Team-BHP - All Roads to Kerala

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandsun7 (Post 4178406)

Route 1 is the standard route.
Route 2 I feel would be an unnecessary detour, but it would be very scenic. You would not save time though.

Be aware, driving in Kerala is a different ball game altogether. Road surface would be pretty good, but traffic would be dense and you have numerous towns to cross, literally a small town/bazar every couple of KMs. So budget extra bit of time for all that. The Kundapura-Udupi-Mangalore stretch is mostly four-laned I believe, so that stretch should not be a major issue. The Mangalore-Kasargod-Kannur stretch is manageable as the roads are a bit wider than other areas and you get straight stretches where you can pick speeds though occasionally. The toughest stretch would be Kannur-Talassery-Kozhikode. Too many busy towns to cross, narrow stretches of roads. budget at least 2.5 hours for that stretch alone.

Gentlemen,we are planning to ride from Coimbatore-Gokarna next weekend through Kozhikode -kannur_Mangalore.We are planning to start at 3.am .How good or bad are the NH66 roads between Kozhikode and Kasargod.Can we maintain 50kmph average considering that we will be crossing that belt early morning.Any specific riding tips would be of help.Thanks in advance

cheers
Sam

Updates from my Bangalore - Vaikom drive yesterday.

Start Time - 5:00 AM. End Time : 2:00 PM. Distance 565 KMs.

Traffic was comparatively light. Toll booths were less crowded. Fastag helped save around 10 minutes time. Took the Omalur route to avoid Salem. Many barricades seem to be removed. Noticed only 3 of them between Krishagiri and Omalur.

Kuthiran is patched up. No craters between Vadakkencherry and Mannuthy. Traffic was also light. The Vadakkencherry - Mannuthy road widening is progressing at snail's pace.

Worse stretch was between Vytilla and Udayamperoor. The 11 kms is completely broken at many places. Tripunithura mini bypass is completely broken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent (Post 4275118)

Flyover work in Salem byepass in Kochin-Bangalore route, is it over? Or it is better to take State highway at Sankagiri? Thanks. Cheers

I drove on the NH from Bangalore to Avinashi on Saturday morning. Situation around Salem flyover is the same. At 8 in the morning the NH is adequate with service lanes in good condition to handle traffic. Depending your time of travel you can decide on the route.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam.k (Post 4274796)

Generally speaking roads are ok, but considering the heavy bursts of Monsoon in last 15 days (now subsided), some stretches may be bad.

Howsoever, no need to avoid this easy route in your journey.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam.k (Post 4274796)

How good or bad are the NH66 roads between Kozhikode and Kasargod.Can we maintain 50kmph average considering that we will be crossing that belt early morning.

There was no issues in Calicut - Vatakara route two weeks back. Even after considering last weeks rains, I don't think there will be any thing to be concerned about.

However, my concern would be regarding the traffic density on this route. With a 03:00 AM start from Coimbatore, you will be reaching Calicut bye-pass around 07:00 AM.

With this, you should be reaching Koyilandy by around 08:00 AM which is peak traffic time. After that you are going to cross rest of KL in heavy traffic time. So averaging 50 KMPH is not feasible. Past Vatakara you can consider maintaining ~ 45 KMPH. Be aware of speed cameras and speed guns on Calicut - Koyilandy section.

Gents, need to make a Bengaluru->Perambra (Kozhikode Rural)->Thrissur trip this coming Thursday. I can only leave Bengaluru by max 4PM (not earlier than that).

1. Which route to take? The one via Gundlupet->Bathery or Mysore->Kutta->Tholpetti?

2. My most preferred route is Mysore->Handpost->Bavali, but a relative said that the road would get closed at 6PM. He was a victim of this, and had to drive back to Mysore to stay at a decent place.

3. When does the roads close at Muthanga check post? Again there was some confusion as to whether it is 6PM or 9PM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachinpk (Post 4275529)

Gents, need to make a Bengaluru->Perambra (Kozhikode Rural)->Thrissur trip this coming Thursday. I can only leave Bengaluru by max 4PM (not earlier than that).

If it's Gundlupet route that you're considering, the checkposts on both sides close at 9pm and hence it is better to reach the Karnataka side at least by 7:45pm so that you can surely exit by 9pm. Given this, you will be taking a big chance with a 4pm start :)
Not sure about Bavali route, but if that has closure timings, you can consider going via Salem-Palakkad.

*Muthanga and Bandipur side checkposts are open 6am to 9pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by sachinpk (Post 4275529)

1. Which route to take? The one via Gundlupet->Bathery or Mysore->Kutta->Tholpetti?

2. My most preferred route is Mysore->Handpost->Bavali, but a relative said that the road would get closed at 6PM. He was a victim of this, and had to drive back to Mysore to stay at a decent place.

3. When does the roads close at Muthanga check post? Again there was some confusion as to whether it is 6PM or 9PM.

1. Due to time constraints, Kutta is the only option available.

2. Yes, this route gets closed at 06:00 PM.

3. Muthanga route closes at 09:00 PM. Same with Bandipur - Gudalur route.

With a 04:00 PM start it is possible to reach Gundlupet checkpost before 09:00PM, however it is a race against time & also depends on where in Bangalore you are starting from.

NICE road exit - Kanakpura - Mallavalli - Mysore ring road - Gundlupet takes ~ 03 hours. From there another half hour for forest checkpost. So about 4 and half hours in total. Any traffic or vehicle related delay makes it tough, hence unless you can start a bit early I would suggest you take Kutta route.

Hi Friends,

Am planning a trip with family from Bangalore to Thallasheri . Want to take
the Blr-Mys-Hand Post-Bavali-Manathavadi-Thallasheri route. Some questions to the friends who have recent experience on this route :

1. How is the road condition(especially the Kattikulam-Mananthavadi section)?
2. Is there any forest closing time on this route ( since it just skirts the
Nagarhole forest ) ?
3. From Mananthavadi to Koothuparambu, which is better route (deviation
from Boys Town ) , the Periya route or the Peravoor route ?

Thanks in advance :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpksuhas (Post 4275506)

Thanks Mpksuhas.Whats the speed limit on these roads?All our rides are TN registered,will this still be an issue with the speed guns?I'm hoping that the traffic density will be less from Kannur - Kasargod.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam.k (Post 4275580)

Thanks Mpksuhas.Whats the speed limit on these roads?All our rides are TN registered,will this still be an issue with the speed guns?

For two lane NH (which is the route you would be taking) it is 85KMPH for cars.
Speed cameras may not be an issue to you, however speed guns are since they will ask the vehicles violating this to be stopped.

That said, I don't think you will be able cross that speed at many intervals apart from smaller sprints due to traffic density.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SAPVEN (Post 4275571)

2. Is there any forest closing time on this route ( since it just skirts the
Nagarhole forest ) ?

Can answer this one. Yes there is a closure and it is from 6pm to 6am. The road does go inside the sanctuary.