[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Gents, a quick question. May need to make a quick trip to Thrissur tomorrow. How is the road condition between:-
1. L&T bye-pass end to Walayar (via Madukkarai)
2. Walayar to Chandra Nagar byepass
3. Chandra Nagar to Mannuthi

More interested in the Chandra Nagar to Mannuthi (NH47) road condition. If it is okay, I would like to try this stretch. Long time since I took this route. And if L&T bye-pass till Chandra Nagar the roads are good, then may skip the Palladam-Pollachi route as well. This would be an early morning trip, so visibility etc. may not be a problem.

Thanks in advance.

Take the NH7 - NH47 route. It would be the fastest. All the other routes will take more time and are longer. You can reach Thrissur in 8 hours

[coolclouds]

Did Kochi-Calicut-Mysore-Nilambur-Perinthalmanna-Trichur-Ernakulam during last two days.

Kochi-Calicut-Mysore : Good condition overall.

Mysore-Guldlupet-Theppekadu: Good

Theppekkadu-Gudallur (Forest exit) : Bad (Those very bad sections fixed, yet to be tarred)

Gudallur-Vazhikadavu-Perinthalmanna :Good to excellent, except for potholes at two to three hairpins on Nadugani ghat

Perinthalmanna-Pattambi: Good. Huge potholes in Pattambi town.

Pattambi-Kunnamkulam : Good. (I had a stop at Amala hence this route)

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by NPV

1. about ~10Km is bad, can be managed if driving early morning

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Take the NH7 - NH47 route. It would be the fastest. All the other routes will take more time and are longer. You can reach Thrissur in 8 hours

Excellent suggestions NPV and PramodPK. I left on Friday early morning 0630Hrs and reached Thrissur by around 1330Hrs. The break taken was for around 1 hour. Return journey was made today at 0730Hrs and I reached Bengaluru suburbs by 1430hours, with again a break of around 40mins at Vaikundam. The stretch between the toll-highway ending location till L&T byepass hasa also improved considerably. Though those irritating humps are there, their number seems to have got reduced. L&T byepass, is still a pain with those multiple toll check points. Coimbatore bye-pass till Walayar is still in a bad shape. But I think if the journey is made during day light hours, these are no big problems.

Read in the news paper that all hurdles for four-laning the Chandranagar-Mannuthi stretch is now out. The land acquisition is complete, no cases pending. The banks have sanctioned the loans to the road building contractors. Tunnel boring at Kuthiran is supposed to start by March. They plan to make some progress (at least 15 feet) before rainy season.

Today's return trip was also quite okay, and I did not see much traffic on the road.

Verdict: I may do away with the Palladam->Pollachi route & the Palakkad->Ottapalam->Shornur route, as I feel both these routes are bit more longer/takes more time.

Mod Note: Team-BHP strongly discourages unsafe driving practices that put yourself and other road users at risk. Please do NOT post about illegally high speeds on public roads.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Verdict: I may do away with the Palladam->Pollachi route & the Palakkad->Ottapalam->Shornur route, as I feel both these routes are bit more longer/takes more time.

I dont think one can do away with the Palladam-Pollachi route for ever. Whenever we have extended holidays, we can expect a sizable junk of population driving on the roads that can lead to traffic jam at the toll plazas. In such a scenario, driving on alternate routes like Palladam-Pollachi will always come in handy.

[pushpender_s]

Hi
I will be traveling to cherai beach next weekend from 19 to 22 Feb.
Along with it planning to go kollam and asthamudi lake also.
Please suggest the suitable route and time required from cherai beach to ashtamudi.
On return, i want to take ashtamudi-adoor-pathanamthitta-kumily-theni route using NH 183A to dindigul.
Please suggest the road conditions and how much time would it take to cover this stretch.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Thanks. I am heavy afternoon traffic up to Palakkad. How is the normal Saturday evening/night traffic beyond Palakkad till Bangalore on regular NH47? Is taking alternate routes like Vadakkencery-Nemmara-Kollengode-Palladam-Avinashi worth it?

Though we are not pressed on time, we would like to reach Bangalore by around mid-night to get some rest as we need to start return journey by next day afternoon.

Completed the trip last weekend. Started from Kakkanad at 2 PM on Saturday and reached Madiwala by 11 30 PM. Took NH47/NH7 all the way. Traffic was surprisingly less all the way after Aluva.

Started return journey on Sunday 12 Noon and reached Kochi by 9 30 PM. Very little traffic till Walayar but encountered heavy traffic between Palakkad and Kochi.

It was a smooth drive overall and not taking alternate routes was a good decision. Thanks for inputs guys.

[rki2007]

Hi friends..

May be I would be traveling to Ooty this weekend. I have an additional plan too on my cards. I thought of visiting the Kodungallur Bhagavati temple.

I just saw the route map in Google and got to understand the below route:

Ooty-Connoor- Mettupalayam-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad-Alathur-Vadakanncherry-Pattikkad-Mannuthy byepass-Taloor-Nenmenikara-Pudukad-Kodakara-Malapallipuram-Kodungallur

I have travelled from Palakkad to Mannuthy bye pass on the way to Guruvayur a couple of times which is why I am worried about the route as it happens to be the worst stretch till last year when I travelled.

Can someone please guide me on the following points:

1. Best route to reach kodungallur from Ooty. Whether the above route is the only option or is there better roads out there? I don't mind travelling those extra kms if there are good roads.

2. Stay at Kodungallur or Thrissur?. Any good hotel suggestions for family stay in either of the places. If the stay is planned to be in Thrissur then it would be sensible to stay on the way to kodungallur.

