[akroy]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

I just need to reach Munnar the fastest way possible. Read that Ajmat went via Karur and did it in 7.5 hours. Hence was wondering what route he took. I'm planning to leave at 4am on Friday. Would ideally want to be at munnar before lunchtime.

In that case follow the normal route:

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani - Perundurai - Kangayem - Dharapuram - Udumalpet - Marayoor - Munnar

Can be done in 10-11 hours if started early from Bangalore (3-4AM start is ideal).

NOTE: Ajmat went to Kodai hence he took NH7 till Dindigul.

Abhi

[tadukuttan]

Originally Posted by akroy

NOTE: Ajmat went to Kodai hence he took NH7 till Dindigul.

Abhi

I routinely take that road to go home, and the finished sections(4 laning) of the road means that it is getting faster and faster to go that way.

And after Dindigul the traffic thins out, so all the more better.

I have come back from home (in Pala, around 35kms from Kottayam) in some 8 hours, with couple of stops. I think total distance is around 630 Kms.

[hondadude]

Started from bangalore at 0715 am and reached kodai at 0445 pm. I took mettur-bhavani route. The road between thoppur and mettur wasnt great and traffic was high. Also it takes some time to get out of several small towns that come on the way. Best stretch is between kangayam and dharapuram and ofcourse the ghat section. I will take nh 7 on my way back.

[ajmat]

Am back
Both ways took around 7.5 hours.
Enough is said about roads to Salem
Salem - Dindingul - 4 laning is in progress so you tend to do a lot of "chicaning", very easy to get confused so sometimes there some cars are going parallel on the other side and ditto those goging against you. I wuld avoid if night driving.
Finding the Kodaikanal turnoff is tricky. At Dindigul, turn right, follow the construction and stay in the right hand service lane until you see the road.

Ghat road is best early afternoon onwards. Going downhill there was a bus with a puncture which blocked the whole road. A qualis managed to wheedle past and I also did the same. luckily, the unlucky folks on the other side beleive in queuing

[adnaps]

Just came back from Bangalore-Yercaud - Munnar - Bangalore. Salem - Bhavani road is a mess with many diversions and heavy truck traffic. Bhavani - Perundarai is good except for a small strech where traffic is bidrectional. While returning took the Bhavani - Mettur - Thopur route and would reccomend that for anyone driving bangalore - munnar - bangalore direct.

[reignofchaos]

Took the Krishnagiri-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Avinashi-Palladam-Udumalpet-Munnar route to go. Good roads all throughout the route. Most of the route is butter smooth. The drive between Avinashi and Udumalpet has really beautiful 2 lane highways going thru Windmill farms.

I left at 4:15am and was at Munnar City before 12:30pm. I didn't push the car too much either. Just a normal fun drive.

From Munnar I travelled to Thekkady by SH-19. This is the route thru Cardamom Hills. Other than 10km of non existent roads, this route is hands down the most fun to drive road I've encountered in the whole of South India. Even though Thekaddy was a damp squib, the drive itself made up for the disappointment. The 10km of dirt track that one has to travel thru now is being repaired. I'm guessing in 6 months time, this will be fixed too.

From Thekaddy, I took NH-220 till Theni, then NH45 to Periyakulam and then SH-36 to Dindigul. Very good roads all thru this route other than a very rare bad patch of a few meters. From Dindigul all the way to Thoppur, the highway is under construction. There are good and very bad patches and hundreds of diversions. One has to drive with utmost concentration.

[rockyb]

I took the Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Thoppur - Mettur - Bhavani - Perundurai - Kangayem - Dharapuram - Udumalpet - Marayoor - Munnar. Superb road. No bad stretches except few diversions. Highly recommed this route. Started at 5:15am and reached Munnar at 3:30pm. Last 30 km got caught in heavy fog and rain. On retun took the same route too. Started at 9:30 am and reached home at 6:30 pm (via Atibele - Sarjapur) Will put up writeup and pic soon.

Thank you all for route details

[sandeep3in]

Friends could you please share any good hotels/resort for accommodation in kodakanal. The budget would be in range of 1500 -2500 Rs. I have searched google which gave a couple of hotels.Just wanted a review from someone who had been to Kodai.Please share the name and rates of the hotel.

Thanks

[fi.robin]

Originally Posted by sandeep3in

Friends could you please share any good hotels/resort for accommodation in kodakanal. The budget would be in range of 1500 -2500 Rs. I have searched google which gave a couple of hotels.Just wanted a review from someone who had been to Kodai.Please share the name and rates of the hotel.

Thanks

We went early this month. In Munnar we stayed at Shemrock and in Kodai we stayed at Kodai Resort, Coaker's Walk. Both for around Rs 2000/- . Can be termed as decent-good. Food provided in Shemrock was simple and good. You can book on phone in advance.

[ash_blore]

I am off to Kodai on 18th morning. Planning the following route

Blore - krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Namkkal - Karur - Dindigul - Vattlagundu - Kodai

Planning an early start 5AM. I think I can reach Kodai by around 3 PM.
I think the road till Salem is good and after that there is some 4 lane work going on (as per Ajmat).

I have never done this stretch before so is there anything to watch out for? Also I want to know where is a good place to stop for breakfast and lunch. Also recommendations for restaurants will be great.

[ajmat]

Hotel cenneys gateway in salem

[ash_blore]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Hotel cenneys gateway in salem

Have never been there so some directions from the highway will be great.

[ajmat]

As you enter Salem, you come to the first big roundabout. Take a left, go down till you come to a big 5 road junction. You will see a big petrol bunk on your right. Go straight across the junction on the left road (not a u-turn on the road parallel to your left) and not the road along the petrol bunk) - go further (i.e. follow the parallel road direction), you will see the hotel on your right.

A faster route in is to take a left as you enter Salem and you enter on this left mode road but it is easy to miss this road

Edit - found location map

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by ash_blore

Have never been there so some directions from the highway will be great.

What you need to do is take the left which is marked as Salem just before you enter Salem while coming from Bangalore. You would find a "Muneeswaran temple" on the right with a whole lot of vehicles parked as you enter this road.

This road would lead you to the 5 roads which Ajmat is referring to, you need to take a left here in case of any confusion ask anyone for the road to Yercaud at this Jn. If my memory serves correct you have a sign board mentioning Yercaud here. The hotel would come on the right hand side.

If you are fine with a Veg only place, I could suggest something even better which is "Hotel Sarathy" at Fairlands which is little further down this road. Hotel Sarathy

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

If you are fine with a Veg only place, I could suggest something even better which is "Hotel Sarathy" at Fairlands which is little further down this road. Hotel Sarathy

Sarathy is a good Vegetarian place...I once had breakfast there while returning from Yercaud to Bangalore.