[iVento]

Bypassing Salem Traffic & 2 Tolls

Omalur - Tharamangalam - Sankari bypass DriveCam Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NByK8PplliM

Thanks arjithin for the route advice. It took me about 60 mts to cover this distance. As you can see in the video, trucks makes majority of the traffic. Roads are rough (but certainly doable) until you reach Tharamangalam.

Video taken on: 30/8/2015

Direction: From Coimbatore to Bangalore

[Saint_Krish]

Guys just a quick update. The Mysore Gundlepet stretch is good BUT while coming back from Mysore, after the Empire hotel on the left, there are some unmarked speed-breakers (or should I say bumper breakers?!) My GT TDI has a broken skid plate and bumper now. I heard that a zoom car A Class also had a similar fate. So please please watch out guys!!

[JohnyRider]

Originally Posted by vinucv

I am traveling from Chennai to Kottayam via Kumili by last week of September. Have couple of queries

1. Plan to take an overnight stay at Dindigul . So can someone suggest a descent accommodation there ? Price range I am looking at is 1000 to 2000
2. What is the road condition between Dindigul to Kumili ?

Thanks for your reading and looking forward to hear from you

1. Most of the hotels in Dindigul are bit inside and you have to drive 4-5 KM one-side from the highway. You may try Hotel Parsons Court at Dindigul Town. I usually take an overnight stay @ Hotel Western Gatz ( 1300 Rs), Theni during my drive to Kerala.
2. There are some culvert constructions happening between Vatlagund (35 KM from Dindigul) and Lowercamp(10 KM before Kumily). Apart from that , Road condition is good. I did this route during August 26.

[vinucv]

Originally Posted by JohnyRider

1. Most of the hotels in Dindigul are bit inside and you have to drive 4-5 KM one-side from the highway. You may try Hotel Parsons Court at Dindigul Town. I usually take an overnight stay @ Hotel Western Gatz ( 1300 Rs), Theni during my drive to Kerala.
2. There are some culvert constructions happening between Vatlagund (35 KM from Dindigul) and Lowercamp(10 KM before Kumily). Apart from that , Road condition is good. I did this route during August 26.

Thanks JohnyRider. I will not be able to stretch till Theni but came across another hotel called O2 residency (http://www.o2residency.com) in vathalagundu. Anyone has any idea how good this hotel is for a one night stay with family?

Also, google shows a different route from vathalagundu to Kumily which is not through Periyakulam(https://goo.gl/maps/KPmMw) . Note sure if there is any advantage in taking this route as the distance seems to be more or less the same.

Any thoughts ?

[nfsfreak]

Originally Posted by vinucv

Also, google shows a different route from vathalagundu to Kumily which is not through Periyakulam . Note sure if there is any advantage in taking this route as the distance seems to be more or less the same.

Any thoughts ?

The route you are talking about is through Vaigai dam and it is good but normally deserted. Last time I took that road was 2 years back, and it was in very good condition (when Batlagundu - Theni highway works were in progress).

I am very much interested to know about the other route in your map which bypasses Theni completely and joins at Chinnamannur (https://goo.gl/maps/KPmMw). Could someone please comment on the road condition?
This could be a very good option because crossing the bad roads in Theni town is hell.

[kavu75]

Originally Posted by nfsfreak

The route you are talking about is through Vaigai dam and it is good but normally deserted. Last time I took that road was 2 years back, and it was in very good condition (when Batlagundu - Theni highway works were in progress).

I am very much interested to know about the other route in your map which bypasses Theni completely and joins at Chinnamannur (https://goo.gl/maps/KPmMw). Could someone please comment on the road condition?
This could be a very good option because crossing the bad roads in Theni town is hell.

I have taken Vaigai dam route during August last week. All the way roads are good with very less traffic. The distance wise just 2-3 km more. It's worth taking this route rather than taking Periyakulam. But don't take this during night time, will be very deserted.

The other route mentioned, looks like a good alternative bypassing Theni completely and joining Chinnamannur. Any recent updates?

Will be taking this route again next month.

[ontheroad]

I had a drive today from Sreekaryam to Thrissur. In order to avoid the traffic block at Attingal, Kollam, Karunagapally I preferred the Sreekaryam-Pothencode-Venjaramoodu- Changanassery-Alapuzha-Vytiila- Chalakudy -Thrissur route. But the stretch between Chenganur and Changanassery is horror highway due to works going on there. How is the condition of Kayamkulam-Adoor road? In return I plan to take Thrissur-Vyttila- Kayamkulam- Adoor- Venjaramoodu-Sreekaryam route. Any other better suggestions? Some friends updated that condition is bad in Muvattupuzha-Kottayam MC road stretch also due to ongoing works.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

I had a drive today from Sreekaryam to Thrissur. In order to avoid the traffic block at Attingal, Kollam, Karunagapally I preferred the Sreekaryam-Pothencode-Venjaramoodu- Changanassery-Alapuzha-Vytiila- Chalakudy -Thrissur route. But the stretch between Chenganur and Changanassery is horror highway due to works going on there. How is the condition of Kayamkulam-Adoor road? In return I plan to take Thrissur-Vyttila- Kayamkulam- Adoor- Venjaramoodu-Sreekaryam route. Any other better suggestions? Some friends updated that condition is bad in Muvattupuzha-Kottayam MC road stretch also due to ongoing works.

