[ajmat]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Was it Homrazd who took that road to test Tavera?

Amitoj

No he used it to test the Forester

[gkrishn]

I do remember clearly him mentioning that coz of its looks, people tend to underestimate its ride and handling and mistake it for a gentle family vehicle. Would this apply to tavera or forrester? I read this article on the autocarindia website which is kind of non existent now.

Yup, i guess it will apply to both. If u want to remember correctly, he also mentioned that the road was part of a rally segment, and it had 36 or so haipin bends and the break will wear out by the time you reach some curve 15 or so.. i.e, while going down hill. If this artcle ur talking about, then its forester.
Man... would love to try this road...

But! We are digressing here , "my dear Ganapathi".

What? what is this?? Ganapathi who???

Umm... i was thinking of taking the ooty, cbe route while coming back becoz u mentioned that weekend traffic on this road will be tiresome. Since i will be returning on tuesday, i was thinking it would be a safe bet to take this route then.

Do it then. the week end crowd, i have seen there years before, will drive u crazy.

[amitoj]

Thanks for clearing that up, gk and ajmat. so it was the forrester, eh.

nevermind about ganapathi, gk... nothing related to you personally. was just humoring myself...

[satish_appasani]

Two months back I travelled till coimbatore by train and took a cab to Kodai. The distance from cre to Kodai is around 170 - 180 KM. But it will take close to 4.5 hrs drive. The road is good till Palani. Expect a few detours in Polachi. From Palani the ghat road (50 Km) takes over. Initially it's boring but gets better as you keep climbing higher altitudes. You come across very good views.

Have a great holiday.

[Rehaan]

Hey Amitoj,

U lucky guy.... Kodai is one of my favourite places in the world!

About the ghats up to kodai, i believe the palani ghat is 52km and is a pretty straightforward drive, whereas the other ghat (cant remember the name) is about the same distance but it has 17 hairpin bends.
When i was in school i had actually cycled down the palani ghats, u can read about it on this page (posts 85 & 88)

here are some cool pics around kodai-







Have fun & take some nice pics,
cya
R

[amitoj]

Thanks for all your help guys!
Muchos gracias.
We are all set to depart tomorrow morning.

Adios

[puthari]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Thanks for all your help guys!
Muchos gracias.
We are all set to depart tomorrow morning.

Adios

finally - what route did you decide . I am curious ...

[amitoj]

Will be taking the Salem - Dindigul route to reach Kodai. For return trip, will ask the locals or tour operators there in kodai about the coimbatore - ooty route and then decide.
Will let u all know how it went.

[puthari]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Will be taking the Salem - Dindigul route to reach Kodai. For return trip, will ask the locals or tour operators there in kodai about the coimbatore - ooty route and then decide.
Will let u all know how it went.

coimbatore - OOty - would be better . nice drive too.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by puthari

coimbatore - OOty - would be better . nice drive too.

How long does it take on this route?
The salem - dindigul is supposed to take 11 hours as per Outlook but i have found their times to be over estimated always.

[puthari]

Originally Posted by amitoj

How long does it take on this route?
The salem - dindigul is supposed to take 11 hours as per Outlook but i have found their times to be over estimated always.

amit ,

It depends on what you like . For Eg: good road - NH - then take the Coimbatore /Salem/Hosur road. Plenty of trucks to see .

Coimbatore - ooty - Ghat section - green around . Ooty - Mysore - maybe kalleti ghat again very curvy - could drop in to Madhu mallayee - Forest Drive . Stop by at Bandipur . Bandipur to Gundlupet is forest Drive.

I dont know your iternary - however - if you cand rive the Ooty / gundlupet drive during very early hours - you will get to see Wild life when driving .Most of the animals keep passing the road . Last week - my friends spotted a Tiger! ( which is very rare - I wish to see one in my LIfe Time).

Not sure of Coimbatore - ooty ... but take a casual drive of 6 - 8 hrs to reach b'lore from OOty.

[amitoj]

well itinerary is quite simple. Saturday morning 6 AM leave for Kodai from Bangalore. Target to reach Kodai before dark. Sunday and Monday to be spent sightseeing in Kodai. Tuesday morning start from Kodai for Bangalore. If we want to drive through the bandipur forests in early hours, will have to leave Kodai on Monday noon, reach ooty by evening, spend the night there and start from ooty very early. Spotting a tiger would be awesome though chances are extremely rare, but wot about the other terrors of the jungle aka naxalites in Bandipur??

[gkrishn]

naxalites in Bandipur??

Naxals exists only upward of AP i guess... the equivilant in this region was veerapan... and you know what happaned to him. so except for wild animals, the place is free from all these things.

[amitoj]

yeah but i heard that since veerappan aint around any more, naxals have expanded their areas of operation into wot used to be veerappan territory

[puthari]

Originally Posted by amitoj

yeah but i heard that since veerappan aint around any more, naxals have expanded their areas of operation into wot used to be veerappan territory

dont worry - besides that - you are 6ft 2' with 2 other guys right?. so whats the worry .

your idea of staying over at Otty seems to be perfect.