[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Any updates on the road conditions to Wayanad from Bangalore electronic city?

Don't have to be worried about road condition, you can find road conditions based on last week's update here

Link (Bangalore - Calicut : Route Queries)

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Don't have to be worried about road condition, you can find road conditions based on last week's update here

Link (Bangalore - Calicut : Route Queries)

Update : Did Bangalore <-> Wayanad(Nice road->Mysore exit->Mysore bypass->Bandipur->Kalpetta->Likkidi) over last weekend(15th-18th June,2019). Absolutely wonderful roads. No issues with low slung cars as well, mine was a Jazz with full load of 5 adults+boot full of luggage. Although within Kerala its all 2 way traffic, folks are fairly disciplined and road quality is pot-hole free mostly. Be cautious of the interceptors, cops all around with speed-gun on-board their vehicles. Nobody bothered us though as I preferred staying within 60kmph and enjoying the green fiesta.

Banasura Sagar dam has a little less water as of now but will be full in next couple of months as the monsoons complete their innings. Its a huge dam and a speed boat ride in it is fun.





Kanthanpara Waterfalls is another lovely spot if you wanna take shower. But one needs to be a little careful with the steps which are muddy & slippery if it rains while you visit.



Pookode lake. Good for paddle boating/kayaking.



Edakkal caves : Not recommended for senior citizens or heart patients. Its a kilometer worth hiking followed by 300 steep steel steps. Pretty tiring but the view from top is nice, though the cave is nothing special as such.



This is the best thing about the trip. Plush green Tea estates all around.



Stayed in Upavan resort, Likkidi. Nice little resort surrounded by green forest cover with spacious rooms, good food & decent facilities for that perfect family vacation.







Only issue faced was, few of the tourist places were closed like Soochipara waterfall et al. Rest its an amazing gateway for people looking for a break from the hustle-bustle of city. A big shout out to the folks out there in Wayanad for maintaining cleanliness.

[suviswan]

I am driving from Bangalore to Wayanad. Google Map showed 2 routes. Which route has good roads and scenery? I will be driving Drivezy car, so I need to get permit to enter Kerala. Where is the RTO located in the route?

[indranilmuk]

Hi Everyone, I will be driving to Wayanad from Bangalore at the end of December. I would be staying in Sultan Bathery. Please let me know what are all the site seeing we can cover. Also, if there are any good COCO petrol pumps near Sultan Bathery. Usually I use Indian Oil COCO, but others would also be fine if they are good ones. Which are the best places to eat in Wayanad ?

[skarthiksr]

Originally Posted by indranilmuk

Hi Everyone, I will be driving to Wayanad from Bangalore at the end of December. I would be staying in Sultan Bathery. Please let me know what are all the site seeing we can cover. Also, if there are any good COCO petrol pumps near Sultan Bathery. Usually I use Indian Oil COCO, but others would also be fine if they are good ones. Which are the best places to eat in Wayanad ?

Just finished my Wayanad trip from Bangalore(Through private taxi) and yes, I too stayed in Sultan Bathery. For food, Wilton restaurant is good (Rahul Gandhi visited ). Vegetarian options are Dosa Hut, Indian Coffee House and Udupi restaurant.

The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to cover Mysore on the way. If yes, day 1 is dedicated to Mysore.

Day 1:
Without entering Mysore city you can cover the following on the way.

1. Nimishamba temple
2. Triveni Sangama
3. Tippu's fort
4. Balmuri and yedamuri falls
5. Ranganathittu bird sanctuary and boating

It is quite tough to finish the above all and reach Wayanad in a day. So, prioritize accordingly and do the remaining ones in return if possible. Do #5 only if you have time because boating queue is really long and time-taking during holiday season. Also note that you need to pay upfront INR 70 per person and INR 50 for parking while entering the sanctuary and then go to boating point. So, if the queue is long and you decide to skip, you would have paid the entry fee for nothing. Boating is INR 70 separately per person.

