[Sudhindra]

aah.. Iritty route. Man, i love that route, it is the one which has rubber plantations right..??
By the way, we are leaving only after 11:00am . So, planned to reach erumely early morning next day.

[Chopper]

Originally Posted by sbraj

Isn't it mandatory for private vehicles to be parked near Nilackel? Even if one takes the car till Pamba to drop the passengers, one has to come back to park at Nilackel, right?

It is not mandatory to park the LMVs at Nilakkal. If you got space near Pampa, You can park your car there. But for HMVs, it is mandatory to park them at Nilakkal. HMVs can drop people at Pampa and need to go back to Nilakkal for parking. People used to take KSRTC buses to reach Nilakkal after Darshan.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by sbraj

I disagree with you completely. In case of Kerala, State Highways are often in better condition than National Highways. Sample is the case of SH1 (MC Road), compare it with NH47. SH1 is miles ahead of the NH47 in terms of road quality.

I'm talking not with respect to KL, its a generalized statement; Example of one state is not the case when I meant by saying highways are faster & less scenic. Would you still disagree?

Originally Posted by sbraj

Isn't it mandatory for private vehicles to be parked near Nilackel? Even if one takes the car till Pamba to drop the passengers, one has to come back to park at Nilackel, right?

Yes it is mandatory for the vehicles to park at Nelackal which is 10 Kms away from Pamba. However if one knows to tweak, options are plenty. Again, tweaking what I meant is without involving vitamin M.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by Sudhindra

So, thinking of leaving on Dec 9th as scheduled and directly reach erumeley on 10th morning via Hosur-> salem route, finish darshan at sabarimala first and then think of covering other temples enroute.

That should be the perfect plan. I would have suggested this earlier, but then didn't want to make too much changes to your plan. This is what we used to do when I regularly make this trip some years back. You save all your energy for the darshan at sabarimala. Believe me, you will be a lot more relaxed once you complete that part as this is the part where you cannot make any accurate time estimation and it takes a quite a bit of energy to complete it. Also since that is the most important part it would always be at the back of your mind. Once you do the darshan you can make changes to your plan as per your state(time and energy levels) as none of the rest is really mandatory.

[kala]

Originally Posted by Chopper

Planning to go to Calicut on 24th on this month. I hope the Thamarassery Ghat section and Mysore Gundapet sections will okay. I don’t want my Indica to eat those dangerous path holes since it’s a fully packed (5 Adults + 1 Kid) trip and Indica’s rim tends to bend easily due to its body weight.

I travelled through the Thamarassery Ghat section last Sunday and the road condition is pretty bad except for 2 hair pins which are concreted. Though it is customary for Kerala highways to be redone just before the Sabarimala season, this time I saw no signs of any construction activity - may be because the monsoons are still active. So better to double check the conditions just before you go.

While returning from Calicut, I came via Nilambur - Gudalur - Gundlupet. Those roads are way better even if slightly slower because they are narrower. There's not too much of difference in distance either, so you would probably take the same amount of time to travel from Gundlupet to Calicut either way.

[binaiks]

Originally Posted by aargee

I'm talking not with respect to KL, its a generalized statement; Example of one state is not the case when I meant by saying highways are faster & less scenic. Would you still disagree?

I would agree if that is a generalised statement. Since the discussion is about the travel plan in Kerala, any reader would take it as a comment pointed at road conditions in Kerala.

Originally Posted by aargee

Yes it is mandatory for the vehicles to park at Nelackal which is 10 Kms away from Pamba. However if one knows to tweak, options are plenty. Again, tweaking what I meant is without involving vitamin M.

AFAIK, Private vehicles can be parked at Pamba (obviously depending on availability of parking space). Only Commercial Vehicles are turned back from Pamba.

[sv1976]

Originally Posted by kala

While returning from Calicut, I came via Nilambur - Gudalur - Gundlupet. Those roads are way better even if slightly slower because they are narrower. There's not too much of difference in distance either, so you would probably take the same amount of time to travel from Gundlupet to Calicut either way.

