[pariwar]

Originally Posted by pach

Left Chinnakanal at 9:00 and reached home by 6:30. Stopped at many places on the way for snaps.

Can you give some pointers on road conditions especially the route upto Salem (which is on state highways).

1. What speeds can be reasonably accomplished?
2. Are these narrow two lanes or broad two lanes?
3. What kind of traffic density did you encounter on these roads?
4. Does the forest section have speedbreakers or is it open?
5. Any specific sections that slowed you down? A previous post did talk about a not very easy 10 kms stretch @ TN/KL border

I am planning a BLR - MNR trip with BLR dep of 4.00 a.m. Rationally speaking, can Munnar town be achieved by 1.00 p.m with a 30 min. tiffin break only?

[pach]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Can you give some pointers on road conditions especially the route upto Salem (which is on state highways).

[*]What speeds can be reasonably accomplished?
Route can be split into
1) Salem - perundurai - Kangeyam - Dharapuram - udumalpet
- Good two lane road, speeds of 60 -80 can be easily maintained. Can easily go up to 100 on empty stretches. I encountered some traffic, if you are starting in the early morning you can do better.

2) Udumalpet to Munnar - ghat section. 30 - 50 KMph . Roads are good except for a few stretches. If you are bound by time, I strongly suggest you to avoid this route, doing so can be dangerous.
[*]Are these narrow two lanes or broad two lanes?
As mentioned above (1) broad two lanes. (2) Narrow.
[*]What kind of traffic density did you encounter on these roads?
(1) medium - mild (2) minimum
[*]Does the forest section have speedbreakers or is it open?

No speed breakers outside the towns.
[*]Any specific sections that slowed you down? A previous post did talk about a not very easy 10 kms stretch @ TN/KL border
Yes, this part is in bad condition.

In the ghats if you encounter a slow moving bus infront of you, it can take some time to overtake it. Infact I lost some time between salem and bangalore with a very large, heavily loaded truck was infront of me in one of the diversions(single lane).

[jmvivek]

My cousin is going for a holiday during the pooja holidays to Munnar. He had asked me to help me with routes that he can take , considering the fact that he is driving a honda city , with a lady and 9 year old child on board.

These are the planned routes,friends please help us decode on the same.

Route1: start at 5 am since the route closes at 6 pm before Munnar
Bangalore ,Krishnagiri,Salem,Coimbatore ,Pollachi bypass (before Palaghat),

udmalpet,marayoor (40Km forest),Chinnar,Munnar


Route2:
Bangalore,Krishnagiri,Salem,Coimbatore,Pollachi bypass (before Palaghat),udmalpeth,sempatti,Theni,Munnar (right)


Route3: not scenic but full NH
Bangalore,Krishnagiri,Salem,Naamakkal,Karur,Dindug al (service road take left ),Kodai (2nd flyover right)
,vatalagundu,Periyamkulam,Theni,Munnar



Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by jmvivek

My cousin is going for a holiday during the pooja holidays to Munnar. He had asked me to help me with routes that he can take , considering the fact that he is driving a honda city , with a lady and 9 year old child on board.

You find every thing here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...-route-36.html

Two routes to follow :

While going :

Bangalore-Salem-Dindigul-Kodairoad-Batlagundu-Andipatti-Theni bypass-Bodi Munnar (Chinnakanal)

While coming back :

Munnar-Udumalpet-Dharapuram-Kangeyam-Perundurai-Salem-Bangalore

Dont need to go to Pollachi/Coimbattore.

[pariwar]

After some more planning and my love for the Kanakapura - Chamarajnagar - Sathyamangalam segment, I have decided to take the following routing:

NH 209 upto Sathyamangalam
SH 15 - Sathy - Perundurai (Can somebody throw some light on the road conditions of this segment??)
Kangeyam - Dharapuram - Udumulpettai - Munnar

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pariwar

After some more planning and my love for the Kanakapura - Chamarajnagar - Sathyamangalam segment, I have decided to take the following routing:

NH 209 upto Sathyamangalam
SH 15 - Sathy - Perundurai (Can somebody throw some light on the road conditions of this segment??)
Kangeyam - Dharapuram - Udumulpettai - Munnar

A better option would be to come all the way on Kanakapura till Annur.
Divert here on to SH for Karanapettai (which is on Sulur-Palldam road). Go to Palladam and at Palladam, there is a direct SH (which is good) to Udumalpettai.

I am told Annur-Karanampettai is narrow road. Please confirm with others. This would be about 30km stretch in total.

But when on this side, please dont turn Avinashi or Tiruppur. You will end up spending much more time.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ampere

A better option would be to come all the way on Kanakapura till Annur.
Divert here on to SH for Karanapettai (which is on Sulur-Palldam road). Go to Palladam and at Palladam, there is a direct SH (which is good) to Udumalpettai.

I am told Annur-Karanampettai is narrow road. Please confirm with others. This would be about 30km stretch in total.