Now, if you go as per the above plan you can reach Sultan Bathery only at the night around 8-9 PM. Note that, if you are going in private taxi, Kerala RTO check post is after Bandipur and due to ayyappa devotee buses, it takes a long time now to complete the checkpost formalities.

Day 2:
Places: Banasura Sagar Dam, Pookode lake and Lakkadi view point.
1. Start at 9 AM and visit Banasura Sagar Dam first. It has a zip line point which it claims is the longest in Wayanad and yes, it was long. Spend a nice 1 hour here and you can do some good walking here. I think there is boating as well.
Important point is that we followed Google Maps and on the suggest route, near Kainatty junction, we were diverted by a Traffic police man to another road due to some road work I think. We took that diversion and followed Google Maps from few meters later and ended up reaching the place fully through narrow broken village roads. So, before taking a route, please ask the localites for the best road and reach the place.

2. Visit Pookode Lake next. If you decide for lunch before Pookode lake, have it in Vythri. I didn't find good restaurants near pookode lake.
The lake has pedal boating and cycling. Cycling is INR 50 for 20 minutes. Be careful with the monkeys around, there are many. Do try tea in the canteen inside.

3. Next visit Lakadi View point. It has a very nice view of the valley below. Be careful with the monkeys here as well.

Day 3:
Places: Kanthanpara falls, RARS agriculture farm, Nellarachal view point, Heritage museum and Karapuzha Dam. There is a highly rated Edakkal caves on the same route but we didn't do it because it is a 1.5 km uphill trek and we had elderly parents who can't make it.

1. Start with Edakkal caves first if you can do it and then to Kanthampara falls. Kanthampara falls would be the best of the day, so take clothing with you, enjoy bath (I didn't see warning boards not to bath) and spend good time here. Near the entrance above the rest room complex there was a place with board 'Changing room for ladies' as well, but we didn't use it since we didn't enter water.

Now after this there are 4 places to cover: RARS farm, Nellarachal view point, Karapuzha dam and Wayanad museum.
The sequencing is somewhat tricky due the below conditions.

• RARS farm closes by 4:30 PM
• Nellarachal view point looks best during sunset
• Karapuzha dam closes 6 PM.
• Wayanad museum closes by 5:30 PM.

We did it in this order - Nellarachal view point -> RARS farm -> Karapuzha dam -> Wayanad museum.

2. To reach Nellarachal, we took a left after reaching main road from the falls. The village road to Nellarachal was full of broken roads and pretty narrow as well. The car struggled a lot to evade the pot holes. Nellarachal view point doesn't have any sign boards as well. You need to reach the place as per Google maps and enquire with the locals on how to go to the view point. If you want to view sunset here, you need to plan the other places accordingly.

3. Next is RARS agriculture farm at Ambalavayal. There is no flower show right now and I was told that it is opening only in January. But you can visit the farm and buy plants if you are interested. Skip it if you are not going to purchase anything. Finish lunch here. There are some decent restaurants near the junction.

4. Karapuzha dam is a better place so cover it in good sunlight. One flood gate is open now and you can go close to it - Be careful with the giant beehives there. Long walk is needed though.

5. If you have time, do Wayanad museum last. Just 15 minutes to spend here. Skip it if you are not interested.

Day 4:
Last day of our return we had 2 options. Go to Thirunelli temple and head to Mysore/Bangalore(Longer route) or take the regular route to Bangalore via Bandipur. We chose the latter and did Wayanad Ancient Jain temple, Nanjundeshwara temple Nanjungud and Mysore palace. Visit chamundeshwari temple also if you have time.

We didn't do Muthanga wildlife since we read that it was too expensive for what we get. There is one more day tour option - Kuruva Island, Tholpetti wildlife, Thirunelli temple and Pazhassi tomb, but it should be a longer one. If you want more planning options, search in google maps exactly for "Dosa Hut veg Restourent Sultan Bathery"(Yes with typo), go through the uploaded photos and you can find one user uploaded photo of Indraprastham residency poster with many day tour options.

