[binand]

Originally Posted by redbaron91

I'm planning to leave Bangalore by around 11AM. so I hope I can cross the nadukanni Ghat section and reach Nilambur by 7PM.

My strategy is to time my entry to Kerala at around 8-8:30 PM so that I can stop for dinner and then continue my final leg, within Kerala, past 9 PM when the roads have calmed down somewhat. Since my usual destination (Calicut) is 3 hours from any of these entry towns this works quite well for me.

If you want to adopt that strategy, you have to be among the last lot to enter the forest at Bandipur since the entry closes at 6 PM (iirc). From Bandipur to Nilambur it would take around 2.5-3 hours.

[kala]

Originally Posted by binand

If you want to adopt that strategy, you have to be among the last lot to enter the forest at Bandipur since the entry closes at 6 PM (iirc). From Bandipur to Nilambur it would take around 2.5-3 hours.

The traffic ban on the Bandipur-Gudalur section used to be between 9PM and 6AM (Similar to the Gundlupet-Muthanga route), unless they have revised it in the recent past.

[Sree73]

Planning for Bangalore - Thrissur trip on 22nd April. Will be taking the normal Hosur - Salem - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur route.

[unni246]

Originally Posted by kala

The traffic ban on the Bandipur-Gudalur section used to be between 9PM and 6AM (Similar to the Gundlupet-Muthanga route), unless they have revised it in the recent past.

I guess 6pm is the last you could enter from either of the entry gates and probably by 9pm you need to exit as all gates then close. Correct me if wrong

Originally Posted by Sree73

Planning for Bangalore - Thrissur trip on 22nd April. Will be taking the normal Hosur - Salem - Coimbatore - Palakkad - Thrissur route.

This should be a regular weekend and should be traffic free, though an early start from Bangalore is recommended.
I am doing this route on 14th early morning. I wish the traffic is less as it's a long + festive weekend

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by unni246

I guess 6pm is the last you could enter from either of the entry gates and probably by 9pm you need to exit as all gates then close. Correct me if wrong

Entry is allowed up to 9 PM. I have heard that some days they even close at 8.45 or so.
This is for the Maddur-Moolaholle section on Gundlupet-Bathery road and the Bandipur gate-KA/TN border stretch on Gundupet-Gudalur road. On the other two routes to Wayanad - The HD Kote-Mananthavady and Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta route, the restriction is from 6 PM to 6 AM.

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by unni246

I am doing this route on 14th early morning. I wish the traffic is less as it's a long + festive weekend

I strongly suggest to use SH combos all along Tamil Nadu to beat the rush at toll booths. Last Christmas weekend I spent an average of 15 minutes in all toll booths even for a 3:30 AM start, so an early start may not save you.

Cheers!

[kala]

Originally Posted by unni246

I guess 6pm is the last you could enter from either of the entry gates and probably by 9pm you need to exit as all gates then close. Correct me if wrong

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Entry is allowed up to 9 PM. I have heard that some days they even close at 8.45 or so.
This is for the Maddur-Moolaholle section on Gundlupet-Bathery road and the Bandipur gate-KA/TN border stretch on Gundupet-Gudalur road.

That is right. I recall having entered from the Bandipur side at almost 8:45 PM once, a couple of years ago.

They are generally very strict on not letting in people after the closure time. Once I've had to re-schedule my trip to the next morning after missing the deadline by about 5 minutes at the Gudalur checkpost.

[unni246]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

Entry is allowed up to 9 PM. I have heard that some days they even close at 8.45 or so.
This is for the Maddur-Moolaholle section on Gundlupet-Bathery road and the Bandipur gate-KA/TN border stretch on Gundupet-Gudalur road.

So once you enter before 9pm is there a time limit where in you should exit the park gates?

Originally Posted by sandsun7

On the other two routes to Wayanad - The HD Kote-Mananthavady and Hunsur-Nagarhole-Kutta route, the restriction is from 6 PM to 6 AM.

I have heard that the overnight buses to Calicut ..etc travel all the way through Kutta without any night time restrictions - is there another route they take?

Originally Posted by treadmark

I strongly suggest to use SH combos all along Tamil Nadu to beat the rush at toll booths. Last Christmas weekend I spent an average of 15 minutes in all toll booths even for a 3:30 AM start, so an early start may not save you.

Cheers!

I too suffered with a 4:00am start from Bangalore on 24th December. Peak traffic started from the Electronic city toll booth and from then on at all toll booths until Thoppur with a 20 minute wait on average at each gates even with a fastag ID. I finally ended up taking the Mecheri-Bhavani route to atleast beat Salem traffic then.
Return was worse on January 1st
Hence wondering how it would be this weekend, unfortunately I got no alternative, except may be to take the Mysore-Gudallur route

[kala]

Originally Posted by unni246

So once you enter before 9pm is there a time limit where in you should exit the park gates?

I'm not sure if there is a preset limit, but normally you should be out at the other end in about 45 minutes to an hour max.

I have heard that the overnight buses to Calicut ..etc travel all the way through Kutta without any night time restrictions - is there another route they take?

Those buses go via Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Kutta. The more direct Hunsur-Nagarahole-Kutta route is the one that is closed between 6PM and 6AM since it passes through the heart of the Nagarahole WLS.

