[sudev]

I was looking to fly in to Banglore and from there drive to Kozhikode.I will reach Banglore late night and would like to straight away drive on from airport.
nHow muany hours it will take?
Need inputs on best route
Distance
Are there any restrictions of night travel on any portion of the road? I was told that the state border between Karnataka / Kerela closes at night. This on face of it seems ridiculous but could be due to Bandipore wild life sanctuary.

TIA

[Sha]

The route is Bangalore-Mysore-Sultan Batherry-Kalpetta- Calicut. it will take you 6 hrs and the road is good with few potholes. Forest route is closed between 9pm-6am.

[rjstyles69]

sudev your best bet is the route suggested by Sha. However I really doubt if you can do it in flat 6 hrs considering the state of the roads in Karnataka. Bangy -Kalpetta(Wayanad) is roughly 285kms or so and Kalpetta-calicut is another 70 odd kms.

Once you enter the kerala the roads are really good and shouldn't be a matter of concern.

[Sha]

I have done Bangalore-kalpeta(vythiri) in 5 hr in normal speed. Had been last week the road from gundelpet to kerala border has lot of potholes and one 100 metre stretch in bad condiditon. Kalpeta to Calicut has big potholes in Ghat section, In normal speed 6-7 hr can be done Bangalore-Calicut.

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by sudev

I was looking to fly in to Banglore and from there drive to Kozhikode.I will reach Banglore late night and would like to straight away drive on from airport.
nHow muany hours it will take?
Need inputs on best route
Distance
Are there any restrictions of night travel on any portion of the road? I was told that the state border between Karnataka / Kerela closes at night. This on face of it seems ridiculous but could be due to Bandipore wild life sanctuary.

TIA

My recco,do an early morning Blr departure for Calicut.The route suggested earlier is the shortest route and given the present conditions,the best.Under normal conditions,BLR City to Kozhikode would take 7-8hours.If you do leave Bangalore by 5-6am you should be able to reach Calicut for a late lunch around 3pm.You could have breakfast enroute at Kamat Lokaruchi @ Janpada Loka,a recco place for breakfast stops.

Yes the night traffic has been stopped through all roads going through sanctuaries towards Kerala so that the animals can catch up on some sleep.

[tsk1979]

Sudev, once you come down from Waynad, often the ghat section often has thick fog/clouds. The KSRTC buses also on that road as well as privates after Kalpetta will make a Blueline driver scream in fear

If you cross into the forest area before evening, you should be okay.
Remember, rural Kerala sleeps early, and once after around 9pm you will have difficulty in directions.

I have done this route multiple times in bus, and it took 8 hours by overnight bus(PK travels and the likes)

[sudev]

Unfortunately it looks I will have to drop this. I can not get to Bangalore before night and with night drive not allowed around Bandipore I can not reach Calicut before 8AM - the time deadline. If the deadline is shifted to beyond lunch time I can fly from Delhi the same morning and be there by lunch.

Oh so some other time.

[ccnarayanan]

Just now came back to Bangalore after making a trip to Calicut. Below are my notes, particularly around distances, travel time, and road conditions. For reference, I normally take 8 hours with 2-3 stops of a total of 1 hour when I drive the route Bangalore - NICE Road - Mysore Ring Road - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Sulthan Bathery - Kalpetta - Calicut.

16-Jan-2010

0 Bangalore apartment 0743
10 Kanakapura vs. NICE Rd Fuel stop
92 Rest stop 0928-0933
125 Mysore Rd vs. KRS Road 1010
192 Nagarhole Park entrance 1143 (register to be signed)
(Got free advice: no stop, no music, no horrunn)
(spotted some deer and monkeys)
223 Nagarhole Park exit 1229 (register to be signed)
227 Kutta 1233
(some rock hit the underside of the car very badly at the U-turn and that was the beginning of an "interesting" road)
229 Tholpetti 1247-1257
244 Kattikulam
via Koyileri (did not touch Mananthavady)
266 Panamaram 1400
281 Kalpetta
289 Chundale 1439-1445
358 Calicut apartment 1641

Bad roads:
- Mysore Road-Hunsur Road (rough patches)
- Nagarhole park - rough patches
- Kutta-Tholpetti (potholes - 20kmph)
- Tholpetti-Kattikulam (rough patches)

17-Jan-2010

0 Calicut apartment 0835
8 Medical College (Fuel) 0848-0905
18 Diversion to Areekode
37 Areekode
50 Edavanna
64 Nilambur 1026
93 Nadugani (Rs. 20 at the border)
99 Calicut/Mysore JCT
110 Gudalur 1150
155 Lunch 1302-1315
159 Gundlupet 1322
190 Chamarajnagar 1410
210 Yelandur 1430
228 Kollegal 1500
263 Malavalli 1543
308 Kanakapura 1630
355 Bangalore apartment 1737

Bad roads:
- Nadugani-Gudalur (potholes, rough patches)
- Chamarajnagar town
- Yelandur town
- Kollegal town
- Kanakapura town

[i.1979]

cc between these two road do you recommend or feels better?

