Team-BHP - All Roads to Kerala

Quote:

Originally Posted by shivasi (Post 4508107)

Thank you guys.
My plan is to leave Trivandrum around 4am, reach Bangalore by 12pm, stay the night and next day leave for Goa. Is that a good plan?

Should be OK. One additional point is that Bangalore being a metro, stay options are generally overpriced compared to say Hosur (before) or Tumkur (beyond). If you can stretch it, maybe you should go till Tumkur.

There are separate Trivandrum-Bangalore and Bangalore-Goa threads (and also a Bangalore-Pune-Mumbai thread) which you might want to consult.

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Originally Posted by binand (Post 4508356)

Thanks you. Any recommendations on stay in Hosur?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shivasi (Post 4508107)

Thank you guys.
So is the below route fine or any changes required.
My plan is to leave Trivandrum around 4am, reach Bangalore by 12pm, stay the night and next day leave for Goa. Is that a good plan?

I dont know how many km's/hours you are used to driving in a day ; if you(and family) are ok with it , I would suggest you to completely skip bangalore (tvm to blore with an early morning start should be doable in ~10-11 hrs and use NICE road from start to finish to escape bangalore madness) and halt at some hotel near the highway in tumkur. That way you have maximised your distance coverage for the trip on the first day itself, over good roads. From there on, you can take it relaxed.

Guys need some help with road conditions in Kerala, I am planning a trip to Munnar in last week of December and from there I want to cover some interior routes of Kerala, I am planning the route from Thekkady>Gavi>Punaluru>Thenmala>Ponmudi then proceed to Kanyakumari via Neyyar Wild Life Sanctuary

Does anyone have an idea on current road conditions or any restrictions in these routes, please shed some light..

https://goo.gl/maps/ybXQpPnBSi72

I will be starting from Bangalore and have the plan sorted till Munnar but am not sure of the current situation beyond this! please do add-in your thoughts also if any.

Did a weekend run to Palakkad, to attend a family function. Instead of staying overnight in Palakkad (where hotels aren't common and the ones that are, aren't of great quality) I chose to stay in Coimbatore. Gokulam Park, to be specific - it is only about 3-4 km off the highway but is a good and affordable 4-star property (3.3K for B&B less 30% cashback on Cleartrip). Location: https://goo.gl/maps/MkhrtsXwcnp. Did Hosur-Coimbatore in 4.5 hours non-stop (not even fuel/toll/tea/bio breaks!) which I thought was excellent.

Beyond Coimbatore two things I noticed for the first time.

1. A BPCL COCO just beyond Madukkarai on the NH. This comes a couple of hundred metres before the flyover under which the turn-off for Amrita Univ is. https://goo.gl/maps/TEo8NLx2Tct

2. A Reliance pump a bit before the A2B, which seems to be readying an attached restaurant. Let us hope this will serve food of better quality than A2B. https://goo.gl/maps/ExsQGP1znMT2.

Return on Sunday was quite painful; started at around 2 PM from Palakkad and reached home by 8:30 PM. If there is any stretch of road crying for widening it is Salem-Krishnagiri.

One curious fact about the Coimbatore bypass. Coming out of the hotel I merge into the bypass a bit beyond its starting toll booth, so my toll payment was to be made at the one just before the Trichi road junction. The toll rate remains the same though - which means that they could merge these two booths into one. Same for every pair of booths, reducing the number to 3 instead of 6 and still not lose any revenue (one between Neelambur & Trichi road junction, one between Trichi road and Pollachi road junctions and one between Pollachi road and Madukkarai).

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Originally Posted by binand (Post 4509800)

Instead of staying overnight in Palakkad (where hotels aren't common and the ones that are, aren't of great quality)
Beyond Coimbatore two things I noticed for the first time.

Srichakra (@Chandranagar, on the highway's service road, right side when going from Bangalore) & inside town Indraprastha, Kapilavasthu and KPN Regency (all 3 were renovated not too long ago) are decent from my experience.

Quote:

1. A BPCL COCO just beyond Madukkarai on the NH. This comes a couple of hundred metres before the flyover under which the turn-off for Amrita Univ is. https://goo.gl/maps/TEo8NLx2Tct

Thanks, wasn't aware this is a COCO unit. I've tried the other BP outlet on the opposite side (was easy to access as I was on the way back from Palakkad) which was also decent.

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The toll rate remains the same though - which means that they could merge these two booths into one. Same for every pair of booths, reducing the number to 3 instead of 6 and still not lose any revenue (one between Neelambur & Trichi road junction, one between Trichi road and Pollachi road junctions and one between Pollachi road and Madukkarai).

One of the very badly managed tolls, I don't think they will do anything to improve the experience till their lease/contract expires (in 2020/21 ?)

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Originally Posted by NPV (Post 4509935)

The thing is, once the bar motif enters hotels become unappealing in Kerala. Srichakra was in my shortlist but the info my wife got from her WhatsApp network is that after the bar was reopened (post NH ban relaxation), it has gone totally decrepit.

Anyway once I started looking at hotels in Coimbatore the ones in Palakkad were totally out of the picture.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NPV (Post 4509935)

Thanks, wasn't aware this is a COCO unit.

The update was that this one has become a COCO. There is an A4 page printout stuck with cellotape to advertise the fact. :-)

hi folks,
wanna travel Bangalore to Thalayad (near Calicut). I see two options for routes
1. BLR - Hunsur - Nagarhole tiger reserve - mananthavadi - kalpetta - thalayad
2. BLR - Mysore - Nanjangud - Guldalpet - sultan bathery - kalpetta - thalayadu

Which route is better in terms of road conditions? or any other recommended route?

Thank you

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Originally Posted by Accent Martin (Post 4510323)

Route 1 any day. Good roads almost all the way barring a few odd rough patches and speed brekers in the forest stretch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Accent Martin (Post 4510323)

1. BLR - Hunsur - Nagarhole tiger reserve - mananthavadi - kalpetta - thalayad
2. BLR - Mysore - Nanjangud - Guldalpet - sultan bathery - kalpetta - thalayadu

Which route is better in terms of road conditions?

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Originally Posted by kala (Post 4510739)

Route 1 any day. Good roads almost all the way barring a few odd rough patches and speed brekers in the forest stretch.

I think you meant Route 2, Kala? Your description matches it better.

If you are coming via Route 1 then I don't think you need to come to Kalpetta from Mananthavady. Thalayad is close enough to Thottilpalam which is at the bottom of the alternate ghat route from Wayanad to Calicut (Kuttyadi churam).