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OK, so if I understand it right, you need to go to Pathanamthitta first, from Thiruvananthapuram and from there to Chengannur, correct? If this is what you want, there are two options for you to go to Pathanamthitta from MC road. You can either take a right at Ayur or at Valakom to reach Pathanamthitta via Punalur and Konni. The second route is the one mentioned by Soccerfan, below.

I suggest that you take the Adoor route, as it is less confusing. At Adoor, as you reach the inverted Y junction, you take a right (a big U turn, instead of continuing on the MC road towards the KSRTC bus stand) and then a left, which is marked clearly. You reach a T-junction, where you meet the Kaipattoor-Anandapalli road and at this T, take a left turn. This road will lead you to Kaipattoor, where again you have an inverted Y and you do the same thing as before, take a U, right. Then, you cross the bridge across Achankovil river, go via Omalloor and reach Pathanamthitta.
From Pathanamthitta, there is a direct road which leads to Chengannur. Take the Kozhencherry road from Pathanamthitta, and turn left at Thekkemala junction and this will directly lead you to Chengannur via Aranmula, Arattupuzha, Puthencavu etc. The roads are well marked, as far as I know.

Manza will go "as smooth as silk"! Own one and have done these routes many times!!

Enjoy every bit of your drive!

A quick update on a recent trip:

Date - Thursday, 24th May 2012 - Dep. Rajarajeshwari Nagar - 0900 hrs Arr. Thrissur - 1800 hrs.
Route - Kanakapura - Chamarajnagar - Sathyamangalam - Annur - Kurumbapalayam - CBE Airport - L&T Bye Pass - Kuthiran - Thrissur

• Had never travelled on this route before.
• An exceptionally beautiful route if you can manage two lane traffic, good roads.
• Easy to follow, enough signage available, no GPS required to navigate
• Small forest section (sathyamangalam), with 27 fairly close hair pin bends.
• Took option of going ahead from Annur, left turn immediately after seeing Kurumbapalayam board, did not see a board saying CBE Airport.
• Dead straight till we hit the signal and the huge across the road board announcing CBE Airport = 1 km.
• Left turn at the signal and we were on Avanashi Road, had lunch at Anandhas (Pure Veg) a few 100 metres on the right side after taking the turn. Enjoyed the tasty meals. Reasonably clean toilets said the wife.
• CBE to TCR was a breeze due to the bandh, took us 2 hours only, wasn't exactly trying to speed, patchy sections, but overall a good drive.

Date - Wednesday, 30th May 2012 - Dep Guruvayur - 1000 hrs, Arr. Rajarajreshwari Nagar - 2300 hrs.
Route - Guruvayur - Wadakkanchery - Ottapalam - Palakkad - L & T Bye Pass - CBE Airport - Karumbapalayam - Annur - Chamarajnagar - Malavalli - Maddur - Mysore Road - Rajarajeshwari Nagar

• Traffic filled drive, multiple long term breaks.
• Night drive on Sathyamangalam - Kanakapura stretch is not easy, would not advise for first timers on this stretch or for drivers not very comfortable with two way road traffic.
• Missed a turn and landed on the Malavalli - Maddur road, now this was a multiple patched up road, horrible section, would not advise anybody to take.
• Maddur to Rajarajeshwari Nagar was a breeze.

So long as it is day travel, will prefer to take this routing, as it is very easy on the mileage, slightly lower in kilometres travelled, much more beautiful than a broad 4 lane stretch, absolutey no tolls other than Rs. 31 for L & T Bye Pass.

As mentioned in earlier posts by others, food and clean toilets is a bit of an issue, however with proper planning the right locations can be reached in adequate time.

I would be starting to Palakkad around 1 pm from Bangalore on 9th June.
I read on this thread about NH 209, and although scenic, I am not very comfortable with 2 lane road driving.

So I have decided to go via the old route of:- Bangalore-> Hosur-> Krishnagiri-> Salem- Avinashi->Kanjikode-> Palakkad.

I guess the above is a four lane all through. Any estimates on how much time this will take? I am estimating some 8 hours, so I will be in Palakkad town by 9 pm. I would be keeping speeds of 100-120 on roads which would permit (read 4-6 laned with divider)..

You should be able to reach Palakkad town by 8:30 PM. The Avinashi bypass is open even though it is not 100% complete. Watch out for sign boards.

Also, there is an interceptor stationed immediately after crossing Walayar. Have seen it twice. Saw a VW Jetta being caught while I was coming from Kerala last week.

Avinashi bypass is partially open. But be very careful over the expansion joints on the bridges on the new road. The metal plates are wide and tall, gives a heavy jolt. I don't know why they have kept it like that.

The road up to Walayar after the L&T bypass is quite bad. And no work was going on last weekend.

