[itwasntme]

Ajmat,

Did the cops shoo you and all cars away from the Masinagudi route? Why is this so? The Gudalur road is horrendous. We have a holiday planned in June so don't want to take my car (that too in the monsoons) through Gudalur!

Is there any time when one can drive down via Masinagudi or is the route closed at ALL times for Masinagudi-bound vehicles?

[gypsyFreak]

Masinagudi route is usually closed between 6 PM to 6 AM

[kaushik_s]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

The road towards Pykara and beyond is in shambles, only a SUV or bus can traverse this section.

Hi Riju,
I was back form Ooty on 6th May and the road till Pykara from Ooty is absolutely lovely to drive on. They've repaired that section. But after that the work is still going on (or they've stopped it, I don't know) and it's pathetic in quite a few sections.
Yeah, I've also seen that Police was not allowing cars to use the Masinagudi route but I think they were just trying to make some quick bucks, as while going to Ooty we took that route only and there were considerable amount of oncoming traffic. Probably one will need to bribe them to get through. People in Ooty told that road is getting repaired and not as bad before, hence I took the Gudalur road.
Also the road from Gundlupet to bandipur is in pathetic condition.

Regards,
Kaushik

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Ajmat,

Did the cops shoo you and all cars away from the Masinagudi route? Why is this so? The Gudalur road is horrendous. We have a holiday planned in June so don't want to take my car (that too in the monsoons) through Gudalur!

Is there any time when one can drive down via Masinagudi or is the route closed at ALL times for Masinagudi-bound vehicles?

Saw a friend of mine shoot past in her skoda coming back on our way out of mysore. She popped in and said she hit the segur ghats at 7.30am, there were no cops.

[csentil]

Ok, the cops/guards at the Masinagudy road typically need to be bribed at times from what I remember. Rs.5/- was what we used to give a long time back or throw a few names. Though its irritating but there's no other go.

Manish, its not a problem going up the ghat on a City. The road is not that narrow and neither is it too steep. Just take it slow and honk in the corners. You should be fine. There's always a first time for everyone. Its not such a great slope that your car would roll back the moment you brake !! Keep to the left and watch out for nut cases !!! You will do great.

[goandude]

Hi all, just got back from the above trip and wanted to update on road conditions. 14 May - bangy mysore gundlupet masinagudy ooty pykara. 15 may back pykara conoor ooty masinagudy rest the same way.

car -- friends Innova 10K on the odo. wonderful car. 4 pax. 2 drivers.

Observations:-

1. 10 kms of road between gundlupet and bandipur BAD
2. speed bumps galore on bangy mysore, and both sanctuaries
3. many many mini busses now take the 36 hairpin road and push other cars out. as thy go at breakneack speed. saw them going up on 15th but didnt see them go down on 14th, Could they be only using it for one way up? or was it the weekend effect?
4. Kamat upahar at mysore is Expensive. north indian thali 100/- very average quality. (shiv sagar comm street 75/- and much much better)
5. Better to go through Mysore, as taking the ring road gets me lost.
6. drove from to pykara on the ooty gudalur road - super smooth. will consider it next time as..
6. ..the bandipur masinagudy rd surface ok but very narrow with high sharp shoulders. (plus not much distance saving??)

regds
GD

[kannan666]

Really hope that at least after the elections, the government body will do something about that 8 to 10km stretch between Gundlupet and Bandipur which mars an otherwise excellent drive to Ooty sans the mushrooming speedbreakers of course !

[goandude]

10 kms of this stretch tests the suspension. cattle add their own trouble.

[pjay_in]

Goandude, your pic of the cattle on Gundlupet road brings back some old memories for me. These large herds of skinny cattle were a regular sight on this route (they are taken by road a long distance from somewhere near Gundlupet (so I think) all the way past Nilambur to destinations in Kerala at that time). I grew up in Nilambur and around there these herds were known by a funny name ('thrikkalambi' or something like that, probably the name of a place from where they originally came). Most of them ended up in beef stalls in Kerala. I didn't think they still walked these poor creatures such long distances in today's times; I hope they don't.

[pypkmsrikanth]

@pjay_in : The cattle which have been captured by goandude in his pic are not the ones which go to Kerala for beef. These days you have buffaloes transported from Andhra & TN for that. The ones which you see are the ones which are reared primarily for dung which would get converted to manure. If you climb up Gopalswamy Betta around 10 / 11 in the morning on a clear day you can see hordes of these cattle grazing in the forests...thereby destroying the vegetation for the real owners of the forest...wild animals

[beejay]

Wave a wad at the cops and they let you pass irrespective of the time, If the cop is a tough nut and you really want to drive down the sigur ghat, tell them you are going to your estate at mavaunallah.All fails, the Gudalur route is pretty neat now and is a part of the NH17 uptill Kakunallah, which is the border post.The road from Gundalpet to Bandipur is horrendous and will strain your lower part and everything asociated with it.
They have also uprooted the huge banyan trees and is now an eyesore, I was driving up last week and was wondering if anybody would be interested in making the road green again, I mean, planting some saplings on the route. This is just an idea, The mind whirrs when you are driving alone.

[vinay.pillai]

Hi Friends,
Anyone traveled Bangalore - Ooty recently. Any update on the latest status of road between Mysore and Ooty? I am planning to travel on 14 to Ooty and a bit concerned as the GC of Linea is low.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by vinay.pillai

Hi Friends,
Anyone traveled Bangalore - Ooty recently. Any update on the latest status of road between Mysore and Ooty? I am planning to travel on 14 to Ooty and a bit concerned as the GC of Linea is low.

road is ok , slightly uneven from Mysore till gundulpet and hopeless there after till bandipur , here look out for the humps ! and be careful if you're taking the kalahatty route ,

the Linea GC is as good as any sedan in its class just dont be a cropper on bad roads, No need to worry on the GC front for you.

[hellstar]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

@pjay_in : The cattle which have been captured by goandude in his pic are not the ones which go to Kerala for beef. These days you have buffaloes transported from Andhra & TN for that. The ones which you see are the ones which are reared primarily for dung which would get converted to manure. If you climb up Gopalswamy Betta around 10 / 11 in the morning on a clear day you can see hordes of these cattle grazing in the forests...thereby destroying the vegetation for the real owners of the forest...wild animals

actually over grazing is the least of the worries these animals bring into the forest , they bring with them new strains of diseases to which the forest wildlife do not have any immunity also other domestic cattle diseases like foot and mouth related diseases.

Even worse the animals become carriers for foreign plant pollution a good example of this would be the lantana bushes which you would find almost choking other vegetation to death in the bandipur and mudumalai forests. Another such plant is the Parthenium both these plants are not native to the indian flora yet now they have taken over most areas and are wiping out other less sturdy native flora.

its a pity we cant do anything about it.

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by vinay.pillai

Hi Friends,
Anyone traveled Bangalore - Ooty recently. Any update on the latest status of road between Mysore and Ooty? I am planning to travel on 14 to Ooty and a bit concerned as the GC of Linea is low.

@ Vinay.pillai - I took that route till Gudalur last Saturday. The roads are pretty good except a very bad patch of 10-12 kms after Gundlupet and a few potholes after you leave Mysore City limits on the Nanjagud route.

I don't know the status after Gudalur since I took a diversion to Nilambur.