[ampere]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

From Shenkottai to Rajapalyam was also heavy traffic.
From Srivalliputtur took the road via Sivakasi - Satur.This road is good except
for traversing the Sivakasi town.From Satur it was four lane and I could
bypass Madurai easily.The problem Madurai bypass towards Trichy is two laned and surface is not good and they are charging Rs.40.I felt the charge was pretty high for the average roads.

You were driving to Trichy? Thats why the Sivkasi Ssttur option?
I thought for driving to BLR/HYD why this route? Is the Srivilliputtur-Madurai so traffic prone, that you need to re-route to Sattur?

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by ampere

You were driving to Trichy? Thats why the Sivkasi Ssttur option?
I thought for driving to BLR/HYD why this route? Is the Srivilliputtur-Madurai so traffic prone, that you need to re-route to Sattur?

I had to visits temples around Trichy so deviated from Madurai.
I do not know the traffic conditions between Rajapayam-Madurai.
It was only the four lane bug which did the trick to turn towards Sivakasi-Satur.

[arun_josie]

Coming from Kanyakumari/Nagercoil, which is the best route to reach Kumily? Is it through Madurai? If so, how is the road condition between and Madurai and Kumily?
Any other better alternates?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Coming from Kanyakumari/Nagercoil, which is the best route to reach Kumily? Is it through Madurai? If so, how is the road condition between and Madurai and Kumily?
Any other better alternates?

I think that is true. There is no option but come till Thirumangalam from where you can divert to the Theni road.
The option via Kerala is not worth it.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ampere

I think that is true. There is no option but come till Thirumangalam from where you can divert to the Theni road.
The option via Kerala is not worth it.

Thanks amp! Any idea about the road condition between Thirumangalam and Kumily?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Thanks amp! Any idea about the road condition between Thirumangalam and Kumily?

Arun, I think Thirumangalam to Theni is not a problem. Once you hit the bypass at Theni on the road to Kumily, I am not sure how much
of ride widening is happening on that section. (Road widening is happening on Dindigul-Theni section. )

So at worst its the last 60km where you can expect bad roads at most.

[thoma]

Any updates on this stretch? Kottayam-Kumily, Kumily-Theni and Theni-Madurai?

I had done Kottayam-Kumily some 6-8months ago and Kumily-Theni almost 1.5yrs back; but never been on the last stretch.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by thoma

Any updates on this stretch? Kottayam-Kumily, Kumily-Theni and Theni-Madurai?

I had done Kottayam-Kumily some 6-8months ago and Kumily-Theni almost 1.5yrs back; but never been on the last stretch.

I think the road beyond Theni is bad. I mean Theni-Kumily stretch; the one through the ghats.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by thoma

Any updates on this stretch? Kottayam-Kumily, Kumily-Theni and Theni-Madurai?

I had done Kottayam-Kumily some 6-8months ago and Kumily-Theni almost 1.5yrs back; but never been on the last stretch.

I had been to Sabarimala last month.
Kumily-Theni is not a problem at all.
The roads are in good condition.
The road Gudalur-Vandiperiyar-Kuttikannam has lot of twisty ghats and overtaking has to be done carefully.

[thoma]

Just back from Madurai, 500km round trip in a day. Theni-Madurai is in good condition so is Kumily-Kottayam, but the former can be done in high speeds. Theni-Gudalur is 50:50; some excellent stretches and some crater-crawling stretches. Gudalur-Kumily ghat section on the TN side is surprisingly holding on for good.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

I had been to Sabarimala last month.
Kumily-Theni is not a problem at all.

Originally Posted by thoma

Just back from Madurai, 500km round trip in a day. Theni-Madurai is in good condition so is Kumily-Kottayam, but the former can be done in high speeds. Theni-Gudalur is 50:50; some excellent stretches and some crater-crawling stretches. Gudalur-Kumily ghat section on the TN side is surprisingly holding on for good.

Wow! Thats really nice (and sorry if I sent out a wrong update). I thought I read some time back, that roads beyond Cumbum/Theni till the ghats were quite bad. But this does not look like so.

In other words Theni-Kumily-Kottayam is indeed an option to escape the Kerala arterial road traffic.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by ampere

In other words Theni-Kumily-Kottayam is indeed an option to escape the Kerala arterial road traffic.

Definitely a good option when you can enjoy a) the high speed Bangalore-Dindigul express way b) winding roads from Kumily to Kerala which at present is in pretty good condition.

But sedans and hatchbacks should beware of the pathetic stretches around almost all villages en route Theni-Gudalur. My mention of 50:50 in the earlier post does not mean that the full stretch is 'half doable'. There are good high speed stretches (for ex a good 10 kms) and then comes crater filled 5-10 km road which has to be done in crawling speeds; and this pattern cycles. Kumily-Theni ~65 km took close to 1.5 hrs with good speeds on the excellent stretches and crawling speeds on the bad.

[Bibin]

Can some one help me with the present condition of road between Dindigul and Kumily?

[sajeeshms3]

Dear All,

I am planning to go to Kanjirappally (Kerala) from Chennai, for Onam vacations in first week of September. I am considering following routes.

1) Chennai-Dindigul-Cumbum-Kumily-Mundakkayam-Kanjirappaly
2) Chennai-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Angamaly-Pala-Kanjirappaly

My preferred route is first one which is at-least 100KMs shorter than second. Can someone tell me about the present condition of road between Cumbum-Kumily-Mundakkayam, especially the width?

[SajiNSalin]

Cumbum-Kumily-Mundakkayam road is in good shape, however, there are lots of curves from near Kumaly to Mundakkayam. Width is sufficient for two vehicles to pass. Generally no issues and you should be able to drive at 60kmph on most sections.
Had driven on this route in March (Kodaikanal to Trivandrum) and recently Trivandrum to Munnar via Kumily.
Saji