[HarryB]

Dear TBHPians,

One of my very good friend has invited me to Defence Services Staff College in Wellington,Tamil Nadu and so planning to go this coming week end. Need your expert advice on the route to be taken. I have heard that there are two routes, one route which goes thro' Ooty and other which goes thro chamrajanagar ( heard u need to take a diversion after Mysore ). Please let me know which is the best route to take.

Regards,

HarryB

[akroy]

There is only one route, short and fast:
Bangalore - Mysore - nanjangud - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Theppakadu - Masinagudi - ooty - Wellington (on Coonor Road)

Abhi

[HarryB]

Thanks AkRoy for the reply, I am planning to leave around 11:30 Am from Bangalore and will be reaching the foothills (Ghat section ) of Ooty at around 4-5 pm so is it a good time to start the climb ? taking into consideration that evening/ dark will be fast approaching and i have never done ghats sections at night.

[m8002?]

For a newbie, i would suggest start early (5-6 am ) and try to reach ooty in time for lunch.

That way, you dont spend time in the bangalore city traffic and have a relaxed drive too enjoying the scenery around you in good daylight.

[MadRash]

Originally Posted by akroy

There is only one route, short and fast:
Bangalore - Mysore - nanjangud - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Theppakadu - Masinagudi - ooty - Wellington (on Coonor Road)

Abhi

akroy: Do you think masinagudi route is good for a first timer?

[akroy]

HarryB, better start early morning. If you are late then Segur Ghat is closed in dark. Why getting tired on the crowded Mysore Road in middle of day. better start at 5AM and reach by noon.

Originally Posted by MadRash

akroy: Do you think masinagudi route is good for a first timer?

Ya Ya, Every one has their first time. PLus that route is devoid of traffic as it has been made one way.
If you have the driving skill to drive all the way from Bangalore to Masinagudi, I find no reason why you cannot climb the ghats. Yes, there will be some hiccups and more often you might engage first gear (due to lack of skill to maintain the torque effectively) but otherwise there is no issues.

Abhi

[Rotorhead]

hi , there is only one route to coonoor that is via mysore -kalhatty ghats or gudalur unless you want to take the coimbatore route which is way too time consuming. Once you hit ooty take the coonoor-metupalayam road. If you dont know about that, ask for charing cross once you hit ooty , yhr highway to mettupalayam begins from there and then on the route is as follows, ooty - ketti- aruvankadu - boys company - black bridge. There used to be a bridge that used to connect directly to the DSSC staff college/military barrack but it was broken down and being reconstructed but am not sure if it is rebuilt again now. If the bridge is ready then take that and ask the locals and they will guide you from there, the entire area mostly belongs to the madras regiment. If the bridge is not there then carry on ahead on the coonoor highway and you will hit wellington bazaar area which is roughly 3-4 kms from black bridge. At wellington immediately after the bus stop there is a narrow road in the left which forks from the highway and it goes to the wellington railway station and then after a couple of shot hair pin bends you will again hit the DSSC area, you can ask for golf course area or barracks area, most of the regiments residences are around that place. Hope this help. If you can specify where exactly your friend is put up then i might be able to guid u better, maybe even a land mark such as sims part, golf course, military barrack , field marshal maneckshaws house etc also should be helpful to tell u the exact roads to take.

also regarding the kalhatty ghat, i guess it closes down by 6 PM, but if you tell them you have a friend in Madras regiment they would let u pass i suppose. But like someone said, its better that you leave early in the morning say 6 am then by the time you hit kalhatty you will have some fantastic views which you can enjoy. You will miss all that if you are ascending late in the evening. Believe me the scenaries throughout the kalhatti ghats are worth it.

[Surprise]

If you happen to stall while climbing the ghats, use hand break for initial movemen. Do not burn the clutch as you release the hand break, instead stall again

Originally Posted by akroy

as it has been made one way.
Abhi

Only moving up permitted is it? Is there any timing restrictions?

