[Zimsim]

Can someone please let me know the road conditions now between Bangalore and Bandipur? My 82 year old mother (with a bad back) plans to travel with us in the last week of September and hence wanted to know the conditions of pot holes. I live in Whitefield so plan to go via Mysore Road.
Thanks in advance!

[mpksuhas]

15 - Sep: Ooty - Bangalore.

Stayed at a hotel in Ooty which was some 8 hairpins bends down on Kalhatty ghat road past the check post. Due to which, was hoping there will not be any further checking while heading towards Gundlepet via Kalhatty.

Started from hotel at 08.35 AM, headed down via Kalahatty and covered some 3 more hairpins, only to be stopped at a second check post. The very friendly policeman there informed that they will not allow any vehicles downhill and asked me to turn back.

I tried my luck by mentioning him that I am familiar with driving in ghats, to which he said that they are been asked strictly not to allow anyone and have installed camera there so that he will be questioned if he allows anyone.


Now, I was aware that downhill via Kalahatty is not allowed for non local vehicles. For local vehicles too, you are supposed to get a permit from police station providing your vehicle number and address proof. A friend of mine, who stays in Ooty has this permit. However, couple of weeks back, even he was not allowed down the road saying the traffic uphill was high.

My friend says they are more strict after the accident involving few tourists in which one survivor was found after many days of search.

Anyway, I was of the impression that this check-post is the one at turn off of Kalhatty road here. Since I was anyway staying past that, I thought of trying my luck by driving down hill.

However, there is another check-post further down the hill, where I was stopped and asked to turn back. Location


Anyways, it was around 09.00 AM when I joined back the Ooty - Gudalur road. Though road condition is overall good, there are two places where bridge construction is ongoing, roughly around Pykara area. This along with some 5 locations where landslide has caused road to be converted to a single lane road causes some delay.

Again, the landslide sections are roughly of 25 - 50 meters and at some 5 locations only, so it is not that much an issue.

Past Gudalur, there are handful of big patchy sections in forest route. But again, those can be navigated around without any issues. On KA side, roads are in good conditions.


Non stop, it took 2 hours from Ooty - Kalhatty - Gudalur road junction I mentioned above till Gundlupet - Hotel Misty rocks, which is some 3 Kms out of Gundlupet towards Mysore. Regarding the hotel, would suggest everyone to avoid the place. CCD remains the only option in that area I feel.

Originally Posted by Zimsim

Can someone please let me know the road conditions now between Bangalore and Bandipur?!

Absolutely nothing to worry about on with respect to potholes. Apart from few potholes on Mysore ring road, entire route is good.

What you should be worrying is the speed breakers . Do keep an eye for that and slow down with sufficient time for tailgaters.

[Ram78]

Hello everyone, I'm from Hyderabad and am planning for a vacation during the first week of October. Driving to Ooty/Coonoor which i have done twice earlier is an option. Would it be safe to do so? I'm a bit circumspect due to the recent heavy rains and having seen news of landslides. Seems there is light rains even today.

Your quick advice would be of great help.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by Ram78

Hello everyone, I'm from Hyderabad and am planning for a vacation during the first week of October. Driving to Ooty/Coonoor which i have done twice earlier is an option. Would it be safe to do so? I'm a bit circumspect due to the recent heavy rains and having seen news of landslides. Seems there is light rains even today.

Your quick advice would be of great help.

I drove from Bangalore till Gudalur last week and the road is fine. No problem to drive at all.

[nishkamm]

I'm from Ooty but stay in Bangalore. I almost make 10-12 trips to Ooty in an year. If you want to have a major meal ( breakfast, lunch or Dinner) on the way, then Blr-Mysore-Ooty is the best option. If you start after lunch then, BLr- Kanakapura-Kollegal-Chamrajnagar- Gundlupet- Kalhatty-Ooty is the best. Usually I start at 4 PM from Bellandur in Bangalore and cross the Bandipur checkpoint before 8.30.

For locals of Nilgiris, if you vehicle is TN43 registered then no need of the pass to come down the Kalhatty ghat. For all other vehicles the pass is required even if the owner is a resident of Nilgiris. Out station people will not get the pass.