[ccnarayanan]

Originally Posted by i.1979

cc between these two road do you recommend or feels better?

I would recommend the following routes in that order:

1. Bangalore - Mysore Ring Road - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Sulthan Bathery - Kalpetta - Calicut (fastest, very good road, minimum chance of getting lost, but traffic would be somewhat high)

2. Bangalore - Srirangapatna - Hunsur - Nagarhole - Kutta - Kattikulam - Mananthavady / Koyileri - Panamaram - Kalpetta - Calicut (second best, but bad roads between Kutta and Kattikulam)

3. Bangalore - Kanakapura* - Malavalli* - Kollegal* - Yelandur* - Chamarajnagar* - Gundlupet - Bandipur - Masinagudi - Gudalur - Nilambur - Areekode - Calicut (bad roads in towns marked * and near the state border, very easy to get lost within the towns)

[guruji]

Since the forest road is closed, how does the KSRTC buses ply to Calicut? There is a bus starting at 9PM and it would reach the forest roads after they are closed. Any idea how they go? Do they take Mananthavady route?

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by guruji

Since the forest road is closed, how does the KSRTC buses ply to Calicut? There is a bus starting at 9PM and it would reach the forest roads after they are closed. Any idea how they go? Do they take Mananthavady route?

3 points to share:
- there are 2 KaSRTC buses, viz. 9.30 PM A/c Corona and 10.30 PM A/c Volvo that has the passes to pass through the forest even during the public closure timings
- KSRTC buses that leave early evening/night (before 10 PM) goes via Kutta->Mananthavady route
- KSRTC buses that leave late in the night (after 10 PM) goes via the usual route. The driver kills time driving slowly as well as spending lots of time in both Mysore (goes out for signing the trip register) and Gundulpet (break for filling fuel) bus stands. Will reach the forest checkpost anywhere between 3.30 AM to 5.30 AM and wait for the gates to open at 6 AM.

Having said that, which among the last 2 options is chosen after Mysore depends on the driver and conductor, I feel !

[kala]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

3 points to share:
- there are 2 KaSRTC buses, viz. 9.30 PM A/c Corona and 10.30 PM A/c Volvo that has the passes to pass through the forest even during the public closure timings
- KSRTC buses that leave early evening/night (before 10 PM) goes via Kutta->Mananthavady route
- KSRTC buses that leave late in the night (after 10 PM) goes via the usual route. The driver kills time driving slowly as well as spending lots of time in both Mysore (goes out for signing the trip register) and Gundulpet (break for filling fuel) bus stands. Will reach the forest checkpost anywhere between 3.30 AM to 5.30 AM and wait for the gates to open at 6 AM.

Having said that, which among the last 2 options is chosen after Mysore depends on the driver and conductor, I feel !

There are 2 Kerala RTC buses also that are allowed through the forest after 9PM. A Super Express that starts at 8PM and a Super Delux that starts at 11:45PM. (There are 2 Super Fasts that start at 11PM and 11:30PM which wait at the forest entrance till 6AM, so don't take those). There's also another Super Fast that starts at 7 PM and reaches Calicut at 5 AM - that's the one that goes via Kutta-Gonikoppal-Mananthavady.

(This info is as per what's given on the keralartc.com website. I did travel on this 11:45 super deluxe bus last month - reached Kalpetta at around 5 AM)

[Fauji]

Originally Posted by kala

There are 2 Kerala RTC buses also that are allowed through the forest after 9PM. A Super Express that starts at 8PM and a Super Delux that starts at 11:45PM.

How are these buses allowed in contravention of High court order?

[kala]

Originally Posted by Fauji

How are these buses allowed in contravention of High court order?

I'd think that this might be provided for in the High Court order as exceptions to be allowed to pass through. (like 2 RTC buses each from both states, Emergency vehicles like ambulances, etc - and may be even VIP vehicles ?)