[northstar*]

Originally Posted by varkey

Thank you. This is good information. I'll try that route this time, I need to go towards Banaswadi anyway so that route is not much of a deviation for me. I have never travelled through those areas before so it would be good to explore as well.

I need to travel tomorrow and I don't have time today to go for an RT-PCR test today.

Hi Varkey,

Have you reached Bangalore ? Was there any checking while entering Bangalore in a KL registered car. ?
I am planning to travel on 7th Feb, Monday. So any info would be really helpful.

[varkey]

Originally Posted by northstar*

Hi Varkey,

Have you reached Bangalore ? Was there any checking while entering Bangalore in a KL registered car. ?
I am planning to travel on 7th Feb, Monday. So any info would be really helpful.

Yep, just reached my home. I followed @vinodmk's suggestion and took the Hosur --> Bagalur --> Sarjapura route. There was no checking at the KA border. There were speed limiter zig zag barricades around the area and overall less traffic so seeing my vehicle the officer at the border did get up from his seat as if to carefully check, but did not stop me.

Once you turn towards Bagalur from Hosur, for the first few kilometres there is some traffic as it's within the town area, also it looked like road widening/tarring is being done. After that till Bagalur it's decent roads. However once you turn towards Sarjapur Road the roads aren't great and lot of traffic. Took me around 1.5 hours from Bagalur to Kasturi Nagar/Banaswadi.

[adutta2k]

Originally Posted by MSAneesh

But, the best would be sticking to 544 all the way till Paravur junction at Aluva.

Thanks for the route suggestion Aneesh much appreciated. Is the route through Mala much crowded? Google maps shows 30 mins and 17kms less through Mala .

[MSAneesh]

Originally Posted by adutta2k

Thanks for the route suggestion Aneesh much appreciated. Is the route through Mala much crowded? Google maps shows 30 mins and 17kms less through Mala .

Yes. Please avoid.
You will be leaving 4 lane highway and getting into single lane village roads, with lots of 2 wheelers, good amount of other vehicles, lot of narrow bridges. Also, you will encounter confusing turns and really narrow stretches.

Absolutely avoid if you are not familiar with the area. It will not save you any time, but add to the stress.

My suggestion is, do not take this option unless there is something drastic happening on the highway.

[rahulraag]

Traveled from Kakkanad, Ernakulam to Whitefield, Bangalore today 02/06.

Started from Kakkanad around 1.05 am, crossed Walayar at 3.00 am - there were no cops around, and absolutely no checking throughout the way. Light to no traffic until Salem, the usual bottleneck with heavy trailers occupying all the lanes until Krishnagiri. No checking at Attibele checkpost either. The final leg from Attibele to Whitefield is a torture with non-existent road and unmarked roadbumps. I managed to scrap the bottom of the car once, hopefully no damage done. Reached home at 9.15 am, Bluelink puts the drive time to 7 hours 20 minutes excluding the two breaks. Overall a reasonably comfortable drive. Any suggestions on a better route from Attibele to Whitefield? My back hurts just with the thought of driving back on the same route on my way back in a few days time.

[northstar*]

Originally Posted by varkey

Yep, just reached my home. I followed @vinodmk's suggestion and took the Hosur --> Bagalur --> Sarjapura route. There was no checking at the KA border. There were speed limiter zig zag barricades around the area and overall less traffic so seeing my vehicle the officer at the border did get up from his seat as if to carefully check, but did not stop me.

Thank you for the reply. I am travelling from Trivandrum to Navi Mumbai on 7th Feb with my first stop at Peenya, so Hosur - Sarjapur route won't help.

Originally Posted by rahulraag

Traveled from Kakkanad, Ernakulam to Whitefield, Bangalore today 02/06.

Started from Kakkanad around 1.05 am, crossed Walayar at 3.00 am - there were no cops around, and absolutely no checking throughout the way. Light to no traffic until Salem, the usual bottleneck with heavy trailers occupying all the lanes until Krishnagiri. No checking at Attibele checkpost either.

Thank you for the post. Seems the checking at Attibele is happening randomly and mostly in the daytime. I will be crossing Attibele in the evening, not sure how the situation will be.

[kung_foo_fanta]

Originally Posted by sandsun7

One option could be to start by 4.30-5AM or so and try to cover up the Mangalore-Telicherry-Vadakara-Koyilandy stretch before peak hour.

This is the plan now... to leave at around 4 AM from Mangalore to make it to Thrissur before nightfall, in one piece.

Also, do we need PCR test results or would a double vaccination report (from Dubai) be enough to pass the border into Kerala? We'll be in a KL registration car, if that helps.

[binand]

Originally Posted by kung_foo_fanta

Also, do we need PCR test results or would a double vaccination report (from Dubai) be enough to pass the border into Kerala?

I think cops in Kerala are familiar with the Al Hosn app and the vax cert it provides. My info is about Walayar border though.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by kung_foo_fanta

This is the plan now... to leave at around 4 AM from Mangalore to make it to Thrissur before nightfall, in one piece.