I've travelled on this road from Annur till Karumathampatti (about 18 kms) and the road condition was very good even though slightly narrow. If the rest of the road (about 10 kms) is in similar condition, this should be a good option - traffic is also very sparse on this road.

In fact I'm contemplating taking the same road (SH165) upto KamanaickenPalayam which is another 10 kms further (SH165 joins the Palladam-Pollachi SH here) on my next trip to Cochin in order to avoid the CBE-Palghat-Trichur mess.

[pariwar]

Originally Posted by ampere

A better option would be to come all the way on Kanakapura till Annur.
Divert here on to SH for Karanapettai (which is on Sulur-Palldam road). Go to Palladam and at Palladam, there is a direct SH (which is good) to Udumalpettai. .

Thanks. Point taken, makes more sense than the slightly round about way that I had planned! I am comfortable with reaching Annur in any case!

[quote=ampere;2926344]I am told Annur-Karanampettai is narrow road. Please confirm with others. This would be about 30km stretch in total. /QUOTE]

Annur - Karumathapetti (NH intersection) - though I have not traveled on this route as yet, it has been recommended by other bhpians (i think kala) who take this route to get back to the NH. Karumathampetti to Karanampettai is the enigma that is left and it seems to be approx 11 kms. Then on it is the Trichy highway......

Thanks once again, looks like I will freeze my routing with this.

[luvurride]

When are you traveling? I heard that the borders are cordoned for travel both ways in Dimbam ghats owing to river sharing issue and hence is volatile. Please verify before you travel. Hosur will be the safe bet to cross borders.

[pariwar]

Hi!

I am planning to take a breakfast break @ Palladam. Are there any decent restaurants with clean/neat cloakroom facilities for women?

The alternate is to go further to Udumalpettai for the same. Any pointers??

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Hi!

I am planning to take a breakfast break @ Palladam. Are there any decent restaurants with clean/neat cloakroom facilities for women?

The alternate is to go further to Udumalpettai for the same. Any pointers??

I don't know about good restaurants in Palladam but here are couple of other restaurants that I've tried:
1. Sri Annalakshmi at Perundurai on the NH47 itself, this is close to the turn off to get into Perundurai town, more details here

2. In Udumalaipettai we stopped at a very good restaurant near the bus stop (but we entered udumalaipettai from Coimbatore-Pollachi route so this was on the left side about 1.5 Km before the right turn off to Munnar/Chinnar).
Hope this helps.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Hi!

I am planning to take a breakfast break @ Palladam. Are there any decent restaurants with clean/neat cloakroom facilities for women?

The alternate is to go further to Udumalpettai for the same. Any pointers??

Originally Posted by NPV

2. In Udumalaipettai we stopped at a very good restaurant near the bus stop (but we entered udumalaipettai from Coimbatore-Pollachi route so this was on the left side about 1.5 Km before the right turn off to Munnar/Chinnar).
Hope this helps.

He plans to drive via Kanakpura-Annur-Palladam-Udumalpet.
Hence no Perundurai for him !

Not aware of major places in Palladam or Udumalpet.
(Food may be good, but again no idea of toilet facilities)

Are there any good ones in Sathy? That may be a better place to stop if there are any.

[pariwar]

Originally Posted by NPV

Sri Annalakshmi at Perundurai

Thanks, have tried this and it is an excellent stopover with really clean toilets. However, I will be on the route Annur - Karumathampetty - Karanampettai and Annalakshmi is a big deviation which I will not be able to afford from a time perspective

2. In Udumalaipettai we stopped at a very good restaurant near the bus stop

Will try this out, ask somebody when closer. On a straight drive from BLR to Udumalpet, the women would need a clean place!!

Originally Posted by ampere

Are there any good ones in Sathy? That may be a better place to stop if there are any.

Thanks Ampere. Sathy (ETA 0830 hrs) would be a bit early to tank up the stomach. Reason being that we are meeting with some folks at Karimutti Forest Station inside Chinnar @ 1230 hrs, for a trek to Thoovanam Water Falls. Since we intend to complete the trek along with Marayoor sightseeing before reaching Munnar (ETA 1700 hrs), the later (than Sathy!!) that we fuel ourselves, the better. ETA Palladam is 1000 hrs and Udumalpet is 1100 hrs.

Note from the Team-BHP Support: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another on the same thread.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Will try this out, ask somebody when closer. On a straight drive from BLR to Udumalpet, the women would need a clean place!!

Regarding the restaurant in udumalaipettai I mentioned in the ealier post - this place had good, clean toilets as well. In fact the facilities were really good as there was also a mini wedding hall/party hall on the upper floor.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by pariwar

Hi!

I am planning to take a breakfast break @ Palladam. Are there any decent restaurants with clean/neat cloakroom facilities for women?

The alternate is to go further to Udumalpettai for the same. Any pointers??

Yes, there is one opposite to the Palladam bus stand on the main road to your right. Don't quite remember the name, but could be of 'Arya Bhavan' sorts. It is pretty decent with toilet facilities.