[binand]

Originally Posted by kala

In my experience 3.5 hours from NICE road intersection to Gundlupet is easily doable with pretty relaxed driving (I generally do it in around 3 hrs), and from there to the checkpost it takes only about 15 minutes.

It is about 200 km (from NICE Road junction to Gundlupet), doing this in 3 hours - ie, average about 65 kmph - is possible, but not for everyone. Especially with the smaller towns in between going through "evening peak hour traffic" (for example, passing through Yelandur town can at times take a good 15 minutes).

From Gundlupet (NH 212/67 junction) to the forest edge is 18 km. Again, I doubt if it is doable for the average driver in 15 minutes - if you consider the half-dozen or so deadly speed breakers on the stretch.

I consider it well-done if I average 55 kmph.

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

Change in plan, a meeting propped up for tomorrow evening.

Now we are thinking of staying at Nijaguna Residency, Chamarajnagar and start at 5:00am from there. Can start from HSR Layout by 7:00pm.

Is that a good idea? Want to reach Calicut by 10:00am without skipping sleep. Has anyone stayed with family at Nijaguna?

Cheers

VW

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

Change in plan, a meeting propped up for tomorrow evening.

Now we are thinking of staying at Nijaguna Residency, Chamarajnagar and start at 5:00am from there. Can start from HSR Layout by 7:00pm.

Is that a good idea? Want to reach Calicut by 10:00am without skipping sleep. Has anyone stayed with family at Nijaguna?

Cheers

VW

With 7pm why dont you take the mysore road and stay at mysore.more options to stay and a bigger town.you would reach mysore latest by 10.next day you can be at bandipur by the time the cp opens

[VindyWheels]

Hi Rajit,

What is the best stay option in Mysore - Rs2k budget, easy to find and preferably on the way to Calicut.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

With 7pm why dont you take the mysore road and stay at mysore.more options to stay and a bigger town.you would reach mysore latest by 10.next day you can be at bandipur by the time the cp opens

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi Rajit,

What is the best stay option in Mysore - Rs2k budget, easy to find and preferably on the way to Calicut.

You can check upon Mango Suites,Ginger,Fern Residency,sk elegance,varsha enclave (services apt) and United 21.You can google up for the websites.Mysore being a small place its easy from all these places to go towards kozhikode.

[FuelInjector]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi Rajit,

What is the best stay option in Mysore - Rs2k budget, easy to find and preferably on the way to Calicut.

Ramanis residency, dasaprakash, ginger are very good places to stay with family. But for these you would need to block in advance. There are few other places near the ksrtc bus stand. Not sure about e quality of those inns .

[mpksuhas]

VindyWheels : Since this is an extended weekend it may be bit tough to get rooms in Mysore at short notice, do call and confirm before you start else you can end up roaming from one hotel to another in search of room.
Also, if you are able to start around 3.30 AM from Bangalore you can reach Calicut by around 10AM by taking Mysore route. I been doing that route since last couple of years, planning an early morning start tomorrow also.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

VindyWheels : Since this is an extended weekend it may be bit tough to get rooms in Mysore at short notice, do call and confirm before you start else you can end up roaming from one hotel to another in search of room.
Also, if you are able to start around 3.30 AM from Bangalore you can reach Calicut by around 10AM by taking Mysore route. I been doing that route since last couple of years, planning an early morning start tomorrow also.

Hi mpsukhas,

Am driving down to wayanad with my wife and kid tomorrow from Bangalore taking the kanakpura-malavalli-kollegal-c'rajnagar-gundlupet-bathery route. Since you are a veteran, would you recommend this over the mysore route? Priority are good roads and a scenic drive, in that order

Would you also be doing that route tomorrow? Any chance of us doing a mini convoy?!

regards
Supratik

[binand]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Am driving down to wayanad with my wife and kid tomorrow from Bangalore taking the kanakpura-malavalli-kollegal-c'rajnagar-gundlupet-bathery route. Since you are a veteran, would you recommend this over the mysore route? Priority are good roads and a scenic drive, in that order

I do. :-) Good scenery, good roads, hardly any traffic and best of all - no speedbreakers!