I had driven on the Kayamkulam-Adoor stretch in May and the road condition was quite decent then. Not sure about the post-monsoon condition.

Another alternate is to take MC road itself, but avoid the Kothamangalam-Chengannur stretch (which is the worst part of that road) by deviating via Uzhavoor-Kidangoor-Manarcaud-Pambady-Karukachal-Mallappally-Kumbanad and rejoin MC road a little south of Chengannur. The roads from Kothamangalam up to Karukachal are very good - Haven't travelled through the Mallappally-Kumbanad route for a while now, but it shouldn't be too bad either. The negative side of that route is that unless you use navigation assistance (or keep enquiring with locals often), it is easy to get lost and get onto a wrong road since there there are several junctions on the way where you need to turn left or right, and road markings may not be clear enough.

In terms of time, I don't think you'll gain much with either of these diversions - the only advantage would be avoiding the bad stretches / heavy traffic areas along the way - hence a much more stress-free drive.

[deepclutch]

Visited Pala last week and passed through Muvattupuzha-Koothattukulam-Ramapuram route. As the MC road works are going on, I took Muvattupuzha-Aarakkuzha-Pandappilly-Palakkuzha-(Take right turn) and rejoins MC road near Koothattukulam. A HPCL pump is there immediately after. Arakkuzha-Pandappilly route is not smooth but is a viable option. GMaps Muvattupuzha-Kuthattukulam: https://goo.gl/uGCp4m

The problem with Kuthattukulam-Uzhavur-Manarcaud route is there is very less signage and confusing junctions. But, if you learn the turns at Uzhavur, Marangattupilly and Kidangoor then it is easier.

Another option I wanted to try to reach Kottayam is taking Muvattupuzha-Piravom road and turns at Namakkuzhy to reach Peruva-Kaduthuruthy-Ettumanur-Kottayam. I'm not sure about the road conditions after Namakuzhy towards Kaduthuruthy.
This is the route: https://goo.gl/DQ8WjB

[renney.varghese]

Last month, I did a trip from Mumbai to Pandalam. Took the Dharwad-Yellapur-Ankola road to get onto NH17. The drive was good but not comfortable. Had to take a halt some 200 kms from Mangalore, as my little one had developed car sickness. Started early next morning towards Mangalore. The roads are awful at most of the places, batterred and broken down completely. This continues till we enter Kerala. After that NH17 narrows down so much that it seems to run just outside the doors of some houses! There's two way traffic and overtaking is a pain. All through the day, we could cover very less kms. The rickshaws there, are the most painful.... switch and turn at the middle of the road, drive on the opposite side headon. We had to halt that evening, which made our journey a full 2 nights and 3 nights.
On our way back we did the Trissur-Coimbatore-Salem-Bangalore road. Jump onto the Tumkur road on NH4 and halt. Approx 760 kms covered in a day. Next morning stay on the same route Tumkur-Hubli-Kolhapur-Pune-Mumbai, a distance of approx 930 kms covered in 15 hours of driving with quite some halts.
To summarize, please do not take the NH17, if you need to go beyond Kasaragode, as the roads and traffic will slow you down terribly. The NH47-NH4 is a nice drive with proper city bypasses and less traffic.

[batterylow]

I am planning to drive from Coimbatore to Kannur. I was thinking of the Palakkad-Malapurram-Kozhikode route. Any pointers to a better road? The Anakatti-Mannarkad road was not that great the last time I gave it a try. Thank you!

[ThePunter]

Originally Posted by batterylow

I am planning to drive from Coimbatore to Kannur. I was thinking of the Palakkad-Malapurram-Kozhikode route. Any pointers to a better road? The Anakatti-Mannarkad road was not that great the last time I gave it a try. Thank you!

I don't think there is any primary alternative to suggest here.
If at all it is there, it is for the palakkad (mundur)-perinthalmanna ~55km stretch. There are 2 routes available: either the normal NH213 through Mannarkkad or other one through Kongad-Cherppulassery, the latter being 7-8km shorter. During some times of the day it will save extra time and far less traffic to say, than for the mere 7km difference, when compared to the NH213 route, both roads being 1 lane each both ways. Hope it helps.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by batterylow

I am planning to drive from Coimbatore to Kannur. I was thinking of the Palakkad-Malapurram-Kozhikode route. Any pointers to a better road? The Anakatti-Mannarkad road was not that great the last time I gave it a try. Thank you!

This route is an option: Link

Walayar-Palakkad byepass-Kuzhalmannam-Kottayi-Mankara-Cherupplassery-Perinthalmanna-Standard route.

Helps avoid Palakkad town, and should be low in traffic till Perithalmanna. Only thing is not sure on the exact condition of the stretch between Mankara and Cherupplassery. As per google maps this would save you 30 min over the standard NH 213 route.

[johnda]

Dear Folks!

I'm going to drive to Chennai from Thiruvalla

My two route options are:
1 kumliy, theni, dindugal
2 palaghat, coimbatore, salem

would like inputs on the condition of the roads. esp the Kumliy route.
good roads are my only concern.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by ThePunter

I don't t.....both ways. Hope it helps.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

This ro...te.

Thanks guys, I will revert on the route once I am back.