[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by ravib

Decided to do a quick darshan at Pallikondan Perumal temple. Thanks to ampere for letting me know about this temple long back, but got a chance only in this trip to see the lord. (Note the additional "n" at the end of town name - PallikondaN which is the actual name, but somehow it is missed over time). Lord Uthra Ranganathar swamy temple is a very old temple and is just 5 minutes detour from NH. Location Link: https://goo.gl/maps/ZvM5Nbu7eCw

Finished darshan at 11.30 am and drove sedately and reached Silkboard at 1.30 pm. Post which is usual Bangalore city bumper to bumper traffic.

-Ravi

I have been to the temple twice. I believe the idol of Lord Ranganatha is made of Saligramam.
Hope you had a chance to visit Thirupaarkadal which is on the left side when you drive from Chennai to Bangalore.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by ravib

Reached Vedal BP COCO Bunk at 7.45 am (not a bad timing to say the least) and filled full tank Diesel @ 77.25 per litre

Yes, its costlier there by at least 3rs. Better to fill the tank before leaving bangalore and see if you can return without the need to fill again.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

Hope you had a chance to visit Thirupaarkadal which is on the left side when you drive from Chennai to Bangalore.

Yes Suresh, i have Thirupaarkadal also in my list, but given the number of trips i need to do Madras this year, i can comfortably do one at a time

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Yes, its costlier there by at least 3rs. Better to fill the tank before leaving bangalore and see if you can return without the need to fill again.

That is what i normally do and my EcoSport comfortably does the round trip in one full tank. Fill it up in Bangalore and refill the full tank once i reach back here. However, i was in Madras for past 10 days and did lot of local trips, and emptied the tank for Madras city commutes itself, so had to tank up on the way back. I still had another 100 kms range of fuel left. BP Vedal COCO Bunk was my usual stop, but i guess i need to switch to HP COCO bunk which is further few kms away and comes before Murugan Idly shop, as i find BP Petrol is very good, but not diesel. My personal opinion - I guess TDCi loves HP Diesel more than BP or Essar Diesel. Shell Diesel is okay if not great, but expensive. Have to try IOC diesel once.

-Ravi

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ravib

Though there was no traffic jam, there were huge number of college buses (particularly Panimalar college) and Hyundai buses, so speed was low.

An hour and more earlier and timings will be even more fantastic. You'll skip the college buses and Hyundai buses partly. Here's my timings from January:

T. Nagar 440am
Grand Preethi (Vaniyambadi Toll) 730am
Claresta, Hosur 900am

The first 260 km till the turnoff to NH7 was peaceful, after that it was Minesweeper.

Not an ideal time to target Bangalore entry. If you had pit stops in between, you'll skip the morning traffic.

[hserus]

Yup. Start by 5.00 AM and you should avoid all the Hyundai factory / Panimalar etc traffic upto Kanchipuram.

Arrival at the E City toll an hour or so after 9 AM will take care of eating up any time saved on the way into the city though.

Originally Posted by narayans80

An hour and more earlier and timings will be even more fantastic. You'll skip the college buses and Hyundai buses partly. Here's my timings from January:

T. Nagar 440am
Grand Preethi (Vaniyambadi Toll) 730am
Claresta, Hosur 900am

The first 260 km till the turnoff to NH7 was peaceful, after that it was Minesweeper.

Not an ideal time to target Bangalore entry. If you had pit stops in between, you'll skip the morning traffic.

[DWind]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Yes, as Ravi mentioned above there is no other choice compared to Sriperumbdur route from Vadapalani.

I know I am out of touch with Chennai traffic for more than 3 years but has anybody tried Vadapalani -KKNagar West - Ramavaram(cross MountPoonamalee road) - Kolapakkam - Gerugambakkam - Kundrathur - SriPerambadur roads?
I used to take Sriperambadur - Kunrathur - Pallavaram roads some years back. While narrow and broken in some places (near Chembarambakkam lakebund) immediately after Rainy season it would still be peaceful route with flowing traffic.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by DWind

has anybody tried Vadapalani -KKNagar West - Ramavaram(cross MountPoonamalee road) - Kolapakkam - Gerugambakkam - Kundrathur - SriPerambadur roads?

Yes, I discussed with one of my friend and he tried it last year and was unhappy. He mentioned that the roads are narrow, too many speed breakers, villagers crossing the road in adhoc manner and overall its quite slow and not worth it.

