[Ragul]

Originally Posted by luvurride

Not sure if this helps, but the way I generally do is to download my route/destination as offline maps and keep. You can see the option 'Offline Maps' when you access the menu bar in GMaps from your phone.

Offline only saves the map data not your waypoints. I just tried that. Simplest way - delete an icon on home screen and make space for "save to home screen"

Thanks guys for all your help so far!

R

[ampere]

One part of the solution is to understand the bigger picture so that you anticipate the route which are going to take. So that way you are on the look for the change/fork when you approach. Yes it involves some amount of work, but it helps. But having said that one will definitely the route to be marked on a device.

[rajivtelang]

Travelling to Pondy on Saturday. Based on these recommendations planning to take Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Ambur-Vellore-Arcot-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Tindivanam-Pondicherry road.
I will be starting at around 7-7.30AM from Marathahalli and assuming to reach by 1PM.

Any suggestions on start time to avoid traffic at any points on the way please.

[procrj]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

7-7.30AM from Marathahalli and assuming to reach by 1PM.

7.30 am on a long weekend will be late. Your biggest problems are crossing attibele & krishnagiri tolls. You could try Sarjapur - Bagalur - Hosur route to skip attibele but there is no easy route to skip Krishnagiri toll.

[jayantvs]

Originally Posted by rajivtelang

I will be starting at around 7-7.30AM from Marathahalli and assuming to reach by 1PM.

Any suggestions on start time to avoid traffic at any points on the way please.

The earlier the better. Try to leave before 6 AM so that you will reach Krishnagiri just in the time for breakfast which has plenty of options.

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by procrj

You could try Sarjapur - Bagalur - Hosur route to skip attibele but there is no easy route to skip Krishnagiri toll.

You can try the Hosur-Rayakottai-Krishnagiri SH to avoid paying toll at Krishnagiri . But this route is approx 20 kms more compared to the NH route. I have traveled on this route twice before and the roads were in good condition. It's been a while since I have traveled on this route

[rajivtelang]

Originally Posted by jayantvs

The earlier the better. Try to leave before 6 AM so that you will reach Krishnagiri just in the time for breakfast which has plenty of options.

Thanks for this suggestion. Will try to start by 6AM, might get delayed due to my young kid.

Originally Posted by procrj

7.30 am on a long weekend will be late. Your biggest problems are crossing attibele & krishnagiri tolls. You could try Sarjapur - Bagalur - Hosur route to skip attibele but there is no easy route to skip Krishnagiri toll.

I thought in a reverse way, may be everybody will start early due to long weekend and I will be just the lucky one who will benefit from starting late with relatively less traffic.

Will try to start by 6AM sharp and take the NH way only since this is my first trip towards Chennai side on NH-7. Just do not want to experiment in first attempt.

[Highh5]

Will be visiting Pondicherry in the last week of August.
which route I should opt for
Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Pondicherry or there is one more straight route shown by google, is it in a good shape.

[jayantvs]

Originally Posted by Highh5

....
Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Pondicherry or there is one more straight route shown by google, is it in a good shape.

I travelled to Pondicherry last year and followed the same route, the roads were good throughout. Not sure if there are any recent changes.

There is a detailed route info provided by one of the members in an older post which I had used at that time. Check this and use the bypass for various towns mentioned in the post, I avoided much of the traffic using this.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post3427417

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Highh5

Will be visiting Pondicherry in the last week of August.
which route I should opt for
Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Cheyyar-Vandavasi-Pondicherry or there is one more straight route shown by google, is it in a good shape.

This is the best, fastest and stress free route with good roads. Go for it and have a good trip.
Please note you have to exit 6L highways after Arcot to take Cheyyar/Vandavasi road.

-Ravi

[rajivtelang]

Visited Pondicherry over long weekend of independence day.

