[unni.ak]

Originally Posted by prabhuav

@hvkumar - Yes sir the roads are open in the night. No two wheelers though.
we would have done it in 15 minutes lesser , but stopped to look at a her of elephants, three of which were on the road. Too good to let go.

@Path_Finder @ sj_koova, jaggu got it rite. I drive a scorpio, and yes I have swaraj mazda head light domes in my fog lamp running the stock 55/60 lights. All running on low beam most of the time.

And yes I show no mercy on rough roads. As a matter of fact on the gundlupet -bandipur stretch , the truck pitches and rolls if driven slow, but glides if you floor it. I typically do that stretch @ 80 when most sane drivers are doing 20
Truck is holding up

I had a bad time climbing in and out of potholes, doing the stretch that is mentioned. Appreciate your guts for doing it this fast And yes, the vehicle that you have helps!!

[kb100]

Just got back from a trip to Kerala.

PLEASE watch out for the stretch from Walayar to Palghat. You have some very deep potholes .

Then it get WORSE - the stretch form Palghat till Vadankcherry is positively horrendous. You have CRATERS in the middle of the road!! God help you if you are driving at night - especially in a sedan!

After that its smooth sailing all the way till Tcr.

[Torqy]

Originally Posted by prabhuav

And yes I show no mercy on rough roads. As a matter of fact on the gundlupet -bandipur stretch , the truck pitches and rolls if driven slow, but glides if you floor it. I typically do that stretch @ 80 when most sane drivers are doing 20
Truck is holding up

Insane speeds as somebody pointed out.

Is that the SAME truck that's still holding up?
..or do you buy a new scorpio after each trip?

[prabhuav]

Originally Posted by Torqy

Insane speeds as somebody pointed out.

Is that the SAME truck that's still holding up?
..or do you buy a new scorpio after each trip?

Very much the same truck. I have done 4 kerala trips and one to coorg in the last 75 days, typically with a full load, half the time with a carrier hanging out the rear end, always, always pedal to the metal. Nothing broke or fell off.

Most funnily, I blew a tyre doing 15kmph on cubbon road when I missed the kerb on the turn and hit it.

I am in love with this truck. Nothing I have owned has taken a beating like this one

Vijay

[RedOne]

Greets all,

After a long break I am hitting the road again, driving from Chennai to Trivandrum and back. During the onward journey, I have to stop at Guruvayoor. On the return trip, I plan to make a 2 day stop in Kodai, or any other place around midway between Chennai and TVM.

Current route plan is:
Onwards on 30th Sept night:
Chennai @7PM - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore - (Thrissur) Guruvayoor @ 3AM - Kochi - TVM.

Return on 6th Oct morning:
TVM @ 7AM - Nagarcoil - Madurai - Kodai @ 2PM
On 8th @ 10AM Kodai - Dindigul - Trichi - Chennai

Please let me know any road/route suggestions or changes. How are the road conditions? Are the timing doable given current road conditions?

Gears,
Red-One.

[pgginish]

Originally Posted by RedOne

Chennai @7PM - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore - (Thrissur) Guruvayoor @ 3AM - Kochi - TVM.

I would suggest you to take Krsihnagiri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani route instead of Salem route. Nice scenic road with less traffic.

[Mission_Safari]

Originally Posted by RedOne

Current route plan is:
Onwards on 30th Sept night:
Chennai @7PM - Krishnagiri - Salem - Coimbatore - (Thrissur) Guruvayoor @ 3AM - Kochi - TVM.

Hi Lal,

Are you doing this in your LC?

I did this trip in my friend's i10 last month . We started from Chennai around 04:45 PM and reached Guruvayoor at 6:30PM including a 1.5 hour break for food.

Just watchout for bad patches ( a lot of them) in the Palaghat-Thrissur stretch .

[psvinay]

Can any one help with this (good hotel(s) around Mettur..

Thanks in Advance..

