[nilanjanray]

I still recommend that people take NH209 instead of Mysore Road to reach Gundlepet. More beautiful, less traffic, less stress.

[gandalf]

Originally Posted by TheHkrish

Nilanjan, While agreeing to what you have said; the craters in the road would cause problems to Hatches and Sedans.
Not to the rash driving buses that much as they were still speeding in whatever stretches they can manage. SUVs with diff would be right at home in that Mudhumalai stretch.
I was worried whether my Punto might bottom out in a few of the potholes created.
P.S : I make it a point to drive very slow and not to blow my horn inside the forest

if you drive slowly through this stretch bottoming out would not be an issue.The driving comfort may not be there for this short stretch But believe me the NH 209 is way better than the other option. you will have a completely stress free drive really good roads other than this short stretch as well

[TheHkrish]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

I still recommend that people take NH209 instead of Mysore Road to reach Gundlepet. More beautiful, less traffic, less stress.

Originally Posted by gandalf

if you drive slowly through this stretch bottoming out would not be an issue.The driving comfort may not be there for this short stretch But believe me the NH 209 is way better than the other option. you will have a completely stress free drive really good roads other than this short stretch as well

I was not even thinking about NH-209, Thanks guys. Would be a good thing to avoid Mysore during the festive season

[iVento]

For those who are nostalgic about it!
Bangalore-Mysore road before the the 4 lane works.
All those trees were cut for the widening .



Source: http://mysore.ind.in/bangalore-to-my...re-mysore-road

[TheHkrish]

Originally Posted by iVento

For those who are nostalgic about it!
Bangalore-Mysore road before the the 4 lane works.
All those trees were cut for the widening .

I hadn't traveled via that route before the 4 lane works.
It shows us what do we miss now thanks Ivento.

I drove to ooty the previous day (Dusshera season) the route taken where

A) Bangalore -- Kanakapura - Malavalli -- ChamarajNagara -- Gundulpet -- Theepakdu -- Masinagudi -- Ooty.

B) Ooty -- Masinagudi -- Theepakdu -- Gundulpet -- Nanjangundu -- Mysore (ORR) -- Channapattana -- Bangalore.

Route A was excellent , barring the narrow roads near Kollegal and places. The 37 Hairpins were a real experience . The road being a bit narrow , I had to burn quite an amount of Diesel climbing up.

Route B was good , barring the Mysore Outer Ring Road. At night without streetlights and all the rubble on the road it takes quite sometime to navigate through. But it saved us the time of getting struck during the festive season in mysore.

Thanks guys for the route help.

[mpksuhas]

A friend of mine travelling yesterday via NH 209 had to turn back and join Mysore - Gundulpet road since there was some religious procession near Chamarajnagar. Roads were closed due to same, do note that he was travelling on his bike.
Not sure how long the ceremony will be ongoing however guess it may be better to avoid this route for couple of days.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by iVento

For those who are nostalgic about it!
Bangalore-Mysore road before the the 4 lane works.
All those trees were cut for the widening .

Source: http://mysore.ind.in/bangalore-to-my...re-mysore-road

Oh! Boy! I would still compromise on my speed to mother nature. Long drive is on experience in itself and it is this nature which gives us this experience and in the near future everyone can only feel nostalgic about this as we may be left with nothing else to be proud about!

[S_U_N]

Just came back from
Madikeri -->Hunsur -> Mysore -> Nanjangud -> Gundlupet -> Bandipur -> Masinagudi
(Overnight halt)

The jungle roads from Bandipur to Masinagudi and even beyond have lot of speed breakers and a speed limit of 30 kmph.

Most people drive at 40-50 kmph in that stretch, but I would recommend 30 kmph, so that you can spot some wild life as well. We spotted a couple of elephants on our way back.
You will see plenty of deers and monkeys (both together) at various spots.



Masinagudi --> 36 Hairpin bend -> Ooty

The Masinagudi section will have probably more wild life (like peacocks, bisons etc.) in addition to the previous stretch.
We took a jeep safari in the evening on this section and some interior routes as well.
A tiger was reportedly spotted near Bokkapuram junction, but we did not see it.


