[rock18]

Originally Posted by ampere

Secondly I am not sure if access to Talavadi is allowed. Its a forest range. You can confirm with others. I am not too sure about it.

Thank you.let me try this talavadi route,if its not allowed will go via chamrajnagar.

Originally Posted by luvurride

The best will be Krishnagiri-Hosur-NICE Road-Exit at Kanakapura Road-Kanakapura-Kollegal-Chamrajnagar-Gundlupet-Masinagudi.
This will be excellent and scenic once you get onto Kanakapura road. Not too much ghats, less traffic, good tarmac and probably the fastest. The downside is there aren't any decent eateries. You have to plan your food stops before getting onto NICE Road or Nijaguna in Chamarajnagar. There are also quite a few resorts once you exit from NICE to Kanakapura road.

Thanks for replying. I guess i should try this route one way.

[rock18]

Thanks Shankar.balan,Ampere,luvurride.
I went to Masinagudi and came back yesterday.
While going i took the Sriperambudur-krishnagiri-Bangalore-Mysore(Nice road then Mandya)-nanjangud-Masingaudi.(Around 540kms)
Started by 6AM and reached there by 6PM(may be around 1-1.5hrs break)
Till Krishnagiri-road is good enough to maintain 80-100kmhr.
Krishnagiri to Bangalore is in worst condition.(Major reason to avoid this route)
Bangalore to Mysore- Decent roads with lot of traffic and speedbreakers.
Mysore-Gundalpet-Lot of broken patches-Ok roads
Only place i could touch some good speeds is NICE road,unfortunately my happiness was short lived.The road is for only 20-30kms.

return journey:
Did not want to climb the ooty ghats so took this route:
masingaudi-nanjangud-Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Bhavani-Salem-Krishnagiri-Sriperambudur.(around 640kms)
I made a mistake by not taking the gundulpet to chamarajanagar.so extra 40-50kms.
Lot of traffic and bad roads.
Chamarajanagar-Sathyamangalam-Awesome and scenic roads.
Sathyamangalam-Bhavani- Decent state highway.
Bhavani -Salem-krishnagairi-sriperambadur-Very good 4lane highaway with few diversions and rough patches.
started by 10AM and reached chennai by 12:15AM.(Lunch break close to 1hr and lot of time spent in asking for the right route)
Masinagudi to bhavani took almost 7hrs for the 250kms and next 400kms can be covered in 6hrs.
Salem-ulundurpet roads are in bad condition as suggested by many localites.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by rock18

Salem-ulundurpet roads are in bad condition as suggested by many localites.

This is not true. You have been misguided on this. The 4 Laning between Attur and Ulundurpet is 100% complete. The work is still on between Salem and Attur but definitely doable stretch for around 40 kms. Any day I would prefer this route than the Krishnigiri route.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

This is not true. You have been misguided on this. The 4 Laning between Attur and Ulundurpet is 100% complete. The work is still on between Salem and Attur but definitely doable stretch for around 40 kms. Any day I would prefer this route than the Krishnigiri route.

The stretch between Salem and Attur continues to be bad and takes almost an hour to cover. While coming by a KPN multi axle last week we took about 2 hours 15 minutes to reach the motel after Ulundurpet toll from Salem byepass. It has been the same for almost 6 months now, I don't know how long would it take to complete this stretch.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

The stretch between Salem and Attur continues to be bad and takes almost an hour to cover. While coming by a KPN multi axle last week we took about 2 hours 15 minutes to reach the motel after Ulundurpet toll from Salem byepass. It has been the same for almost 6 months now, I don't know how long would it take to complete this stretch.

One hour to cover the distance of around 50 kms is not bad at all.

I won't say that this route is bad. I am regular in this stretch with my low GC Linea. I have never scraped in this road so far.

[deepakchan]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

One hour to cover the distance of around 50 kms is not bad at all.

I won't say that this route is bad. I am regular in this stretch with my low GC Linea. I have never scraped in this road so far.

Hi Thanks for this update. I am doing this route tomorrow. If you had gone after you had posted this, is there any improvement in the past two months?

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by deepakchan

Hi Thanks for this update. I am doing this route tomorrow. If you had gone after you had posted this, is there any improvement in the past two months?

No. I haven't driven that route yet. But, from what I hear this route is pretty much okay now. Probably you can update here once you do it tomorrow .

[ampere]

Originally Posted by deepakchan

Hi Thanks for this update. I am doing this route tomorrow. If you had gone after you had posted this, is there any improvement in the past two months?

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

No. I haven't driven that route yet. But, from what I hear this route is pretty much okay now. Probably you can update here once you do it tomorrow .

Ref this post by Dhanush:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3008061

Do take care if you are driving in the dark on the Attur-Salem section.

