[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

You don't need to touch Pathanamthitta. If you want to avoid the NH and prefer to take MC road, the best would be Tvm-Kottarakkara-Adoor-Chengannur-Thiruvalla-(Get off MC road a little while after this : before Changanacherry)-Thengana-Puthuppally-Manarcaud-Kidangoor-Marangattupally-Uzhavoor-Koothattukulam and from thereon MC road again to Muvattupuzha-Perumbavoor-Angamali-Trichur

Thanks. So basically if one is heading up north of Ernakulam from TVM, it makes sense not to go via Thiruvankulam/Thirpanithura, but take the MC road. And once the bypass to Kottayam is up, its worth taking the Manarcaud-Ettumanoor road and there on to MC road.

[ksmrsm]

Hi, Need some help.

Reaching Cochin tomorrow. Planning to go from Nedumbaserry Airport to Ernakulam, before proceeding to N. Parur. Please tell me how is the traffic situation in this route. Will be travelling in the morning around 7.30 from the airport.

Thanks in advance.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by ksmrsm

Hi, Need some help.

Reaching Cochin tomorrow. Planning to go from Nedumbaserry Airport to Ernakulam, before proceeding to N. Parur. Please tell me how is the traffic situation in this route. Will be travelling in the morning around 7.30 from the airport.

Thanks in advance.

Where exactly in Ernakulam? 7.30am along this stretch is fine. After 9am, it's best to avoid the metro work stretch especially Palarivatom - Edappaly - Aluva. I personally wouldnt recommend metro stretch between 9am - 9pm.

[ksmrsm]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Where exactly in Ernakulam?

Thanks. Near Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Kaloor. And then to N Parur.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by ksmrsm

Thanks. Near Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Kaloor. And then to N Parur.

Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium (RSC) is at Kadavanthra
Jawahar Lal Nehru International Stadium is at Kaloor

I presume you mean Kaloor Stadium (Football/Cricket stadium). Airport-(NH47)-Alwaye--Edappally-Palarivattom-Stadium. Traffic won't be much during morning.

[binand]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium (RSC) is at Kadavanthra
Jawahar Lal Nehru International Stadium is at Kaloor

Though Indira Gandhi is at both places; with IGNOU Regional Centre at Kaloor and IG Co-op Hospital at Kadavantra.

Just saying.

[girimajiananth]

Require information on road condition between Palghat and Mysore . Google shows two options .
option 1. Palghat-->Nilambur-->Gudalur-->Gundlupet-->Nanjangud--> Mysore.
option 2. Palghat-->Coiambatore-->Annur-->Chamrajnagar-->Nanjangud.

I heard that road near Chamrajnagar is dug up for expansion and hence not a good option. Please let me know if the option 1 is good.

[binand]

Originally Posted by girimajiananth

Require information on road condition between Palghat and Mysore . Google shows two options .
option 1. Palghat-->Nilambur-->Gudalur-->Gundlupet-->Nanjangud--> Mysore.
option 2. Palghat-->Coiambatore-->Annur-->Chamrajnagar-->Nanjangud.

I heard that road near Chamrajnagar is dug up for expansion and hence not a good option. Please let me know if the option 1 is good.

Ref option 2, there is a bridge between Kollegal & Malavalli whose most recent status is not known - whether it is open for all traffic, or only for LMV and below, or completely closed.

There is a bit of bad road between Gudalur and Gundlupet (about 12 km, I think) in option 1.

For absolute peace of mind I suggest you explore the Perinthalmanna-Manjeri-Mukkam-Thamarassery connection and follow the Calicut-Mysore route beyond. It might work out to be a bit longer than both of your options, though.

[SAPVEN]

Originally Posted by murajith

Right turn at puzhakkal is fine, but i think rather than connecting back to Vadanappally, it's best to take ayyanthole-aranattukara-koorkkanchery -nedupuzha to connect to Kodungallur road.
From there, you can either go via kodungallur (this road is good can go smooth) and continue NH17-> This can be faster than the drive to vadanappally and further.

Or

connect to NH47 (4 lane) before or after the toll plaza.-> This will be the faster option to reach Cochin.

Thanks. I am convinced about the Kodungalloor Road. So, just to re-confirm the turnings.....it should be :

Puzhakkal-Ayyanthole Civil Lines Road-West Fort Junction- Kalvari Road-
Poothole Road- SH 22. Only doubt is, is there a railway overbridge at Vanchikulam ?

Thanks.

[sayoojl]

Hi,
I am planning to explore some places in and around Idukki during xmas holidays along with a marriage function that I have to attend at Pathanamthitta .

Day 1- Pathanamthitta to Ramakkalmedu and then to Gavi and stay there(booked a room in KTDC). Is it possible to reach gavi by evening? google suggests pathanamthitta-mundakkayam-elappara-kattapana-ottakada-ramakkalmedu(spent some time sight seeing)-santhipuram-achakkada-chellarcovil-kumily-gavi. Is this route ok?

Day 2- roam around gavi and come back to kumily and stay overnight.