Also, do we need PCR test results or would a double vaccination report (from Dubai) be enough to pass the border into Kerala? We'll be in a KL registration car, if that helps.

Do not worry, you will definitely reach much earlier than nightfall

regarding RTPCR requirement, my source tells me there is no checking while entering Kerala at Thalappady. Anyway, RTPCR is not mandatory if you are double vaccinated.

[mpksuhas]

A late update from me -

15- Jan - Calicut to Chennai

Started from Calicut, near to Malaparamb at 07.37 AM, traffic till around Kondotty was heavy, however it was moving and didn't face any stoppages. Past that traffic was comparatively okay. Took Mallapuram bye-pass and reached Perinthalmanna without any issue.

Past that road is much better, compared to my last drive on this route (the night before the flood in 2018, when water was rising). However, one issue is that the road widening work has lot of unfinished patches which comes up suddenly. If one is driving in low visibility situations, may be taken by surprise.

Reached Palakkad in around 3 hours 15 mins or so. TN border crossing was not an issue, apart from the hassle of one having to divert to service road for around a KM.

Stopped at IOC Chengappali for having packed lunch we were carrying and a coffee from the CCD adjoining the bunk. Reached here at 12.17 PM and started towards Chennai at 12.44 PM.

Nearing to Salem, both Krishnagiri and also Ulundrupet routes were showing almost similar time, infact Krishnagiri - Vellore route sometimes showing as faster by around 45 mins.

It maybe due to the fact that the destination at Chennai was near to Saligramam - Near to Krishnagiri - Vellore - Sriperumbedur road.

However, decided to take Ulundrupet route since its been a while we been in that road. One issue is, at 2 lane sections on this road they had installed bollard type dividers. This means, if you are stuck behind a slow moving truck, you need to be that way till few KMs. This aside, traffic was not heavy, maybe since it was during the Pongal weekend.

Once reaching the Madurai highway, traffic builds up, however compared to earlier drives on this route, it was much better.

Took Chennai ring road from Vandalur, took Poonamalle exit and headed to Saligramam via Koyambedu.

Reached Chennai home by 05.46 PM. Total time of around 09.45 hours with about half hour of break in between. This was much quicker than the earlier drives, I guess the luck in crossing Calicut Palakkad without any major jam and also the less traffic in TN due to Pongal helped.

Originally Posted by kung_foo_fanta

. Hence, the worry about the high tide and the ignorance of the tsunami

Do note that road widening work, though at its infancy is happening almost across the whole route. No deviations or such, its mostly levelling of land next to the existing road that's happening now.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Reached Chennai home by 05.46 PM. Total time of around 09.45 hours with about half hour of break in between. This was much quicker than the earlier drives, I guess the luck in crossing Calicut Palakkad without any major jam and also the less traffic in TN due to Pongal helped.

I sincerely hope the 2-lanes sections on the Ulundurpet side go away. They are very scary besides delaying drive times.

I also hope they fix the Perungulathur part of GST quickly. That will improve drive times even further especially improving connectivity to Radial ring road. Also Chengalpet-Vandalur eats away some time. Can't help it I guess.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ampere

I also hope they fix the Perungulathur part of GST quickly.

By the Perungulathur part - You meant the ongoing flyover construction?


For those coming via this section, one additional issue has come up. You can follow it here.

This happened a week after I traveled I suppose.

[doorspf1212]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

Traveled from Kakkanad, Ernakulam to Any suggestions on a better route from Attibele to Whitefield? My back hurts just with the thought of driving back on the same route on my way back in a few days time.

I stay near ITPL. Last time (December end) when I travelled back from KL to KA, I drove via Electronic City->Silkboard->Marathalli->Whitefield. It definitely helped that I was driving back on Jan 1st. Even if it was on a weekday, I might have taken this route though it is an extra 10km + additional toll + metro work going on in the ORR stretch. This extra effort is better than back breaking Attibele->Whitefield stretch. The saddest part is no one has any clue when/if this 30KM stretch will be repaired.

[rahulraag]

Originally Posted by doorspf1212

I stay near ITPL. Last time (December end) when I travelled back from KL to KA, I drove via Electronic City->Silkboard->Marathalli->Whitefield.

Thank you for the tip, I will try this route on my way back possibly this weekend. The Attibele - Whitefield stretch is a real nightmare with broken roads, unmarked speed bumps, erratic driving. This 30 kms sucks the joy out of the otherwise blissful highway driving all the way from Kochi to Attibele.

[doorspf1212]

Originally Posted by rahulraag

Thank you for the tip, I will try this route on my way back possibly this weekend. The Attibele - Whitefield stretch is a real nightmare with broken roads, unmarked speed bumps, erratic driving. This 30 kms sucks the joy out of the otherwise blissful highway driving all the way from Kochi to Attibele.

Excellent. Can you please post a feedback on how ORR stretch (with metro construction in full swing) is now? It is not that I have an alternate, but it will be better if we know what to expect