12th August: Bangalore --> Pondicherry (Krishnagiri-Vellor-Arcot-Vandavasi-Thindivanam)
Started at 7AM (could not meet the strict timeline to start at sharp 6AM due to multiple reasons ), but the trouble was near Bommasandra. It was nice 1.5 km jam on NH-7, I was cursing myself for starting late but by the time I reached "the spot" of jam there was nothing there. May be the dispute was over, if at all it was there or some stupid cross traffic was causing the jam. Primary reason was all heavy trucks stuffed on the road. This whole drama ate up nice 1 hour for me.
Next came the real jammer, the attibele toll post. This spot ate up another 30 min as mentioned by multiple BHPians. Google showed another quick route that not only saved from any more time waste but also saved the toll. Luckily I was far away from the toll booth to take this deviation from NH-7. After this was the Krishnagiri toll and that ate up 30 min. Overall 2 hours were wasted till this point.
I made a food break at Krishnagiri for about 1 hour, again huge long weekend traffic and each and every hotel was flooded with people. No wonder the staff at Cafe Coffee day was completely lost with the load.
Further the road was fine throughout. The road from Arcot changes to 2 lane but in very good condition. Only point to remember is to watch for the bypasses mentioned in one of the earlier posts. Specifically the bypass at Vandavasi is bit confusing. I took a wrong road on both ways but could correct immediately. Thanks for that earlier post on bypasses.
My stay was at Ginger hotel.

15th August: Pondicherry --> Bangalore
Same route on return. Started at around 9AM to make sure I reach home in broad day light. Fortunately reached all the toll posts early enough not to waste time in long vehicle queues. Reached home by 5PM with one small bio break and one big 1 hour lunch break.

Krishnagiri-Vellor-Arcot-Vandavasi-Thindivanam route is highly recommended.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by procrj

Yep that map is spot on. Hope you did end up taking the route and reached safe

I came back only yesterday and had poor 4G connectivity on mobile so did not update earlier.
Yes this is a good route, saw little traffic all the way, no city/town bus stands that cause traffic jams as you traverse a densely populated areas etc.

Going was frustrating. I planned on a 7am departure started at 8:35 instead. It took me almost an hour in packing my doggies stuff in a basket (like Moms do for their baby stuff). Then when I almost reached Kasturi Nagar bridge, my right hand brushed my trouser pocket and Aaaargh! it was empty - No Wallet!

My credit cards, Debit cards, petrol money, DL, everything. Luckily I was meters away from the service-rd underpass so took a sharp left into and and then a U-Turn under the bridge there (otherwise an extra 40 mins taking U-Turn at KRPuram Rly Stn!!). Reached home ran upstairs, hunted down my wallet after a 10 min search - it was buried under my blanket and I was back on the road by 9am. Then I had to endure jam at KRPuram and Total Mall then again a 2-3km jam from just before Marathahalli to Intel. To add to my frustration the saved route to my home screen on Google Maps was not showing the START button only PREVIEW!! Added to my anger at the late start and the traffic jam ahead, I blew my head risking multiple taps on the mobile screen trying to figure how to get rid of PREVIEW which was showing a list of turn-by-turn steps on the route while at the same time driving in bumper to bumper traffic and navigating back and forward on the mobile screen. It was risky thing to be distracted by the mobile like this and I had no choice or way to make the START button appear! How many fuses did I blow on the way? If it was night time it would have been Diwali like in the skies above my head for sure.

I was also wondering if I did the wrong thing by not choosing Indira Nagar, Koramangala route to Silk Board, but the thought of enduring jam at Banaswadi bridge and possibly at O.M Rd crossing, Indira Nagar and Koramangala made me take a split second choice to follow ORR route. Atleast I anticipated no jam starting Bellandur to Silk Board as all the traffic would be in the opposite direction - I was right but maybe would have enjoyed a smoother ride from Koramangala? God only knows. Remembered to take the left lane at the signal a km before Silk Board this time around (last time cost me another 30 mins because I stuck to the main road) My mood improved a bit after 5km of smooth flowing traffic from Sarjapur Signal at Bellandur, and as soon as I climbed the S.B flyover I knew the worst was over. Except that Google maps was only letting me PREVIEW my saved route still. Only because I've done this stretch multiple times and know my way till Krishnagiri I was a little cool but getting impatient and cursing Google Dev team for whatever logic they implemented.

