[VindyWheels]

Thank you Binand! Yes, we can opt for the usual route as well, thought the Perambra route could be less stressful, with minimal truck and other large vehicle traffic.

Originally Posted by binand

Been a while since I have taken this road. My last update is:
If you have the choice, I'd suggest taking the Mananthavady-Kalpetta-Thamarassery-Calicut route. Nearly the same distance, but much better roads.

[SBR]

Hi,

Staying in Calicut on Indira Gandhi road.

My onward journey due to work was Blore - Palakkad - Calicut.

Will be returning to Bangalore on Thursday - 23 Feb. Plan to start around 9:30 am after a good sleep.

Driving solo in a Ritz.

What is the best route to be taken.

[kala]

Originally Posted by SBR

Hi,

Staying in Calicut on Indira Gandhi road.

My onward journey due to work was Blore - Palakkad - Calicut.

Will be returning to Bangalore on Thursday - 23 Feb. Plan to start around 9:30 am after a good sleep.

Driving solo in a Ritz.

What is the best route to be taken.

The standard NH212 route via Kalpetta-Sulthan Bathery-Gundlupet-Mysore-Mandya should be good. The highways shouldn't have too much of traffic - especially after Kalpetta (Could be higher on SH17 also, but it should be less than the weekend traffic) .

In fact your major problems would probably be after reaching the outskirts of Bangalore since you would be arriving here during the peak hour. Starting a couple of hours early may help in avoiding that.

[Kiterunner]

Hi All,

Have to travel to Ponnani early next month (4th, Saturday morning - 6AM). Thinking of two routes:

1) Bangalore -Mandya-Mysore-Nanjangud -Gudlupet-Muthanga-S.Batherry-Kalpetta-Calicut-Tirur-Chamravattom-Ponnani

2) Bangalore -Salem -Coimbatore-Palakkad-Pattambi-Edappal-Ponnani. This route has too many tolls for my liking.

Which route would be ideal considering that I am driving with my wife and 1 year old kid?
Currently fixed on route 1 mainly for the scenic roads and to avoid tolls. Will the jungle be safe?


Any suggestions will be welcome.

Regards,
Anup

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Kiterunner

2) Bangalore -Salem -Coimbatore-Palakkad-Pattambi-Edappal-Ponnani. This route has too many tolls for my liking.

Which route would be ideal considering that I am driving with my wife and 1 year old kid?

With a 1 year child on board, I'd suggest route #2 because you get 4 laned roads upto Palakkad, forget the tolls, it's well worth it and give the scenic drive a miss!

The Mysore-Gundlupet-Calicut is going to be taxing because the forest road has too many speed breakers and the entire stretch is 2 laned after Gundlupet, plus Thamarassery ghat road. Moreover, if you start late you have to endure the painful Bangalore-Mysore stretch.

Consider starting early, say 5am or thereabouts and you will be near Palakkad by 12pm or so.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Kiterunner

Hi All,

Have to travel to Ponnani early next month (4th, Saturday morning - 6AM). Thinking of two routes:

1) Bangalore -Mandya-Mysore-Nanjangud -Gudlupet-Muthanga-S.Batherry-Kalpetta-Calicut-Tirur-Chamravattom-Ponnani

2) Bangalore -Salem -Coimbatore-Palakkad-Pattambi-Edappal-Ponnani. This route has too many tolls for my liking.

Which route would be ideal considering that I am driving with my wife and 1 year old kid?
Currently fixed on route 1 mainly for the scenic roads and to avoid tolls. Will the jungle be safe?

I would say route 2. Leave a little earlier to ensure you don't get stuck too much at tolls. Route 1 is definitely going to take you longer. I drive to Tirur frequently and even to Tirur, I find the Salem-Palakkad route to be roughly 20-30 minutes faster. Considering you need to go another ~45 min further from Tirur, the difference will be higher.

The forest is very dry and hot. So there will not be anything scenic about it. In addition your kid will be more comfortable on the flat 4 lane highway compared to the twisties of Wayanad.

Even if you are considering route 1, I feel Gundlepet-Gudalur-Nilambur-Wandoor-Pandikkad-Valanchery-Kuttipuram-Ponnani may be a better option.

[Kiterunner]

Originally Posted by NPV

With a 1 year child on board, I'd suggest route #2 because you get 4 laned roads upto Palakkad, forget the tolls, it's well worth it and give the scenic drive a miss!

Consider starting early, say 5am or thereabouts and you will be near Palakkad by 12pm or so.

Thank you for the valuable suggestion. Will fix on route 2. I really hope we can start early. I had told my wife that we are starting at 5 so that she will be ready by at least 6. Now I have to tell her that we are starting by 4

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I would say route 2.

Even if you are considering route 1, I feel Gundlepet-Gudalur-Nilambur-Wandoor-Pandikkad-Valanchery-Kuttipuram-Ponnani may be a better option.

Thank you for the valuable suggestion. I had taken route 3 few years back while traveling to Perinthalmanna. At that time, the road conditions were not great near Gudalur. Hopefully, they are better now. As of now, will stick to route 2.

Regards,
Anup

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by Kiterunner

Hi All,

Have to travel to Ponnani early next month (4th, Saturday morning - 6AM). Thinking of two routes:

1) Bangalore -Mandya-Mysore-Nanjangud -Gudlupet-Muthanga-S.Batherry-Kalpetta-Calicut-Tirur-Chamravattom-Ponnani

2) Bangalore -Salem -Coimbatore-Palakkad-Pattambi-Edappal-Ponnani. This route has too many tolls for my liking.

