[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Considering we will be reaching Columbia Jn by 6:00 pm and the traffic conditions, what is best option to cross Mysore and proceed towards Muthanga? If going thru City is the best option, pls give detailed directions and landmarks.

During day time its easy to cross Mysore with many sign boards.
But at night, I am not sure. Missing one ways etc can happen.

But still going through the city is the best.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

We are driving down to Calicut tomorrow and returning on Sunday. Crossing Mysore has always been an issue for me. I have tried "left turn bypass" at Columbia Jn once, but drive thru the city is supposed to be shorter right?
Considering we will be reaching Columbia Jn by 6:00 pm and the traffic conditions, what is best option to cross Mysore and proceed towards Muthanga? If going thru City is the best option, pls give detailed directions and landmarks.

Thank You

VW

Reaching Mysore around 6 PM is a bit too tight if you are taking any break before crossing the forest road on NH-212. On a normal day, you can be there in around 2 hours from Columbia Jn but it would be better to have a slack of more than an hour (Mysore->Nanjangud is a bit unpredictable at times, esp. where there is a barricaded police checkpost and also the railway crossing just before Nanjangud) when you are trying to beat the 9PM deadline when the forest gate closes.

To cross Mysore through city if you are not familiar on the exact route to take, there are 2 options:
1) At Columbia Jn. signal, start following a KSRTC bus till the bus-stand. You will have a KSRTC almost every minute entering Mysore at this junction. When the bus enters the stand, just stop aside and ask anyone on Ooty (or Nanjangud) road. This is simply because just at the KSRTC stand, the natural (by walk) route to NH-212 will be just straight but because of one-way, you need to take a left where there is a barricade and no-entry, then take the first major right(almost all vehicles will take right here), then at the next junction, proceed straight(you will get palace on the right immediately after the junction), then immediately after palace, there is a narrow one-way left road where the directions are marked for Ooty and I am not sure if Calicut is also there in this board.
2) At Columbia Jn. signal, go straight towards city. Immediately, you see a broad road towards right which you can ignore. Proceed straight and the road is a bit narrow for the next 1 or 2 kms. Then, it broadens again and you will hit a dead-end to a major road with a divider where you need to take a mandatory left. Next circle, just go straight(right takes you to St. Philomena's church). Again, continue on the divider-separated road till you hit a T-junction with a signal. Till this point from Columbia Jn. signal, you can follow directions to Zoo as well as Palace. At this junction, you need to take left for Zoo and right for Palace/KSRTC/Railway. Take right and at the next junction, take left and immediately enter a divider-separated road. Next junction, continue straight(right side you have KSRTC now) till you hit a junction immediately after KSRTC with a barricade and no-entry sign towards straight. Rest of the route is same as (1) above.

Basic trick is to ask for KSRTC bus stand first and then Ooty (or Nanjangud) road. Option (1) seems silly but it has worked for a few people who were going towards Wayanad/Guruvayur/Calicut when suggested by me

[VindyWheels]

Thank You very much Ajith and Ampere,

That solves the problem while going, now let me prick your brain for the directions when coming back . Will the same set of details work in reverse order?

VW

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Reaching Mysore around 6 PM is a bit too tight...

...Calicut when suggested by me

Note From Team-BP Support-Team: Please avoid quoting large/entire posts as it may inconvenience small-screen/mobile users. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Thank You very much Ajith and Ampere,

That solves the problem while going, now let me prick your brain for the directions when coming back . Will the same set of details work in reverse order?

VW

A big NO as you are sure to get confused if you just try to reverse it !!!