-Ravi

[narayans80]

The boring Saturday, tried Murugan Idli Kadai-Sunguvachatram-SH 120-SH 48-Vandalur-Chennai Bypass-Maduravoyal-Choolaimedu-T.Nagar. Took 128 km over what should have been 96 km. Done 70 kph cruise for the most part (varied between 60 and 80 for overtaking maneuvers), took 2:34 hrs according to Google Maps.

Some observations of the drive:

- The barricades are now appalling. Every barricade had about 100 m traffic waiting to clear it. This is on the small Sunguvachatram-Murugan Idli Kadai stretch alone.
- Handful of well marked speed breakers on Sunguvachatram SH 120 route. Route is a wide 2-lane with curves. I doubt you can do past 80 or 90 here. There was some 2-wheeler traffic, but not much. Some trucks follow this route (probably out of Oragadam).
- Longest wait time was 5 min on Vanagaram toll, otherwise was free flow all through. Irumbuliyur-Vandalur bridge wouldn't have taken more than 5 mins either way including Perungulathur signal.
- SH 48 tarmac is very good until Oragadam. Beyond which it is OK.
- On the onward around 1230ish, the temperature gauge read 40 deg C Fantastic!

[vshankarhere]

Originally Posted by suresh_gs

I drove to Nanganallur,Chennai on 18th Oct by car.

Slightly .You are from Nanganallur is it? Where are you put up? Am also a Nanganallurian since I was 2 .

[suresh_gs]

Originally Posted by vshankarhere

Slightly .You are from Nanganallur is it? Where are you put up? Am also a Nanganallurian since I was 2 .

I worked in Chennai from 2008 to 2011. There I was based in Nanganallur near Square Saravana hotel.

[Latheesh]

We are going to Vellore this week(weekday). Starting from Ecity around 7-8 AM, and thinking of doing some leather shopping at Ambur

Couple of queries:
1. Did a quick google search and found there are more than 100 leather shops in Ambur. Really confused about which store to shop as we cannot spend more than 2 hours for shopping. Any store recommendations? We are thinking of getting a winter jacket, gloves, bags, and shoes if we get a good deal.

2. We plan to have lunch at Ambur, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

We are going to Vellore this week(weekday). Starting from Ecity around 7-8 AM, and thinking of doing some leather shopping at Ambur.

2. We plan to have lunch at Ambur, any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

If you are a non vegetarian this could be an option.

Dindigul Thalappakatti Biriyani
5, Govindapuram, MC Road, Ambur, Somalapuram, Tamil Nadu 635802
04174 248 603

https://goo.gl/maps/Jt56hnFdSFD2

[hserus]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

If you are a non vegetarian this could be an option.

Dindigul Thalappakatti Biriyani
5, Govindapuram, MC Road, Ambur, Somalapuram, Tamil Nadu 635802
04174 248 603

https://goo.gl/maps/Jt56hnFdSFD2

No use at all, overrated.

If you go to Ambur go to the original Star Biryani near the Ambur station, not the numerous copies. https://g.co/kgs/q6hyML

As for Vellore try Tom's Diner in a small lane opposite VIT.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by hserus

No use at all, overrated.

If you go to Ambur go to the original Star Biryani near the Ambur station, not the numerous copies. https://g.co/kgs/q6hyML

As for Vellore try Tom's Diner in a small lane opposite VIT.

Not sure what made you say that, I had a pretty nice lunch(mutton biryani) over there an year back. May be we were extremely hungry at the time, but I generally like their food (tried most of their outlets in Chennai) and found this was pretty close in taste to the other ones.

I always found the Star Biryani to be overrated. I tried the one near the station and also the new one and couldn't get to appreciate them much.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by sbkumar

Not sure what made you say that, I had a pretty nice lunch(mutton biryani) over there an year back. May be we were extremely hungry at the time, but I generally like their food (tried most of their outlets in Chennai) and found this was pretty close in taste to the other ones.

I always found the Star Biryani to be overrated. I tried the one near the station and also the new one and couldn't get to appreciate them much.

The original Star Biryani is packed in "Mandhara Elai" leaves, which adds a distinctive aroma to the Biryani. But yes, it is fairly cheap Biryani and pretty much mediocre. The same with Dindigul Thalapakatti as well.

Don't mind me, I'm a Hyderabadi by upbringing so I prefer that style of Biryani to the type here where the meat is fried separately and then mixed with rice. If the Thalapakatti type of Biryani works for you, go for it - though the one time I tried it, the chicken had been overcooked and was stringy and dry.