3. I might be having some spare time. So is there any options to explore in Thrissur and surroundings. I would prefer to visit some palaces, beaches etc.

Thanks a lot in advance..

[NPV]

Originally Posted by rki2007

Ooty-Connoor- Mettupalayam-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad-Alathur-Vadakanncherry-Pattikkad-Mannuthy byepass-Taloor-Nenmenikara-Pudukad-Kodakara-Malapallipuram-Kodungallur

There is road widening work in progress between Palakkad chandranagar junction all the way to Alathur.
Instead, you can do this - Ooty-Mettupalayam-Coimbatore-Pollachi-Kollengode-Nemmara-Vadakkencherry-Mannuthy. Road is good all the way.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by rki2007

Ooty-Connoor- Mettupalayam-Coimbatore-Walayar-Palakkad-Alathur-Vadakanncherry-Pattikkad-Mannuthy byepass-Taloor-Nenmenikara-Pudukad-Kodakara-Malapallipuram-Kodungallur

I have travelled from Palakkad to Mannuthy bye pass on the way to Guruvayur a couple of times which is why I am worried about the route as it happens to be the worst stretch till last year when I travelled.

Can someone please guide me on the following points:

1. Best route to reach kodungallur from Ooty. Whether the above route is the only option or is there better roads out there? I don't mind travelling those extra kms if there are good roads.

Originally Posted by NPV

There is road widening work in progress between Palakkad chandranagar junction all the way to Alathur.
Instead, you can do this - Ooty-Mettupalayam-Coimbatore-Pollachi-Kollengode-Nemmara-Vadakkencherry-Mannuthy. Road is good all the way.

Ooty-Mettupalayam-Annur-Avinashi-Mangalam-Palladam-Pollachi-Kollengode-Nemmara-Vadakkencherry-Mannuthy. Avoids Coimbattore totally.

[philgrac]

Originally Posted by pushpender_s

Hi
I will be traveling to cherai beach next weekend from 19 to 22 Feb.
Along with it planning to go kollam and asthamudi lake also.
Please suggest the suitable route and time required from cherai beach to ashtamudi.
On return, i want to take ashtamudi-adoor-pathanamthitta-kumily-theni route using NH 183A to dindigul.
Please suggest the road conditions and how much time would it take to cover this stretch.

Cherai -North Paravur (NH17)-Edappally(joins NH 47 Bye Pass)-Vytilla - Aleppey - Karunagappally - Chavara - Neendakara. If you are proceeding to Club Mahindra at Ashtamudi, then deviate to left from NH47 just before entering on Neendakara bridge.
From Cherai Club Mahindra (presume your stay) to North Paravoor: about 6 Km through internal road- say half an hour. From North Paravoor to Neendakara is 152 Kms of Highways passing through Edappally Jn, Vytilla Jn, Cochin By Pass and, Aleppey town where you can expect heavy traffic and delays. Google might show you a route to Ashtamudi from Chavara. A better route from Neendakara via Dalavapuram- Club Mahindra, distance about 4 Kms is recommended.
If you make an early morning start, say 06:00, you should get an average speed of about 45-50 and reach the destination in about 3-4 Hours.

From Ashtamudi to Dindigul: as I am not so familiar this route, suggest somebody to help out.

[pushpender_s]

Originally Posted by philgrac

Cherai -North Paravur (NH17)-Edappally(joins NH 47 Bye Pass)-Vytilla - Aleppey - Karunagappally - Chavara - Neendakara.
======
From Ashtamudi to Dindigul: as I am not so familiar this route, suggest somebody to help out.

Thanks Phil
Ya i am staying in club mahindra in cherai.
By the way, how is the road condition. if i start at say 8, will it still take 4 hors approx.?

[philgrac]

Originally Posted by pushpender_s

Thanks Phil
Ya i am staying in club mahindra in cherai.
By the way, how is the road condition. if i start at say 8, will it still take 4 hors approx.?

Yes, the road conditions are generally okay except for some local patchy sections and you have 4 lane roads for about 40 Kms on this stretch with remaining with 2 lanes. Remember traffic and crowd on roads increases by around 08:00 and reaches its peak between 08:30 to 09:30.
Still you can reach in 4 hrs time.

[tomchacks]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Bridge is closed. Alternative is via malavalli - talakad- t narsipura- Ch nagar. The last few pages of the Bangalore- Calicut thread contains detailed information.

For those planning to take NH 209 to Kerala, here is a suggestion to take advantage of the diversion caused by the closing of the Bridge near Sivasamudram. You can visit the heritage site of Somnathpura by travelling just 6 kms extra one way.
After Malavalli, if you take the deviation road marked Thalekkadu, immediately north of the T junction and on reaching Purigali (route along the lakeside), take the right turn that will join SH 84 and then after Sosale when you join NH 212 take a right turn and travel 6 kms to reach the Somnathpura Kesav temple built in 1217 AD. After the visit proceed to T Narsipura and onward to Chamarajnagar. There is a 4 km stretch of bad roads after Purigali as detailed in the Bangalore Calicut forum. But it is still worth to cover this easily accessible tourist spot.
A photo of the temple is given below.

[pushpender_s]

Hi
On return from ashtamudi, i am planning to take the below route.

Asthamudi-Adoor-pathanamathitta-NH183A (Beside kakki Reservoir)-Kumily

Can anyone suggest the road conditions and the total time required to reach thekkady.

Would be really helpful if some veg eating joints could also be suggested on this way.

[rajeev k]

Can I get some advice on the road condition from Ponnani to Kozhikkode through Chamravattom. The distance is lesser compared to NH 17.