[ajaypjayaraj]

Originally Posted by SRTH1987

Is it because of bad road condition or traffic?

It's actually a combination of both. It's bad road condition and 4 laning work causing traffic congestion and some confused idiots driving on the wrong side of the road even in areas where all 4 lanes are already open, creating a total chaos of the already messed up situation. Then after Palghat it's a pretty narrow highway but with good condition of roads. But there is nothing scenic about that route. Just congested roads. Though Waynad also have 2 lane highways (but not as narrow) it is scenic atleast.

The Palghat route is preferable for places south of Calicut I would say. For travelling to Malappuram, Palghat, Trishur, Kochi and south, I would take the Coimbatore Palghat route. But for Calicut, I would rate Channai-Bangalore-Calicut as first choice any day. This route has better stop over joints too if compared to the alternate routes. I found the drive more pleasurable in this route than the boring truck filled Salem-Coimbatore-Palghat route.

[andyonwheels]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

2. Tree House/Estate bunglow, I will PM you a number. You may check with them (Tree house available in Munnar, not posh though)
6. You can visit Athirapally while returning to Bangalore. Its monsoon and falls will be good. You will need hardly two hours. You may pack breakfast and have it at Athirapally !

Originally Posted by mallumowgli

2 nights at both Varkala and Alleppey would be an overkill. Varkala beach is of course beautiful - You can spend an evening and reach Alleppey by night. I prefer Kumarakom over Alleppey. But since you have time, you can cover both
Sept end - Oct first week may not be rainy. Best time to visit, actually

Thanks guys for the inputs. Very helpful.

Based on the suggestions - have revised the itinerary. Please do take a look to share your views.


But am also starting to feel it to be rushed. So my queries are -

• If you would remove one place, which would it be? Am thinking Thekkedy.
• Is 45 minutes good time to spend at Anthirappaly Falls?
• What would be a good spot to break journey for the night from Anthirappaly to Bangalore? Maps show exiting Valparai to be twisty and lot of bends. But then, have also heard the Valparai-Pollachi route to be very scenic. So might just be a good way to end the trip by having a early start from Valparai towards Bangalore.
• Is last week of Sept-first week Oct going to be Season or we were thinking of just driving to spot and booking after checking the place and also hope for better deals that way.

[andyonwheels]

Forgot to mention in my post above about the other concern i had about the route and road condition from Munnar / Thekkeday to Varkala. Fellow Bhp-ian 'palitrana' vented certain amount of angst about the route here. 6 hours does look very demanding for 180 kms. Is there a better route on this stretch? Other burning concern is, have been hearing of heavy rainfalls in Kerela currently and can only wonder what it would do to these stretches.

[TheInterceptor]

Hey guys,

Planning a trip from Ernakulam to Rameshwaram this Friday (15th). Never travelled to this place before so completely clueless of the route to take.

A quick search on google maps shows Ernakulam - Alapuzha - Changanassery - Punalur - Tenkasi - Thirunelveli - Rameshwaram.
Is this the best route?

The ride would be a Honda City (previous gen) with 4 people on board. So a bit worried about underbelly scraping issues, a route with smooth roads would be nice.

Please advice.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by TheInterceptor

A quick search on google maps shows Ernakulam - Alapuzha - Changanassery - Punalur - Tenkasi - Thirunelveli - Rameshwaram.
Is this the best route?

See this travelogue by bbhavan.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...-vacation.html

Thats the route he also took. The routes in TN are decent. You dont have to worry about Honda. Dont know about the Kerala side. I think the Ernakulam-Punalur section is decent too.

[rajivr1612]

Guys, I will be doing Chennai-Thiruvalla on 14th of this month.
Route options are either via Kumily or via Alleppy.
Please let me know the road conditions.
Thanks in advance.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Guys, I will be doing Chennai-Thiruvalla on 14th of this month.Route options are either via Kumily or via Alleppy.
Please let me know the road conditions.
Thanks in advance.

Trichy/Dindigul/Theni/Kumily by all means! Its a much better option. You get good wide roads all the way till border. And also Dindigul-Theni is much easier to drive in my opinion compared to Madurai-Thenkasi.

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by ampere

Trichy/Dindigul/Theni/Kumily by all means! Its a much better option. You get good wide roads all the way till border. And also Dindigul-Theni is much easier to drive in my opinion compared to Madurai-Thenkasi.

Thanks ampere for the update. I sure prefer the Kumily-Ranni route. But just a while back my F-I-L was telling me due to rains there may be some treefall or landslide in that route.
And just in case I use the Coimbatore-Palakkad-TCR route, he was saying that the Alapuzha road is flooded and unusable now. Any updates.
Thanks.

[DieselLover]

What is the current state of NH47 from Ekm to Kanyakumari? I am planning to drive on 15th morning and return by 16th night. Can I make it to Kanyakumari by around 2 PM if I start from Ernakulam by around 6 30 AM?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Thanks ampere for the update. I sure prefer the Kumily-Ranni route. But just a while back my F-I-L was telling me due to rains there may be some treefall or landslide in that route.
And just in case I use the Coimbatore-Palakkad-TCR route, he was saying that the Alapuzha road is flooded and unusable now. Any updates.
Thanks.

I have no idea about the effect of monsoons. Will need to find out from others who have been there recently. But yes, its raining cats and dogs. So do expect lots of water logging and flooding.

[sachinpk]

Gents - the oft repeated question. Can any one explain the Perundurai-Kangeyam-Pollachi-Palakkad route in details? I am planning to use MapMyIndia GPS device so if I can get the exact points to take it would be helpful.

