[Zappo]

Was there for a week. However drove via Hosur<->Dharmapuri<->Salem<->Avinashi<-> Coimbatore route. Equally scenic and beautiful roads. I felt the Coonoor/Wellington stretch is still far beautiful as compared to Ooty which has become highly commercialized and congested.

[viper_711]

Originally Posted by VANdaMAN

That's very kind of you! It's not my first trip to Ooty but as I said I'm bad with directions and rely on GPS. Can you tell me what the waypoints are for the SH 209 route?

Sorry, just logged on back today. Waypoints are kanakpura, kollegal, chamrajnagar, gundlupet. At this point you would be on the traditional route from mysore.
I'm sure you've already finished your trip. Maybe next time you can try this route.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by devrajman

. Also bias against non-TN cars have also increase (at all levels)

Could you please let know what made you mention the same? I was thinking of an Ooty trip sometime in another 2-3 months, hence asking.

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by devrajman

Ooty is becoming dirtier and costlier. Also bias against non-TN cars have also increase (at all levels)

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Could you please let know what made you mention the same? I was thinking of an Ooty trip sometime in another 2-3 months, hence asking.

I am not sure what made him get such a feeling. But, we were in Ooty last long weekend. I did had KA registered vehicle, and never seen any bias towards or against us.

Frankly, forget these and enjoy your drive to Ooty.

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by devrajman

Also bias against non-TN cars have also increase (at all levels)

I had been to Ooty in my KA-registered car last year.

Last week, I had a very long trip to Tirunelveli / Madras.

I have never faced any problem anywhere due to the registration - except that some idiot will try to compete with me on the highway and within seconds will realize the futility of it

[devrajman]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Could you please let know what made you mention the same? I was thinking of an Ooty trip sometime in another 2-3 months, hence asking.

I meant wrt Taxi/Bus crossing you on 1 lane road will refuse to take his wheel down even he has better road on his side. Will just stop, look at the number plate and then me and tell you to go down even if there is deep side road!

In parking space, I saw TN cars with known drivers with parking guy will be given first way and I was just made to wait and wait!

Also TN taxi guys gets to park close to exit and I was told to park all the way inside even if there was place, later I saw TN taxi guy park exactly as the same place where I wanted to park.

[arun_josie]

I drove to Ooty couple of months back in my KA registered car but never faced any such issues during my drive or while going around in Ooty or while parking anywhere is Ooty despite being in a KA registered car.

[skdking]

I am driving to Mysore from Chennai.

Where do I have to get off the chennai-bangalore road for getting onto the NICE road? I want to avoid Bangalore totally if I can.

[SatishBalaram]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

please dont use brakes excessively while descending the hills. Use engine braking instead - ensure as Dhanush has rightly pointed out, that you use the same gear while descending the slope, that you would use/ used while ascending the same slope. Standing on the brakes all the time/ sustained harsh use on a downhill journey will burn out the brakes and sometimes can cause them to fail. Please read about and use the proper techniques for hill driving.
Enjoy your holiday and be safe.

Unluckily I am seeing these posts only now though I read some of these other pages before my trip. Over the long weekend Aug 18-19-20, I was holidaying in Ooty. On the return back from Ooty-BLR, on the 31st hairpin bend the brakes gave way when I was in 2nd gear and I desperately tried to stop my swift by dropping to 1st gear and pulling up the hand brakes, but in my panic I did not let my leg go from clutch and by god's grace and sheer luck the car stopped after hitting the double railings (there was no wall beyond them and so the safety railings were all that saved us from a 50-60 feet drop). All of us survived without scratches except for my dear car which was quite bruised on the bonnet, bumper and left light. I tried reaching Maruti helpline and in the meantime a mechanic got down from another car and drove us all down to his workshop downhill and verified that brakeshoes and all other things were perfectly working and encouraged us to go our way. The mechanic also told us that a few days before another swift had fallen off the same very point and that resulted in couple of people losing their lives :(
One day before starting my trip from BLR, I had got a 9-point checkup done on the swift and so I was very confident that nothing can go wrong with the car but now I realize that driving on hairpin bends requires more knowledge than just normal driving skills and experience.
Thanks to the people and companies who installed the railings on these dangerous bends.
-Satish

[kala]

Originally Posted by skdking

I am driving to Mysore from Chennai.

