[royalcruiser]

Count me in, dada! Any weekend Feb works well for me - Mahe does seem like a place to go

[asdon]

Originally Posted by rk_sans

Would vote for Mahe too. And Kannur would also be nearby.

As a location Mahe is very nice, but we have to consider the road to Mahe, as our time will be limited, just an idea, can we get a location along with any of the 4 lane NH? for a mega meet I think we should reduce regrouping or path finding.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by asdon

As a location Mahe is very nice, but we have to consider the road to Mahe, as our time will be limited, just an idea, can we get a location along with any of the 4 lane NH? for a mega meet I think we should reduce regrouping or path finding.

On TN side, only locations near Salem (Yercaud - 220km), Kodaikanal (450km) or Coimbatore (Valparai / Top slip - 400 km) would be accessible via the 4 lane NH-7 if this is priority.

On Karnataka side, any location along Hassan would also be accessible by good roads, but we already did that last year. Dandeli / Karwar (450km) via Hubli highway is also part of a 4 lane NH along Chitradurga.

The detour route to Mahe would be Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Calicut - Mahe if we want to go there avoiding bad roads. This would be roughly 400km I guess.

@asdon - are we frozen on a 1 night/2 days programme or is it extensible to 2 nights/3 days?
P.S : search for Mahe on google maps and it actually takes you to a place called Mahe in Seychelles islands . Boy, how I wish I had the money to go on a holiday to THAT kind of Mahe

[asdon]

Thanks Karthik, my individual choice will be Dandeli...

@Karthik - the number days depends on members, I am all in for 3D/2N

[KarthikK]

To really enjoy the place, my personal suggestion is we stretch it to 2N/3D if we are looking at any of these 300+km destinations, since we might be spending 7-8 hours on the road itself just to get there.

1N/2D is ok if the destination is within 300km. Anything more than that and we will hardly get time for an actual meet if we want to leave the next morning.

[KiloAlpha]

Updating the list:
Asdon
rk_sans
shishir_bn
SChoudhury
ku69rd
SunnyBoi
n_aditya
KarthikK
floyd.bell
Vik0728
tckanth
RoyalCruiser
KiloAlpha

I am perfectly willing to stretch for a 2N/3D package. Taking leave in Feb will not be an issue for me.

[tckanth]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

To really enjoy the place, my personal suggestion is we stretch it to 2N/3D if we are looking at any of these 300+km destinations, since we might be spending 7-8 hours on the road itself just to get there.

1N/2D is ok if the destination is within 300km. Anything more than that and we will hardly get time for an actual meet if we want to leave the next morning.

I second Karthik on this.
If the destination is more than 350Kms, 1N/2D will not be sufficient for us to explore the place either.

For a 2N/3D trip, I think a budget of around 5K - 5.5K should be sufficient (inclusive of meals).

The Great Outdoor place seems really good.

And a budget of around 3500 for accommodation

[asdon]

Originally Posted by tckanth

And a budget of around 3500 for accommodation

Hope that's not per day..

I am all in for a 2N/3D trip..
Just an info Aero India will be from 7th to 10th Feb, so can we plan it post that plzzz..

[floyd.bell]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

The detour route to Mahe would be Bangalore - Mysore - Gundlupet - Calicut - Mahe if we want to go there avoiding bad roads. This would be roughly 400km I guess.

The other route to Mahe would be Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Periyapatna-Siddapura-Virajpet-Iritty-Mattanur-Thalassery-Mahe. Should be roughly around 350kms. The road should also be good if we go via Siddapura to Virajpet rather than Gonikoppal.

[SunnyBoi]

Mahe sounds perfect!

BTW I heard the Manathvady road was re-surfaced some time back, has it deteriorated already?

[floyd.bell]

Even my vote goes to Mahe
We can find out about the current condition of Mananthavady stretch from the Kannur thread.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by floyd.bell

Even my vote goes to Mahe
We can find out about the current condition of Mananthavady stretch from the Kannur thread.

Was in Mahe on 29th December 2012.

Road conditions are generally OK. No major issues. Left Sultan Bathery on 29th morning 10Am and reached Mahe by 13:00 for lunch. Was too hot even in December.

Attractions are the Light House, a beautiful Church, Mahe River (Mazhazhipuzha) and ofcourse the beach. Being Pondichery administration, certain things are cheaper - that includes petrol too..was around Rs65 to a litre..

[floyd.bell]

Originally Posted by laluks

Road conditions are generally OK. No major issues. Left Sultan Bathery on 29th morning 10Am and reached Mahe by 13:00 for lunch.

Thanks Laluks. I am assuming you took the Bathery-Mananthavady-Makkiyad-Kuttiady-Mahe route. How was this stretch? I know the road till Mananthavady via Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarahole is good. Wanted to know road condition furthur from there to Mahe.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by floyd.bell

Thanks Laluks. I am assuming you took the Bathery-Mananthavady-Makkiyad-Kuttiady-Mahe route. How was this stretch? I know the road till Mananthavady via Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarahole is good. Wanted to know road condition furthur from there to Mahe.

Yes indeed I took the kuttiyadi route. Around Sulthan Bathery some layer updation of roads are going on. Over all I never felt any issues driving my Civvy on those roads.

There is a very bad stretch near Nadapuram, but that is just a few kilometers..

[floyd.bell]

Thanks again Laluks. So Guys, the best and shortest route to Mahe would be Bangalore-Mysore-Hunsur-Nagarahole-Mananthavady-Makkiyad-Kuttiady-Nadapuram-Mahe.

As laluks mentioned, Mahe would be hot. But, don't we have the Sea to calm us down