[krish11]

Originally Posted by binand

Also remember that amenities are scarce or nonexistent between Mysore and Mananthavady.

Thanks. We plan to travel on 30th Apr (Thu). But I just came to know about a Countrywide Transport Strike on Thu. I am hoping this will keep some HTV traffic out - but should I factor in some disturbance/road block within Kerala on account of this strike ?

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by krish11

Planning Blore - Calicut trip over the weekend.

What I could gather from recent posts is that the optimum route (based on current road conditions) is Blore - Mysore Ring Road - Mananthavady Road (SH-33) - Handpost - Bavalli - Mananthavady - Kuttiady - Calicut. Pls advise.

Originally Posted by binand

Spot on, but remember that the Bangalore - Mysore stretch is time-sensitive, particularly since it is a long weekend. A very early start from Bangalore is recommended (4 AM ish).

Also remember that amenities are scarce or nonexistent between Mysore and Mananthavady.

Wouldn't Manathavady-Kalpetta-Calicut be a better option than via Kuttiadi?

The strike is a commercial vehicle strike. I don't think it should impact private vehicles. But frankly with Kerala you never know.

[arjithin]

Went to Kozhikode over the weekend.
Start 9am from Whitefield and reached 6 pm at Kozhikode via Mysore. It was a pain clearing the road widening work.
Return: took ch. Nagar - malavalli route. 4.30 pm start and reached Bangalore by 12 am. I was skeptical taking this route late in the night with my family, but what a peaceful drive it was !!!

[McTurbo]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Return: took ch. Nagar - malavalli route. 4.30 pm start and reached Bangalore by 12 am. I was skeptical taking this route late in the night with my family, but what a peaceful drive it was !!!

Will you recommend this route for day drive? Planning to start at 4 AM tomorrow (1 May) from Bangalore to Kozhikode. Fellow travelers have to catch a train from Kozhikode at 1.30 PM. Suggestions / recommendations?

[binand]

Originally Posted by McTurbo

Will you recommend this route for day drive? Planning to start at 4 AM tomorrow (1 May) from Bangalore to Kozhikode. Fellow travelers have to catch a train from Kozhikode at 1.30 PM. Suggestions / recommendations?

The thing is, if you go via Ch. Nagar then you perforce have to take the Bathery route (unless your destination is easier to reach via Nilambur). If you go via Mysore then you have the option of picking Bathery or Mananthavady. A year or so back this wasn't a problem but now with (a) bridge closure near Kollegal and (b) road widening work on NH212 I prefer to avoid the Bathery route altogether.

The bridge closure is something you need to be aware of; since the route between Malavally and Ch. Nagar is then not the straightforward NH209 - it is via Talakkadu and T. Narasipura and is probably about 10 km or so longer.

Edit: typical times for me are: Bangalore-Ch. Nagar - 3.5 hours; Ch. Nagar-Bathery - 1.5 hours; Bathery-Calicut - 3 hours for a total of 8 hours. This does not count long breaks (I do break for tea very frequently).

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by McTurbo

Will you recommend this route for day drive? Planning to start at 4 AM tomorrow (1 May) from Bangalore to Kozhikode. Fellow travelers have to catch a train from Kozhikode at 1.30 PM. Suggestions / recommendations?

Typically with a 4 am start, I always used to take Mysore-Nanjangud-Gundlepet . But the widening works has made Nanjangud-Gundlepet a pain to drive. Having said that with a 4 am start, you should hit this stretch around 7 am. Since traffic will be low at that time, you should be able to cover it without too much problem.

The Kanakpura-Chamrajnagar route is also perfect for a morning drive. But once thing to make sure is that you have the route (Kanakpura-malavalli-Purigali-Talakkad-T NArsipura-CHamrajnagar-Gundlepet) properly mapped out. There are several routes to reach T narsipura, and some of them are longer/have bad stretches. Also, you only decent stopping option is Nijaguna Residency at Chamrajnagar.

There is a third option, which is my regular default choice now. Bangalore-Mysore-Handpost-Bavalli-Kattikulam-Manathavady-Kalpetta-Calicut.

You can chose based on your comfort. With all options, with a 4am start, you should reach Calicut between 12 and 1PM comfortably


Make sure you start at 4am. If you get delayed, since it is a long weekend, traffic volume will be high and can increase the probability of not reaching Calicut Railway station by 1.30

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by McTurbo

Will you recommend this route for day drive? Planning to start at 4 AM tomorrow (1 May) from Bangalore to Kozhikode. Fellow travelers have to catch a train from Kozhikode at 1.30 PM. Suggestions / recommendations?

It all depends on your comfort with this route. Rajeevraj already mentioned the 3 routes available. If you are new to these routes, stick to Mysore Gundlupet route even though some sections are not good. It may take 30 mts additional time, but you don't need to worry about where to turn, missed turns etc.

The regular travelers in this route look for how to avoid traffic, how to avoid humps etc; that's where all the Alternate routes come in to picture.

If you have a good GPS device whicch can map the routes beforehand, you can try mananthavadi route, but you may take almost the same time as Gundlupet route.

[binand]

Originally Posted by arjithin

If you have a good GPS device whicch can map the routes beforehand, you can try mananthavadi route, but you may take almost the same time as Gundlupet route.

