[binand]

Originally Posted by TheHkrish

I could not find any Problem with the above Kalpetta --> Mananthavady route.

You went through Mananthavady town, is it? Not the shorter Panamaram-Koyileri-Mananthavady bypass route that doesn't go into the town?

Even then, there are some bad sections between Kambalakkadu-Panamaram. Altogether my weekend Calicut trip assessment was that I'd rather avoid the Kalpetta-Mananthavady-Mysore route till they fix the road section in Kerala.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by NPV

How does one spot the exit from Sankari to the Edappadi road ? And then the (right?) turn from Tharamangalam towards Omalur ?

There are two routes
1. While coming from Coimbatore side, once in Sankari bypass, look for the signs for a Maruti Tata service center. You will find 2-3. Turn left at the junction. Turn (first) right to a single lane road around 1 km ahead. At the end of road turn left to Tharamangalam road. Turn right at Tharamangalam towards omalaur.

2. Get into Sankari town. Turn left to Tharamangalam road after town.

I always take option 1

Here is a dashcam video of option1

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by arjithin

That's second good news in a row; first was the Gudalur - Gundlupet section.

How about sankari - Edappadi section? That was equally bad last time.

Originally Posted by NPV

How does one spot the exit from Sankari to the Edappadi road ? And then the (right?) turn from Tharamangalam towards Omalur ?

Originally Posted by arjithin

There are two routes
1. While coming from Coimbatore side, once in Sankari bypass, look for the signs for a Maruti Tata service center. You will find 2-3. Turn left at the junction. Turn (first) right to a single lane road around 1 km ahead. At the end of road turn left to Tharamangalam road. Turn right at Tharamangalam towards omalaur.

2. Get into Sankari town. Turn left to Tharamangalam road after town.

I always take option 1

Here is a dashcam video of option1

Take option 1 but instead of taking a right to the single lane road, proceed to Edappadi, Tharamangalam & Omalur. This is the first time that I took the Edappadi route and it is in excellent condition. This is faster than taking the single lane road.

[reignofchaos]

Folks - planning to do a weekend trip on the 25th long weekend to Varkala beach from Bangalore. Could you suggest the best route? Google maps suggests

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Madurai-Tirumangalam-Sriviliputhur-Rajapalyam-Shenkottai-Thenmala-Pariapally-Varkala

Is this the best route? I wanted to be on NH7 for as long as possible as someone mentioned in the bangalore trivandram thread that roads are bad in the Tirumangalam - Shenkottai stretch and I found the following route:

Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Madurai-Tirumangalam-Nallathinputhur-Kalugumalai-Sankarankovil-Chintamani-Shenkottai-Thenmala-Pariapally-Varkala

Does anyone have a clue about SH76 between Nallathinputhur and Chintamani? I am worried about how bad these roads are as I have a car with 145mm ground clearance.

Finally does it make sense to go via the Dindigul-Theni-Kumily-Kottayam-Varkala route instead of this one?
It would be longer but a friend of mine suggests that I take this route as it is in decent condition.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Take option 1 but instead of taking a right to the single lane road, proceed to Edappadi, Tharamangalam & Omalur. This is the first time that I took the Edappadi route and it is in excellent condition. This is faster than taking the single lane road.

Looked at gmaps and it's a little confusing since thee is a sankari-idappadi road from NH 47 and also another one going almost parallel. Which is the road you took ?

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

Looked at gmaps and it's a little confusing since thee is a sankari-idappadi road from NH 47 and also another one going almost parallel. Which is the road you took ?

I took the Sankari - Idappadi road. The parallel road was not in good condition when I travelled last.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I took the Sankari - Idappadi road. The parallel road was not in good condition when I travelled last.

For people going to North Coimbatore, instead of going Via Mettur-Bhavani, they can take the Mecheri, Nangavalli, Jalakandapuram,Idappadi road to Sankagiri.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

I took the Sankari - Idappadi road. The parallel road was not in good condition when I travelled last.

Thanks!
So, is this the same turn off as @arjithin mentioned and the dashcam footage in ivento's post shows ? Or is it an earlier turn off ?

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

Thanks!
So, is this the same turn off as @arjithin mentioned and the dashcam footage in ivento's post shows ? Or is it an earlier turn off ?

