[dameem]

This is my first post in this forum. As it is lengthier, and as I have lot of photographs. I want to break it into many pieces.

I hope this is interesting to you people.

From Chennai, We started at about 12:33 PM and proceeded to towards Bangalore direction.

From Chennai we took the route along Arcot Road instead of Poonamalee High Road which proved to be a mistake as it took almost 45 minutes to cross the city.

As soon as we crossed the city in about 50 minutes then we proceeded towards the motel on left. There are two motels on the highway as soon as you cross Poonamalee but the first one and you come across is the best. They are faster in service and also the food is okay. This hotel is also an attached Krishna sweetshop where you can buy sweets to your family or friends in Bangalore.

After a light meal we proceeded again. My friend was at the wheel and I tried to take a small nap in the back backseat.


Even though the road was in a very good condition and that the car was spacious one I was not able to get any sleep.
So I sat up and started taking photographs.


Then we crossed Kancheepuram, then Ranipet, these two towns You don't get to see them at all, as the road proceeds in the bypass. That's a very good thing indeed.


In another One hour from the motel we crossed Melvisharam you can see the spire of the mosque which forms the unmistakable landmark of this small town. In this town, you also have a small high-class restaurant called 'Fishermans fare'. It is part of the Apollo hospital complex. It's very good.


After this we crossed vellore. There is this beautiful fly over which takes us above all the activities of this very busy town.

I wish we had this kind of flyovers all over all the small towns we keep crossing along our highways.

I have to tell something about this beautiful highway which gave us south Indian's the taste of a real express way.

The surface of this highway is excellent especially after you cross Vellore, that is how generally all the international expressway is formed having a very good road grip which we can really feel when you drive fast. You feel as though the car is planted on the road. In this road you can easily make 140 km/h in most of the stretches if you have a fairly decent car.

to be continued ...

[dameem]

Then, we crossed Ambur and Vaniyambadi. Ambur: it's where you get delightful biryani from Haja. If you have time Definitely, you have to stop by this restaurant.

At about 4:50 PM we reached the end of this road where we had to take a right turn to proceed towards Bangalore. Then we reached the Tollgate.


Immediately after this Tollgate. There is a small mosque on the right-hand side of the road. So we parked a car on the side where there was a small parking space, and we crossed the road to the mosque, and we offered the evening prayers. This process took about 20 minutes of our time.


Then we proceeded towards hOSUR . This part of the road is my favourite. It has got beautiful stretch of plants in the median, which are very colourful, and a delight to see. But I was not able to get a very good shot of this because it was getting really late and the lighting was poor.


Here, I should mention something about my camera and the lens I used for this trip, I used my Canon 450 D and my favourite Canon 10 mm to 22 mm wide and the lens. The earlier I used to prefer zooms as they gave an opportunity to take close-ups of birds and flowers that you come across during you your trip. But I found that wide angles give the best result for the trips as you are able to cover the landscapes and buildings in a much better manner.

Thats the car we used. Its Aveo 1.4. The one who is giving pose is the owner of the car my friend Arif.

It was 5:02 PM. At this time, as I was desperate for a cup of tea. I forced my friend, to make a halt at a small tea of shop, we found on the road side. This proved to be a very bad mistake, as the person in the shop looked as though he'd just woke-up and took this sweet time to deliver 3 cups of tea, which were smelling of smoke. With disgusting taste lingering in our tongue, we proceeded towards Hosur.

Thats me and Arif sitting in front of the tea shop

The beautiful mountains on the road and excellently maintained median with colourful plants were a treat to the eyes.



And it was 5:30 PM, and after this, I was not able to take many shots for the day, as it became very dark.

Then, we reached the outskirts of Bangalore, and the place where we have to take left turn into the 'Nice road' to proceed to mysore. This road is sort of an expressway without any interconnections or junctions and hence you can go very fast. Except for a break in between, which leads you through a torturous stretch, which passes through Bannergetta then you come back into the expressway again to proceed to its Mysore. But in the darkness and because there were not any proper signs as to where we have to turn for Mysore we went straight ahead, and we had to come back, making in U-turn and wasting about 30 minutes in the process

Here I should express my anger at the expressway people as they do not have even proper signage, where we need to turn for a big city like Mysore.