How about the nadukaani ghats? Are they much better than thamarasseri? I plan to take the nilambur route for a change this Christmas.

[kala]

Originally Posted by sv1976

How about the nadukaani ghats? Are they much better than thamarasseri? I plan to take the nilambur route for a change this Christmas.

Yes the road conditions are far better. There are not entirely pothole-free, but since one won't be driving very fast on ghat sections, they are avoidable / can be easily negotiated by even a low slung sedan. The potholes in the Thamarasseri ghat section are huge and for much longer distances and this apparently causes very frequent traffic blockages (when a truck goes into one of these and finds it difficult to come out)

Also I found even the road from Adivaram to Calicut to be substandard. Lot of sudden unexpected potholes that you need to be wary about. The Nilambur-Calicut road surface is much better.

The only issue that you might face on this route is finding the right way. There are far too many alternative routes to get to Calicut from Nilambur, so make sure that you look up a map and note down in advance the places at which you need to turn right/left. I have the GPS traces of the route that I took last week, please let me know if you need directions.

[sv1976]

No problem with the route as I'm familiar with Nilambur-Calicut. Another plus that I see with this route is that unlike thamarasseri, the traffic blocks wont be for hours together. Will defenitely try during Christmas vacation and update status.

[Rajesh K R]

I am planning a trip to Guruvayur end of december and planning to return back to BLR via this route :

Guruvayur - Kunnamkulam - Perumpilavu - Kootanad - Pattambi - Perintalmanna- Pattikkad- Melattur - Kallikavu - Nilambur - Edakkara -Vazhikadavu -Gudalur - Bandipur - Gundlupet - Nanjangud - Mysore - BLR.

Please let me know if the above route is correct ( noted as per Googlemaps)
and also the regulars can have a lot to say about the routes as well as the conditions of the road.

This will be my first trip / drive on this sector. ( KL to KA)

Comments / suggestions welcome

[vasoo]

Originally Posted by Rajesh K R

I am planning a trip to Guruvayur end of december and planning to return back to BLR via this route :

Guruvayur - Kunnamkulam - Perumpilavu - Kootanad - Pattambi - Perintalmanna- Pattikkad- Melattur - Kallikavu - Nilambur - Edakkara -Vazhikadavu -Gudalur - Bandipur - Gundlupet - Nanjangud - Mysore - BLR.

...

Suggest you the P'manna > Pandikkad > Wandoor >Nilambur route. Melattoor road was closed a few months back for some overbridge construction. The road from Wandoor to Pandikkad was in very bad shape with lots of civil works.

Better still, opt for the NH47, you will reach Bangalore at least 2 hrs faster than the other route.

[ajithbr]

A slight modification will make it a very comfortable drive: "Guruvayur - Kunnamkulam - Perumpilavu (turn left instead of straight)- Edappal - Kuttipuram - Kottakkal - Malappuram - Manjeri - Nilambur - Edakkara -Vazhikadavu -Gudalur - Bandipur - Gundlupet - Nanjangud - Mysore - BLR.
This will be about 20 kms longer than Pattambi route but can surely save you more than 30 minutes. Someone has written a TL of his trip from Edappal to Bangalore on the Travelogues and it will be a good reference for you to know the details of this route.

Barring a small stretch in Edappal town and the uphill curves in Vattappara (after Valanchery on the Kuttipuram - Kottakkal section, that too if you dont take the new Valanchery byepass), you can drive at a good speed without any discomfort. In some sections, you may see a rush of school buses and student groups walking if you cross during school start/close timings.

[rki2007]

Can any please tell me the route from pollachi to Palakkad and all the places that can be visited in this strech

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by rki2007

Can any please tell me the route from pollachi to Palakkad and all the places that can be visited in this strech

Pollachi-Gopalapuram (TN border) 16 kms-Kozhinjampara (KL border) 7 kms-Ellapally 10-Kanjikode 8-Palakkad 4

[longhorn]

Just back from a Cochin - Chennai trip. Trichur - Wadakanncherry road is in bad shape. There are a few huge craters on this route which could blow your tyres if you fall in. Rest was fine.