Back from a Wayanad tour with friends in my Punto. Route and road conditions as follows:
Day 1, Sunday: Onward journey: Bangalore-Mandya-Mysore-H.D Kote (handpost junction)- Dammanakatte-Bavali-Kuruva Island
Good roads all the way till the forest entry at Dammanakatte. The forest stretch between Dammanakatte and ubur which is supposed to be permanently closed is now open for traffic because of the road upgradation work going on in the alternate village route. The forest guards at the checkpost hinted that the road will be open for another 15 days or so. There are some monstrous temporary speedbreakers on this stretch. Most hatches and sedans would scrape their underbody at almost all the humps if at full load! There is a stretch of aroud 5-6 km where there is no asphalt and is very very rough and dusty. Beyond Ubur, the road Is excellent all the way till Mananthavady. We spotted quite a few spotted deer, sambar deer, langurs, peacocks, and a herd of Gaur on the forest stretch.
The alternate road is getting completely relaid and once that is done, this (Mysore-HD kote-Bavali) would be the shortest and best route to reach northern Wayanad.
The road to Kuruva Island from Kattikulam is also excellent. We drove upto Thirunelli temple in the evening from the resort we stayed in Kattikulam. Road from Kattikulam to Thirunelli is in excellent condition. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to see any wildlife in this stretch.
Day 2, Monday: Kattikulam-Tholpetty sanctuary-Kattikulam-Mananthavady-Naalam mile-Tharuvana-Padinjharethara-Banasura sagar dam-Pozhuthana-Vythiri-Pookode lake- Lakkidi- Vythiri-Kalpetta bypass-S. Bathery
Woke up early morning and drove to Tholpetty sanctuary gate for jeep safari into the forest. Luckily, there was not much rush and got into the 3rd Jeep. Travelled aroud 22km (as per the forest guard who accompanied us ) inside the tourism zone of the sanctuary only to return back with ZERO sightings (bad luck!!) Returned back to resort, checked out and left for Banasura sagar. Again excellent roads till Mananthavady and Naalam mile. Nalam mile to Tharuvana is patchy with some potholes here and there. Tharuvana onwards road is again excellent all the way to Vythiri and Pookode.
We had fair bit of fun at Banasura sagar and Pookode and returned to Sulthan Bathery after dusk where we had our rooms booked for the night.
Got a chance to drive on the newly opened Kalpetta bypass and I should say, it was a breeze all the way! Excellent wide enough road with clear markings. This bypass is really a boon and one does not have to face potential jams inside Kalpetta bypass. Road uptill Bathery is great as reported many times earlier.
Day 3, Tuesday: Sulthan Bathery-Muthanga- Gundlupet-Bandipur-Theppekadu-Bandipur-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore
We woke up early, checked out of the hotel and crashed in at the safari ticket counter at Muthanga as early as 6.30 AM, only to find a long Q already built up! Got to know that only 280 tickets would be issued out of which 145 have already been booked by a school study tour party. We waited in the Q till 7 AM and when the counter opened, the remaining tickets were sold out much before we could reach anywhere near the counter. Disappointed, we headed towards Theppekadu via Bandipur/Gundlupet just for a drive through the forest. Met excellent roads till Theppakadu with frequent speed hump on the Karnataka side of the forest. Returned back after going 2 km into Masinagudi-ooty road. Saw a few elephants and plenty of deer and langur on the forest stretch between Bandipur and Theppekadu.
Return journey to Bangalore was through Nanjangud-Mysore-Mandya. Traffic was sparse on Mysore road and inside Mandya and Channapatna towns , being a holiday I presume (Eid Milad) .
Some pics of roads:
Mysore-HD kote road
Road inside the forest, immediately after Dammmanakatte check post.
The bad stretch
Dust all around!
Somewhere inside the Bandipur forest range, between Gundlupet and Muthanga
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