Update as of 11-Feb-08 - An interesting & scenic route Ok. One more alternative route update on Bangalore - Coimbatore route and a more scenic one at that. If you want to enjoy a nice drive and have a bit more time to spare, try this. Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Kaveripatnam - Palacode - Papparapatti - Pennagaram - PerumPaalai - Mechari - Mettur - Ammapettai - Andiyur - Athani - Gobi - Nambiyur - Puliyampatti - Coimbatore. (365 kms or so)
Return: Coimbatore - Annur - Puliyampatti - Nambiyur - Gobi - Athani - Andiyur - Ammapettai - Mettur - Mechari - Pennagaram - Papparapatti - Palacode - Rayakottai - Hosur - Bangalore (335 kms) Have highlighted the important route info.
My friend wanted to take his Alto to Coimbatore and back and so I decided to accompany him as this was his first time on the highways.
We did the normal Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Kaveripatnam. On reaching Kaveripatnam there was a major jam due to the small road inside the town. There were 50 lorries & buses before us. With an Alto it would be a big headache overtaking all of them till Dharmapuri, given the bad roads. So we decided on a different route. Just as you get out of Kaveripatnam there is a right which is marked Hogennakal - 66 and Palacode - 21 or so. So we took this right. This is a well laid road and meets the Hosur - Dharmapuri road just before Palacode.
Palacode has a newly laid bypass now. Its on the left just before you hit Palacode town. Once you rejoin after Palacode, there is a right towards Papparapatti/Pennagaram/Hogennakal. Take this right. Again excellent roads with very less traffic.
Papparapatti is a small town with a small narrow road throug town. Once you get out of it keep heading straight until you meet the Dharmapuri - Pennagaram/Hogennakal road. Take a right here and head towards Pennagaram. Just before Pennagaram there is a bypass on the left towards Hogennakkal. As you go about 500 metres on this road there is a junction with a roundabout. You need to take the left towards Mechari (44 kms). This was the first time I had taken this route.
Guys this road is too good. Its not only the road but the scenery. You keep driving down a road lined with trees. Then you go up a small gradient and lo, you are on the top of a small mountain overlooking a beautiful valley. The road winds down the valley. Its a small ghat section with hairpin bends et al !! Then you drive through the valley surrounded by small hillocks and down winding roads. The roads are in excellent condition and there is work going on on converting them to two lanes. But given the almost nil traffic its not a worry. Just honk around the corners.
Once you hit the other side of the valley you again have a small ghat section to drive up. No mobile coverage in this valley !!! :-) You finally hit Mechari. Take a right towards Mettur. Road conditions for a couple of kms after mettur is bad. Take a right at Ammapettai. This is around 20 kms or lesser from Mettur. Ammapettai - Andiyur - Athani is as always good. Take the left after Athani towards Gobichettipalayam. Again you drive through palm lined roads with water canals on one side and paddy and sugarcane fields on both sides of the road. This 14 kms stretch is straight out of any Kollywood movie. Take a right at the junction in Gobi. From here, you can either drive on till Sathy (as this road is again very good) and from there on proceed towards Coimbatore or if you like scenery and rural India, you can take the left which leads towards Nambiyur. This left is around 5 kms from Gobi. Keep going straight till you hit a junction. Take the right here. At the next junction you need to take a left. Just ask someone for Nambiyur/Puliyampatti. Nambiyur - Puliyampatti is also very interesting drive. Once you hit Puliyampatti you join the Sathy - Coimbatore road. Take left towards Coimbatore.
Almost all roads from Kaveripatnam are state roads in excellent condition. You cannot rip on these and if you are in a hurry please avoid these. You could bang into some poor villager. (We actually saw one villager who had been knocked down by a speeding four wheeler). Honk and watch out near the villages. It took nearly 7 hours to complete this route discounting all stops. However given the state of Dharmapuri - Thoppur roads probably you would make the same time if you go through them as well. Return we took the same route, except from Palacode we drove straight towards Rayakottai and then on to Hosur. After Palacode the roads are bad in small stretches. We saw a lot of work happening in filling the potholes. After Rayakottai the road is excellent and we made good time.
We did the return in like 6 hrs and half hours or lesser given that we covered lesser distance.
Given that it was my friend driving all the way the time taken is a little longer than normal. I could have knocked a further 15 - 30 minutes off. :-)
We didn't have to overtake too many vehicles, no big buses and lorries trying to crowd us out of the road, just nice scenery and a great drive. My friend was absolutely thrilled as this was his first drive and this took him through all kinds of roads.
I think there is a route from Pennagaram - Denginikottai - Hosur also. I will try this out the next time !!
Last edited by csentil : 11th February 2008 at 19:10.
|