Initially thought of adding some teasers but then that would be if I don't have the photos at hand. I have those so diving into it straightaway.
I will the keep the description short and to the point. I have lots to write but I will keep the catharsis of thoughts for some other time
Time - My Diwali vacation 6th Nov to 13th Nov 2010.
Route - Pune - Bangalore - 1 day rest - Mysore (a stepping stone due to unpredictable weather) - on to Kannur.
Return - Kannur to Bangalore without any halt in Mysore
Places of stay -
Bangalore - My in-laws home
Mysore -Hotel Siddharth , near the palace
Kannur - Sea-Shell Resort , Adakadalayi Last , Kannur (Just a few words. If you are looking for reasonable prices , a quiet couple of days without TV far away from civilization and near the sea , this is a highly recommended place. The website - [COLOR=#0e774a]
www.seashellinn.net [/COLOR]).
Condition of roads -
Pune to Bangalore - Excellent. Except from Rannebennur bypass to Chitradurga is chaotic. I don't know if the Karnataka goverment has been ignorant of this patch. Inspite of this I made good time. I had started from Pune at 4-45 am and reached my inlaws place in Bangalore for 4 pm. SO less than 12 hrs.
Bangalore to Mysore good with lots of unecessary breakers. Its a highway but OK for the safety of the folks crossing its necessary. THe road from Hunsur to Virajpet and then from Iritty to Mathanur are straight from the moon. You guessed it. Lotsa craters and potholes and those amazing KSRTC (Kerala State) buses dodging these craters and scaring the daylights out of me more than once and honking on that buffalo-belch sounding horn.
The ghat from Virajpet to Iritty was awesome. It was freshly tarred. The road from Mathanur to Kannur was surprisingly good tarmac. The road to the resort was very narrow and being an interior road I did not expect it to be maintained. However the resort and the idyllic location made up for the bad roads.
Toll - Haven't the exact total of receipts but paid approximately 500 rs in toll.
NICE ring road was the most expensive but most convinient since I branched out from NH-4 and came out directly onto Kanakpura road without entering the city or the Outer ring road.
Fuel Consumption -
Pune - Bangalore 890 kms , 55 ltrs of petrol consumed. Average approx 16.5 kpl (a/c on full time)
Bangalore - Mysore - 150 kms , 12 ltrs of petrol
Mysore - Kannur - 200 kms (approx) - 15 ltrs of petrol
Now at present I am in Bangalore as my family has gone back by flight and I have to firefight a project here in the Bangalore office for a month.
Here are some photos. They are a mixed bag since they were taken from a cell (3.2 MPix) , digicam 8 yr old / 2.2 MPix and LG mobile cam (3 MPix).
Do let me know if I have missed some details. I have tried to keep the travelogue short.