To be continued....

[raghu230506]

Great start,

Keep rolling,

I did 4times from Bangalore to Golden temple, I allways was in search of a good restaurant.

Where exactly is this in Ambur

Then, we crossed Ambur and Vaniyambadi. Ambur: it's where you get delightful biryani from Haja. If you have time Definitely, you have to stop by this restaurant.

Regarding the small patch on Bannerghatta road, I understand, it's under construction now and for sure would be a one stretch in near future.

[hrmanju1]

Nice. I am planning a trip to Coorg second half of March. (booked the accommodation already). I will be driving from Bangalore. The only question was
1) Should i go all the way to Mysore and take the ORR to reach Hunsur
or
2) Go till Srirangapatna and take a right towards Hunsur?

Let me know what you did?

Good pictures and do write on your hotel and things you did.

[kiku007]

I'm tuned in! I'm eagerly looking forwards for info on Chennai-Coorg driving time and distance.

[srikanthpotluri]

A little more specifics will be helpful, I am planning a trip with friends and wifey first week of April to Mysore and Coorg.

[cLJ]

So far so good, eagerly waiting for complete travelogue.

CLJ

[dameem]

After coming out of the expressway after about 26 km or so, we entered the Bangalore Mysore highway.

At this time I took the wheel from my friend.

In about two hours, we reached Srirangapatna. This historic town once was the capital of Tippu Sultan. By this time we were debating whether to have dinner at this place but proceed straight to Mysore.

Even though this Bangalore to Mysore road was a narrow one, only two tracks on either side. It was well surfaced, and had a median too.But this is a very busy road, and hence you can do to only about 60 to 70 km/h or so average.

Then, we reached Mysore it was 9:30 PM. Before Mysore we took right turn into the ring road. We went into a large restaurant We came across on the road called the 'seafood' or something, where we had our dinner. The large number of Mysore people there seemed to have hell of time in this place,as liquor seemed to flow like water. Nevertheless the food was excellent. This stretch of the ring road seems to be full of such huge open air restaurants attached with Bars.

At about 10:30 PM, we proceeded on the Mysore ring-road. There was a left turn to go towards Coorg (Madikeri). To our disbelief, this part is clearly marked, where we have to take a right turn proceed on Hunsur Road and to go towords Madikeri.

As it was late in the night. We wanted to check whether the road to Madikeri was in a good condition, so we called at our hotel, that we had booked in Madikeri and the person there told us ; "the road is in a good condition for most of the part, but only after crossing KushalNagar the road gets little bad".

So, taking this advice we started proceeding towords Hunsur. And the somewhere near Hunsur, we saw this excellent cafe coffee Day which was attached to a Petrol Station, Which is open 24 hours.




We took an excellent coffee and offered our night prayers there, and after about 40 minutes or so we proceeded again.

Mysore to Madikeri road was in a very good condition, but it didn't have any median that we were experiencing right from the time we started from Chennai, but nevertheless it was good one and you can do good speeds... but only up to KushalNagar.

This is where our nightmares started.

The road became a treacherous one as it is being laid many parts of the road are only suitable for a four-wheel-drive jeep. So for about 10 km of this stretch took about almost one and half hours of our time.

We were cursing the Hotel fellow, who didn't inform us well enough about this road. If we had known, we would have taken a detour from KushalNagar which goes through 'The elephant camp' at Dubare.

(This Dubare route that we took in our return journey. which was excellent).

So, if you are going to Coorg. Take this detour at KushalNagar and go through Dubare. This is much faster, even though it is narrow stretch in some of the places. Maybe this is the reason why our hotel person did not suggest this detour as we travelled in the midnight. He probably thought these narrow stretches will be a problem for us, and also there were many intersections in Dubare Road, which we would not have been able to get direction in the midnight when there was no one on the road.

