this road attached below.

Originally Posted by sachinpk

There are also some scenic places (I saw a lake/water body at a distance)

That should be the Kabani dam reservoir. The dam is also known as Beechanahalli dam and is built across Kabini river.

How do you rate the food and restroom facilities at 'The Kitchen'? The place is very close to my work location (Jain University Global campus) but have never tried it.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

How do you rate the food and restroom facilities at 'The Kitchen'? The place is very close to my work location (Jain University Global campus) but have never tried it.

I would put it as average. The main area of the restaurant looks good. The toilets are average. It is clean, but may not have the very prim and proper look (which many of the bigger food courts have). The food quality is also average; I don't think they have the same standards/taste which chains like Kamat, Saravana Bhavan have. So if you are really hungry, or need to take a break then go for it. The prices are also very decent. But some of us have become addicted to Kamat or Saravana Bhavan so much so that, journey start time etc. are calculated to have our food from these outlets .

[JohnnyBoss]

Friends, need a help!

Planning to go to Parambikkulam via Nenmara, Kollengode, Vettaikkaranpudur. Google maps shows 2 routes, i.e., one via Chammanampathy and another via Ambarampalayam, the latter being a bit lengthy.

Which one should I choose? The only consideration is good roads.

Thanks.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBoss

Planning to go to Parambikkulam via Nenmara, Kollengode, Vettaikkaranpudur. Google maps shows 2 routes, i.e., one via Chammanampathy and another via Ambarampalayam, the latter being a bit lengthy.

Folks mostly take the road close to Meenakshipuram. But nevertheless since the distance is not that much, you may also check at that point with people, ifs its any better. But travellers from Bangalore mostly take the Meenakshipuram option.