[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

This is something I was looking for. Tomorrow morning heading to Kodai and your list appears to be perfect to me and at right time.

OT:
Just to clarify on the route, I will be taking Bangalore - Selam - Dindigul - Kodai.
Is there a better route? Looking for faster, good and less traffic route.

Be careful while driving on Dindigul-Theni road. It is an extended 2 lane road. I suppose road widening has been completed 100%.

[500ContyCruiser]

Originally Posted by ampere

Its the same. Take the Theni exit at Dindigul bypass. NH45 beyond Dindigul towards Theni is a beautiful and wide 2-lane road.

Need to be careful in ghat sections. TN buses are quite rash.

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Be careful while driving on Dindigul-Theni road. It is an extended 2 lane road. I suppose road widening has been completed 100%.

Thanks Ampere and Suresh.

I will keep in mind on Dindigul-Theni road traffic.

Just a thought while searching through alternate routes. Came across below thread on Palani - Kodai route. With just few hours left for my journey, my mind wants to try out this route. Any comments on the road condition?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2728491

Route: http://goo.gl/maps/V7wKk

[ampere]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

Just a thought while searching through alternate routes. Came across below thread on Palani - Kodai route. With just few hours left for my journey, my mind wants to try out this route. Any comments on the road condition?

Its a decent road. When the NH7 4-lane work was in progress, most folks used to do :
Perundurai-Kangeyam-Dharapuram-Palani-Kodai.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

Thanks Ampere and Suresh.

I will keep in mind on Dindigul-Theni road traffic.

Just a thought while searching through alternate routes. Came across below thread on Palani - Kodai route. With just few hours left for my journey, my mind wants to try out this route. Any comments on the road condition?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2728491

Route: http://goo.gl/maps/V7wKk

This road is also widely used to go to kodai from palani

[hamster]

All,
Travelling to my native Nagercoil by my car after a gap of almost 2.5 years, next weekend.
The travel time is bound to increase, since we are travelling with my 1 year and 3 months old son. Planning to hit the road before 5am to reach Nagercoil atleast by 3-4 pm.
Had planned this trip long ago, to go by end of July, thinking on less effect of South West Monsoon. But looks like the monsoon is also gaining momentum now.
Any updates on the road condition, especially with the rains around and also any new good pit stops in between.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by hamster

Any updates on the road condition, especially with the rains around and also any new good pit stops in between.

Just the same boring 4-lane end to end. You dont need to worry at all.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by hamster

But looks like the monsoon is also gaining momentum now.

Most of TN gets rains only from NE monsoon and hardly any from SW monsoons. Anyways if you leave earlier you can escape the Hosur mess and cover more ground before your kid wakes up

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by hamster

All,
Travelling to my native Nagercoil by my car after a gap of almost 2.5 years, next weekend.

There is no need to worry at least till kavalkinaru. The last 20Kms is always a question mark. Couple of months back it was ok kind, I was able to maintain around 50Kmph speed.

By the way which part of nagarcoil are you from?

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by hamster

All,
Any updates on the road condition, especially with the rains around and also any new good pit stops in between.

TN may not be impacted much by the SW monsoon. Watch out for the mess at Hosur. Otherwise NH all the way

[hamster]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

There is no need to worry at least till kavalkinaru. The last 20Kms is always a question mark. Couple of months back it was ok kind, I was able to maintain around 50Kmph speed.

By the way which part of nagarcoil are you from?

Thanks Arun. The last 20 kms is always accounted for and am expecting the worse anyhow.

Any suggestions on the pit stops especially after Krishnagiri would be helpful.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by hamster

Thanks Arun. The last 20 kms is always accounted for and am expecting the worse anyhow.

Any suggestions on the pit stops especially after Krishnagiri would be helpful.

Thoppur A2B (on RHS while going towards salem) will be ideal for you since, you have a 1+ year old kid. It is about 140 kms from Silkboard.

I understand you may need to break often with an infant onboard ( i've had same experience couple of years ago ) so other stops could be Hari's Restaurant which comes on RHS immediately after Thirumangalam Toll.

There are very less decent stop overs to my knowledge between Namakkal and Madurai. If you need to break, you may need to go little inside Karur, if required.

-Ravi

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by hamster

Thanks Arun. The last 20 kms is always accounted for and am expecting the worse anyhow.

Any suggestions on the pit stops especially after Krishnagiri would be helpful.

After Krishnagiri its,
- A2B Thoppur, comes on the right side
- Park Plaza and Grant Estansia, Salem(both are star hotels), comes on the left side
- Haris Residency, just after thirumangalam toll on madurai bye-pass, its on the right side
- Burma Hotel, Virudhunager - Its on the main road, left side
- Capsi, before kayathar - Its on the left side.

