[tsk1979]

This is the Mangalore road till Hassan, from there you go towards chickmanglur. till hassan its single road but motoring nirvana. Hardly any traffic and well paved road with minor ghat sections. From chickmanglur, the sight seeing places have ghat roads, but in average condition. But the scenic beauty is breathtaking with amazing views and great weather.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Guys, what would be the best way to Kodaikanal in December?
I want a hassle free route. Remember, my Optra has very low ground clearance.

Blore- Kodai (485Kms) ; ~11hours drive.

Route: Bangalore-Dindigul via Hosur, Dharmapuri, Salem (NH70, Salem-Kodaikanal via Sembatti, Vattakundu, Pannikadu (District Hill Road); Kodaikanal.

Between salem and Kodai, i would suggest to go thru karur and dindugal. That way most of the time u will be on NH.

This route is best. Or shall i say that it used be best... After the rains, the stretch after krishnagiri upto salem is horrible. Be prepared to come accross some really really big craters. You just wont have any place to hide... But then being NH, one would expect these roads to be fixed by december.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

This is the Mangalore road till Hassan, from there you go towards chickmanglur. till hassan its single road but motoring nirvana. Hardly any traffic and well paved road with minor ghat sections. From chickmanglur, the sight seeing places have ghat roads, but in average condition. But the scenic beauty is breathtaking with amazing views and great weather.

Had done the nh48 last week and attained nirvana last week itself...will be getting it again on friday.. but i am looking for ghat roads ,ghat road s and ghat roads...the nh48 has a ghat but no road on that ghat .....


steeroid has suggested wyanad...more details abt wyanad plssss

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

steeroid has suggested wyanad...more details abt wyanad plssss

Go to Mysore, great road but be careful of kamikaze drivers as no one knows when the diversions happen.

Proceed to nanjangud - average - then onto gundalpet - aweful roads. Just after Gundalpet - turn right and then it is heaven - the forest road is awesome and visibility is good so you can really push hard without danger....well some exceptions - was overtaking a santro at 110km/h and he deciding to move to the right - boy !!!

re: koadaikanl - ensure you take the route through Karur, there is a parallel route which is fit for Scorpio's only - those 50 profile wheels won't like it

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by ajmat

- then onto gundalpet - aweful roads.

That stretch is also pretty good now, Ajmat. They've done up the badly cratered sections and you can keep up an average speed of 100 kmph all the way from Mysore to Sultan Batheri (or Sultan's Battery as it was originally called).

It took me just slightly over 3 hours driving time from Bangalore to Sultan's Battery - I started early.

[cnu]

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Here...
Blore- Kodai (485Kms) ; ~11hours drive.

Route: Bangalore-Dindigul via Hosur, Dharmapuri, Salem (NH70, Salem-Kodaikanal via Sembatti, Vattakundu, Pannikadu (District Hill Road); Kodaikanal.

This was the highly prefered route some time back,,,not sure about now.

Krishnagiri to Dharmapuri stretch (about 30-40 km) was in a bad shape in Oct with too many pot holes. Dont know if it has improved any.

[cnu]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Proceed to nanjangud - average - then onto gundalpet - aweful roads. Just after Gundalpet - turn right and then it is heaven - the forest road is awesome and visibility is good so you can really push hard without danger....

True. The drive just after Gundlupet till Wayanad through the forest is really refreshing.

[5u3zEr0]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

I did that stretch in July with my Accent and had a torrid time. Drove back from Bangalore in October on this route since the highway to Salem was reported washed away in many places, and I reached Mysore pretty fast. In fact I was in Srirangapatnam before I realised it. Early start, though - about 5.30 am.

Starting early is highly recommended when you go on long trips. In 2003, I remember doing B'lore-Srirangapatnam in 90mins on my way to Coorg. Started at 06:00 and was in Coorg by 10:30 with one stop. The Mysore road then was decent.

[speedsatya]

did bangalore -mangalore on this saturday...started at 415 am from indiranagar and reached my place at 9am..also stopped on the ghats for about 20 mins ..so that i wudnt reach very early ...i think i will be doing kemmangundi on the 16th ...

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

did bangalore -mangalore on this saturday...started at 415 am from indiranagar and reached my place at 9am..also stopped on the ghats for about 20 mins ..so that i wudnt reach very early ...i think i will be doing kemmangundi on the 16th ...

What was your time from Nelamangala cross to Pumpwell circle. This usually takes 6 hours for me thanks to numerous breaks for breakfast, lunch, sussu/vomitting (for the son), photographs, etc.

BTW, when did you move to Bangalore?

[speedsatya]

where is nelamangala?????is it the left that you take for nh48??????
mabbe 4-4.15 hours from there ...

i did not stop anywhere else other than the ghat ....except for one particular place for about where a truck had crashed into a mangalore bound bus...

my mangalore-bangalore drive in the last week had taken me about 5.5 hours to reach the nh4 and then another 2.45 hours to reach indiranagar..


the VRL bus that i came in yesterday ..took less than 6 hours to reach majestic...started at 11pm from mangalore and reached here at about 510...and that included about 30 mins of stops.


i am here in bangalore since august

[haryan]

Hey Satya
Why not spend your three days in Mercara ( Madikeri )
thats a very lovely place .. its got ghats , Forest , Coffee Estates and Lovely drives ..
Its about 230 Kms away from Bangalore ..

[speedsatya]

haryan,
have been to madikeri and have stayed in the orange county...but somehow did not like the ghats...if only teh sakleshpur ghat was in a better shape...nh48 would have been more fun...


where is this shiradi ghat and charmadi ghat ????????just heard about it ??????details please ..its somewhere in between mangalore and bangalore

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

where is this shiradi ghat and charmadi ghat ????????just heard about it ??????details please ..its somewhere in between mangalore and bangalore

You just drove through Shiradi ghat, it's between Sakleshpura and Uppinangadi. Charmadi ghat is on the way from Udupi to Agumbe, I think, not sure. Of course, now all these ghats have come under naxalite influence.

[amitoj]

Also the road to Madikeri from Mysore is in pretty bad shape for your zen, Satya. Its more suited for Steeroid's Safari. I did that route couple of weeks back. It was an agonizing drive from Mysore to Madikeri.
But if you go to Kemmanagundi, go via Baba Budaniagiri Hills... u cross the highest point in Karnataka there.

Cheers
Amitoj