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Hi mpsukhas,
would you recommend this over the mysore route? Priority are good roads and a scenic drive, in that order

As the bigger veteran binand mentioned Chamarajnagar route is stress free drive since there are no speed breakers. It is definitely more scenic too, but at 3 AM in morning only scenery you will be able to see will be the road illuminated by your head lamps .
However for morning drives I usually take Mysore route since I limit my break to one - the COCO BPCL near Channapatana, use this for tanking up the car and bio break. On NH 209 this is an issue, especially at that time.

[hothatchaway]

Binand and Suhaas,

Would you recommend taking SH 66 from Gundlupet and driving through Bandipur or should I stick to 212? Priority is again good roads and scenic drives.

My destination is Padivayal in Vaduvanchal

regards

[kala]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Would you recommend taking SH 66 from Gundlupet and driving through Bandipur or should I stick to 212? Priority is again good roads and scenic drives.

My destination is Padivayal in Vaduvanchal

SH66 would probably provide you with a better chance of wildlife sightings, and the drive from Gudalur to Vaduvanchal is very scenic as well. But roads are somewhat flaky and potholed on the TN side of the forest.

NH212 on the other hand is way better in terms of road surface. There are a lot of speedbreakers in the forest stretch on the Karnataka side, keep a watch for these since some which are unmarked. (Same is the case even with the SH66 route - there are speedbreakers on the KA side as well as TN side). Also there are 3 places where some old speed breakers were removed leaving behind trenches right across the road and haven't been filled in for almost 5-6 months now, these are particularly difficult to spot, so drive slow (which would be the advice even otherwise when driving on forest steretches).

Other than this, the road is in excellent condition.

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by kala

SH66 would probably provide you with a better chance of wildlife sightings, and the drive from Gudalur to Vaduvanchal is very scenic as well. But roads are somewhat flaky and potholed on the TN side of the forest.
Other than this, the road is in excellent condition.

Thanks Kala, if we take SH66 can u pls provide some directions after we cross the forest and arrive at Gudalur, how to get to Vaduvanchal from Gudalur? The precise destination is Glenora Homestay, Padivayal, Vaduvanchal.

Thanks

[kala]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Thanks Kala, if we take SH66 can u pls provide some directions after we cross the forest and arrive at Gudalur, how to get to Vaduvanchal from Gudalur? The precise destination is Glenora Homestay, Padivayal, Vaduvanchal.

At Gudalur town, skip the first right turn towards Sulthan Batheri (it's an acute turn) go about 200 meters further and you'll come to a largish junction with a wide road going to the right. (I think the destinations are clearly marked on a board - Straight to Ooty and Right to Calicut). Take the right turn towards Calicut, this road passes Nadugani, Pandalur and Cherambadi and reaches Vaduvanchal junction. (About 45 kms).

I'm not sure about where Glenora is, but Padivayal is about 2 or 3 kms further towards Meppady/Calicut from Vaduvanchal. (The road forks into 2 at Vaduvanchal - the left fork towards Meppady/Calicut and the right fork goes to Sulthan Bathery via Kolagappara)

P.S. The last sentence in the portions of my message that you quoted (about the road being in excellent condition otherwise) was about the NH212 route. I wouldn't really call SH66 as excellent, but it is pretty decent nevertheless.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by FuelInjector

Am planning to leave by 5am on 15th Aug. Getting my kid to wake up is a lesser worry
as he is game for drives (thankfully) . Shall take this route proposed by you this time.

We took the NH209 route on our last visit to Calicut, nice scenic route and maniacs, speed bumps on Mysore road are avoided. Also this route completely bypasses Mysore so you can get to Gundlupet in almost same time. We stopped at Nijaguna Residency Chamarajanagar for breakfast. Drive safe and enjoy your trip! Reach out if you need more information.