You can come from Nanjangud side towards city. Finally, you end up at the junction with a narrow left road which is also a mandatory one-way. This is parallel/opposite to the narrow left road that you took immediately after palace when you were going away from Mysore. Take that left, at the next circle, take right (first right to nullify the one-way stretch that you just took) and then you have palace on your left. Next circle, continue leftish straight (Bangalore marked prominently at this junction) towards KSRTC(this is the one-way in opposite which you COULD NOT take just after KSRTC when you were going in the reverse direction). After crossing KSRTC on the left, keep straight till the divider-road is over, take right at the next junction. At the next signal, take left(straight to zoo) and continue on the divider-road till the next big circle with petrol pumps on both sides. Take right here to be on the divider-road and continue till the next circle. Here, you need to take right to be on a very wide road(almost 4L) and continue on the road till the dead-end. This road has some speed-breakers and at the end of it, take left and you will have Columbia hospital immediately on your left. In fact, this final stretch of broad road is what I told you to ignore immediately after Columbia hospital junction while going in the reverse direction. While doing Mysore->Bangalore direction, the one-way and no-entry forces you to do this broad road but that would not be a problem at all.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Thank You very much Ajith and Ampere,
That solves the problem while going, now let me prick your brain for the directions when coming back . Will the same set of details work in reverse order?

Vindy,

Though I drive on these roads several times, I dont have an exact idea of the roads.
In most cases while coming back:

1. I dont turn left on the ring road. I just go straight.
2. Then I follow Bangalore sign-boards and most cases I end up using the Lalit Mahal access and then the ring road leading to Columbia hospital.



If it's day time, why not try Gundlupet-Chamarajanagar-Kanakpura-Bangalore?

Also for day time (return maybe) it would be good to come back via Edavanna/Nilambur/Gudalur. Roads are narrow but much better.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Hi,

We are driving down to Calicut tomorrow and returning on Sunday. Crossing Mysore has always been an issue for me. I have tried "left turn bypass" at Columbia Jn once, but drive thru the city is supposed to be shorter right?
Considering we will be reaching Columbia Jn by 6:00 pm and the traffic conditions, what is best option to cross Mysore and proceed towards Muthanga? If going thru City is the best option, pls give detailed directions and landmarks.

Thank You

VW

Yes going through the town is simplest and shortest.at the columbia signal keep going straight and takes you to the palace.from there take the ooty road.well marked.chances of getting lost are almost nil.

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

While going it was a breeze and we crossed Mysore city in a jiffy. Stuck to the directions given by Ajith. But while coming back we lost the way and would have lost around 10 mins.

Ajith, I think we got the second right turn after the ksrtc stand wrong. From the point you enter the big circle I think it should have been straight and not right (both straight and right roads have dividers)

The Thamarassery ghat section has never been this smooth. Great freshly laid road, a joy to twist and climb down. But the section between the ghat and Meenangadi is quite patchy and will give you nice joint workout though you can maintain reasonable speed.

Saw two herds of elephants at Muthanga while coming back which made our day!

We took a break at a new place (new for us, its a 3 year old property) - Hotel Mint Flower just before you enter Bathery on the right side while going. They have a good bakery and restaurant, could be a decent place for family crowd to use the rest room, and the lodging also looked good for a night halt if required.

Was glad to see a CCD also in wayanad (I dont remember the exact location)

Cheers and Thanks to you folks for helping us out

VW

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

While going it was a breeze and we crossed Mysore city in a jiffy. Stuck to the directions given by Ajith. But while coming back we lost the way and would have lost around 10 mins.

Ajith, I think we got the second right turn after the ksrtc stand wrong. From the point you enter the big circle I think it should have been straight and not right (both straight and right roads have dividers)

Great !
On return, I am not too sure where you took wrong turn. But if you are familiar with Mysore roads, you may feel you have not lost time at all since if you took a wrong right turn, next left generally nullifies it :-)
Anyway, what I think is that even after all instructions, when you are driving inside Mysore city, it would be better if you just followed the prominently marked directions to Bangalore in each junction.

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

We took a break at a new place (new for us, its a 3 year old property) - Hotel Mint Flower just before you enter Bathery on the right side while going. They have a good bakery and restaurant, could be a decent place for family crowd to use the rest room, and the lodging also looked good for a night halt if required.

Yes, the hotel is at the right place and also offers good food and decent stay option. And I think their lunch buffet is also good even though I never had it there because on my Calicut trips, I either reach/start around lunchtime and it is invariably just a possible tea-break in Bathery.

