[CBlazer]

Folks,

Got back early Monday morning from my Mayuram trip. Thanks for all the help on the routes. Thought I would just give a quick update.

We started around 10 am on 24th from Bangalore. Being a holiday I was able to reach the Attibele toll booth pretty quickly. We did take the elevated road since we had started late. Of course we waited at the Attibele booth for almost 20 minutes. (This was peanuts compared to my return trip - read on). We drove non-stop till Namakkal. The diversions till Krishnagiri were manageable in the day time. The drive from Salem was peaceful - I could do good speeds. We sort of slowed down near Namakkal looking for a decent place to eat, but couldn't find any. (Any suggestions on places to eat near Salem close to the highway for our future trips?) Reached Namakkal around 1.45/2 pm.

Upto Namakkal/Trichy:

We ate at Hotel Nala's in Namakkal which is on the RHS on the way to Trichy. Okay food, very spicy. I felt Rs 160 for Veg South Indian lunch is a rip-off. BTW they serve non-veg too. We had to kill time till 4.30 pm till the temples opened at Namakkal. Visited two temples by 5.30 pm, had coffee in a little hotel near the temples. Started back around 5.50 to Trichy. We took the Namakkal-Thottiyam-Musiri-Trichy route. It took us around 2 hours. The roads are very good close to Namakkal, gets patchy to bad at times. It is especially bad at a couple of places which I believe are frequented by trucks that transport sand (?).

We stayed at PLA Ratha Residency. A new hotel, clean and well maintained rooms. Rs. 2.4k for a night with breakfast - well, I remember someone said it was around 1.8k earlier this year. I didn't have the patience to go around with my family looking for another place. (Ramya's quoted even higher over phone). PLA have an "Anjappar" in their premises, though it wasn't really a deal maker for me.

We visited the Rockfort Pilliar temple the next morning (started very early). We took an auto who dropped us, waited and picked us up. I didn't want to go around looking for a parking slot. We really enjoyed the visit to the temple. The breakfast back at PLA was good. This was at another restaurant called "Fusion". We filled up a the TVS petrol pump and headed to Mayuram.

Trichy/Thanjavur/Kumbakkonam/Mayuram:

The Trichy-Thanjavur road is a 4 laned road. Initially 2 laned, a bit congested since the bridges are under construction. The drive was awesome, could do really good speeds and very safely at that. We took the Thiruvaiyaru road initially. We stopped to ask for the route and one gentleman decided to send us back to the regular Kumbakkonam route. It was boring - you are stuck behind one vehicle or the other. No matter how many times you overtake a vehicle it won't make a difference to the drive time. We took around 3 hours in all to reach Mayuram (take the bye-pass near Kumbakkonam).

It was pretty hot till Sunday morning when it began to rain. The power cuts are now less rampant, so the inverters get sufficiently charged. I could get some decent amount of work done. (Used Reliance Netconnect+ reliably for those interested)

Return trip - alternate route from Mayuram-Kumbakkonam bye-pass-Thanjavur:

On my way back I took the Kumbakkonam bye-pass-Swamimalai-Kapisthalam-Thiruvaiyaru road. It was a bit better in that we were not forever stuck behind other vehicles for long. We did have a bad experience close to Thiruvaiyaru where there were a huge number of trucks parked to enter a quarry. They were parked on either side and a number of vehicles coming from Thiruvaiyaru had blocked the road. My wife actually had to get down and get the truck drivers to make some way so that the vehicles could proceed. We lost some 30 minutes here. I hope this was an exception and doesn't happen on this route often. (Without my wife's Tamil speaking/reading skills we could have pretty much lost our way on this trip because most road signs in the interior parts are in Tamil).

We again filled up at the TVS petrol pump in Trichy. If someone is interested, there is a Reliance one too on the Thanjavur highway LHS as one approaches Trichy. My wife wanted to eat at Anjappars so we went back to PLA for lunch. It was packed with the Sunday crowd and it also started raining heavily. I must add that the service here is so-so, but had to keep my wife happy given the long journey. We spent around an hour here. Our trip to Namakkal again took us 2 hours (there was enough light, but the traffic was heavier than before).