[Ram78]

Will staying in areas like Grand Duff Road.Tiger Hill Road,Church Hill Road or Mysore-Ooty Road (Hotel MountnMist) be a good idea if the requirement is to stay at a place a bit away from the city? Any suggestions on budget hotels based on your earlier experiences and knowledge of the place are welcome.

[nishkamm]

Originally Posted by Ram78

Hi nishkamm,you seem to be among the best guys who can comment on my earlier post. How are the driving conditions towards Ooty?Any occurences of landslides lately?

ankan.m.blr did mention that conditions from Bangalore to Gudalur is good.

hi Ram78, currently the routes are fine. Though some rain has been foretasted, but looks like it will not be that bad. Go up the Kalhatty route while going and return via Gudalur.

[red.devil_19]

Originally Posted by Ram78

Would it be safe to do so? I'm a bit circumspect due to the recent heavy rains and having seen news of landslides. Seems there is light rains even today.

I drove from Bangalore to Ooty on Friday & returned on Sunday. I'm just narrating my experience for the benefit of everyone else as well. Hopefully, it will be useful for you.

Started from Whitefield at 5 am. Followed google maps, drove through the city (instead of taking NICE Road) & joined Mysore Road by 6 am. Stopped at Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan, Channapatna at 7.45 am. There was almost no traffic on Friday, the tarmac was good and I faced no issues in driving on this route. Had a leisurely drive till the next stop at CCD Masinagudi where we reached by 10.20 am. Please try to stick to the left lane on Mysore ORR as much as possible as there are some really nasty craters (yes calling them potholes would be an understatement ) on the middle and right-most lanes. There are just a couple of bad section on the left lane but you should be able to spot them from a distance. From Masinagudi, the climb was quick as always and we reached Ooty dot at noon. Had lunch at Shinkows (highly recommended) before checking into our resort. Overall, road conditions are very good & thankfully there was no traffic.

While returning, we took the Gudalur route. As mpksuhas has already mentioned, there are some sections where the roads were damaged during landslides. All of them have been reduced to a single lane as repair work is in progress. You only need to be careful the over-enthusiastic idiots who try to barge in from the opposite side even after seeing that you're midway through this stretch already!! Most of these sections are easily spotted, however, there is one place where it appears at a blind corner so just be a bit careful (I can't remember the exact location). As we neared the end of the descent, there were some bad patches with quite a few potholes but all are manageable, just need to keep an eye out. This area seems to have been in bad shape for as long as I can remember!! TN police were carrying out document checking somewhere close to Gudalur, so make sure you carry all relevant car related documents. We had a heavy breakfast at our hotel and we wanted to have a light meal so stopped at CCD Gundlupet for lunch at around 1.30 pm. I found the sandwiches at this outlet to be better than what I've experienced at some other CCDs! From there took the Malavalli - Kanakpura route. It was all good on this road till we crossed Kanakpura. Lots of deviations due to the road widening. There seems to have also been an accident near Edify School, which resulted in a huge traffic jam. And as is the case with the "smart" people in our country, the cars heading towards Bangalore, turned a 2 lane road into 4 lane, in trying to get ahead of the original queue! This caused further delays and we then stopped at the CCD at Brigade Meadows at around 5.30 pm. Took NICE road and reached Whitefield in approximately 2 hours.

Another joint I'd recommend for food in Ooty is "Place To Bee". Its a nice cosy place with amazing soup, fries and pizzas!

Originally Posted by Ram78

Will staying in areas like Grand Duff Road.Tiger Hill Road,Church Hill Road or Mysore-Ooty Road (Hotel MountnMist) be a good idea if the requirement is to stay at a place a bit away from the city? Any suggestions on budget hotels based on your earlier experiences and knowledge of the place are welcome.

I will recommend checking out Delightz Inn at Ooty (Location). I've stayed there in 2014 and had a wonderful experience. The location is amazing and the rooms were really big. The food was good too.