[deepakchan]

Thanks guys I did this route to OOTY yesterday and it was quite an enjoyable ride. Ulundurpet to Salem bypass took under two hours. As quoted here, at the first two toll booths, charges are collected, the third one is non functional, but the roads were far better after this non functional toll booth. The diversions started only after quite some distance covered. It is still manageable. The condition is so that if the road was complete, you wouldn't have saved more than ten minutes.

About the Salem Avinashi road, there are diversions but they are well lit by reflectors. I could spot diversions from 500m away even after 7pm. If I hadn't had the maps on on my iPad I would've missed the mettupalayam right. The roads were so good. Travel time chennai home to OOTY gymkhana 10 hours including 3 breaks of 20 minutes each. So technically 9 hours.

[StudioAbraham]

Folks,

I plan to do the Chennai (OMR) - Salem - ooty - avalanche route next weekend. Wondering if anyone has a recent feedback on the roads to share.

Thank you
Vimal

[ampere]

Originally Posted by StudioAbraham

Folks,

I plan to do the Chennai (OMR) - Salem - ooty - avalanche route next weekend. Wondering if anyone has a recent feedback on the roads to share.

Thank you
Vimal

Since you are heading from CBE, side, the road till Ooty is pretty good.
Best way to avoid CBE :

Avinashi-Annur-Mettupalayam

[deepakchan]

Originally Posted by StudioAbraham

Folks,

I plan to do the Chennai (OMR) - Salem - ooty - avalanche route next weekend. Wondering if anyone has a recent feedback on the roads to share.

Thank you
Vimal

I did this route recently in July. The only problematic stretch is Salem to avinashi the second half. Rest of the route is good to awesome. Make sure Salem to avinashi and avinashi to Salem 1st half is before 6pm.

[luvurride]

Originally Posted by StudioAbraham

Folks,

I plan to do the Chennai (OMR) - Salem - ooty - avalanche route next weekend. Wondering if anyone has a recent feedback on the roads to share.

Thank you
Vimal

Actually, there's nothing to worry. Even the 4 laning of Avinashi-CBE is about 80% done. Yes, you could skip Coimbatore and take the Annur-Mettupalayam, but it is tricky to exit the 4-lane at Avinashi as there are no clear/visible signboards guiding you as it is still a work-in-progress. But this is the best thing to do. A word of caution on this 4-lane section: There are huge humps like speed breakers right in the middle of almost all overpasses/bridges, so do not over speed.

Also, the usual ghat section from Mettupalayam-Ooty is prone to landslides every year due to heavy rains and loose soil. August being one of the months of heavy downpour, you could consider taking the Kothagiri route. Roads are excellent- you have to take the right after the river bridge when you exit Mettupalayam town.

[StudioAbraham]

Thank you Gentlemen for your kind replies. You guys rock!

A temptation to stretch the vacation to cover Masinagudi has taken over me since this morning. After looking at multiple threads here, this route seems pretty straight forward...

Thursday evening : drive to Bangalore & rest for the night.
Friday Morning : drive to Masinagudi (Guess its just a pretty straight forward route)
Friday night/ Saturday night : find a decent place to spend the weekend
Sunday morning : drive to Avalanchee via ooty. stay put for 3 nights.
Wednesday morning : drive back to chennai via Kothagiri -M'plym - Annur - Salem - chennai route..

thanks again folks.

Originally Posted by ampere

Since you are heading from CBE, side, the road till Ooty is pretty good. Best way to avoid CBE :

Avinashi-Annur-Mettupalayam

Originally Posted by deepakchan

I Make sure Salem to avinashi and avinashi to Salem 1st half is before 6pm.

Originally Posted by luvurride

Actually, there's nothing to worry. Even the 4 laning of Avinashi-CBE is about 80% done. A word of caution on this 4-lane section: There are huge humps like speed breakers right in the middle of almost all overpasses/bridges, so do not over speed.

you could consider taking the Kothagiri route. Roads are excellent- you have to take the right after the river bridge when you exit Mettupalayam town.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by StudioAbraham

A temptation to stretch the vacation to cover Masinagudi has taken over me since this morning. After looking at multiple threads here, this route seems pretty straight forward...

Thursday evening : drive to Bangalore & rest for the night.
Friday Morning : drive to Masinagudi (Guess its just a pretty straight forward route)
Friday night/ Saturday night : find a decent place to spend the weekend
Sunday morning : drive to Avalanchee via ooty. stay put for 3 nights.
Wednesday morning : drive back to chennai via Kothagiri -M'plym - Annur - Salem - chennai route..

If you ca push say 3/4AM Friday morning, you should at Bangalore NICE by about 8/9AM max. Masinagudi can be easily done in another 4-5 hours. You should be there by late noon. I propose this as you dont climb ghats that day.

Chennai-Krishnagiri-Hosur-NICE-Kanakpura-Malavalli-Kollegal-Chamarajanagar-Gundlupet-Bandipur-Masinagudi.