Namakkal to Salem was peaceful except for a 25 minute stop due to an accident close to Salem. Gave me some time to get down, stretch and clean my windshield. Once at Salem we stopped for some coffee near a roadside bakery.

The experience at toll-booths as we approached Bangalore:

The experience at Krishnagiri/Attibele toll booth was painful. We spent almost an hour each at these places. You'll find me ranting in other threads about this. I don't know the solution to this - maybe avoid returning to Bangalore on Sunday evenings. But I really hope we could drive more responsibly - it was shameful the way people were cutting into the traffic and muscling out others. People must have lost a good amount of fuel since one really can't switch off the engine - need to keep inching forward.

We had started on Sunday at 10.30 am in Mayuram. I reached home around 1.30 am Monday - lost about 3 hours due to the various jams we encountered along the way.

[csateesh]

Originally Posted by CBlazer

Folks,

suggestions on places to eat near Salem close to the highway for our future trips?

Upto Namakkal/Trichy:

We took the Namakkal-Thottiyam-Musiri-Trichy route. It took us around 2 hours. The roads are very good close to Namakkal, gets patchy to bad at times. It is especially bad at a couple of places which I believe are frequented by trucks that transport sand (?).

The experience at Krishnagiri/Attibele toll booth was painful. We spent almost an hour each at these places.

@CBlazer - Thanks a lot for the update on the road conditions.

For a good place to eat - Here are my recommendations near Salem

1. Hotel Saravana Bhavan (namesake and not a part of the chain) - This is opposite Salem Bus Stand. This is just off the main road. Directions can be found here. Excellent breakfast choice

On NH7 turn left at the Clock Tower and keep moving forward.

2. If you look for a better one you can try Cenny's which is on a different road at the 5 road intersection

Direction to the place can be found here

Family loves this place for the clean restrooms and decent food but I like the former for its hot food (Idli, Dosa, Pongal , Vada and coffee)..

Would you be able to comment on the travel time from Trichy to Namakkal ?

And with regards to the traffic at toll booths To add insult to injury you will have morons trying to beat the queue thinking they are the smart alec's

Hat this part

Cheers

[ampere]

Originally Posted by csateesh

2. If you look for a better one you can try Cenny's which is on a different road at the 5 road intersection

If you want even better, then you have GRT right at the deviation from GQ to the 5 roads signal. (Location)


And I am sure, family will like even more (but for us!)

[ravib]

Originally Posted by csateesh

Would you be able to comment on the travel time from Trichy to Namakkal ?

Cheers

I usually do this ~90 kms stretch in 80 to 90 minutes via thuraiyur route.

-Ravi

[CBlazer]

Originally Posted by csateesh

1. Hotel Saravana Bhavan (namesake and not a part of the chain) - This is opposite Salem Bus Stand. This is just off the main road. Directions can be found Excellent breakfast choice

On NH7 turn left at the Clock Tower and keep moving forward.

Would you be able to comment on the travel time from Trichy to Namakkal ?

I've tried Cheny's on my trips to Yercaud since it is on the way. I was hoping for something close to the highway so as to get back quickly.

I will try Saravana Bhavan in Salem on my next trip. I saw a Saravana Bhavan in every town I visited. I think this name is similar to Ganesha Fruit Juice centers you find in Bangalore

Trichy to Namakkal took me about 2 hours during a Sunday afternoon. Can't do much once you are stuck behind other vehicles on an undivided road. I was also taking it easy behind the wheel.

Originally Posted by ampere

If you want even better, then you have GRT right at the deviation from GQ to the 5 roads signal.
And I am sure, family will like even more (but for us!)

I avoided the place for obvious reasons

[Fauji]

Came back from Rameshwaram trip over the weekend.

There is a big depression on Bangalore - Salem road which can not be noticed. This is immediately after you see milestone which gives Salem as 35 KMs away. This is not a pot hole but level difference which is not noticeable. Since the stretch is so good and tend to drive fast, this will really surprise you. Be careful when you see milestone which says Salem is 35 KMs away.

[ravigop]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Came back from Rameshwaram trip over the weekend.