Originally Posted by hamster

Any suggestions on the pit stops especially after Krishnagiri would be helpful.

Apart from the ones already suggested, here are my picks at Satthur bypass located at a T-junction with median opening on the RHS of NH 7 while going from Madurai towards Kanniyakumari.







Further down a few km, this HP COCOO with CCD is located on the LHS of NH 7.

[hamster]

Returned back from an uneventful trip to Nagercoil.
The trip went as planned.
26th July - Bangalore to Nagercoil
28th July - Nagercoil to Tiruchendur and back to Nagercoil.
30th July - Nagercoil to Bangalore.

Enjoyed the return trip more than the onward.


The Prep :
The preparation for the car was done on Wednesday, 23rd of July itself.
Went to Surakshaa Adugodi to do all the checks. The brake-pad was kind of asking for retirement and happily gave it.
Washed the car, topped Nitrogen, checked for all fluid levels, changed the brake-pad, filled diesel for 1k and my swift was all set for the journey.
Packed everything by thursday. The car seat was fit back for my son(removed it during service).

The Onward Journey.
We had planed to start by 05:30 AM. Woke up before the alarm at 04:00 AM, refreshed, luggage loaded into the car.
My son seemed to be more anxious than me and he too woke up at 05:00 AM for the journey.
All set, and hit the road at 05:50AM from Hoodi, Bangalore.
Took the Varthur - Sarjapur road and reached Sarjapur at 06:15 AM.
Decided to take the Sarjapur-Bagalur road in the morning, instead of the Attibele route, which would be clogged due to the long weekend.
Inside Sarjapur town, there was some work going on and also in some places of the two-lane stretch of Sarjapur-Bagalur stretch , the other side of the road had been scrapped, probably for re-laying the road. Decided that it might not be an great option to return via the same road.

Detailed timelines below :
5:45 AM Started from Home, Hoodi
6:15 AM Reached Sarjapur, took the Bagalur Route to Hosur Avoided Attibele toll and the construction related traffic mess at Hosur
6:40 AM Reached Hosur. Joined NH7 just below the flyover, near Hosur Bus Stand
7:00 AM Stopped at HP Fuel Station at Shoolagiri. Bio, Fuel, Breakfast Break for 45 mins.
7:40 AM Started after Bio, Fuel and Breakfast Break from HP, Shoolagiri
8:15 AM Crossed Krishnagiri Toll Plaza
9:45 AM Reached Salem
10:00 AM 10 mins Stretch break between Salem and Namakkal
1:05 PM Stopped at Hari's Restaurant for Lunch break, near Kappalur(Thirumangalam toll) Food and service is good. Restrooms are okay kind.
1:45 PM Started from Hari's towards destination, Nagercoil
4:50 PM Reached Nagercoil. Odo – 670 Kms Average speed maintained throughout was 90-100kph.



The onward journey was a bit tiring for me, due to the heat and the lack of sleep. Could not catch up much sleep for a couple of days before the journey, because of more expectation, caution and anxiety of travelling such a long distance with my son was running on the back of my mind.
Had to take multiple 5 mins break to stretch and refresh myself.
The stretch from Namakkal till Madurai was particularly more boring as pointed out by ampere.

The last 20 kms stretch towards Nagercoil (branch out of NH7) is bad. Particularly, you can find more potholes than roads, the moment you enter Nagercoil town.

Note : The Rail flyover in Samayanallur is completed now and the mess is less now, though vehicles coming from Madurai city still take the wrong side to reach the four lane.

Car Maintenance.
Just after reaching my destination, while checking the car noticed that the Front Left was slightly low in air pressure.
Found a half inch nail which was reason behind. Got it fixed.
Also was hearing a irritating squeaky noice from the boot door. It was more annoying while driving on uneven road surface.
Had to bear with this during the entire trip to Tiruchendur and back.
After the Tiruchendur trip, went to the local MASS (Ganapathy Motors) and told them the problem, not expecting a quick resolution.
To my surprise, the chief of service advisor Mr. Shyam, fixed within a minute.The reason was one of the rubbers in the door was slightly misaligned to its resting place.
Kudos to Mr. Shyam, who identified the issue and fixed it instantaneuosly.

The Tiruchendur Trip.
The entire purpose of this trip was to have my son's Mundan(Mottai) ceremony in Tiruchendur.
Went to Tiruchendur on 28th July and returned back on the same day.
Took the Nagercoil-Vallioor-Tiruchendur road. Total distance round trip - 220 kms.


