[aneezan]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I am doing the same stretch tomorrow but will be starting little earlier, planning for a 2:00 AM start. Are you from Nagercoil?

Till Krishnagiri you may see some diversions after that its a bliss.

Yes. From Nagercoil. You too?
I too would prefer an even earlier start, but my wife won't allow it. Even 4:00 is too early for her.
Hope we get to meet somewhere along the way. Ride is Silver Alto, LTD sticker at the rear.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I am doing the same stretch tomorrow but will be starting little earlier, planning for a 2:00 AM start. Are you from Nagercoil?

Till Krishnagiri you may see some diversions after that its a bliss.

Originally Posted by aneezan

Yes. From Nagercoil. You too?
I too would prefer an even earlier start, but my wife won't allow it. Even 4:00 is too early for her.
Hope we get to meet somewhere along the way. Ride is Silver Alto, LTD sticker at the rear.

Hehe, "Naroil" guys.

I was planning to drive down to drop my parents home but it was at too short notice so will have to do it sometime in September. Hope you guys have a safe drive and back. Do you guys do the drive in one stretch? How many hours does it totally take?

[aneezan]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Hehe, "Naroil" guys.

I was planning to drive down to drop my parents home but it was at too short notice so will have to do it sometime in September. Hope you guys have a safe drive and back. Do you guys do the drive in one stretch? How many hours does it totally take?

Perfect "Naroil" slang naveenroy
Thanks. Yes, I am planning this at once stretch, with of-course the usual nature breaks thrown-in. Takes about 9 to 10 hours in my car.
Would be far less in a faster car.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Perfect "Naroil" slang naveenroy
Thanks. Yes, I am planning this at once stretch, with of-course the usual nature breaks thrown-in. Takes about 9 to 10 hours in my car.
Would be far less in a faster car.

Cause I'm from Naroil.

Not bad - 9 hours. Though I'll have to take it slow - dad's just recovering from a heart condition. I'll have to break the journey - do it on a weekend since leaves are an issue. Weekends traffic is bad right? At least upto Salem?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Yes. From Nagercoil. You too?
I too would prefer an even earlier start, but my wife won't allow it. Even 4:00 is too early for her.
Hope we get to meet somewhere along the way. Ride is Silver Alto, LTD sticker at the rear.

Yes, I am from "Naroil" too
Mine is a DZire with LTD on the rear bumper.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Hehe, "Naroil" guys.

I was planning to drive down to drop my parents home but it was at too short notice so will have to do it sometime in September. Hope you guys have a safe drive and back. Do you guys do the drive in one stretch? How many hours does it totally take?

It takes around 8.5 hours to 10 hours for me, depends on the number of breaks. If you start around 4:00 AM, then you can escape the traffic at tolls, especially attible and krishnagiri.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

It takes around 8.5 hours to 10 hours for me, depends on the number of breaks. If you start around 4:00 AM, then you can escape the traffic at tolls, especially attible and krishnagiri.

8.5 is a good time. And it's easily doable provided you find a way to break free from Bangalore Krishagiri traps.

Rest is easily doable at sedate speeds.

[aneezan]

Completed the journey in 9 hours, with a 1 hour break in-between. My planned start time of 0400 was delayed till 0530 due to a power-cut. Reached reached Nagercoil at 1430.

This has been my quickest time in the Alto so far. Not that I drove un-usually fast, but the roads have become better. The 6 lane stretch till Krishnagiri is almost complete, save for a few patches where work is still going on. Other-wise, it was a breeze.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by aneezan

Completed the journey in 9 hours, with a 1 hour break in-between. My planned start time of 0400 was delayed till 0530 due to a power-cut. Reached reached Nagercoil at 1430.

This has been my quickest time in the Alto so far. Not that I drove un-usually fast, but the roads have become better. The 6 lane stretch till Krishnagiri is almost complete, save for a few patches where work is still going on. Other-wise, it was a breeze.

Thanks for the update. I am seriously considering doing it in one stretch now. I was expecting the roads to be a little bad. But lets see. Dad has just had an operation.....