Where do I have to get off the chennai-bangalore road for getting onto the NICE road? I want to avoid Bangalore totally if I can.

Look out for the start of the Elevated highway near Electronic city (There are tollgates at the entry to this road). Do not get onto the elevated road, continue on the road below instead. At the next signal light, move into the service road and you'll see the signboards to Mysore / Tumkur etc about 100 meters ahead of you. (Left turn onto the ramp leading to the NICE road).

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by SatishBalaram

Unluckily I am seeing these posts only now though I read some of these other pages before my trip. Over the long weekend Aug 18-19-20, I was holidaying in Ooty. On the return back from Ooty-BLR, on the 31st hairpin bend the brakes gave way when I was in 2nd gear and I desperately tried to stop my swift by dropping to 1st gear and pulling up the hand brakes, but in my panic I did not let my leg go from clutch and by god's grace and sheer luck the car stopped after hitting the double railings (there was no wall beyond them and so the safety railings were all that saved us from a 50-60 feet drop). All of us survived without scratches except for my dear car which was quite bruised on the bonnet, bumper and left light. I tried reaching Maruti helpline and in the meantime a mechanic got down from another car and drove us all down to his workshop downhill and verified that brakeshoes and all other things were perfectly working and encouraged us to go our way. The mechanic also told us that a few days before another swift had fallen off the same very point and that resulted in couple of people losing their lives :(
One day before starting my trip from BLR, I had got a 9-point checkup done on the swift and so I was very confident that nothing can go wrong with the car but now I realize that driving on hairpin bends requires more knowledge than just normal driving skills and experience.
Thanks to the people and companies who installed the railings on these dangerous bends.
-Satish

Glad you and family are safe.let this incident not stop you from your future drives.It was just a case of monentary panic which could have happened to anybody,take a deep breath and get back to driving soon.All the best-Godspeed.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by kala

Look out for the start of the Elevated highway near Electronic city (There are tollgates at the entry to this road). Do not get onto the elevated road, continue on the road below instead. At the next signal light, move into the service road and you'll see the signboards to Mysore / Tumkur etc about 100 meters ahead of you. (Left turn onto the ramp leading to the NICE road).

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

Is this the route we should take?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace via Srirangapattanam, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Or should we take this one?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Thanks in advance.

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by skdking

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

Is this the route we should take?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace via Srirangapattanam, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Or should we take this one?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Thanks in advance.

The first one, via Srirangapattana is a neat 4-lane road with lot of eateries on either side of the road. It has more vehicular traffic especially on the weekends (Mysore-Bangalore on Sunday evening is a big pain so much that it has a separate thread for us to vent out).

The second is a 2-lane highway (supposedly a National Highway). Its little more picturesque and gives you a relaxed drive. The 2-lane roads are very good for 2/3rds and good for the rest. The disadvantages though are 1. It doesn't have any good eateries and 2. Will need some directions for a first time driver while crossing a couple of towns (though not complicated at all).

Over to you.

Prasad

[kala]

Originally Posted by skdking

Thanks a lot for the explanation.

Is this the route we should take?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace via Srirangapattanam, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Or should we take this one?
Avadi, Tamil Nadu, India to Mysore Palace, Mysuru, Karnataka, India - Google Maps

Thanks in advance.

My suggestion would be to go in for option 1 itself in spite of the fact that SH17 is a pain to drive owing to the innumerable speedbreakers you'd encounter on that route and the heavy traffic. I've never been too happy with the Malavalli-Bannur-Mysore route since the road surface isn't that great, so in spite of the lower traffic you'd end up taking longer to reach Mysore.

If you were going further - Gundlupet or beyond - I'd have recommended NH209 via Kanakapura-Malavalli wholeheartedly.

[skdking]

Originally Posted by prasad14

....

Over to you.

Prasad

Originally Posted by kala

.....

If you were going further - Gundlupet or beyond - I'd have recommended NH209 via Kanakapura-Malavalli wholeheartedly.

Thanks, guys.

Since my destination is Mysore, and not beyond, I better stick to your advocated option. I think for my kids I will stop at 'Wonder La', which I am told is on this highway, on either the to or the fro leg. Is it feasible?

Thanks again.