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But it will be way longer than his buffer for detour

No, I don't think MC road is that much longer. Should be approximately the same distance.

The route I would take is http://goo.gl/maps/dtuFE . This avoids the curvy Koothattukulam-Ettumanoor section of MC road, as well as the busy traffic in Ettumanoor, Kottayam and Changanacherry. (And the distance as per Google Maps is 275 kms - exactly the same as what is shown for travel via NH47)

However if one isn't familiar with the roads, it would be good to have the assistance of a GPS for navigation.

Thanks Dhanushmenon and kala. I plan to avoid taking MC from Angamaly to avoid traffic blocks at Kalady and other town till Changanassery. Any info on the "one and half lane" stretches of MC road. Heard that Changanessry- TVM section is wider after the KSTP project. Will i save time if i go through the routr mentioned by kala. I do use google maps.

The traffic on MC road between Angamaly and Moovattupuzha is nothing worse compared to the corresponding alternative between Angamaly and Trippunithura on NH47 / Seaport-Airport road. Even on the latter route you have signals at Athani, Alwaye, Kalamassery, Kakkanad which can slow you down (it's worse if you take NH47 byepass : Edappally, Palarivattom and Vyttila are real bad).

On MC road, the main bottlenecks in the initial parts are Perumbavoor and Muvattupuzha. Kalady isn't too bad actually.

Once you pass Muvattupuzha, the Ettumanoor-Kottayam-Changanacherry stretch is pretty bad, it is like one long town. The route I suggested bypasses that entire stretch and rejoins MC road near Thiruvalla. Based on my recent experiences driving on this route, I think one should be able to cover the 135 kms or so between Angamaly and Thiruvalla in about. 3 hours - should save you at least half an hour compared to going on MC road all the way.

I'm not sure if any road widening has taken place on MC road between Changanacherry and Chengannur. After Chengannur it is in excellent shape, much better than NH47.

Diverting from angamaly seems better and as for traffic, till pandalam it is hell and after that quite good till tvm,From venjaramoodu you can take the new bypass to kazhakootam or turn from pothenkode to sreekaryam.

Back from Vellore a day back. Onward, I could reach Krishnagiri by 12 midnight and stayed at RKV's near the bus stand. Started from Kottayam by 10 am and reached Kumily by 1pm! I was worried if I could even reach Dindigul by night, but once I reached Dindigul by 5pm, hit the real highways and continued till Krishnagiri. Now only I realize that driving in Kerala is so stressful with narrow roads, ghats and morons jumping from nowhere.

My vote for the best roads all along is from Dindigul to Salem and till Krishnagiri, even though we get a lane extra on most of the Krishnagiri-Vellore stretch; this is because, on the Vellore stretch, flyover work is going on at major junctions and towns. Also, a bit of top layer of the tar has come off on the stretch to Vellore, near Ambur I guess. SUVs will not have any issues at all though.

Roads are a bit potholed around Theni and there too SUV's can easily glide over. Pit stops, for both man and machine, were taken at the A2B complex, Thoppur, Dharmapuri. But I enjoyed the Idly vada more from the shop inside Krishnagiri town the next morning; too bad I forgot the name.

A couple of mobile snaps en-route.





Driving in a hatchback, I had issues with the abrupt beginning of stretches of new layer of tar, along the route. Your suspension takes a hard hit at such places.

OT: I just loved the Thalappakkatti Biriyani at Batalagund.

Just came back from Nagercoil :

Bangalore -> Madurai -> Srivilliputtur -> Rajapalayam -> Tenkasi -> Sengottah -> Palaruvi/Thenmalai -> Kulathupuzha -> Palode -> Nedumangadu -> Karamana -> Balaramapuram -> Poovar. Overall fantastic roads except the odd rough patches ( somtimes fleeting, sometimes lingering). Nedumangadu -> Karamana was a nightmare with heavy rains , worn off road and my AC Fuse gone and unable to defog, I kept the glasses rolled down getting drenched.

Took the route via Kolachal that abutts the sea coast to Nagercoil: offers fleeting glimpses of the sea at various points. Returned via the regular route of Tirunelveli -> Nanguneri -> Virudhunagar -> Madurai.

Travelled to Kottayam by Kallada, bus took the NH47 route for Palakkad-Mannuthy. Could not see the condition of Kuthiran since I was fast asleep on this stretch during onward and return legs of the journey, blame it on consecutive night journeys :Frustrati

Any news on Palakad - Thrissur NH47 ? I am travelling this weekend and got mixed updates - A cousin who recently travelled thinks the road has improved and is not a challenge at all. Where as, as per a friend road condition is terrible and should be avoided at any cost. Both of them own B-segment hatchbacks and did the trip a couple of days apart.

Road is in a manageable condition. Road has been relaid all the way till the top of Kuthiran - hence the bottleneck-bridge is easier to pass. Down hill from Kuthiran, till Mannuthi, is as usual - but the big potholes have all been filled up. This update is as of today morning :)

This was done as part of the work they planned to do by stopping night traffic on NH 47? Entire Kuthiran has been re laid?

Yes this was the same work. But they have relaid only till the top of the ghat. Downhill is the same as earlier

Ok. Is the work done or is it halted due to rains?

All,

What's the current condition of Gundulpet- Calicut road via Sulthan bathery. How good are Tamarasherry Ghats. Hope they are holding well since the interlocks are laid at hairpins. How bad is traffic these days at Bandipur entrance and sales tax check post towards Kozhikode, while it opens at 6am. Off day after morning.

Can someone give a quick update.

Rgrds
Prsn

I had travelled this route in Mid April and I don't expect the conditions to have worsened since then as the monsoons have just begun.
Gundlupet to Bathery - the Karnataka side was newly laid and excellent, with lane markings in progress at that time.
Few patches once you get to the Kerala side of the forest and continued till outskirts of Bathery from where it was excellent all the way to calicut, Thamarassery ghats were pristine too.
And there was road work in progress near outskirts of Bathery so they may have progressed to cover the road till the forest checkpost.
Not sure about the traffic near the checkpost at 6am, at other times it's generally not an issue.