[ampere]

Its not Melur but beyond on the 45B. Its a town/village called Kottampatti
That is what I could gather from the map.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its not Melur but beyond on the 45B. Its a town/village called Kottampatti
That is what I could gather from the map.

Attachment 572498

Yes it is Kottampatti which featured in lot many Tamil films of the early 90s as "Kottampatti road" and "kottampatti bus stop".!

[rshanker]

Me & a couple of friends will be making this trip next week. Will mostly be a one night stay & will be proceeding further to Ambasaudram & later on Kanyakumari. Any updates on how the road conditions are upto Karaikudi?

[Naturalist]

Originally Posted by rshanker

Me & a couple of friends will be making this trip next week. Will mostly be a one night stay & will be proceeding further to Ambasaudram & later on Kanyakumari. Any updates on how the road conditions are upto Karaikudi?

NH 210 is in great condition from Trichy. Trichy -> Keeranur(bypass)-> Pudukottai -> Karikudi. This is one of the best roads to drive now.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Naturalist

NH 210 is in great condition from Trichy. Trichy -> Keeranur(bypass)-> Pudukottai -> Karikudi. This is one of the best roads to drive now.

Thanks for the update. I hope the road widening work in this route is completed now. May i know when you traveled in this route last?

-Ravi

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravib

Thanks for the update. I hope the road widening work in this route is completed now. May i know when you traveled in this route last?

-Ravi

Trichy-Pudukottai-Karaikudi-Devakottai Devapatnam I think is now very good to drive. At least the road till Karaikudi is brilliant. A wide 2-lane.

[Naturalist]

Originally Posted by ravib

Thanks for the update. I hope the road widening work in this route is completed now. May i know when you traveled in this route last?

-Ravi

I had traveled during the last weekend up to Karaikudi.

[rki2007]

Hi friends

Travelled to Devakottai from Bangalore today. The roads from Bangalore to Namakkal are fantastic. However from Namakkal to Trichy is pretty narrow with two ways traffic which reduces the speed.

The roads from Trichy via Pudukottai to tirumayam is good. But just before and after Tirumayam there are few streches which is simply very irritating to travel. Also found few dangerous trekking points which is really dangerous to drive.

I prefer to take the Devakottai- Tiruppathur-Singampunari- Natham-Dindukkal-Karur-Bangalore route during my return journey.

I am not sure about the route because i haven't travelled even once in the given route. I really do not know whether it would be better to take Devakottai-Tirupathur-Melur-Natham- Dindukkal-Karur-Bangalore.

My primary concern is good roads. Really don't mind travelling those extra kms. Please suggest.

[ampere]

Natham road is good. Only issue is that you will need to go through Dindigul town. Another thing to visit on the way is the temple at Pilliarpatty!

Devakottai Karaikudi Tirupathur Natham Dindigul.

[Mnjdnght]

A quick update from my weekend trip to Karaikudi:

Onward
Bangalore - Salem - Karur - Dindigul - Natham - Thirupathur - Karaikudi (~480 KM, 7.5 Hrs total with about 50 minutes of stoppage time)
Left Bangalore at 5 AM on Friday (29th). The long weekend exodus from Bangalore in addition to the regular traffic was not a good mix for a relaxed drive. Lost time in Dindigul town as it was festival time and there was lot of local action. Police had blocked many roads and it took a bit to find our way to the Dindigul - Natham highway. Roads however were excellent all the way through.

We took the same route on return. Was tempted to try the Karaikudi - Trichy - Namakkal option but decided against it to be ready for the heavy return traffic. As dreaded had to wade through incredible return traffic and a more than normal volume of truck traffic along with several Ganesha festival pick up vans/ trucks. Krishnagiri and Attibelle toll booths had long lines. Return took 8 Hrs total with about 70 minutes of stoppage time.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

A quick update from my weekend trip to Karaikudi:

Can you explain which is the road that you take to enter Dindigul? And which were the main roads that were blocked?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

A quick update from my weekend trip to Karaikudi:

Onward
Bangalore - Salem - Karur - Dindigul - Natham - Thirupathur - Karaikudi (~480 KM, 7.5 Hrs total with about 50 minutes of stoppage time)
Left Bangalore at 5 AM on Friday (29th). The long weekend exodus from Bangalore in addition to the regular traffic was not a good mix for a relaxed drive. Lost time in Dindigul town as it was festival time and there was lot of local action. Police had blocked many roads and it took a bit to find our way to the Dindigul - Natham highway. Roads however were excellent all the way through.

We took the same route on return. Was tempted to try the Karaikudi - Trichy - Namakkal option but decided against it to be ready for the heavy return traffic. As dreaded had to wade through incredible return traffic and a more than normal volume of truck traffic along with several Ganesha festival pick up vans/ trucks. Krishnagiri and Attibelle toll booths had long lines. Return took 8 Hrs total with about 70 minutes of stoppage time.

I have traveled on the Karur-Palayam-Dindigul route twice. Roads are very good to drive. If one wants to enjoy the drive, better to go on SH of TN. Of course we have the odd speed breakers and the route passes through towns.

[Mnjdnght]

Originally Posted by ampere

Can you explain which is the road that you take to enter Dindigul? And which were the main roads that were blocked?

The best option would have been to take the Dindigul bypass road, get onto the Trichy - Dindigul road and then onto the Dindigul - Natham road - But we missed this.

Google maps suggested that we take the road into Dindigul town (same exit point as Dindigul bypass road), take the Chennai - Theni highway and then onto the Dindigul - Natham road - But we missed this too.

We ended up taking the Palani road exit (209) to get into Dindigul town. All right turns from this road to get to the Chennai - Theni highway and then onto the Natham road were blocked (except a couple of narrow and crowded streets one of which is what we took eventually).

Attaching a screen shot below. The blue line is what google maps suggested. But the road after crossing 209 was blocked and all subsequent right turns from 209 were blocked to get onto 35 (except a narrow road).

[Mnjdnght]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I have traveled on the Karur-Palayam-Dindigul route twice. Roads are very good to drive. If one wants to enjoy the drive, better to go on SH of TN. Of course we have the odd speed breakers and the route passes through towns.

I almost did that but then decided to turn back and get onto the highway. I was dreading the heavy return traffic into Bangalore and wanted to have a quicker pace early on. Also, the small towns on the Karaikudi - Dindigul road were pretty choked (mainly festival crowd plus a number of weddings) and was expecting more of the same on the state highway.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Mnjdnght

Google maps suggested that we take the road into Dindigul town (same exit point as Dindigul bypass road), take the Chennai - Theni highway and then onto the Dindigul - Natham road - But we missed this too.

Even I thought the Theni road exit should have been the most ideal.
This is what I meant: Route Link

But when Murphy decides to strike, no one can escape!