[kala]

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Saw two herds of elephants at Muthanga while coming back which made our day!

Looks like the night traffic ban has made elephants less shy of coming near the road. During my trip at the beginning of the month I saw elephants (single and group) at several places, at least 2-3 times while going each way !

Originally Posted by VindyWheels

Was glad to see a CCD also in wayanad (I dont remember the exact location)

I think it is in Lakkidi - a km or two before the Ghat section starts (when going from Blr)

[kala]

Drove from Bangalore to Kalpetta and back last weekend through my regular NH-209 route . Thought I'll update about the road conditions.

Onward journey on Saturday morning :

Bangalore-Malavalli : Road continues to be good. Wanted to have breakfast at Hotel Gokul at Kanakapura, but it wasn't open at 7:15 AM when we passed by.

Malavalli-Kollegal : Good roads till about 5 kms before Kollegal. Patchy roads then for a couple of kms, Looked like they're planning to start some repair work here soon.

Kollegal - Chamarajnagar : The repairwork of the initial 3-4 kms from Kollegal which was patchy earlier is all done now. So good roads all through (except the narrow stretches in 3-4 villages)

Chamarajnagr-Gundlupet : Average to above average. Surface re-laying happening at 4 or 5 places on the way - each about 100 to 200 metres. Can still cover the 34 kms in around 35 minutes.

Took 3 hrs 30 minutes from near Metro on Kanakapura road to Gundlupet including a 30 minute breakfast break at Hotel Nandini, Kollegal (near the bus stand)

Gundlupet-Sulthan Batheri : Good roads till Muthanga except for some small patches near the beginning of the forest. Muthanga to Batheri a little bit rough, but decent.

Bathery-Kalpetta : Average to below average. No major potholes, but the road surace is very rough almost all through. Wonder why they seem to be ignoring this stretch of NH212 all the time. (The surface of the rest of NH212 -Kalpetta to Calicut- is in excellent shape now, I was told).

Covered the total distance of 280 kms in 5 hours - inclusive of the 30 minute breakfast break.

Return journey on Sunday evening was the on the same route, and took the same amount of time with coffee / miscellaneous breaks of around 30 minutes.

Wildlife sightings : None on the onward journey, A lone tusker near Ponkuzhi temple and another group of around 15-20 elephants close to the road just before the Kerala-Karnataka border on the return journey (this was around 5:30 PM).

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by kala

Drove from Bangalore to Kalpetta and back last weekend through my regular NH-209 route . Thought I'll update about the road conditions.

Onward journey on Saturday morning :

Bangalore-Malavalli : Road continues to be good. Wanted to have breakfast at Hotel Gokul at Kanakapura, but it wasn't open at 7:15 AM when we passed by.

Malavalli-Kollegal : Good roads till about 5 kms before Kollegal. Patchy roads then for a couple of kms, Looked like they're planning to start some repair work here soon.

Kollegal - Chamarajnagar : The repairwork of the initial 3-4 kms from Kollegal which was patchy earlier is all done now. So good roads all through (except the narrow stretches in 3-4 villages)

Chamarajnagr-Gundlupet : Average to above average. Surface re-laying happening at 4 or 5 places on the way - each about 100 to 200 metres. Can still cover the 34 kms in around 35 minutes.

Took 3 hrs 30 minutes from near Metro on Kanakapura road to Gundlupet including a 30 minute breakfast break at Hotel Nandini, Kollegal (near the bus stand)

Gundlupet-Sulthan Batheri : Good roads till Muthanga except for some small patches near the beginning of the forest. Muthanga to Batheri a little bit rough, but decent.

Bathery-Kalpetta : Average to below average. No major potholes, but the road surace is very rough almost all through. Wonder why they seem to be ignoring this stretch of NH212 all the time. (The surface of the rest of NH212 -Kalpetta to Calicut- is in excellent shape now, I was told).

Covered the total distance of 280 kms in 5 hours - inclusive of the 30 minute breakfast break.

Return journey on Sunday evening was the on the same route, and took the same amount of time with coffee / miscellaneous breaks of around 30 minutes.

