Team-BHP - All Roads to Kerala

Have anyone been to Camp Noel resorts at Vattavada, Munnar recently? We have a booking for first week of April. Though I have been to Munnar many times, never visited Top station/vattavada in recent times.

Would like to know the road condition and the exact route to the resort. Google is showing route through top station (Koviloor road) and another route which is a diversion few kms before top station through some estate road.

Appreciate some pointers.

Planning to travel Bangalore to Kochi by road in April. Need some suggestions for food and fuel options.

1. What could be good options for lunch break near Coimbatore (which is not a lot of detour). We are a family with kids and prefer north/south Indian veg food.

2. Also looking for reliable fuel pumps on this route (onward and return journey).

Thanks in advance!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5280335)

1. What could be good options for lunch break near Coimbatore (which is not a lot of detour). We are a family with kids and prefer north/south Indian veg food.

2. Also looking for reliable fuel pumps on this route (onward and return journey).

There are numerous eateries along this route all the way from Bangalore to Kochi - though pure veg options once you enter Kerala could be limited. The last decent one is the A2B at KG Chavadi which comes 2 km before the inter-state border.

Similarly there are numerous fuel stations too. Most of them in the Salem-Coimbatore belt are operated by the local LOAs (Lorry Operators Association) and are trustworthy. I am yet to come across one that doesn't accept cards.

Having said that, I usually fill up at the Essar pump that comes at the far end of Coimbatore bypass (between the 5th and 6th toll booths) both ways (a full tank here covers all my driving within Kerala most of the time).

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 5280586)

Thank you for suggestion. We are not particular about restaurant serving only pure veg :)

Google search in Coimbatore is taking me inside the city which I want to avoid and not sure if any good options are available on bypass. Are there any recommended restaurants between Erode - Coimbatore ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5280598)

Thank you for suggestion. We are not particular about restaurant serving only pure veg

Google search in Coimbatore is taking me inside the city which I want to avoid and not sure if any good options are available on bypass. Are there any recommended restaurants between Erode - Coimbatore ?

There are a dozen or so new restaurants that have opened up on the Coimbatore bypass over the past few years. I expect the quality and taste etc. to be all over the place and we need more feedback to choose the best one. But now that I check I see they don't figure in a Google Maps search for "restaurants near Coimbatore", instead one needs to zoom into the bypass to see them.

A2Bs while not awe-inspiring can be treated as some sort of baseline. There is one at Perundurai just before the town's bypass starts (when going towards Kerala). You have to cross the other carriageway and get onto its service road, the A2B is a couple of hundred metres along the service road.

BHPian ranjitp1 tried to build a list of all restaurants along this route but I suppose keeping this list up to date was a problem. You can check that thread too:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route...-thrissur.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy (Post 5280335)

What could be good options for lunch break near Coimbatore (which is not a lot of detour). We are a family with kids and prefer north/south Indian veg food.

If you can wait a little more time, you can try this:

Malabar Restaurant https://maps.app.goo.gl/T7pbmXscHm3LkMQf6

It's a standard and reliable stop for me and there are veg meals but I doubt if there are many veg side dishes you can order if you are into such things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 5280602)

A2Bs while not awe-inspiring can be treated as some sort of baseline. There is one at Perundurai just before the town's bypass starts (when going towards Kerala). You have to cross the other carriageway and get onto its service road, the A2B is a couple of hundred metres along the service road.

If you don't mind, is it possible for you to share Google maps link to this A2B? I tried to search but not able to locate properly. Thanks in advance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by binand (Post 5278659)

If there were a genuine concern for overspeeding the action would have involved stopping the offending driver immediately (before they could cause an accident) and ensuring they don't continue doing so.

Speed cams and sending challan to the registered address is a norm across India now. I did a recent road trip covering few Indian states, Rajasthan has speed limit of 80 kms on the NHs (though the roads are excellent with very less traffic), we found cops with mobile speed radars in 3 places, not sure if they have fixed cams like in Kerala. Mumbai Pune express way had a guy with speed gun hiding in the bushes on the 6 lane highway divider, this is in addition to the numerous fixed cameras.

I think KA is still left behind in this speed race

Quick update on roads in the Walayar Palakkad stretch.

Resurfacing has been happening since last week. In some stretches the traffic is routed though one side. Not much of a traffic logjam even at evening 5:30/6 PM time. Traffic seems to be flowing freely as of now. I wont be commuting this route for the rest of this week, so thought of updating situation as of today.

On Hotels requested by Aviator guy. Please note that there is an A2B just before Walayar, but if you are planning travel such that you cross on weekends, It is usually very crowded.

Planning to drive tomorrow from Tirur to Bangalore. What would be a better option - Nilambur Nadugani route or Muthanga route? Need to consider vegetarian hotel options as well. Plan to start around 5:30 AM. Request advice from the members experienced on this route.

I am planning to travel from Bangalore to Kochi next week. Is there any construction going on between Salem to Kochi (either direction) ? Gmaps is showing some road block and congestion on this route.

Any latest update on this route (onward and return) is appreciated :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by rakesh.rvn (Post 5284972)

I guess your trip would already be done but adding in a comment anyways. From/to Tirur I usually prefer the palakkad-salem route. Although longer it is usually faster and you get the 4/6 lane from Palakkad. Especially with a 5.30am start you can reach Palakkad in slightly over 2 hrs and escape all the Kerala traffic. Exact route I do is either Kuttippuram-Trithala-pattambi or Valanchery- Koppam- Pattambi and then ottapalam- Palakkad.

Among the ghat routes, Nadugani would be better , but there are no decent rest stops in the route.