[VindyWheels]

Hi,

Thank You Dhanush, Kala and Suhas.

Arji, I will be starting from Kalena Agrahara in Bannerghatta road. We will hit Nice road exit of Mysore road by 3:45am. Need to reach Calicut by 11:00 and board the train for Kochi by 1:40pm.

I think it will be past 7:00 by the time we hit the checkpost, hopefully the "overnighters" would have clearedup by then

Cheers

Vindy

[kala]

Originally Posted by arjithin

thanks for the confirmation. Where exactly they block the traffic? Immediately after we turn right at Gundlupet?

No it is about 10 or 12 kms past that right turn - at the forest dept. checkpost at the entrance to the WLS.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

We will hit Nice road exit of Mysore road by 3:45am. Need to reach Calicut by 11:00 and board the train for Kochi by 1:40pm.

I think it will be past 7:00 by the time we hit the checkpost, hopefully the "overnighters" would have clearedup by then

If you are able to reach Kengeri- Mysore road exit of NICE road by 3:45 AM you can easily reach Calicut before 11:00. You can reach Mysore before 6:00AM, reach Gundelpet before 7:00. Bathery around 8:00 AM and be in Calicut by 10:30. Be on look out for speed breakers every KM or so on Bangalore-Mysore road more so after Channapatana.
I guess you will be reaching Muthanga around the same time overnighters reach there. However since your travel is after Christmas you should not be having much issues due to less truck traffic. However based on your luck or rather lack of that you may get stuck and in that case it usually takes anything between 10- 45 mins to wriggle out of that. Once out of Muthanga apart from usual town traffic in Kalpetta, Batthery and all you wont be encountering any block.

[VindyWheels]

Hi Suhas,

Was just wondering if reaching the checkpost by 5:45 will help me get ahead in the que and thereby avoid the jam at Muthanga.

Worth a try? Starting at 2:30am would be OK for that? Is the CCD open 24/7?

Thank You again

Vindy

[mpksuhas]

I too had once thought the same and planned accordingly, however before I could execute it a friend suggested against. As per him on reaching checkpost you would find anywhere between 20-30 vehicles waiting in queue after reaching there at night. So you can not be the first one to get in. Practical alternative is to plan your trip in a way that you reach checkpost around 6:00 to 6:20. This way you can overtake the trucks before they reach Muthanga and create a mess.

Yes, CCD's at Maddur are open 24hrs. Not sure of the one just before Gundelpet though. With a 3:30 AM start from Murgeshpalaya and taking KR market- Kengeri route I usually reach Gundelpet before 7:00 with a 10 min break at any CCD for tea. Depending on where you start from Bangalore if you able to cross NICE road exit near Kengeri by around 3:30 AM I guess you wont be having any issues. Also, I drive an Alto and only rarely go above 90 KMPH on Mysore road. You can plan your drive based on that.

[rudraksh2005]

Very helpful thread- thanks to all who contributed.
I shall be making my first road trip with wife and two kids (2 and 7 years) from Bangalore to Calicut for christmas. I have two options - either i leave on 22nd afternoon or evening and stop overnight at a hotel or something near gundalpet and then go through to calicut next morning.
Other option is to leave home( E city) early 23rd morning and drive through to Calicut to be there by afternoon or evening.
Given that kids can be cranky on long drives and i am the only one driving, can you suggest which would be the better plan and which route should i take- via mysore i presume?
Second question- i need to be back by 31st morning ie Monday. When do i need to leave calicut to make it across the forest checkpoint in time.
Many thanks

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by rudraksh2005

I have two options - either i leave on 22nd afternoon or evening and stop overnight at a hotel or something near gundalpet and then go through to calicut next morning.
Other option is to leave home( E city) early 23rd morning and drive through to Calicut to be there by afternoon or evening.
Given that kids can be cranky on long drives and i am the only one driving, can you suggest which would be the better plan and which route should i take- via mysore i presume?
Second question- i need to be back by 31st morning ie Monday. When do i need to leave calicut to make it across the forest checkpoint in time.
Many thanks

I would suggest you to start on 23rd morning. If its early morning, take Mysore road else go through Kanakpura road. Personally, I don't think you need an overnight stay for Bangalore-Calicut route.