Day 3- round trip from kumily covering idukki dam,cheruthoni dam and other scenic places enroute.
route by google :Kumily-anavilasam-kattappana-narakakanam-idukki dam-cheruthoni dam-kulamavu-moolamattam-vagamon-kuttikanam-vandiperiyar-kumily
Is is possible to cover it in daylight with a early morning start?

Please advice on the road conditions (from the viewpoint of a hatchback(swift)!) . Please suggest if I have to take any alternate routes. and are all these roads safe for a family?
Any suggestion on interesting places to visit on the route is most welcome.

Also please do suggest on eating options (travelling with family.so prefer clean places) along the route? Do i have to carry food or will there be enough options enroute.

Thanks in advance

[binand]

Originally Posted by NPV

I had taken Kanakapura NH 209 route but heard about the bridge near shivanasamudra being closed recently in which case you are left with Mysore road option.

I just checked; Google Maps is no longer showing route options across this bridge (try searching for routes from Malavally to Kollegal, for example). A decent update about the Malavally-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagar route is needed. :-(

[kala]

Originally Posted by binand

I just checked; Google Maps is no longer showing route options across this bridge (try searching for routes from Malavally to Kollegal, for example). A decent update about the Malavally-T. Narasipura-Ch. Nagar route is needed. :-(

Great - so my update to Google Maps worked !! (I had marked the bridge as "Closed for Maintenance")

And here is the link for the alternate route that I tried on Saturday and seemed very decent.

http://goo.gl/maps/7Yzqa

Details :

From Malavalli proceed towards Shivanasamudra on NH209. After about 2 or 3 kms you'll find a 45 degrees fork towards the right marked as Talakad. Take this road. The first 7- 8 kms of this road is excellent except for speed breakers near a couple of villages. From there on the road is narrow and broken for about 4 kms, but easily negotiable for sedans.

After about 12 kms from the fork you come to a junction where you hit the Belakavadi-T.Narsipur road. Google Maps suggests that you continue straight there towards Talakad, but the info I could gather from local villagers at that junction was that the straight road is not in good condition - they suggested that I take a right there and take the next left turn. Proved to be good advice, the entire stretch from there till T.Narsipur (via Talakad / Madapura) was excellent and scenic.

Google Maps suggested a few short cuts from the Madapura-T.Narsipur road to get to NH212, but the roads seemed too narrow for comfort, so I chose to go till T.Narsipur and took the acute left turn to NH212. About 2 kms after you take that left turn is a little bit pot-holed / rough, but again no real cause for concern. From there on the road is very good till Chamarajanagar (NH212 turns left towards Kollegal after about 10 or 12 kms, but you need to continue straight for Chamarajnagar, you join NH209 at Santhamarahalli)

Overall about 5-6 kms extra distance, but Malavalli-Chamarajnagar took me more or less the same time that I normally take via Kollegal (May be because you avoid the slow stretches through the narrow villages)

P.S. Just to avoid the 4 km stretch of bad road between Malavalli and Talakad I decided to experiment with an alternate route during my return journey, but ended up as a disaster. (Reported in another thread) Moral of the story : Never get too greedy

[binand]

Originally Posted by kala

Overall about 5-6 kms extra distance, but Malavalli-Chamarajnagar took me more or less the same time that I normally take via Kollegal (May be because you avoid the slow stretches through the narrow villages)

Thanks for this. I have a couple of questions about this route:

1. You say it is sedan-OK. Mine's a Civic, which has pretty low GC - do you reckon I'll have a problem?

2. Is this route family-friendly? Does it feel unsafe, with miles of lonely roads with hardly any human presence?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by kala

Overall about 5-6 kms extra distance, but Malavalli-Chamarajnagar took me more or less the same time that I normally take via Kollegal (May be because you avoid the slow stretches through the narrow villages)

Good one there! I had taken the Muguru Yelandur (turn-off) road for some distance and realized it was good. Garmin was directing to take this road to 212 for a default instead of the usual 209 for return drive to Bangalore.

That also gave me a thought that we can use it in a different way. In case one is driving very early, stick to Mysore road and drive to Srirangapatna. Before the first Cauvery bridge take the left on to Bannur SH. At T-Narasipura cross the bridge and take the road via Muguru. Gives you the best of both worlds. Of course it also gives you humps of Mysore road.

This is what I meant: Route Link

[kala]

Originally Posted by binand

Thanks for this. I have a couple of questions about this route:

1. You say it is sedan-OK. Mine's a Civic, which has pretty low GC - do you reckon I'll have a problem?

2. Is this route family-friendly? Does it feel unsafe, with miles of lonely roads with hardly any human presence?

Don't think there should be a problem for low GC vehicles too - Don't recall any really deep potholes. It's just that the tarred portion of the road is quite narrow and generally worn out - Shouldn't have too many problems if you keep your speed limited to 40-60 kmph.

And the route is by no means lonely - Several villages on the way, and almost all land on either side of the road is cultivated, so plenty of people around (at least during the day) and there shouldn't be any safety concerns.