Once you get onto Mananthavady Road at Mysore, it is a straight stretch all the way till Mananthavady (110 km or so; KA SH 33). There are no deviations, turnings etc. so strictly speaking, GPS is not really needed. The road is signposted and there are milestones every km mentioning Bavali or HD Kote if not Mananthavady directly.

Finding the way to Calicut in any of the north Kerala districts is quite easy too - probably because of its economic importance to the region. Most towns typically have an appropriately named Calicut Road.

[kala]

Originally Posted by McTurbo

Will you recommend this route for day drive? Planning to start at 4 AM tomorrow (1 May) from Bangalore to Kozhikode. Fellow travelers have to catch a train from Kozhikode at 1.30 PM. Suggestions / recommendations?

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

The Kanakpura-Chamrajnagar route is also perfect for a morning drive. But once thing to make sure is that you have the route (Kanakpura-malavalli-Purigali-Talakkad-T NArsipura-CHamrajnagar-Gundlepet) properly mapped out. There are several routes to reach T narsipura, and some of them are longer/have bad stretches. Also, you only decent stopping option is Nijaguna Residency at Chamrajnagar.

There is a third option, which is my regular default choice now. Bangalore-Mysore-Handpost-Bavalli-Kattikulam-Manathavady-Kalpetta-Calicut.

Originally Posted by arjithin

If you have a good GPS device whicch can map the routes beforehand, you can try mananthavadi route, but you may take almost the same time as Gundlupet route.

With a 4AM start, the Bavali - Mananthavady route can be a little bit problematic because you'd be in Mysore before breakfast time, and you have zero options after you've passed Mysore till you reach Kattikkulam which is another couple of hours at the bare minimum.

If you have a GPS and can follow a pre-mapped route, the NH209-Talakad-Chamarajnagar-Gundlupet would easily be the ideal one. Don't think Nijaguna Residency is a good option for breakfast when starting that early - they may not be ready with breakfast before 7:30. (My normal timings for NICE road/Kanakapura intersection to Chamarajnagar is 2.5 hours which I think is easily achievable in morning hours even with relaxed driving, so add whatever time it takes you to get from your starting point in Bangalore to NICE road. I think the 3.5 hrs that Binand mentioned is an over estimate whereever in Bangalore you start from).

You should be in Gundlupet by around 7:30AM and you have 2-3 options there for breakfast - CCD, Guruprasad and another one just opposite the bus stand (used to be called Udupi restaurant earlier, but I think I saw a different name there when I passed by last). For all these options you need to take a right turn when you reach Gundlupet (back-track towards Mysore) and go about 1 to 1.5 kms.

P.S. If you have a GPS on your phone, check out the app "Osmand". If you preload the India map as well as the GPX route that you plan to take, Osmand can provide turn-by-turn voice navigation to follow that track without any data connection - I found this works really well (except for the slight irritant that it tends to provide too many directions at times - will ask you to "go slightly left" even on a curve on the road )

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by kala

With a 4AM start,...
Don't think Nijaguna Residency is a good option for breakfast when starting that early - they may not be ready with breakfast before 7:30.

Nijaguna Residency serves breakfast from 6-6:30 onwards. I'd once made the mistake of starting at 3 o'clock and reached Nijaguna at 5:30, only to be asked to wait until 6 for breakfast. We resumed our trip at 6:45, after taking a half-an-hour nap and then having breakfast.

[binand]

Originally Posted by kala

My normal timings for NICE road/Kanakapura intersection to Chamarajnagar is 2.5 hours which I think is easily achievable in morning hours even with relaxed driving, so add whatever time it takes you to get from your starting point in Bangalore to NICE road. I think the 3.5 hrs that Binand mentioned is an over estimate whereever in Bangalore you start from

Mine is a very conservative estimate; I seldom cross 70 kmph and average perhaps a tad shy of 60 kmph. For me, the trip meter reading from my apartment parking to a regular tea stop in Ch. Nagar is 184 km. It takes me about 50 minutes (35 km) to cross NICE Road; and the remaining 150 km I do in about 3 hours with about 30 minutes spent in 3-4 short breaks.

[McTurbo]

Thanks a ton, fellow BHPians. These are great inputs. Appreciate much and I will post my experience as soon as I get a chance. Safe motoring, all.

[arjithin]

From today's Hindu newspaper (print)

[Rajeevraj]

Updated on my Tirur trip in the Kerala thread. Cross posting here for the interest of folks who come to this thread for Calicut/Malappuram related updates

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3699135

Originally Posted by kala

With ...

Was in for a surprise when I reached the Malavalli intersection from the Purigali Road. I recall you had mentioned about some work happening here. So was prepared for that. But found that the entrance to the main road is now completely blocked as part of the work. I reached there from Purigali at around 8PM and found that there was no way to get on to NH 209. There was no one around to ask in that area. Google directed me to turn right along a narrow road and join back on NH 209 (as shown below). Was quite narrow and deserted, but got me back to NH 209 quickly.

[Rajeevraj]

Forgot to mention this earlier. I noticed a new Hotel/Fast food kind of a place that has opened at Kanakpura. This is on the left side, just after exiting Kanakpura when coming towards Bangalore (just after the bridge after main Kanakpura town). Looked like a coffee day kind of joint. I have not noticed it before. So I guess it must be new.

Would be good if anyone driving down that way can do a quick check