While return, try to start early and reach Bangalore by night to avoid night travel through forest/Kanakpura road with kids.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by rudraksh2005

Very helpful thread- thanks to all who contributed.
I shall be making my first road trip with wife and two kids (2 and 7 years) from Bangalore to Calicut for christmas. I have two options - either i leave on 22nd afternoon or evening and stop overnight at a hotel or something near gundalpet and then go through to calicut next morning.
Other option is to leave home( E city) early 23rd morning and drive through to Calicut to be there by afternoon or evening.
Given that kids can be cranky on long drives and i am the only one driving, can you suggest which would be the better plan and which route should i take- via mysore i presume?
Second question- i need to be back by 31st morning ie Monday. When do i need to leave calicut to make it across the forest checkpoint in time.
Many thanks

Definitely better to start 23rd Morning. It does not make much sense to break the journey into 2 as it is just a 7-8 hour drive unless u have a specific reason to stop. Standard route would be E-city-NICE Road- Mysore Road Exit- Mysore- Gundlepet-Bathery- Calicut. I usually start at 4-4.30am-Make a stop for 30-45min at the CCD on the outskirts of Gundlepet by around 8am and normally reach Calicut between 12 and 1pm. If you need an additional stop, you can stop at Woodlands in Kalpetta.

Potential Issues

• Traffic Jam at Muthanga checkpost. Becoming a regular affair. And higher probability of a jam since it is just before Christmas
• Very bad road conditions between Bathery and Kalpetta. There are discussions on the earlier pages on alternative routes to bypass this stretch. But if it is your first drive on this route, better to stick to the standard route.

While returning, my approach is to leave Calicut early (6am) and reach Bangalore by 3-4pm. Leaving late means that you cross Mysore in the evening and driving Mysore Bangalore towards late evening/night during a holiday season will be a nightmare. Last 2 times I took the Kanakpura route while returning. That is also an option. But again not recommended for night driving.

[rudraksh2005]

very clear and helpful instructions- many thanks to coolclouds and rajeevraj.
i shall take your advice and do the early start on 23rd. unfortunately i will probably need to leave cali late on 30th because its my 40th and i will be expected to stay for a bit!!

[kala]

Originally Posted by rudraksh2005

very clear and helpful instructions- many thanks to coolclouds and rajeevraj.
i shall take your advice and do the early start on 23rd. unfortunately i will probably need to leave cali late on 30th because its my 40th and i will be expected to stay for a bit!!

If you have to start only in the afternoon / evening from Calicut, make sure you start by at least 4:30 PM, and certainly not later than 5 PM because you can sometimes get stuck in traffic jams at 2 points on the way - the first being on the ghats and the second the Muthanga checkpost. So you need to leave adequate margins to be able to get into the forest checkpost before 9PM.

Even though Rajeevraj was of the opinion that one should avoid the Kanakapura route for night driving, my experience has been otherwise. I find thr NH209 route to be way better and faster especially on Sunday evenings / night basically because SH17 tends to be absolutely clogged during those hours. The only negative about coming that way is the paucity of good restaurants, so you should plan in advance about where you're going to have your dinner. (On my drives I normally reach Bangalore by 9:30 / 10PM and have dinner after i reach here)

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by kala

Even though Rajeevraj was of the opinion that one should avoid the Kanakapura route for night driving, my experience has been otherwise. I find thr NH209 route to be way better and faster especially on Sunday evenings / night basically because SH17 tends to be absolutely clogged during those hour

Agree. I guess my bias against the route at night was only related to the lack of stopping points. From a driving comfort and time perspective, it is definitely better than the Mysore route.

On a related note: I am also planning to drive down on 22nd morning to Calicut. Few things I am worried out.