Wildlife sightings : None on the onward journey, A lone tusker near Ponkuzhi temple and another group of around 15-20 elephants close to the road just before the Kerala-Karnataka border on the return journey (this was around 5:30 PM).

I have to explain this route to a friend of mine and could do it comfortably upto the Kollegala entry point from Bangalore. And then onwards, from Gundlupet(joining NH-212) to Kalpetta. Request you to help me give complete directions to cross Kollegala and Chamarajanagar towns in the right direction and routes to go towards Gundlupet. Any other confusing junctions/towns enroute? They are not concerned about hotels as there are only some boys in the group. I believe this was mentioned somewhere else but I could not find it out and they want it before tonight as they plan to leave tomorrow early morning.

[kala]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

I have to explain this route to a friend of mine and could do it comfortably upto the Kollegala entry point from Bangalore. And then onwards, from Gundlupet(joining NH-212) to Kalpetta. Request you to help me give complete directions to cross Kollegala and Chamarajanagar towns in the right direction and routes to go towards Gundlupet. Any other confusing junctions/towns enroute? They are not concerned about hotels as there are only some boys in the group. I believe this was mentioned somewhere else but I could not find it out and they want it before tonight as they plan to leave tomorrow early morning.

Instructions for crossing Kollegal town here :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2633140

Additional instructions after Kollegal :

About 2.5 kms after you pass Kollegal bus stand, you need to take a right to stay on NH 209 ( There's a narrow bridge immediately after you take the right turn - This junction is clearly marked - straight road goes to B.R.Hills, RIght turn marked as Chamarajnagar)

Another 1.5 kms or so further down from this junction, the road forks into 2 immediately after Uttamballi village. NH209 is the left fork. The straighter road is NH212 to T.Narsipur / Mysore.

Watch out for road signs at Yelandur town (About 17 kms from Kollegal). There are a couple of junctions at one of which you need to take a 90 degree right turn. Follow the road marked as "Nanjangud". (The straight road is marked as B.R.Hills if I remember right, and is narrower).

6 kms from Yelandur, you come to a place called Santhemarahalli where you need to take a left turn to Chamarajnagar. (Directions are clearly marked - Straight road goes to Nanjangud, Right is to T.Narsipur, Left to Chamarajnagar).

As you enter Chamarajnagar town look for a signboard that shows a left turn towards Coimbatore / Gundlupet. It's almost like a T junction since the straight road ahead is much narrower. Take a left here and follow the road as it again takes an almost 90 degree right turn after about 300 meters.

About 600 to 700 meters after this right turn, you see Chamarajanagar KSRTC bus stand on your left and a restaurant named Mayura Rajdhani (I think) in front of it (also on your left). Take the right turn immediately after the restaurant - No markings here, it's a small road. Go straight on this road and proceed straight at the next junction (after which the road becomes slightly broader) - it's a straight road to Gundlupet from there. In case you miss this small road, you can also go a little bit further (about 200 meters or so) where the highway takes an almost 90 degrees turn to the left. Take a right turn at that point, and you reach that same junction mentioned above (You need to take a left to go to Gundlupet)

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by kala

Instructions for crossing Kollegal town here :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2633140

Additional instructions after Kollegal :

About 2.5 kms after you pass Kollegal bus stand, you need to take a right to stay on NH 209 ( There's a narrow bridge immediately after you take the right turn - This junction is clearly marked - straight road goes to B.R.Hills, RIght turn marked as Chamarajnagar)

Many thanks for the prompt response.
One clarification though- Did you mean M.M.Hills above? I have gone in a bus once to M.M.Hills and that route seems to match this description too.

Originally Posted by kala

Another 1.5 kms or so further down from this junction, the road forks into 2 immediately after Uttamballi village. NH209 is the left fork. The straighter road is NH212 to T.Narsipur / Mysore.

Watch out for road signs at Yelandur town (About 17 kms from Kollegal). There are a couple of junctions at one of which you need to take a 90 degree right turn. Follow the road marked as "Nanjangud". (The straight road is marked as B.R.Hills if I remember right, and is narrower).