Which route would be ideal considering that I am driving with my wife and 1 year old kid?
Currently fixed on route 1 mainly for the scenic roads and to avoid tolls. Will the jungle be safe?


Any suggestions will be welcome.

Regards,
Anup

The shortest route would be

Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud -Gudlupet - Mudumalai -Gudalur - Nilambur - Valanchery - Kuttipuram - Ponnani

https://goo.gl/maps/cUVSFANL1rz

[vinuchel]

Hi am planning a drive from Trichur to Kukke Subramanya.
Route planned is Trichur-Calicut-Thamarassery-Kalpetta-mananthavady-Kutta-virajpet-sullia
It's a bit longer but me and wife plan to enjoy the scenery (day time drive, car : Tiago)
What's the present condition of roads?

[arjithin]

I drove to CLT on 05th night. Started from Bellandur at 4 PM, reached Columbia Asia signal at 7 PM and Gundlupet by 8:10 PM. Had dinner from Gundlupet and started by 8:35 PM, reached CLT around 11:45 PM after a 25 minute traffic block at Muthanga checkpost.

I narrowly escaped from a major accident somewhere between Mysore and Nanjanagudu. The road between Mysore and Nanjanagudu is 4 lane now, but there is a culvert where the road is only 1 lane wide and the outer lane disappears without any warning (both sides of the road).
It started raining once we crossed Mysore and I was doing around 60 kmph on this road, there was a lorry on right lane and I was overtaking it when I realized that there is NO road infront of me but a concrete culvert. Since the Lorry was on right, I have only one option to brake hard and my car stopped with just 1 feet (literally) to spare.

Thanks to my stars and the brand new Yoko earth tires !!

So be aware of the three points of interests between Mysore and Nanjanagudu.

1. The Culvert I mentioned above
2. 100 meter of unpaved road close to 1 above, appears all of a sudden
2. Similarly the road becomes 2 lane to one lane in one more place, where waterlines go above the road.

Sorry, I dont have exact coordinates of these three, will capture it on my return next week.

[arjithin]

KANAKAPURA RD WIDENING BEGINS

As per plans, the road from NICE junctions to the town of Kanakapura will have four lanes. From there on till the border with Tamil Nadu via Malavalli, Kollegal and Chamarajanagar, it will be two-lanes.

The NHAI had said that it will be inviting tenders for the road work shortly which can now be commenced.

It will cover a distance of 170 kilometres in Karnataka. If the state highway between Malavalli and Mysuru is improved by the State government, this road can become a good alternative to the existing highway between the city and Mysuru.

[sandsun7]

Originally Posted by arjithin

KANAKAPURA RD WIDENING BEGINS

There is already some widening exercise on in full swing right from NICE junction up to Harohalli. Wonder why that was necessary when it was to be upgraded to 4 lanes anyways.

[A350XWB]

I drove to Kozhikkode and back from Bangalore this weekend (6th May to CLT and back on 9th May). Started from my home on Bannerghatta road @03:00 and reached the forest check-post by 05:50, after a short break just after Gundlupet. There was some rush, once the gate opened; mainly trucks. Reached my in-laws' house at Calicut University by 09:00. Realized that the actual distance could be covered in 5.5h, if I'd not encountered traffic after Kundamangalam and bypass (which is narrow at many places due to construction of over bridges). Was driving solo.
Coming back, my 9yr old son was with me and we started @03:50 and reached Muthanga check-post by 06:10. We reached back in Bangalore @10:10. Just after Mandya, there was a huge traffic of autos and Tata Aces carrying women folk, probably to some factory. This considerably slowed down the progress as none of them were ready to yield, driving all over the road.

Originally Posted by arjithin

I narrowly escaped from a major accident somewhere between Mysore and Nanjanagudu. The road between Mysore and Nanjanagudu is 4 lane now, but there is a culvert where the road is only 1 lane wide and the outer lane disappears without any warning (both sides of the road).

I don't know whether you are mentioning the same, but driving towards BLR, just after Nanjangud, the bridge is also having this issue. As you straighten out after the right hander, you realize that the right lane no more exist and you face a stone wall. Don't know what is the purpose of that, but the road widens again as you pass this.
There is also a patch, which is not yet completed, which is just after Nanjangud, going towards Gundlupet. This can be scary if you are carrying good speed as the road suddenly drops and you feel a definite thump.

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by A350XWB

I don't know whether you are mentioning the same, but driving towards BLR, just after Nanjangud, the bridge is also having this issue. As you straighten out after the right hander, you realize that the right lane no more exist and you face a stone wall. Don't know what is the purpose of that, but the road widens again as you pass this.

I think this is the item 3 I mentioned

There is also a patch, which is not yet completed, which is just after Nanjangud, going towards Gundlupet. This can be scary if you are carrying good speed as the road suddenly drops and you feel a definite thump.

I think this is the item 2 I mentioned

Just after Mandya, there was a huge traffic of autos and Tata Aces carrying women folk, probably to some factory. This considerably slowed down the progress as none of them were ready to yield, driving all over the road.

I too observed this. Heavily overloaded Tata aces and Autoriskhaws near Mandya just after 6 PM. I counted one Tata Ace was carrying 28 women workers, all of them sitting.

They have even developed a double decker Ace to carry more people. See below picture. Base wooden planks can be removed after the use to carry regular loads.

[Gokrish]

Hello BHPians, I am planning to go to Virajpet on Tuesday from Chennai by Road. I am planning to start at 3 am from chennai and want to know best route and restaurant options.My final destination is Club Mahindra at Virajpet.