[arun_josie]

As mentioned before we started very early by 2:30 AM and I should say that it was a very peaceful drive for the following reasons,

- Silkboard to Attibele Toll, I had to brake only for the tolls, else I was able to maintain 80-90 without any issues, didn't even get a chance to slow-down
- Attibele Toll to Krishnagiri, again very less traffic and hence I was able to maintain good speeds
- It took only 7mins to cross Salem
- No two-wheelers or people crossing the roads till around 6-6:30 AM
- Kids were sleeping most of the time and hence we took only one break instead of normal 2-3 breaks

2:30 AM - Silk Board Junction
8:00 AM - Break @ Saravanas, near Madurai(Break was for around 40 mins)
11:25 AM - Nagercoil

Other breaks,
- there was traffic near the TN entry check-post as well, lost around 10min here
- a SRS Multi-Axle bus met with an accident just after the Krishnagiri toll, hence we were stopped for around 25min for the traffic to clear.

I might prefer this start-time for the above-said reasons.

Originally Posted by aneezan

My planned start time of 0400 was delayed till 0530 due to a power-cut.

No wonder I didn't spot you

[aneezan]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

- a SRS Multi-Axle bus met with an accident just after the Krishnagiri toll, hence we were stopped for around 25min for the traffic to clear.

No wonder I didn't spot you

The SRS bus was still there when I crossed. The left tires in the ditch. Think he tried overtaking from the left and didn't know there was a ditch.

[NPV]

Folks familiar with Karur, need some route help.
Going to attend a wedding at Karur, the wedding hall is on the Karur-Kovai (Coimbatore) Road.
I was told to follow the direction for Hotel Arunachala and instead of turning left towards the hotel, I need to turn right
Hope someone can give me some guidance on landmarks. Where do I turn off from the NH7 ? I think there is a flyover over the Coimbatore Road so I should take the service lane before the flyover ? Are there any sign boards ?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by NPV

Folks familiar with Karur, need some route help.
Going to attend a wedding at Karur, the wedding hall is on the Karur-Kovai (Coimbatore) Road.
I was told to follow the direction for Hotel Arunachala and instead of turning left towards the hotel, I need to turn right
Hope someone can give me some guidance on landmarks. Where do I turn off from the NH7 ? I think there is a flyover over the Coimbatore Road so I should take the service lane before the flyover ? Are there any sign boards ?

On the karur bypass, you will come across back-to-back flyovers, you will have to enter the service road immediately after the first one and this will take you to a signal which is just below the second flyover, here you will have to take right.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

On the karur bypass, you will come across back-to-back flyovers, you will have to enter the service road immediately after the first one and this will take you to a signal which is just below the second flyover, here you will have to take right.

Thanks Arun! Is there any signage after the first flyover - like left towards Trichy and right towards Kangeyam/Coimbatore ? (I'm guessing this is the exit to NH67).

[NPV]

Did Bangalore-Karur-Bangalore today to attend a wedding.
Onward - Started at 3.30 am from Silk Board and reached destination in Karur at 7.30 am. No breaks.
Return - Started at 10:30 am from Karur and reached Silk Board at 3:15 pm. Lunch break at Raja Bhojanam, Thoppur (35 minutes).
NH7 bypass Road in Hosur is pathetic, there was slow moving truck traffic and resulted in a 5 min traffic jam at the checkpost even at that early morning hour. I think the roads in opposite direction on this stretch are much better.
Not too many diversions now on Hosur-Krishnagiri stretch save for a few incomplete bridges. Due to the road widening work, the entry to A2B, Shoolagiri is now difficult to spot since it is a small distance before their campus almost like a dedicated exit ramp, but we had no plans of stopping there especially during the early hours

@Arun - you were spot on with the directions, thanks again!
After the first flyover, there is signage for Trichy (left) and Coimbatore (right) and here we need to turn off to left onto the service road (landmark:Hotel Annapoorna on service road).

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

Did Bangalore-Karur-Bangalore today to attend a wedding.
Onward - Started at 3.30 am from Silk Board and reached destination in Karur at 7.30 am. No breaks.
Return - Started at 10:30 am from Karur and reached Silk Board at 3:15 pm. Lunch break at Raja Bhojanam, Thoppur (35 minutes).

OT ....

You go to attend a wedding and come back have lunch on the way ?


Jokes apart, I think its time people start trying Old SH between Dharmapur-Hosur and modify that to drive all the way to Attibele.
Dharmapuri-Palacode-Rayakottai-Kelamangalam-Hosur bypass (TVS Factory)-Attibele.

Member Ramzys once posted some time back that, roads around Kelamangalam-Attebele were a bit broken. Need to know what the current status is.