Avoid Walayar, turn left from Avinashi through Pollachi-Vadakkencerry-kunnamkulam-Tichur

Update from weekend trip to Calicut:
Took the NH209 route to Gundlupet the first time, had been only upto Shivansamudra on an earlier trip.
Bangalore (St. John's Road) - 5:20 AM
Via Hosur Road, NICE Road (5:45 AM)-Bannerghatta Road(6 AM)-Kanakapura Road
Breakfast at Nijaguna Residency, Chamarajnagar 8:45-9:30 AM
Fuel Stop at Thirunelly, Sulthan Bathery 11:30-11:40 AM
Lost 20 mins due to asphalting work in progress at Kalpetta
Lunch at Woodlands, Kalpetta 12:40-1:45 PM
Calicut - 3:30 PM
*Road is rough/patched up near Meenangadi for about 5km
*Thamarassery ghats in pristine condition.
Noticed 2 new options for food (did not stop here so don't know how good/bad these are):
-Vazhiyoram Restaurant on left between Meenangadi and Muttil
-Upavan Resorts on right just before ghat section begins (immediately after Vythiri and Chain Tree)

For onward journey we took - Kanakpura - Malavalli - Maddur - Mysore - Hunsur - Gonikkopal - Iritty - Mattanur route to Thalassery. My friend drove the whole stretch and I was sleepy and we took the wrong route and ended up in Maddur which added almost 40kms to the drive. The Malavalli - Maddur road is not in good shape. It is bumpy and has some potholes as well. The rest of the roads were fine until we crossed Hunsur. Once we took the diversion towards Gonikkopal/Virajpet the road was very bad with nothing but potholes. It continued till the Kerala border. I felt that the roads hadn't seen a single drop of Tar since independence :Frustrati

The story changed once we entered Kerala and it was a smooth drive till our destination - Muzhappilangad Drive-in Beach, Thalassery. While returning we took the Thalassery - Madapeedika - Nadapuram - Kuttiadi - Thottilpalam - Mananthavady - Bavali - Handpost - Mysore route to Bangalore.

The roads from Thalassery to Nadapuram were fine but Nadapuram - Kuttiadi was a lil bumpy. Then it was a clear run to Mananthavady via the scenic Thottilpalam ghats. Once we crossed over to Karnataka the roads were fine in the Wild Life Sanctuary but got a bad stretch of about 12-15 kms after Uduru. The stretch ended when we joined the main road which connects Mysore to Kabini River Lodge, Karapur. The road from that turn off to Mysore & the SH-17 further to Bangalore was a smooth drive.

Just did a trip this morning to Calicut and the asphalting work in Kalpetta is completed. Great road. Hope the bathery- Kalpetta stretch gets completed soon.
Ended up with 100 bucks fine for seatbelt, watch out the point before the ghat section. Stopped at CCD for a coffee break and just started out and the guys where just around the corner.

The Vazhiyoram restaurant at Kakkavayal has been there for at least a couple of years and used to serve quite decent Kerala style lunch, but had closed their restaurant service a few months ago since they didn't have too much of business. When I passed through recently (abt 3 weeks back) noticed that they had setup some fastfood kind of stall outside. Is the restaurant operational now or just the fast food stall ?

The whole place seems to be spruced up recently with bright paints and new boards. There was some crowd there but I'm not really sure if only the fast food stall was open. We had lunch at Woodlands, Kalpetta and this time the Veg. Thali there was excellent, we were also the first customers for lunch around 12:30 pm :D

Hi, pls give detailed direction - Avinashi - Wadakkancheri. Are there signages for Pollachi from Aninashi and from there to Wadakkancherry?

We are travelling to Kochi in a few days. How much time would it take to reach Wadakkanchery if we start from Bannerghatta Nice road by 6:00am?

Thank You Sunney

VW

You don't have to avoid Walayar. The road is not that bad. Only that the surface is not great. Be careful at the diversions.

If you start at 6:00 AM from Bangalore, you will reach Kochi by 3:30 PM. I suggest you start at 5:00 AM instead.

Hi VindyWheels,
As Pramod said, you can come via Walayar too, but after Walayar till Trichur, lot of bad patches exist. Avinashi- Pollachi-Wadakkanchery is comparatively better, though at places road is little narrow, but not crowded, through villages and scenic too. Walayar route is disgustingly crowded, you will be always shifting and breaking, no chance to enjoy the drive.

Well, not many signals, but you can ask those friendly villagers.
Time: Generally at fair speeds, non-stop, 8 hrs; if with family may be 10 hrs. If start 4 am, you can sure reach at about 1 pm.
Welcome to Kerala :)
Any further assistance in Cochin, pm me.