[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by kala

Which portion of NH7 are you referring to ? I thought NH7 south of Salem is probably one of the fastest highways in South India - I could average 100kmph+ on that stretch when I travelled that way in Jan and don't recall seeing any such nasties ?

It is in the stretch from Salem to Dindigul and back. Other than that, this stretch is really good and in the morning we traveled from Salem to Dindigul in 2 hrs 15 minutes. Afternoon was a different story.

Originally Posted by mykal shoemaker

Is it closed from November till date?

Read about landslides in last november news reports:
The Hindu : Cities / Madurai : Kodaikanal-Palani ghat road closed

It is officially closed.

Originally Posted by ampere

Route Links

Bangalore Kodai

BLR-Kodai


You should be able to do in 6-8 hours as its 4L all the way till Dindigul


Kodai - Munnar


Munnar - Ooty


member hiring an Innova with decent pricing.

Route from Bangalore to Kodai is really good except the approach to Kodai. Most of it is broken and be careful about suicidal TN bus drivers. In one turn a bus almost touched my car while I was patiently waiting to give way. While coming downhill they drive rashly. So be careful if you are driving.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Folks,
I dont want to start a new thread, but I need info on the route to Kodai, Munnar and Ooty from Bangalore. We plan to visit those places in May.

What is the driving time, and the road condition? Do we need a 4-by-4, or will a sedan do? We are a team of 11 or 12 and plan to hire vehicles from Bangalore, perhaps two Innovas or Xylos.

Info on hotels and rates in each place will also help a lot.

Thanks for your help.

In Kodai you can stay at Ganesh guest house if you are looking for budget accomodation. It is 600 per room with three beds, a private guest house with very good parking and located next to teh BSNL office, so the lake is at a walkable distance.

[vnabhi]

Thanks suman. Can you please PM me the contact numbers of Ganesh Guest House?

Also, how long is the route to Kodai, especially the ghat road?

[sumannandy]

Sent you the number.

Ghat roads are broken. NH7 is excellent except few culverts and nasty bridges. NH45 is also good except a few patches. Be careful about the turns at Kodai ghat road and the suicidal bus drivers.

[dreamdiesel]

Just back from Kodai this weekend. Took the Kodaikanal - Palani route on the way back to Bangalore. Almost zero traffic on this route and was a pleasure to drive. I prefer this route than the other (Batlagundu) as its more scenic. There is road repair work going on at one hairpin bend about 20kms before Palani. There has been a nasty landslide here. Cars can easily go through the narrow road (Slight offroading to be done).

Just when the Ghat ends I was stopped at the checkpost where the policeman made an entry in the book of the vehicle details. Told me road is closed and was looking to grease his palms. Got away by telling him that I paid a hundred to some policeman at the previous checkpost, wont be able to pay another single rupee.

The road is officially closed, but cars can actually navigate without mush issues. But got to do some explaining at the checkpost at the bottom of the Ghat.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

Just back from Kodai this weekend. Took the Kodaikanal - Palani route on the way back to Bangalore. Almost zero traffic on this route and was a pleasure to drive. I prefer this route than the other (Batlagundu) as its more scenic. There is road repair work going on at one hairpin bend about 20kms before Palani. There has been a nasty landslide here. Cars can easily go through the narrow road (Slight offroading to be done).


The road is officially closed, but cars can actually navigate without mush issues. But got to do some explaining at the checkpost at the bottom of the Ghat.

Did you see cars coming up from Palani side? Or they were being stopped by the cops there? Any idea how long it will take to reopen the road?

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Did you see cars coming up from Palani side? Or they were being stopped by the cops there? Any idea how long it will take to reopen the road?

HVK sir...Didnt see any vehicles coming from Palani side. Probably were not allowed to go through at the checkpost. Looking at the damage and work going on, would say close to a month before the road reopens.

I passed the checkpost around 1:30PM. Could see about 15 odd vehicle details in the register at the checkpost for the day.

[balan]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Did you see cars coming up from Palani side? Or they were being stopped by the cops there? Any idea how long it will take to reopen the road?