Stopped for the all important Coffee I was craving for at the Shoolagiri CCD and hey lucky me - the PREVIEW button had changed to START A full 90 mins into my journey!! What the heck will somebody do if the starting point was a remote unfamilar place? I dunno. And worried about the return journey too at that point. I could now navigate using Google Maps Yay! Rest was uneventful and an enjoyable drive except that I missed the crossover to SH after Arcot. I was so engrossed in enjoying my headphones music I missed taking the right-most lane separated by metal barricades that would have let me make the smallish S turn towards the Cheyyar single lane S.Hway. Ended up going across the river bed bridge and taking a U-turn back and lost 20 mins in the process of finding the Cheyyar SH sharp left after the river crossing. See the pic for my point of confusion.



Rest of the time Google Maps was mostly reliable and I just followed it blindly not worrying about the best route since this route plan was already optimized and assisted by a fellow forum member @procrj. I don't trust Google Maps that much otherwise due to bad routes it has led me down on earlier trips. So a BIG Thank You very much to you for making yourself useful and being a friend online

I reached Auroville around 4:30PM or whereabouts after a few short breaks.

For the return journey I simply re-opened the map saved to home screen, and reversed the point by point stops by dragging them down or up on my mobile screen. The only downside is when you add the waypoints as stops you dont get to see the ETA for the final destination ever, only the ETA for the next stop, and you have to keep your eyes peel for 1km after you cross the stop for when the Maps app shows a CONTINUE button and click on it for the next stop. So a question to FMs: How do we add waypoints not stops in Google Maps?

Started at 845AM from Auroville, "supercruised" at 100 almost all of the way as soon as I reached the NH - What an enjoyable drive!! Hardly any traffic on Aug 15th and with my headphones playing lovely music with the sunshine not too hot and glaring it was bliss! The AC with a basically open Bikini Top on a Gypsy was surprisingly effective to cool the mood even with the hot breeze blowing down from the gaps in the fabric and the top ballooning like a parachute. . Actually the fact that I could eye the cloudy sky through the gap of my top and door, and still experience "mountain air" coolness of the AC was added bliss and heaven!! Even my Pups face showed a cosy comfort and peace - he was enjoying the AC lying next to me in the passenger seat with the blowers keeping him happy! The feeling of openness that a tiny bikini top gives, yet protecting the driver in shade. its a heavenly smugness with which I patted myself over the shoulder for all the choices I made in tweaking and building my personal version of a hotrod car!

I was in Koramangala by 3PM after three stops - a Coffee stop, a petrol stop, and a third Air filling stop at different places. 6hrs with 3 quick stops not bad compared to 7+ hours on the way out originally. And that includes me getting stuck in the worst lanes at multiple toll booths with cars in front of me giving up and changing lanes to the next one in frustration.


All said, I just love the way our N.Hwys have been done up since 1990s, the golden quadrilateral is a boon to all car lovers out there. I wanna repeat this again sooner than later! On a parting note, Dont get stuck in the city traffic and Enjoy the driving and riding!

Cheers

Mod Note: Only 2 Smilies per post please. Also please avoid typing like... this...

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Ragul

I was so engrossed in enjoying my headphones music I missed taking the right-most lane separated by metal barricades that would have let me make the smallish S turn towards the Cheyyar single lane S.Hway.

Not sure if its good with headphones on while you are on the road. Wont suggest it.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure if its good with headphones on while you are on the road. Wont suggest it.

Yep. I agree. Its highly dangerous as it takes away the required attention when badly needed in emergency/panic breaking situations, especially in our indian roads which is normal.

don't use headphones while driving.

-Ravi

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by ampere

Not sure if its good with headphones on while you are on the road. Wont suggest it.

Originally Posted by ravib

Yep. I agree. Its highly dangerous as it takes away the required attention when badly needed in emergency/panic breaking situations, especially in our indian roads which is normal.

don't use headphones while driving.

-Ravi

I strive for 40-50% passive noise cancellation. I have a huge problem with traffic noise. it disturbs me, my psyche - and I have to say I have great regrets about not dealing with this much earlier in my life. . Since 6 months back when I discovered headphones that don't cause discomfort in the ear, my quality of life experience has improved dramatically. The bad infrastructure and living hell that are Indian city roads do not disturb me anymore like before. Besides I drive an open Gypsy with zero noise insulation so overall I think with headphones I achieve the same noise insulation as a good car with well designed insulation with all window panes up.

R