Originally Posted by psvinay

I am planning to drive upto Kodungallor in the 1st week of Oct. Planning to take the normal BLR -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Mettur -> Bhavani -> Coimbatore -> Palghat -> TCR route. I am familiar with this route. Will wait till end of Sep to check on the road conditions.

I would however need help on locating a good restaurant in the Mettur area. Earlier, I used to start around 5:30AM from Bangalore, so I stop at Dharmapuri for breakfast and then Palghat for Lunch. This time I want to start by 4AM so that I can have my lunch at home in KDNGLR. I suppose I will be in Mettur by 8AM or so, would like to locate a good restaurant with good, neat rest room (I will be accompanied by my family, hence this "mandatory" criteria...). I don't mind even if it is a bit expensive place. Could any one help me in this regard.

Thanks in advance..

[joecherian]

There is a mallu hotel cum bakery in mettur (Royal bakes).It is on the left side before reaching mettur (around 2 kms before you take a left turn to go through the thermal plant )
.This is exactly opposite Madras Aluminium Company . Another landmark is that there is one ATM opposite this (don't remember which bank though).

Food is good(especially the dosas).I think this is the only decent food joint in that area.

[Torqy]

Hi,

I'll be driving with family from Bangalore to Perinthalmanna next week. This is the route i got after searching the forums.

Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Madumalai - Gudalur - Nadukani - Vazhikkadavu - Nilambur - Perinthalmanna

Is this the best route? Any update on this route? Is there a better option?

Thanks in advance.

[RedOne]

Originally Posted by pgginish

I would suggest you to take Krsihnagiri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani route instead of Salem route. Nice scenic road with less traffic.

Thanks pgginish. Since that stretch will be covered at night, should I be worried about the lack of traffic? In other words, will safety be an issue?

Gears,
Red-One.

[RedOne]

Originally Posted by Mission_Safari

Hi Lal,

Are you doing this in your LC?

I did this trip in my friend's i10 last month . We started from Chennai around 04:45 PM and reached Guruvayoor at 6:30PM including a 1.5 hour break for food.

Just watchout for bad patches ( a lot of them) in the Palaghat-Thrissur stretch .

Yup MS, will be going in the LC.

I guess one of the times above should be AM, or you drive real fast . I read about the bad stretch between Palghat-Thrissur and will be careful.

Gears,
Red-One.

[Mission_Safari]

Originally Posted by RedOne

Yup MS, will be going in the LC.

I guess one of the times above should be AM, or you drive real fast . I read about the bad stretch between Palghat-Thrissur and will be careful.

Gears,
Red-One.

Yep. my bad. Started at 04:45 AM.

More than the bad patches on this road watch out for the buses who drive real fast without caring for the safety of the fellow road users.

[AirWind]

On the contrary, you should be worried about the traffic (mostly drunk truckers and buses)! Drive safe and take regular breaks (every ~3 Hrs) with a chai, face wash, wind shield wash (clean with news paper). My suggestion would be to leave BLR after lunch so you can escape the peak traffic - I left BLR (by 1PM) to reach Coimbatore (by 8PM) last wk and took the Hosur, Rayakottai (take right after the Hosur fly over), Paparapatti, Mettur, Ammapet, Sathyamangalam, Coimbatore.... loved the traffic (almost nil) but this stretch is better covered in daylight with a full tank and complete tool kit (stepney inc.).

Originally Posted by RedOne

Thanks pgginish. Since that stretch will be covered at night, should I be worried about the lack of traffic? In other words, will safety be an issue?

Gears,
Red-One.

[cs10204]

Hi folks..

I want to do a BLR-TVM road trip. Pls advise which route will be better.. The blr - cbe - plgt - ekm - tvm or the blr - cbe - slm - mdri - ngrcoil - tvm.

Basically its either spend more time in KL or in TN. I am kind of confused abt which route to take and whether i shud do it in the night or day, safety issues etc... I hope to leave at abt 5 in the morning. I will be driving an Alto.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys and drive safetly.