I have attached the wayanad tourist places map below. Enjoy your trip.

Tourist map (This is taken at Ambalavayal)

[indranilmuk]

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

Just finished my Wayanad trip from Bangalore...

Wow! Awesome!! You have given so detailed description, it will be very helpful for me. Any good petrol pumps, who provide quality petrol en-route ?

[skarthiksr]

Originally Posted by indranilmuk

Wow! Awesome!! You have given so detailed description, it will be very helpful for me. Any good petrol pumps, who provide quality petrol en-route ?

We went in private taxi. The driver chose his preferred petrol bunk somewhere on the way to Mysore.

[indranilmuk]

Originally Posted by skarthiksr

We went in private taxi. The driver chose his preferred petrol bunk somewhere on the way to Mysore.

I found one on Google map, just before the main junction at Sultan Bathery. I will share how it is after coming back.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by indranilmuk

I found one on Google

If it's the one just before Sulta Battery town on the left side, it's not that great.

If going towards Kalpetta, you can go to this BP bunk

Also, there is a newly opened Shell bunk just before Gundlupet while driving from Mysore on the left side.

[ramanan.skr]

Chennai to Wayanad, Which one is best in terms of good roads, traffic, food & safety?

1. Chennai - Krishnagiri - Bangalore(Nice Road) - Mysore - Gundlepet - Sultan Battery - Wayanad

2. Chennai - Villupuram - Salem - Bhavani - Sathy - Chamrajnagar - Gundlepet - Sultan Battery - Wayanad

3. Chennai - Villupuram - Salem - Avinashi - Mettupalayam - Ooty - Gudalur - Sultan Battery - Wayanad

Google suggests the route 1, but I am skeptical as most part of the route comes under very high traffic zones.

Please suggest.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ramanan.skr

Chennai to Wayanad, Which one is best in terms of good roads, traffic, food & safety?
1. Chennai - Krishnagiri - Bangalore(Nice Road) - Mysore - Gundlepet - Sultan Battery - Wayanad

When are you planning of driving? (weekend/ morning / evening) and also which place in Wayanad are you headed to?

To further add to confusion, I would suggest a slightly different route from 1 -

Chennai - Krishnagiri - NICE road Kanakapura exit - Kanakapura - Mallavalli - Bannur - Mysore (ring road) - Gudulepet - Sultan Battery.


This is the best route based on traffic and time. However, once you cross Kanakapura, you will not have any proper food options till you reach Sultan Battery (~ 4 hours)

[arindambasu13]

Planning to travel to Wayanad in a couple of weeks time, specifically Meenangadi/Pannimunda area (the stay is called Suvistara resort). Could someone confirm on what is the best route to take? I was considering the standard route of going through Mysore- Nanjangud- Gundulpet- Bandipur - Wayanad. How is the road condition through this route and how long is the drive expected to take?

Travelling with senior citizens, so will need to take a few breaks through the drive.

[indranilmuk]

That is the shortest route. Overall the road conditions were good. On Mysore Road there might be heavy traffic. Especially just after the NECE road toll, there is construction work going on. We had not taken breaks, apart from one break at Gudelpet Shell petrol bunk. Best part of this road is that you do not need to enter Mysore City, but take diversion to the left just before.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Travelling with senior citizens, so will need to take a few breaks through the drive.

If you take Mysore road on a weekend it'll probably be painful. Two options to avoid Mysore road (one fully and one partially):
1. Take Kanakapura-Malavalli-Bannur-Mysore ring road-Gundlupet-Bathery-Meenangadi. Kanakapura road has some ongoing work and diversions, fewer options for breaks.
2. Take Bangalore-Mysore road upto Maddur and turn off to left to join the road to Malavalli. Turn right at Malavalli and then it's the same route as above. Endure Mysore road upto Maddur but on the positive side road is good, more options for breaks.

[BayB]

Any latest update on route from Bangalore South (RR Nagar) to Vythiri Resort, Wayanad?