Hence wondering how it would be this weekend, unfortunately I got no alternative, except may be to take the Mysore-Gudallur route

The route I use all the time is the one via the Dhimbham ghats (via Chamarajnagar). My drive times are almost the same to get to Coimbatore bypass when compared to the Salem route - but then I'm at an advantage since I stay off Kanakapura road. I think the Gudalur-Nadugani route would probably take longer because of the traffic you run into after you reach Kerala.

Yes, with the Dhimbham route there is a slight risk of encountering a truck breakdown at the ghats, but I've been lucky enough to have never got stuck in one in innumerable number of trips I've done that way, so I keep stretching my luck

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by unni246

I have heard that the overnight buses to Calicut ..etc travel all the way through Kutta without any night time restrictions - is there another route they take?

If I am not wrong I think there are a couple of buses both from Kerala RTC and Karnataka RTC, that have special permission to take the usual Bandipur route at night.

[unni246]

Originally Posted by kala

Those buses go via Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Kutta. The more direct Hunsur-Nagarahole-Kutta route is the one that is closed between 6PM and 6AM since it passes through the heart of the Nagarahole WLS.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by kala

The route I use all the time is the one via the Dhimbham ghats (via Chamarajnagar). My drive times are almost the same to get to Coimbatore bypass when compared to the Salem route - but then I'm at an advantage since I stay off Kanakapura road. I think the Gudalur-Nadugani route would probably take longer because of the traffic you run into after you reach Kerala.

Well I have taken that route couple of times via Kanakapura - Chamaraj Nagar - Gundlupet. Was expecting to take that this time too, but then I heard of road works on Kanakapura Road which could cause another delay.

[binand]

Originally Posted by kala

The route I use all the time is the one via the Dhimbham ghats (via Chamarajnagar).

Two questions:

1. After descending Dhimbam how do you proceed and where do you join NH 47?

2. If I want to take BM Road (avoid NH 209's road works) and then switch to Dhimbam is it worthwhile, and if yes what is the best route (road quality) to do that? Mandya-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagara? Or Maddur-Malavally-Ch. Nagara?

I am travelling to Kerala tomorrow, and due to various reasons I can start from Bangalore only after 1 PM. I'm looking at all options.

[unni246]

Originally Posted by binand

Two questions:

1. After descending Dhimbam how do you proceed and where do you join NH 47?

2. If I want to take BM Road (avoid NH 209's road works) and then switch to Dhimbam is it worthwhile, and if yes what is the best route (road quality) to do that? Mandya-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagara? Or Maddur-Malavally-Ch. Nagara?

With respect to both options - the Byelection results in the Nanjangud & Gundlupet areas are to be announced tomorrow. Should this be something to be concerned about?

[kala]

Originally Posted by binand

1. After descending Dhimbam how do you proceed and where do you join NH 47?

Nowadays I take the Bannari-Bhavanisagar-Puliampatti road bypassing Sathyamangalam (This is the one that Google Maps recommends most of the time - it is about 5 minutes faster). There's a small bottleneck at a village quite close to Bhavanisagar (Dhodampalayam-Murukkamdurai stretch) where the road is a bit narrow, but otherwise good roads all through.

From Annur, SH165 to Karumathampatti is the fastest option to join NH47, but you could also continue further on NH209 till Kurumbapalayam and take a left turn there to get to the Coimbatore Airport junction - will save you a Rs.85 toll at Karumathampatti at the cost of about 5 minutes of extra driving time.

2. If I want to take BM Road (avoid NH 209's road works) and then switch to Dhimbam is it worthwhile, and if yes what is the best route (road quality) to do that? Mandya-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagara? Or Maddur-Malavally-Ch. Nagara?

I have never travelled on either of those roads that connect SH17 to the Malavalli-Bannur SH33. As of last reports seen here (about 5-6 months back I think), the SH33 roadwork between Maddur and Malavalli was nearly getting over with only a few diversions remaining, so I'd probably give that a shot if I were travelling from some place nearer to Mysore road. If starting from somewhere closer to Kanakapura road (like in my case), sticking to NH209 itself would make more sense, the roadwork sections are not that hard to cross though it would slow you down a bit.

From Malavalli to CR Nagar, I think the route via T.Narsipur is better nowadays. You can take either the one via Purigali-Chikkabagilu-Sosale or Malavalli-Bannur Santhemala-Somanathpur-Sosale, both take approximately the same amount of time and have good roads (the second one might be slightly better in terms of road width). Taking these routes via T.Narsipur allows you to skip Kollegal where some road widening is in progress as well as the narrow village roads between Kollegal and Yelandur. (The narrow bridge over Cauvery at T.Narsipur is no longer an issue because the new bridge paralell to is now open).

Originally Posted by unni246

With respect to both options - the Byelection results in the Nanjangud & Gundlupet areas are to be announced tomorrow. Should this be something to be concerned about?

Both the options referred to in Binand's post are far enough from the constituencies where by-polls are taking place, so I don't think that should be an issue.

[Midas]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

If I am not wrong I think there are a couple of buses both from Kerala RTC and Karnataka RTC, that have special permission to take the usual Bandipur route at night.

Yes. But booking of those buses would get full first since they have least running time. Especially at this last moment, one cannot get tickets for those.

Rest of the buses either go via Kutta, Gonikkoppal, Mananthavady route since there is no restriction OR wait at bandipur forest gate till 6am.