The uphill drive on the 36 hair pin bends was indeed quite a task - not recommended for the new driver.
I had to turn off AC in my car for the uphill - despite the 2 liter engine.
In return we wanted to go to Pykara and try the alternative route since the distance was the same.
Pykara boating staff comes at around 10 AM and we were early by 1 hour. So we had a long walk up to the lake from the base point (around 1-1.5 km) and returned back again walking.

Ooty -> Pykara -> Gudalur -> Theppakadu -> Bandipur -> Gundlupet -> Nanjangud -> Mysore -> Bangalore

As member basoli has reported earlier on this page, this route is best avoidable. Except for the tall bamboo trees forming a tunnel in some places, which is a spectacular site, by the way, there is absolutely nothing the route offers. There are very few eating options and the ghat roads are filled with potholes.
Instead driving down the 36 hair pin bends will be easier.


The check posts between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is quite an experience.
The Karnataka checkpost has one forest officer, who is busy reading news paper (on both occasions).
On the contrary the TN side has three or four police/ forest officers who are stopping some vehicles and checking something. We were not stopped, but they had a close look from outside, when we slowed down.

The Mudumalai junction has loads of people offering jeep safari for Rs. 800 onwards. In contrast Bandipur has no private operators. The bus safari at Rs. 135/ per person has fixed timings (like one at 3 PM). We did not take either of these safaris.

The road from Mysore to Bangalore has more speed breakers than what I have ever seen, sometimes, every 2-3 KM's.

Note: We started our journey from Pune and came back on Saturday night (8 days).

[kala]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

The uphill drive on the 36 hair pin bends was indeed quite a task - not recommended for the new driver.
I had to turn off AC in my car for the uphill - despite the 2 liter engine.

Which vehicle was this ? I recall doing this route in my puny Maruti 800 in the mid 1980's loaded with 4 passengers + driver and I don't remember having faced any issue in the climb.

I thought it should be a piece of cake for the present day engines..

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by kala

Which vehicle was this ? I recall doing this route in my puny Maruti 800 in the mid 1980's loaded with 4 passengers + driver and I don't remember having faced any issue in the climb.

I thought it should be a piece of cake for the present day engines..

We were in a Cedia with a boot full and 3 passengers.

And no, it won't be a piece of cake for any vehicle considering some of the bends are really steep.
And with downward traffic from the opposite side, you have to be really careful.
Thankfully the roads are free from potholes.
I turned off the AC after the first bend itself as a precautionary measure. On most ghats, I can climb up in the third gear, but this one -needed second gear.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

We were in a Cedia with a boot full and 3 passengers.

And no, it won't be a piece of cake for any vehicle considering some of the bends are really steep.
And with downward traffic from the opposite side, you have to be really careful.
Thankfully the roads are free from potholes.
I turned off the AC after the first bend itself as a precautionary measure. On most ghats, I can climb up in the third gear, but this one -needed second gear.

Turning off AC on steep ghats is a good practice. It not only lessens the load on the engine, but also makes you open the windows to get a breath of fresh mountain air. And most of all, it helps you in detecting vehicle sounds and horns on blind curves, so that you could slow down and drop a gear instead of accelerating around the bend in the same gear.

I did the same on my 1.6 Fiesta, which was loaded with 4 adults and a week's luggage in the boot. I felt the car's engine was thanking me for my kind deed.

The situation would have been different if it were a one-way road, as one could accelerate in a higher gear and take the corner at a higher speed, moreso when the car is a good handler.

Moving over to the M800, it has terrific low end grunt, which helps a lot in ghat roads. It is even better than the WagonR that has a more powerful engine. But put the AC on, and you have a limp pony, not only on ghats but also on plain highways.

[Safety is Param]

Hi All, there are multiple threads on this, so I am not sure if I am hitting the right one here -

I have planned a drive to Bandipur this Monday, and I will be reaching Mysore a day before from Bangalore, so the drive to Bandipur will start from Mysore. Can you please confirm if the route mentioned below is the one I should be taking?



Planning to start at 09:00 hrs (Monday) from Mysore, with an expected arrival back to Bangalore at 20:00 hrs (Monday).

If the route mentioned above is not correct, what are my options?

Just want to drive through the forest and come back to Bangalore

My Grandma would be accompanying us, so don't want to make this a one day affair, hence breaking at Mysore (will be visiting the Palace, Zoo and Chamundi hills on Sunday, with some lip smacking Masala Dosas).