• Potential jam at Muthanga: Considering that this will be the weekend prior to christmas and peak sabarimala season time expecting quite a bit of traffic at Muthanga. On my last 3 trips I have got stuck there around 9am in the morning for 30min-1.5 hrs
• The bad roads between the border to Kalpetta
• Start of holiday week for a lot of people (Half the non keralites I know are also headed to Kerala for vacation), Traffic is going to be on the higher side . although I start pretty early, there will be an increase in traffic due to this.

Based on this I was wondering whether it is worth exploring one of the alternative routes mentioned below:

Bangalore-Gundlepet-Bathery- Vaduvanchal-Meppadi-Chundale-Vythiri-Calicut (avoids the bad stretch and also Kalpetta town. Still need to pass through Muthanga)
Bangalore-Gundlepet-Gudalur-Nilambur-Edavanna- Areekode-Kondotty-Calicut (Avoids bad roads as well as Muthanga checkpost. Have taken this route once in a taxi)
Bangalore-Gundlepet-Gudalur-Meppadi-Chundale-Vythiri-Calicut (Probably not an ideal option. Just listing it anyways)

Bangalore-Hunsur-kutta-Tholpetty-Manathavady-Nalam mile-Tharuvana-Padinjharethara-Pozhuthana-Vythiri-Kozhikode (Found this in the recent suggestions by members. Main negative I see is the potential lack of stopping points (good restrooms mainly) after leaving the Mysore Highway

Any thoughts/suggestions?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Based on this I was wondering whether it is worth exploring one of the alternative routes mentioned below:
...
Any thoughts/suggestions?

If you're starting early from Bangalore, most straight forward route with options for stops (restrooms, food options, etc) is the Bathery route.
As you already know, the bad stretch upto Muttil/Kalpetta can be avoided by deviating towards Vaduvanchal, Chundale.
If you leave early you can do Bangalore-Mysore-Gundlupet-Bathery via Mysore Road or bypass Mysore by going via Kanakapura-Chamrajanagar-Gundlupet-Bathery (this is the more stress free, scenic route option).

The Gudalur-Nilambur option is fine too but may not save you time because of narrow roads and traffic.

[kala]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Based on this I was wondering whether it is worth exploring one of the alternative routes mentioned below:

Bangalore-Gundlepet-Bathery- Vaduvanchal-Meppadi-Chundale-Vythiri-Calicut (avoids the bad stretch and also Kalpetta town. Still need to pass through Muthanga)
Bangalore-Gundlepet-Gudalur-Nilambur-Edavanna- Areekode-Kondotty-Calicut (Avoids bad roads as well as Muthanga checkpost. Have taken this route once in a taxi)
Bangalore-Gundlepet-Gudalur-Meppadi-Chundale-Vythiri-Calicut (Probably not an ideal option. Just listing it anyways)

Considering the bad roads from Kerala border to Kalpetta and the potential block at Muthanga, my preference would be for your second option - via Nilambur-Areecode. The only negative about this route is the Kerala traffic from Vazhikkadavu onwards (as NPV mentioned). Distance wise, this would be the shortest as well if you plan to bypass Kalpetta via Vaduvanchal on route 1.

Bangalore-Hunsur-kutta-Tholpetty-Manathavady-Nalam mile-Tharuvana-Padinjharethara-Pozhuthana-Vythiri-Kozhikode (Found this in the recent suggestions by members. Main negative I see is the potential lack of stopping points (good restrooms mainly) after leaving the Mysore Highway

I have taken this route a few times, but the Mananthavady Vythiri road hasn't been in the best of condition at most times (at least till Padinjarethara) and it is quite narrow and winding thereafter (though very scenic). So difficult to see you saving time by taking this route.

[Rajeevraj]

Finally took the standard route. Good decision since the bad stretches between bathery and kalpetta have almost been completely patched and relaid in most stretches. Only a 4 km stretch after border has potholes since the patching has not reached here yet.

For a change did not get stuck at muthanga also.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Finally took the standard route. Good decision since the bad stretches between bathery and kalpetta have almost been completely patched and relaid in most stretches. Only a 4 km stretch after border has potholes since the patching has not reached here yet.

For a change did not get stuck at muthanga also.

Thanks for the update. When did you start and when did you reach Muthanga?