[redrage]

Originally Posted by binand

In any case, if I recall correctly Yelandur and all the alleyway-villages between Kollegal and Ch. Nagar come after the Santhemarahalli junction; so your assessment of wider roads is not strictly true, is it?

1)No. In Santhemarahalli junction coming from TN Pura you take a left it goes to Yelandur. Straight leads to Chamarajnagar.



2) Dont expect very wide 4 lane roads , i said in comparison to the route i came from T Narispura , the junction to Chamrajnagar road is wider.

[binand]

Originally Posted by redrage

1) In Santhemarahalli junction coming from TN Pura you take a left it goes to Yelandur. Straight leads to Chamarajnagar.

Right, right - I was confusing it with Teramballi junction, where NH 212 breaks off from NH 209. My mistake.

[goandude]

Originally Posted by kala

Based on advice received from locals.

The person who told me to take a right turn onto the Belakavadi-T.Narsipur road rather than take take the straight road to Talakad also said the road via Talakad was much better than the direct one to T.Narsipur - I just decided to follow the advice since there wasn't too much of difference in the distance.

Originally Posted by redrage

I was on the Kanakpura road yesterday took the Malavalli - T Narsipura road via the Marehalli Lake and Belakvadi road, other than 2 small patches of bad roads (less than 200 mts each but low GC sedans will find it difficult my accent could take it with ease) and the the narrow bridge joining to the T Narsipura main over bridge road, the route is scenic and excellent to drive only downside is its narrow, when i travelled there was average vehicle movement so it was ok to navigate.Reached Santhemarahalli Junction from TNpura and from there it was a breeze to Chamrajnagar (Wider roads).

Route link
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/12...1471!3e0?hl=en

Gone through both your suggested routes. Kala's route is 42 km/55 min from Mallavali to T Narsipur, while Redrage's route is 35km/55 min as per Google. Both have good surfaces so I guess it's a toss up. Can any other members give inputs?

[kala]

Originally Posted by goandude

Gone through both your suggested routes. Kala's route is 42 km/55 min from Mallavali to T Narsipur, while Redrage's route is 35km/55 min as per Google. Both have good surfaces so I guess it's a toss up. Can any other members give inputs?

Will try the other road from Malavalli to Belakavadi-T.Narsipur road the next time.

However my preference would be to go via Talakad rather than Sosale- mainly bacause I felt very uncomfortable passing the Cauvery bridge at T.Narsipur (it is a very narrow bridge probably a little bit narrower than the one on NH209 that is closed now and chances of a jam is high since the traffic on that route seemed much higher). The bridge at Talakad is much wider (2 buses can pass comfortably) and traffic seemed very sparse.

Originally Posted by binand

@Kala - can you please confirm if this is the route?

https://goo.gl/maps/8ijE8

This does not seem to go anywhere near Marehalli lake, so Redrage took a different route?

Yes the Marehalli lake is the one very near Malavalli - To get to the road that @Redrage used you need to take a right at the T junction at Malavalli (when coming from Bangalore) and take the immediate left. Whereas to get to the road that I used, you need to turn left at the T junction and take a right about 2 kms further south.

[arjithin]

Traveling to CLT on 25th morning. Planning to start @4am from Whitefield.
Normally its the Kanakpura kollegal route I take by default to avoid Mysore road humps. Now in a dilemma to take that route due to bridge closure. Also I hear that Mysore -Nanjangode section is not good.

How bad is the 20 km to Nanjangode? Is it worth taking the detour via T Narasipura (and kollegal route) to avoid that bad section?

Anyone else giving me company on 25th morning?

[binand]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Traveling to CLT on 25th morning. Planning to start @4am from Whitefield.
Normally its the Kanakpura kollegal route I take by default to avoid Mysore road humps. Now in a dilemma to take that route due to bridge closure. Also I hear that Mysore -Nanjangode section is not good.

How bad is the 20 km to Nanjangode? Is it worth taking the detour via T Narasipura (and kollegal route) to avoid that bad section?

Anyone else giving me company on 25th morning?

I'm also going (this time to Perumbavur) on the 25th. My start could be a bit later though. I start from Marathahalli. Unless something exceptional happens, I too will be taking NH 209 and then - still undecided - go via Nilambur-Shornur-Thrissur. In any case I'll be along this route till Ch. Nagar at least.

After reading Kala's updates I'm convinced to take the Malavalli-Talakkadu-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagar route. Mysore-Nanjangode-Gundlupet has some horrible speedbreakers, stretches with bad roads and I believe is being 4-laned now.

If you decide to go to Mysore maybe you should try the Mysore-Mananthavady-Kalpetta-Calicut route. Avoids Nanjangode, very low traffic, no speedbreakers.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Traveling to CLT on 25th morning. Planning to start @4am from Whitefield.
Normally its the Kanakpura kollegal route I take by default to avoid Mysore road humps. Now in a dilemma to take that route due to bridge closure. Also I hear that Mysore -Nanjangode section is not good.

How bad is the 20 km to Nanjangode? Is it worth taking the detour via T Narasipura (and kollegal route) to avoid that bad section?

Anyone else giving me company on 25th morning?

With a 4am start, it doesn't make sense to take Kanakpura road. Stick to regular Mysore road itself which is faster and stress free.

[kala]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

With a 4am start, it doesn't make sense to take Kanakpura road. Stick to regular Mysore road itself which is faster and stress free.

Highly subjective. I find it far more stress-free to drive on NH209 even at 4 AM because having to continuously worry about going airborne at the next speedbreaker is far more stressful for me than the handful of trucks that blind you on the 2 way NH209.