[Rotorhead]

Since you seem to own a ford petrol, i dont think you should have any issues negotiating the steep roads and hair pin bends. You would have had some minor issues if you'd drive a diesel car since you have to manage to keep the car at the turbo range while taking those hairpins, once it goes below that, by the time you shift to lower gears, your car almost comes to a halt , which is pretty scary at times considering the steep incline of these roads. Also when stalled in the inclines use the handbrakes as much and avoid too much of clutching and revving the engine too hard on lower gears. Last thing you need would be a burnt clutch or a over heated engine. Check your tires before you start your incline, if you have a puncture then it can be pretty disconcerting considering you have the car jacked on an incline. Otherwise the roads are pretty good, except at few places it is pretty steep. With the ikon you should be able to make it all the way thru to the top with just the 3rd and 2nd and very occassionaly the 1st gear. Again it all depends on keeping the momentum while you take those tight hair pins. Beware of the road shoulders, at some places they are pretty bad, so try to keep the car on the road all times, manouver to the shoulder if required due to an oncoming vehicle very carefully.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by MadRash

Do you think masinagudi route is good for a first timer?

If he doesnt do it now, he will be a first timer again when he next considers driving up the ghat. So when will it be the right time?

Harry - there is nothing about the ghat road that should scare people away. Yes it has 36 hairpins and is narrow, but thats about it - it is broader than some of the lanes we drive through in our cities (with traffic!) so there's nothing new to it.

Take the normal precautions - honk (gently, please!) at the corners, watch for oncoming traffic and give way to those climbing. The climb is short and will be over before you know it - all this talk about engine overheating, clutch burning etc are a bit over the top, IMHO. Its just a regular short climb, nothing intimidating about it at all.

Go for it!

PS: I went thru similar feelings after hearing all the talk about this ghat the first time I took this route, but found it pretty simple and straightforward for all the talk about danger and concerns about the climb. Its actually very good fun - the last time we did this route I reached Masinagudi at 6pm but we were up the ghat by 6.30, no sweat at all.

[kannan666]

I was on that road last week, it still carries two way traffic ! At the checkpost from the Ooty side, I observed that the police were allowing all TN registered vehicles through and they were even allowing vehicles registered in other states through after negotiating and accepting a consideration ! When I came back, it was around 11:00am when I reached the checkpost and no cops were even in sight, all vehicles were going through. So, if you choose the Masinigudi route, do expect oncoming traffic too !

[kannan666]

@ rotterhead

Always was of the opinion that diesel vehicles had much more torque compared to an equally engined petrol vehicle and that they were the preferred vehicles especially for hill climbing. I believe all other things being equal, diesel engines have more lugging power while petrol engines enjoy better acceleration, correct me if I am wrong !

[Rotorhead]

You are right there buddy, the diesel engines do have a better torque and pulling capacity, i am talking about the newer turboed ones since I have driven an indigo and a marina up the ghats and observed that everthing seems fine in most stretches of the road, but when you hit the hair pins , you slow down to a crawl especially when you anticipate an oncoming vehicle from the opposite end, and the time taken before u shift down and the turbo kicks in it is a little scary since the car virtually slows to almost a stop. In the older ones such as padmini or amby you are normally on a much lower gear already and dont really feel the diff, but on a turboed ones you are mostly on 3rd on normal streches and suddenly you need to shift to first to take on the tight hair pins(and the ones in kalhatti are really tight) and there is no turbo assist then it is a little scary.

[kannan666]

Thanks for the clarification Rotorhead, I had actually taken the Esteem (carb) last week and even though it was far from being fully loaded and without the AC, had to take quite a few of the later hairpins in 1st gear but then again, I guess the older Esteems did have very tall gearing and that is the culprit !

[csentil]

Expect bad roads from Gundulpet till Bandipur forest entrance (unless this has been fixed in the last few weeks, which I doubt)

Bangalore - Mysore is 4 lane. Whereas from Mysore onwards its two lane