I must add that we were able to spot many Deers, Boars, Peacocks & a WIld Squirrel during the trip. But the highlight was this lone wild tusker which we spotted close to Mudumalai!

[Ram78]

Decided to drive from Hyderabad to Wayanad (Padhinharathara) . Tentative day of travel is the day after tomorrow ie Sunday. 'Tentative' because an Orange alert for rains has been sounded in Kurnool and Anantpur districts through which i will be passing. Hoping there would not be any issues on the highway due to rains.

Planning to drive via Nagarhole.. looks like the chances of animal sightings are higher.. though it might mean a couple of extra hours of travel.

Suggestions are welcome.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by Ram78

Decided to drive from Hyderabad to Wayanad (Padhinharathara) . Tentative day of travel is the day after tomorrow ie Sunday. 'Tentative' because an Orange alert for rains has been sounded in Kurnool and Anantpur districts through which i will be passing. Hoping there would not be any issues on the highway due to rains.

Planning to drive via Nagarhole.. looks like the chances of animal sightings are higher.. though it might mean a couple of extra hours of travel.

Suggestions are welcome.

Hi, did you go on the drive? How are the roads and how much time did it take?

[Ram78]

Originally Posted by ank.nsit

Hi, did you go on the drive? How are the roads and how much time did it take?

Yes.I did travel for 9 days starting 29th Sept.for 9 days covering around 2200 kms.Entire travel was by road in my Nexon with 5 adults,1 child and loads of luggage.

Note that I’m a sedate driver and hence the time taken will be on the higher side.Roads were extremely good everywhere.Please refer my post in the link below (posted 18th Oct) for additional details.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...pad-beach.html (Hyderabad to Wayanad & Kappad Beach)

• Day 1: Hyderabad to Bangalore: Around 10 hours
• Day 2: Bangalore to Wayanad via. Nagarhole forest reserve and Tholpetty. 8 hours. You will not be touching Mysore if you take this route. Somewhere in the highway post Chennapatna and before Mysore,Google will guide you to take a right-cutting the highway and towards Brindavan Gardens.
• Day 3-7 : Leisure at aunt’s place at Padhinarathara and visit to prime tourist locations in Wayanad.
• Day 8 : Wayanad to Bangalore via Bandipur. Nothing to see in Bandipur. Roads were too good inside the reserve.It was as good as the Hyderabd-Bangalore highway.Around 8 hours.
• Day 9: Bangalore to Hyderabad.10 hours.

[arindambasu13]

Quick check on the route from Bangalore to Ooty keeping in mind that I'll be traveling with elderly people. is the usual Bangalore -Mysore - Mudumalai- Masinagudi route with 36 hairpin turns in good shape?

Is this the preferred route as compared to the Gudalur route? Thanks in advance.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Bangalore -Mysore - Mudumalai- Masinagudi route with 36 hairpin turns in good shape?

AFAIK, both are in good shape baring a few WIP culvert sections on the gudalur route and a couple of potholed hairpins in the Masinagudi route. Please do keep a check on weather as a lot of rain is expected to hit Nilgiris leeward area over the next few days.

More Info - https://www.facebook.com/tamilnaduwe...&theater&ifg=1

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Is this the preferred route as compared to the Gudalur route? Thanks in advance.

I would suggest you to go via Masinagudi route. Road is in great shape as of last month when I traveled (after rains).

Gudalur route also is OK, however there are few sections which has bad surface. You will anyway be required to take this route when returning since they do not allow downhill traffic via Masinagudi route.

You can find my comments on the route here (Bangalore - Mysore - Ooty : Route Queries)& here (Bangalore - Mysore - Ooty : Route Queries)

[ramanan.skr]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Is this the preferred route as compared to the Gudalur route? Thanks in advance.

We used to taking Masinagudi route always. The current road condition is very nice except it is bit narrow in the initial sections. However, faster than Gudalur Route and no risk of traffic jams(AFAIK). Gudalur route is prone to surprise traffic jams which can even last hours. It is a known fact that no heavy vehicles and no descending vehicles are allowed to take Masinagudi route except those that having NOC.