On 21st march, Was driving from Mudumalai to Kodaikanal on personal work and went to palani and at the base, the cop / highway guy stppoed me saying work is going on, hence cant go. I said even last week I went, He replied saying the workers have put a mixer on the center of the road and are doing work and hence vehicles cant pass. If I wanted to go, I can go after 6 pm. It never struck my mind about greasing. Drove from palani to oddanchatram to sembatti to batlagundu to kodai

I am confused as to which portion of NH7 is bad?? The section betwween karur to dindugal is flat out stretch and was able to maintain an average of 120kmph where as the stretch between namakkal to salem is busy with traffic as the super fast road has brought real estate development along with it
Best regards
Bala

[sumannandy]

Around March 11, a number of bridges from Dindigul to Salem were closed and traffic was diverted through the side roads. Some of the other bridges were really nasty, including the one at Salem above the railway station. Guess they completed the repair.

There were no other problems. This stretch otherwise is really a pleasure to drive. In the morning we reached Dindigul from Salem in 2 hours or so and we did not not even drive beyond 110 kmph.

At NH209 entrance at Dindigul, there is a nice restaurant serving great idly. Also when you get off the highway at Dindigul, there is a small pakoda shop on your left that makes great pakodas. Highly recommended.

[balan]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Around March 11, a number of bridges from Dindigul to Salem were closed and traffic was diverted through the side roads. Some of the other bridges were really nasty, including the one at Salem above the railway station. Guess they completed the repair.

At NH209 entrance at Dindigul, there is a nice restaurant serving great idly. Also when you get off the highway at Dindigul, there is a small pakoda shop on your left that makes great pakodas. Highly recommended.

The repaired stretches have no divider lines (white lines) or the shoulder lines.

Other wise it is ok

Can you explain the exact locations of these eateries? Do they have toilets?
Venu Biriyani can do good business if they setup shop on the highway
Best regards

[sumannandy]

The restaurants are located at the entrance of NH209, on your right side if you are coming from Bangalore. So essentially you have to enter Nh209, and right at the entrance, you will get the restaurants on your left.

There is one restaurant which was pretty clean with toilets. Decent enough for a family.

There is another great restaurant at Karur. If you are coming towards Bangalore, get off the highway before NH67 intersection. Turn right on NH67. Take the first U turn. You will see the restaurant on your left. At Rs. 55, the meal was decent, although we were not sure if the chettinad dishes we ordered were authentic.

Otherwise along NH7, it is hard to find good places. You can stop at the toll gates though, they have clean facilities with toilets. We used one, and were happy with the cleanliness and ambiance.

[neotraveller]

I had been to Kodaikanal and Munnar April 9-13. Had hired an Indica.
Roads were very good, especially in Tamil nadu. Kodaikanal Ghat road was also good, I haven't seen any places where it was closed ?

Coimbatore-Pollachi-Udumalpet-Palani-Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal-Palani-Udumalpet-Marayur-Munnar

Munnar-Marayur-Udumalpet-Pollachi-Coimbatore

Total trip was some 800 km (including sightseeing)

[Ashok Kumar.T.]

Am going to Trivandrum via NH 7 (721 km,10 hours 27 mins) National Highway 7 (via salem, Dindigul and tirunelveli), any news about the road conditions??

[kala]

Originally Posted by Ashok Kumar.T.

Am going to Trivandrum via NH 7 (721 km,10 hours 27 mins) National Highway 7 (via salem, Dindigul and tirunelveli), any news about the road conditions??

Excellent till Kavalkkinar (where you turn off towards Nagercoil), you can easily average 80 to 100 kmph till there. The last 80 or 85 kms - i.e Kavalkkinar to Nagercoil (NH47B) and Nagercoil to Trivandrum (NH47) - can be troublesome because of heavy local traffic. Roads are OK, but consider yourself lucky if you can average 40-45 kmph.

[venkyhere]

anybody knows whether the palani -> kodai ghat road is open for traffic now ?
or is it still 'closed' ?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by venkyhere

anybody knows whether the palani -> kodai ghat road is open for traffic now ?
or is it still 'closed' ?

It has been open for a very long time now after the repairs,unless something has happened in the very recent past?