There is a big depression on Bangalore - Salem road which can not be noticed. This is immediately after you see milestone which gives Salem as 35 KMs away. This is not a pot hole but level difference which is not noticeable. Since the stretch is so good and tend to drive fast, this will really surprise you. Be careful when you see milestone which says Salem is 35 KMs away.

Guys who travelled over the weekend, pls suggest the best route from Namakkal to Trichy.

Is Nammakal - Thotiyam - Musiri - Kulithalai - Jeeyapuram - Trichy OK now ?

If not is Nammakal - Thotiyam - Musiri - Gunaseelam - Tolgate - Trichy
free from sand lorries ?

Kindly suggest.

[adnaps]

Originally Posted by ravigop

Guys who travelled over the weekend, pls suggest the best route from Namakkal to Trichy.

Is Nammakal - Thotiyam - Musiri - Kulithalai - Jeeyapuram - Trichy OK now ?

If not is Nammakal - Thotiyam - Musiri - Gunaseelam - Tolgate - Trichy
free from sand lorries ?

Kindly suggest.

For a sand lorry free drive on good roads use nammakal thuraiyur trichy route. This adds an extra 20 km to the musiri route.

[ravigop]

Thanks for the response. How about a detour from Salem to reach Trichy via Athur --> Perambalur. Heard Salem --> Athur four lane is done. Any ideas ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravigop

Thanks for the response. How about a detour from Salem to reach Trichy via
Athur --> Perambalur. Heard Salem --> Athur four lane is done. Any ideas ?

I think 4-lane on the Salem side is not complete. You may lose more time in that respect. Other wise :
Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Trichy is a good option.

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by ravigop

Thanks for the response. How about a detour from Salem to reach Trichy via Athur --> Perambalur. Heard Salem --> Athur four lane is done. Any ideas ?

I had travelled once between Salem-Vazapadi -Thuraiyur-Trichy route.
The roads seems to be average to good and lot a small towns slows you down.
The fastest route still is Trichy - Kannanur-Namakkal -Salem if you want to
avoid the sand lorries in the Musiri route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

I had travelled once between Salem-Vazapadi -Thuraiyur-Trichy route.
The roads seems to be average to good and lot a small towns slows you down.
The fastest route still is Trichy - Kannanur-Namakkal -Salem if you want to
avoid the sand lorries in the Musiri route.

How is the Vazhapadi-Thuraiyur stretch? Its seems to cut through Kolli Hills and Manamali reserved forest. Any ghat roads in there?

If the road is good, it might make for an interesting routing compared to the regular one!

[gajadonga]

Originally Posted by ampere

How is the Vazhapadi-Thuraiyur stretch? Its seems to cut through Kolli Hills and Manamali reserved forest. Any ghat roads in there?

There is no ghat road as such but a little bits of road going up and curvy roads.
Never realized any ghat section, only after seeing the maps realized
it was between hills.Definitely scenic than the fourlaned roads.
When I traveled the four laning was going on between Vazapadi-Salem.Added
to that instead of driving on the Salem bypass took the town road into Salem
to reach Banglore highway and was badly stuck at railway crossing wasting a
lot of time in the town.

[ravigop]

Drove back from trichy to Bangalore last Diwali weekend. This time wanted to try a diff route, hence drove straight on chennai highway till perambalur and took left in the highway towards collector office in perambalur. Drove to manjini attur in about 1 hr. from attur till Salem entrance 4 lane road is almost done except few diversions (say 3 or 3). Overall it took 3 hrs from my home to reach Salem in this route. Advantages are less bumpy road, very light traffic and less stressful drive. Disadvantages, need to drive down (atleast I chose that way) to ammapet to reach Salem busstand which may slow you down by 1/2 hr. toll charge 35 Rs till perambalur, road passing through small towns till manjini for 12 Km, extra 30 Kms of drive.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by ravigop

Drove back from trichy to Bangalore last Diwali weekend. This time wanted to try a diff route, hence drove straight on chennai highway till perambalur and took left in the highway towards collector office in perambalur. Drove to manjini attur in about 1 hr. from attur till Salem entrance 4 lane road is almost done except few diversions (say 3 or 3).

Nice different option. So how is the route from Attur to Perambalur?
On a different note, is the Peramabalur-Ariyalur route to Tanjore any good? Is the river crossing on this route any good and functional?