6 kms from Yelandur, you come to a place called Santhemarahalli where you need to take a left turn to Chamarajnagar. (Directions are clearly marked - Straight road goes to Nanjangud, Right is to T.Narsipur, Left to Chamarajnagar).

As you enter Chamarajnagar town look for a signboard that shows a left turn towards Coimbatore / Gundlupet. It's almost like a T junction since the straight road ahead is much narrower. Take a left here and follow the road as it again takes an almost 90 degree right turn after about 300 meters.

About 600 to 700 meters after this right turn, you see Chamarajanagar KSRTC bus stand on your left and a restaurant named Mayura Rajdhani (I think) in front of it (also on your left). Take the right turn immediately after the restaurant - No markings here, it's a small road. Go straight on this road and proceed straight at the next junction (after which the road becomes slightly broader) - it's a straight road to Gundlupet from there. In case you miss this small road, you can also go a little bit further (about 200 meters or so) where the highway takes an almost 90 degrees turn to the left. Take a right turn at that point, and you reach that same junction mentioned above (You need to take a left to go to Gundlupet)

And just wanted to confirm whether beyond Kollegal hotels, say Annapurna and Nandini near the bus stand, there wont be any place worth for even a snacks-break and perhaps the toilet facility for some elder lady in the group upto Gundlupet?

Also, just curious to know if you know the condition of the route Malavalli->T.Narsipura->Nanjangud for another group who wants to visit the 2 temple towns mentioned here?

[kala]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Many thanks for the prompt response.
One clarification though- Did you mean M.M.Hills above? I have gone in a bus once to M.M.Hills and that route seems to match this description too.

Sorry for the delayed response. I was travelling to Cochin last night and had left home by the time your message came in. I know it might be too late for your friends, but if I recall right that road does lead to B.R. Hills. Can't vouch for it 100% though.

Originally Posted by ajithbr

And just wanted to confirm whether beyond Kollegal hotels, say Annapurna and Nandini near the bus stand, there wont be any place worth for even a snacks-break and perhaps the toilet facility for some elder lady in the group upto Gundlupet?

Also, just curious to know if you know the condition of the route Malavalli->T.Narsipura->Nanjangud for another group who wants to visit the 2 temple towns mentioned here?

The Mayura Rajadhani at Chamarajnagar in front of the bus stand is fairly decent for a snack break, but I doubt it if the toilets would be too clean.

I tried out this route (Malavalli-T.Narsipur-Nanjangud) once about 6 months ago. Roads are OK upto T.Narsipur (and around another 3-4 kms after that) except for some broken roads around Bannur town. But then from there on till Nanjangud was terrible, the roads looking almost like ploughed fields rather than roads. Not sure if it has been repaired since.

[prasad14]

Originally Posted by kala

Sorry for the delayed response. I was travelling to Cochin last night and had left home by the time your message came in. I know it might be too late for your friends, but if I recall right that road does lead to B.R. Hills. Can't vouch for it 100% though.

The above road does indeed goes to B.R Hills. For MM Hills you need to take a left turn much before (when coming from Malavalli).

I tried out this route (Malavalli-T.Narsipur-Nanjangud) once about 6 months ago. Roads are OK upto T.Narsipur (and around another 3-4 kms after that) except for some broken roads around Bannur town. But then from there on till Nanjangud was terrible, the roads looking almost like ploughed fields rather than roads. Not sure if it has been repaired since.

I saw some road repair/widening around 5-6 months few kms after T.Narasipur. I still recommend this route, as the alternative, via Mysore is almost double the distance and you'd have to cross the Kapila bridge (at T.Narasipur) which is getting jammed frequently these days.

Also, from Malavalli, do not go towards Bannur, instead follow the road to Talakad. At Talakad handpost you have two options - one to come via Sosale (and cross the twin bridges at T.Narasipur), and the second is to actually come via Talakad itself. The second option ensures that there are smooth roads throughout and the temple at T.Narasipur comes to your RHS as you enter T.Narasipur town (and skip crossing the bridges).

Prasad