Otherwise if I for example save Kangeyam as one of the via points, the device would ensure that I goto the centre of Kangeyam town and then perhaps go all the way back and take a right or left turn some where.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents - the oft repeated question...

The oft repeated answers can be found in the last few pages.

Unless you are driving a very low-slung sedan, the direct route - Salem-Avinashi-Neelambur-Madukkarai-Walayar-Palakkad is pretty much doable.

Madukkarai-Walayar is rough, and watch out for those 'diversions' around the flyover construction sites - the puddles might be concealing the deep potholes. The Pollachi route will easily add 20-25km.

Still, if you really want to explore using MMI, here are the way-points and GPS coordinates:
Avinashi (turn-off towards Palladam): 11.17246,77.268502
Palladam circle: 10.993646,77.28565
Pollachi (New-Scheme Road to get on to Pollachi-Palakkad SH): 10.662316,77.014916
Chandranagar Junction: 10.77255,76.680191

Route link: http://goo.gl/maps/3L8QZ

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents - the oft repeated question. Can any one explain the Perundurai-Kangeyam-Pollachi-Palakkad route in details?

As Silversteed mentioned, you don't need to take Kangeyam route instead take Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry or NH47, depending on your travel time.

I may be doing this route tomorrow.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by silversteed

Unless you are driving a very low-slung sedan, the direct route - Salem-Avinashi-Neelambur-Madukkarai-Walayar-Palakkad is pretty much doable.

I have a Mahindra Quanto so ground clearance is not a problem. But I wanted to experiment a different route (as a backup). This time I am driving alone, would have a couple of extra hours to spare - so this may be the right time to try an alternate route (and even lose the way). And I also wanted to skip that irritating L&T bye pass where we have to stop and show the toll receipt in multiple places. The sign-board less NH stretch between Walayar and Palakkad is another one which I wanted to skip.

Avinashi (turn-off towards Palladam): 11.17246,77.268502

There was another route suggested - but here we take a deviation at Perundurai. Would that be a better approach? I understand that if I go through Perundurai, then I need to pass Kangeyam as well. My idea was to skip the entire stretch of highway where construction is going on. So if I have to take a detour at Avanashi, I would have to go through a stretch of "being built" highway, right?

Originally Posted by coolclouds

you don't need to take Kangeyam route instead take Avinashi-Palladam-Pollachi-Vadakkancherry or NH47, depending on your travel time.

Will wait for your feedback as well. I may be going this week end. And I need to pass through Palakkad town, so would not take the Vadakkanchery route. From Palakkad I would take the Ottapalam, Shornur route to Thrissur.

[sunil8089]

Traveled from Chennai to Cochin last week and back yesterday and following are the updates of the road conditions.

Route: Chennai - Ulundurpet – Salem – Coimbatore – Walayar – Vadakkancherry – Ernakulam
It got covered in 13 hours and 12 hours respectively for to and fro.

Following are the status of updated road conditions:

Chennai - Ulundurpet (NH45)
Road Condition: Good
Traffic: Moderate to High
Chennai to Chengalpattu is slow with high traffic as usual - any day any time. After that it’s a breeze to drive, Road surface is good. It’s a pain to pass Chengalpattu and Tindivanam toll booths as there are no indicator lights (which lanes are open / closed) and thereby vehicles not following any lane discipline.

Ulundurpet – Salem (NH79)
Road Condition: Good
Traffic: Low
Love to drive this section, other than the single carriage sections which comes in between. Happen to see a couple of accidents near Salem. Road surface is smooth.

Salem – Coimbatore (NH47)
Road Condition: Good
Traffic: Low
Best drive in the whole trip. Two irritating things in this stretch are
• Speed breakers at the flyovers near Coimbatore
• L&T highway. It is high time to widen L&T highway to four lines, despite they are collecting huge tolls (Rs.31 for 22kms) for a road having two main traffic signals and 8 tollbooths.

Coimbatore - Walayar (NH47)
Road Condition: Bad
Traffic: Moderate
Road condition is bad from KG Chavady and becomes worse as you proceed more to Walayar. Surface developed lots of potholes after rains and it’s lucky if you can keep a speed of 40kmph. No sign of work progress.

Coimbatore - Kanchikkode (NH47)
Road Condition: Average to Good
Traffic: Moderate
Kerala side of Walayar is much better. Work is progressing at a good pace, but still it lots of work to undergo to realize the highway. Couple of diversions is there which is manageable. Even though traffic is allowed in both directions, road surface is average to good.

Kanchikkode – Alathur (NH47)
Road Condition: Bad
Traffic: Moderate to High
Rains really played its role and this is the worst stretch in the whole travel. Lots of potholes had developed and you will have a rough ride, especially at areas near Palakkad. There are many diversions, where I found many of the approach roads is better than main road. Along with these road conditions, a huge convoy of trucks makes the ride difficult. But the complted stretch at Alathur (3km) is really good.

Alathur – Vadakkancherry – Kuthiran – Mannuthy (NH47)
Road Condition: Good
Traffic: Moderate
Despite the hills having twisted roads, it’s OK to drive this stretch as the road condition is good. Overtaking should be careful and somebody can maintain an average speed of 40-50 kmph.

Mannuthy to Ernakulam (NH47)
Road Condition: Good to Bad
Traffic: Moderate to High
Up to Alwaye things are OK, even the traffic is progressively increasing. But Cochin metro work really made the rest of the stretches bad. Also many potholes had developed in the road with recent rains. It took around20 minutes to cross Kalamassery as there was some water logging in the road.