(And the big advantage of SH17 of having a much better choice for food breaks is also negated when travelling at that hour since none of them would be open that early)

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by kala

Highly subjective. I find it far more stress-free to drive on NH209 even at 4 AM because having to continuously worry about going airborne at the next speedbreaker is far more stressful for me than the handful of trucks that blind you on the 2 way NH209.

Exactly. The other advantages are peaceful sleep for passengers in car, better mileage etc. Its been more than 18 months since I last took Mysore road.

Nobody updated about the Mysore Nanjangaud road conditions. Anyone?

Edit: didn't see bianand's response early.
Mananthavadi route is pot-hole free, but slows down considerably.
Mostly I will also plan the kanakpura route.

If you are traveling to perumbavoor, I suggest not to take the Nilambur route ( unless there is another reason). My friend who drove from pattambi to Bangalore last weekend shared that the roads are not that great from Gudallur to vazhikadavu. Moreover you will be driving from vazhikadavu till trichur at a very slow pace, may be 35-40 kmph on an average. Its Xmas day, but that won't make a big impact in traffic inside Malappuram dt.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by arjithin

Exactly. The other advantages are peaceful sleep for passengers in car, better mileage etc. Its been more than 18 months since I last took Mysore road.

Nobody updated about the Mysore Nanjangaud road conditions. Anyone?

I am traveling to calicut on 24th. Will have to take the nanjangud route and can update conditions on 24th.

I also typically leave around the 4am timeframe and don't feel comfortable taking the kanakpura route at that time. More so with the closed bridge and diverted route which will be new to me. The Mysore mananthavady route also will not work for me since Mysore is too early for a stop and as per binand there is nothing beyond Mysore till you enter Kerala. So has to be the nanjangud route :(

Edit: I took the nanjangud route last in September last week. It was patchy with a couple of big potholes. Overall no real concerns. But not sure how much it has worsened post that. Will come to know on 24th

[binand]

Originally Posted by arjithin

My friend who drove from pattambi to Bangalore last weekend shared that the roads are not that great from Gudallur to vazhikadavu.

On the contrary, that stretch was very recently relaid. I think your friend meant the Thepakkadu-Gudalur stretch, whose pathetic condition I'm well aware of (2 trips in the last 6 months).

[goandude]

Originally Posted by binand

In any case I'll be along this route till Ch. Nagar at least.

After reading Kala's updates I'm convinced to take the Malavalli-Talakkadu-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagar route. Mysore-Nanjangode-Gundlupet has some horrible speedbreakers, stretches with bad roads and I believe is being 4-laned now.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Will have to take the nanjangud route and can update conditions on 24th.

Would be great if you could update conditions on the above route ASAP

[arjithin]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I am traveling to calicut on 24th. Will have to take the nanjangud route and can update conditions on 24th.

Please update after your trip on 24th. Final decision will be based on your input.

thanks

[kala]

Originally Posted by redrage

I was on the Kanakpura road yesterday took the Malavalli - T Narsipura road via the Marehalli Lake and Belakvadi road, other than 2 small patches of bad roads (less than 200 mts each but low GC sedans will find it difficult my accent could take it with ease) and the the narrow bridge joining to the T Narsipura main over bridge road, the route is scenic and excellent to drive only downside is its narrow, when i travelled there was average vehicle movement so it was ok to navigate.Reached Santhemarahalli Junction from TNpura and from there it was a breeze to Chamrajnagar (Wider roads).

Route link
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/12...1471!3e0?hl=en

Originally Posted by kala

Will try the other road from Malavalli to Belakavadi-T.Narsipur road the next time.

During my trip this weekend, I tried the route that @redrage had discovered last week. On my way towards Wayanad, I went via Sosale-T.Narsipur, and during the return journey came back via Talakad. Observations :

1) Both routes (the one via Sosale and the one via Talakad) take more or less the same amount of time though the route via Sosale is about 7-8 kms shorter.

2) The road from Malavalli till Purigaali on the Belakavadi-T.Narsipur road via Marehalli lake is quite good with almost no bad stretches barring the occasional small crater. So definitely better than the one that I had taken earlier (the one that takes off from NH209 about 2 kms south of Malavalli) which has about 4 kms of broken roads. But it is slightly more curvy, so takes the same abount of time overall.

3) The bad stretches that @redrage had reported are all after you take the right turn at Purigaali towards Sosale. So if you take the Talakad option (my return route) you have hardly any bad road from Malavalli till Chamarajnagar.

Since the driving time is almost the same, I felt it is better to use the route via Talakad in spite of it being longer because of the better road conditions. Here is the Google maps link to this recommended route : https://goo.gl/maps/q9Btn . My driving time was approximately 1 hr 12 minutes for 76 kms from CR Nagar to Malavalli

Note : The stretch between Muguru and Santhamarahalli (The road connecting NH212 and NH209) is undergoing some re-laying / widening. Hope they don't dig up the road completely like what they have done on the Malavalli-Bannur-Mysore road. As of today they were working only on one half of the road, so the other half was perfectly usable.

[binand]

Malayalam media is reporting overnight attacks in several locations in Wayanad and Palakkad districts by suspected Maoists. The locations are pretty much all on routes frequented by travelers to Kerala - Vellamunda (Thalassery-Mananthavady route), Chandranagar (outskirts of Palakkad town on NH 47 from where the bypass starts) and Attapady (on the Mulli-Mannarkkad route). Please be careful, and I guess late night drives through the forest areas should be avoided.