Any good A/C hotel recommended in Mysore for 1 night stay, for 3 pax? Preferably close to the above 3 places (not a must however)? Preferably a 3 star at least, budget being 2k to 3k per night for 3 people.

Where do I take a round about for Bangalore after Bandipur (I mean, once the forest is over and there is nothing much to see further, considering this is just a leisure drive) and are there any decent eat out places around Bandipur for lunch?

Thanks in advance for all your inputs!

[S_U_N]

^The route is fine.
About the round-about, there are some places on the road, where there is a single-way to go (basically you have to take the left road and not go straight. You can see that marked. You could take that left and after some time, the two roads will get merged. You may choose to take a U turn at that point.
Having said that, you may wish to go further till the place where you see lot of private cars parked and some tourist office buildings. Plenty of space to take turn.
If you like you can book accomodation there online (from http://bandipurtigerreserve.in/).
If you keep driving further, you will enter "Territory of Tamil Nadu". Though that sounds intimidating, you will increase your chances of spotting more wild life there.


In those jungle areas, you have to keep speeds around 30 kmph, so do factor in the slow speed in your travel plan.
Just after the RTO checkpost (I think TN side), there are some small hotels on the right. DO NOT eat there. The taste is strictly average.
I have no idea about better eating options, though.

And if you continue further you will cross Mudumalai and reach Masinagudi. There are jungle type of resorts there. A hotel near the police station there (Safari Restaurant or something) is good for food -south Indian.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Safety is Param

I have planned a drive to Bandipur this Monday, and I will be reaching Mysore a day before from Bangalore, so the drive to Bandipur will start from Mysore. Can you please confirm if the route mentioned below is the one I should be taking?

Route is correct. Go till the Palace and follow the directions to Calicut(Kozhikode) and Ooty. It is via Nanjangud, Gundlupet.
At Gundlupet you reach a fork with 2 roads, one straight and one to right.Take the straight road that goes towards Gudalur/Ooty, avoid the road that goes to right towards Calicut.

Any good A/C hotel recommended in Mysore for 1 night stay, for 3 pax? Preferably close to the above 3 places (not a must however)? Preferably a 3 star at least, budget being 2k to 3k per night for 3 people.

I have heard of Mango Suites from some friends, there are also several others, like Southern Star, Sandesh The Prince, Ramanashree, Pai Vista, Siddartha, etc
Do check the Accommodation thread also for more information (my last stay at a hotel in Mysore was very long time ago!).

Where do I take a round about for Bangalore after Bandipur (I mean, once the forest is over and there is nothing much to see further, considering this is just a leisure drive) and are there any decent eat out places around Bandipur for lunch?

Once you cross Gundlupet and head straight you will be entering Bandipur forest area. You will pass by Jungle Lodges, keep going straight till you hit the Tamil Nadu border. Once you cross over to the TN side, there is a vistors centre for safari, etc. Here you can turn and head back.

*Immediately after you cross over to TN, a road to left goes to Ooty via Masinagudi (36 hair pin bend route), I don't think you want to go there on this trip

For lunch there are not too many options in Bandipur so you can try Jungle Lodges, they have a buffet for guests but do take walk-ins. Alternatively, you could stop at Mysore also on the way back.

[gadadhar]

Mysore to Bandipur route is looking fine, you have enough pointers on-route to guide you. Way back, you can consider coming through Kanakpura if you want to enjoy a peaceful drive, but be aware that the route does not have many eateries and is single line traffic (hence not a good option for night driving). Budget around 5 Hours of sedate driving for your return drive and plan your return accordingly

Nalappattu Residency and Sandesh Prince are good place I had stayed in Mysore, there are numerous options in Mysore. Location doesn’t matter much since any part of Mysore can be reached pretty quickly

I would recommend you drive till Muthumalai Safari Point and return from there, check if you can add Gopalaswamy Betta and Elephant Training center to the list. Roads were bad beyond Muthumalai Safari point towards Gudallore, else drive till Gudallore could have increased your spotting chances. Other option is to take Masanagudi road and drive till Bison View Point looking for animals (be aware that it is a narrow road) There are many thread that can give details.

Jungle Lodges and Resorts outside the Bandipur gate is a good place for lunch, Country Club Bush Betta inside the forest (near Bandipur safari point) might also have lunch (please check for walk-in customers in both places since I was staying there), there are numerous other resorts, but I think they cater to only guests staying there.