Anyway eventually we reached our Hotel at Madikeri called 'The Capitol Village' at about 12:30 PM in the night, but thankfully, the Hotel had the receptionist at the desk, who helped us into our room.



After praising the Lord for giving us a safe journey, We entered our room. Though this room was a

very basic one the beds had clean mattresses thankfully. And we just fell in our beds for a nice

sleep.

To be continued...

Originally Posted by hrmanju1

Nice. I am planning a trip to Coorg second half of March. (booked the accommodation already). I will be driving from Bangalore. The only question was
1) Should i go all the way to Mysore and take the ORR to reach Hunsur
or
2) Go till Srirangapatna and take a right towards Hunsur?

We went through Srirangapatna and travelled up to Mysore and just before Mysore there is a right which enters into the ring road of Mysore. this ring road is a good way to avoid the city traffic of Mysore. As you travel on this ring road You simply turn right When you see the direction to Madikeri.

Originally Posted by raghu230506

Great start,

Keep rolling,

Where exactly is this in Ambur

Thanks for your welcome note. I will give you the details of, good restaurants on this road in Vaniyambadi and Ambur, as I have a few good friends in these two towns.

[ampere]

CCD near Hunsur is news ! Thanks. This gets better by the day. Can you share where exactly is the Coffee Day?

[mjothi]

First post? Great going. Waiting for the Coorg pics. So, how was ride? I mean the difference in Chennai-mysore and mysore to coorg etc. Any development on the roads fro Mysore?

[gadadhar]

Originally Posted by hrmanju1

Nice. I am planning a trip to Coorg second half of March. (booked the accommodation already). I will be driving from Bangalore. The only question was
1) Should i go all the way to Mysore and take the ORR to reach Hunsur
or
2) Go till Srirangapatna and take a right towards Hunsur?

Let me know what you did?

Good pictures and do write on your hotel and things you did.

Take option 2 (assuming you are driving from Bangalore), this will save you some distance and from the thicker traffic when you approach Mysoore town, can try Rengathitta on the way if you wish... Keep a watch for a fork where you need to keep right, there are no pointers there, landmark can be a colony of many abandoned tiled small houses..

[anekho]

Fantastic photos, thanks man! Looking forward to the rest of the 'logue!

I'll definitely be covering the chennai-blr stretch atleast twice this summer, so it's really helpful!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Take option 2 (assuming you are driving from Bangalore), this will save you some distance and from the thicker traffic when you approach Mysoore town, can try Rengathitta on the way if you wish... Keep a watch for a fork where you need to keep right, there are no pointers there, landmark can be a colony of many abandoned tiled small houses..

Sir, I would propose to take the Mysore road. Its easier to drive. In spite of heavy traffic, its smooth flowing. There is a difference of only 3-4 Km and not more. You need to go to Mysore and on the first signal, on the ORR take right till you hit the Hunur road exit.

The issue is that the Ranganthittu road is not in a good state as compared to the Mysore road and ORR.

[dameem]

The next morning we woke up at about 7:30 AM. This photograph was taken in Verandah in front of our room at 'Capitol Village' Resorts at Madikeri, Coorg. It was a very spacious Verandah indeed generally hotels do not have this kind of specious Verandahs.




Then we came out of the room just to have a look at this resort. You can see the rooms of this resort in the background of this picture. In this picture you see me and my other friend who travelled with us: Shahul.




you can see that this resort doesn't have very good looking buildings, but it does have kind of earthen charm to it. Because the buildings are very basic indeed. But as I said the rooms are clean enough and the mainly the bathroom and the bedsheets were also clean.

This resort is about 3 km from the Madikeri junction. This is the five road junction you first meet before entering Madikeri when you're coming from Mysore Road. You have to take the left road and then go for about 3 km inside that road to reach this resort. The resort is quiet aloof from the town that's an advantage. The surroundings are very natural. We paid only 1200 for the room. That includes breakfast also so its very cheap.

This resort even has a small natural pond, which looks very nice, we were told that this resort is about 50 acres in size. But the buildings occupy very small area.