The NH47 exit is the same as the one arjithin mentioned and showen in the dashcam footage but do not take the right turn ( at 3:49 in the footage) in to the single lane road. Continue straight to Idappadi. This has better roads.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

The NH47 exit is the same as the one arjithin mentioned and showen in the dashcam footage but do not take the right turn ( at 3:49 in the footage) in to the single lane road. Continue straight to Idappadi. This has better roads.

Thanks. Driving to TCR this Friday night and coming back on Monday. Will try this route.

[MinivanDriver]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

For people going to North Coimbatore, instead of going Via Mettur-Bhavani, they can take the Mecheri, Nangavalli, Jalakandapuram,Idappadi road to Sankagiri.

Hi suresh_gs, would you have an update on the road conditions on this route? How much time would it take?

[naveen.raju]

Guys,

Need route suggestions to Wayanad, Kuruvadweep to be exact. I am planning to take NH 47 and then Shornur road from Mannuthy. It will be an early morning start (4.30 or 5am) from Cochin.

Kindly suggest. Thanks in advance.

[binand]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Need route suggestions to Wayanad, Kuruvadweep to be exact. I am planning to take NH 47 and then Shornur road from Mannuthy.

The safest would be to not go to Shornur at all, but to Calicut via Kunnamkulam > Kuttipuram > Valanchery (NH47 > NH17). From Calicut to Kalpetta (NH 212) and then onwards smaller roads to Kuruva.

If you do go to Shornur then a possibility is Shornur > Pattambi > Perinthalmanna > Manjeri > Arekode > Thamarassery. I am not sure of the final few kms of this route (Mukkam-Thamarassery), rest all is good. From Thamarassery you take NH 212 as above. I reckon this route is a bit longer than the one through Calicut.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Guys,

Need route suggestions to Wayanad, Kuruvadweep to be exact. I am planning to take NH 47 and then Shornur road from Mannuthy. It will be an early morning start (4.30 or 5am) from Cochin.

Kindly suggest. Thanks in advance.

Agree with Binand, no need to take the Shornur route ( unless you specifically have a need to).


Apart from the route Binand mentioned, the NH 17 via n paravoor- kodungaloor- chavakkad- ponnani- chamravattom - kuttippuram ( via the new road) and then the standard valanchery - calicut route is also an option since it is an early start. No major advantage I suppose, just a different route.

[kala]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Need route suggestions to Wayanad, Kuruvadweep to be exact. I am planning to take NH 47 and then Shornur road from Mannuthy. It will be an early morning start (4.30 or 5am) from Cochin.

Originally Posted by binand

The safest would be to not go to Shornur at all, but to Calicut via Kunnamkulam > Kuttipuram > Valanchery (NH47 > NH17). From Calicut to Kalpetta (NH 212) and then onwards smaller roads to Kuruva.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Apart from the route Binand mentioned, the NH 17 via n paravoor- kodungaloor- chavakkad- ponnani- chamravattom - kuttippuram ( via the new road) and then the standard valanchery - calicut route is also an option since it is an early start. No major advantage I suppose, just a different route.

I think the second suggestion (NH17 all the way) would be the better one with an early morning start. The only issue with this route is the Edappally to Kodungallur sector where the roads are narrow which doesn't allow you to average more than 25-35 kmph when driving during the day. But since traffic would be much lower early in the morning, it should be much easier to traverse at speeds of at least 50-60 kmph. On the other hand I've seen traffic bottlenecks even at 5AM on the NH47 section at places where metro construction is in progress.

The only correction to the route as described by @Rajeevraj is that you shouldn't go via Chamravattom when going from Ponnani to Kuttippuram. Take the Ponnani bypass and at the 5 way junction at the end of the bypass you need to continue on the road that goes straight ahead to go towards Kuttippuram. The road to Chamravattom is also almost in the same direction, but it is a narrower road at an angle of about 10 degrees to the left. (The acute left turn at that junction takes you to Ponnani town, and the right turn takes you to Edappal). Not sure about how good are direction markings at this junction.

Also just in case you're not familiar with how to the bypass Calicut city, make sure you take the road that goes straight ahead at Ramanattukara. (Left goes to Feroke/Calicut city, and right goes to Calicut airport/Malappuram). Continue on the bypass till Malapparambu where you need to take a right turn onto Wayanad road (NH212).