Few pointers for people using the Nagercoil Tiruchendur road.
Branch out of NH7 into Vallioor
In Vallioor, at the first major junction, take a right.There will be signal indicating PET Engineering College.
Within a couple of Kms after taking the right, there would be a manned level crossing.
After crossing the railway track, the road kind of branches out to Radhapuram (to the right) and Tiruchendur (to the left).
After taking the Tiruchendur road, a few kms ahead, there is a sharp left turn which leads to Tiruchendur.

The road is a two laned highway without any dividers, but with sparse traffic. Watch out for unmarked speed humps. Better to drive at 80kph.
THere will be a lot of small villages, where there are very very narrow and broken roads and kids playing around. Have to extremely careful.
There are 2-3 confusing round abouts in these villages, taking you to different destinations. Had to stop and ask for the correct route to Tiruchendur.


The Return Journey.
Enjoyed this drive more, since had a proper rest and also the duties were almost completed.
On the return trip, decided to take the Hosur-Attibele-BETL-ORR-Marathahalli-Kundalahalli route instead of Hosur-Bagalur-Sarjapur road for the reason mentioned in the onward trip.
Realized it was a big mistake owing to traffic snarls at a lot of places.
Reached home at 06:30 PM after a 1573 kms trip over a period of 5 days.

Detailed Return trip Timelines below:

7:00 AM Started from Nagercoil Odo - reading 900 Kms. Had a 15 mins break at a temple on route before hitting the NH7.
9:00 AM Break at Aaryas betweek Kovilpatti and Sattur Bio and Breakfast Break. Food is good. Restrooms are okay
9:30 AM Resumed journey after breakfast
11:25 AM Bio and Stretch Break at Velanchetiyur Toll for 10 mins Heavy winds around 10 kms before the toll plaza and also at the toll plaza.
1:15 PM Fuel & Bio Break at KPN HP Bunk in Salem for 10 mins Traffic in Salem.
2:20 PM Lunch Break at Thoppur BP Ghar Dhaba - A2B restaurant
3:05 PM Started after lunch break. Re-laying of tar near Dharmapuri Byepass. Traffic diverted to a single lane for around 5 kms
4:45 PM Attibele Huge Traffic chaos before Hosur town (Adhiyaman Engineering College) and near zuzuwadi.
5:05 PM BETL toll Heavy traffic from Hosur toward Bangalore. Trucks occupying all lanes. Also jam in the signal just before the BETL toll booth.
6:30 PM Reached home - Odo Reading 1573 Kms Traffic Jam in Marathahalli bridge took almost 30 mins to cross Marathahalli to Kundalahalli

Noticed that there are lot of pit stops/eating options opened up from Tirunelveli almost till Dindigul.
A few of them :
Capsi at Kayathar.
Aaryas/SriVatsa/CCD between Kovilpatti and Sattur.
Hari’s near Kappalur(thirumangalam toll).
Between Thirumangalam and Kodai Road there are multiple branches of Temple City restaurant and other options (Aanandas, Fantasy etc) on both the sides of the highway.
There is a huge bakery and a hotel by name Annapoorna just after the Kodai Road toll plaza towards Bangalore.
Noticed a new and big restaurant by name” Apple Veg” around 10 kms from Kodai Road towards Dindigul on the RHS.

Dindigul to Salem have very limited and decent options to stop when along with family.


The tolls paid (Return trip only)
Nanguneri 60
Salaipudur 75
Etturvattam 65
Kappalur 60
Kodai Road 51
Velanchetiyur 75
Rasampalayam 40
Omalur 67
Thoppur 83
Krishnagiri 60
Attibele 25
BETL 45
Total 706


There was no sign of Monsoon, instead it was hot all over compared to cloudy Bangalore.
Thanks to Arun, Ravib and J.Ravi for the info regarding the pitstops.
Sorry no pictures since was busy concentrating on the road and driving.

[pramodpk]

Originally Posted by hamster

Returned back from an uneventful trip to Nagercoil.

All set, and hit the road at 05:50AM from Hoodi, Bangalore.
Took the Varthur - Sarjapur road and reached Sarjapur at 06:15 AM.
Decided to take the Sarjapur-Bagalur road in the morning, instead of the Attibele route, which would be clogged due to the long weekend.
Inside Sarjapur town, there was some work going on and also in some places of the two-lane stretch of Sarjapur-Bagalur stretch , the other side of the road had been scrapped, probably for re-laying the road.

The bypass to the Sarjapur town was blocked 3 months back when I returned from Kerala. I am planning another trip on Aug 14th. Should I avoid the Sarjapur - Bagalur route?