That's a picture of me. You can see in the background is almost like a forest. Actually I'm standing facing the resort.



This is the corridor which leads to the reception and to the restaurant.




This is the view of the restaurant.




As the resort was getting ready for a marriage party we were not served breakfast in the restaurant. Instead when we were given an option to be served in front of our room itself, we readily took it. the survice was also really fast.

That's me with Aveo standing in front of the reception building.


That's Arif and Shahul having the breakfast. It was a good breakfast indeed, simple but good.



That's the entrance to the resort on the main road.




Then after taking bath, we wanted to go around the town. So we went to the receptionist and asked for directions to the sightseeing places in Coorg. He not only gave us the list of sightseeing places in fact drew a small useful Map showing the distances to various sightseeing areas and also a good suggestion to have the non-vegetarian lunch at the town.

This is the direction towards the town from the resort.



This is the starting of Madikeri town.


This is the church in the town.


This is the busiest place of the town.



Due to its proximity near the town we selected 'Raja's Seat' first. Then proceeded towards it.

We saw this board on the way which will give you a clear idea of the sightseeing places in Madikeri and their distances.



As we had very little time we chose only two places to visit one was 'Raja's Seat' the other was 'Abbey Falls".

We wanted to cover the 'elephant camp' at 'Dubare' Forest during our return journey in that afternoon, as it is in the direction of Mysore.



This is the parking in front of 'Raja's Seat'




This is the view of houses in Coorg in oppsite side of of 'Raja's Seat'



this is the ticketing booth at 'Raja's Seat'




these are the panoramic views you see at 'Raja's Seat'. I think this is the only place in Coorg Where you see a nice Valley view.







This is the garden at 'Raja's Seat'.




After finishing this place proceeded towards 'Abbey Falls' which is only 8 km. The road is a narrow one but good.

This is the granite inscription in front of the falls.



It's a pathetic situation for people who visit this place by buses because they are stopped at least about 2 to 3 km before the falls and they are made to walk this long-distance just to see this falls which is not worth it.

We half expected to be allowed to take Bath in the falls. But we were not even allowed to go near. And it doesn't look very clean indeed. You had to walk a little bit about 300 m or so to see this falls.



And it is really crowded.


There is a small suspended bridge from which you can take the picture of the falls it looks nice indeed.




On the way back we saw many people getting ready removing dress, with towels etc as though they will be allowed to take Bath in the falls.

They should have some kind of a board saying that we will not be allowed to take Bath in the falls in the beginning of the entrance itself.

after seeing the falls we returned to the town then searched for the 'Choice restaurant' suggested by the receptionist at our resort. We found it immediately as it was on the main road itself. and there was some parking near the building too.




We have to walk this steep stair which leads to the restaurant two floors above.




But the biryani we've had there was an excellent one. Indeed we call it --'Khuska' in Chennai. But the restaurant people call it as Biriyani. Nevertheless it was very tasty and we didnt leave any on our plates.

As any good restaurant this was a crowded place. That shows the quality.

To be Continued...........

[dameem]

Originally Posted by anekho

Fantastic photos, thanks man! Looking forward to the rest of the 'logue!

thanks. It's good to have your Efforts being appreciated.

Originally Posted by mjothi

First post? Great going. Waiting for the Coorg pics. So, how was ride? I mean the difference in Chennai-mysore and mysore to coorg etc. Any development on the roads fro Mysore?

Thanks mjoth, your travelogs have been a great inspiration to me. All the roads were very good except for one bad stretch I have mentioned which is after Kushal Nagar. you can avoid this if you take a detour through Dubare.

That's what I know of. There may be another route to avoid this.

In terms of the road quality nothing to beat Chennai to Bangalore highway... but that's what I thought until I visited Trichy last week. I would say that this road has overtaken the Bangalore Chennai hideaway in quality especially after crossing Tindivanam.

Originally Posted by ampere

CCD near Hunsur is news ! Thanks. This gets better by the day. Can you share where exactly is the Coffee Day?

sorry to say that I didn't really notice as it was too late in the night. I think most probably it is at Hunsur itself.