[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by pramodpk

Perinthalmanna - Pattambi was in bad shape when I drove this stretch on July 15th. I was travelling to Guruvayur. While returning I took the Kunnamkulam-Edappal-Kottakkal-Malappuram-Manjeri-Nilambur route. This was 20 KM longer than the Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Nilanbur route but the roads were good.

If you want to drive Trichur->Nilambur tension-free, lesser time albeit longer by 20 kms, then do Trichur-Kecheri(turn right to byepass Kunnamkulam town)-Akkikkavu(join back SH69)-Edappal-Kottakkal-Malappuram-Manjeri-Nilambur route. Another implicit advantage of the above route is that there is no railway crossing on this route and the only one at Kuttippuram is an ROB. Please check wth Ranjit on the number of railway crossings and the average time lost in Thrissur-Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Nilambur route.

[Sandy28]

I plan to start early morning. my target is 4 am but keeping a margin of half hour, max target to leave home by 4.30 am. considering the early hour, would u still recommend the Edapal route?

My destination in Bangalore is HSR Layout. So would have to take the NICE road after reaching Bangalore.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

I plan to start early morning. my target is 4 am but keeping a margin of half hour, max target to leave home by 4.30 am. considering the early hour, would u still recommend the Edapal route?

My destination in Bangalore is HSR Layout. So would have to take the NICE road after reaching Bangalore.

Take the NICE road all the way till NH7. Many folks take only till Bannerghatta road. Its better to take it till Hosur road (NH7) and drive back to HSR layout.
Its much faster. From Mysore road NICE entry you should be able to reach HSR in about 30-40 minutes.

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

If you want to drive Trichur->Nilambur tension-free, lesser time albeit longer by 20 kms, then do Trichur-Kecheri(turn right to byepass Kunnamkulam town)-Akkikkavu(join back SH69)-Edappal-Kottakkal-Malappuram-Manjeri-Nilambur route. Another implicit advantage of the above route is that there is no railway crossing on this route and the only one at Kuttippuram is an ROB. Please check wth Ranjit on the number of railway crossings and the average time lost in Thrissur-Pattambi-Perinthalmanna-Nilambur route.

Trichur-Kecheri-Akkikkavu route is what I always take when commuting between my place (Vavanoor) and wife place (Trichur). Also the Edapal-Kottakkal route is the one I took when driving down to Kerala.

While checking your route on Google maps, saw this Valanchery - Nilambur road after Kuttipuram that goes Valanchery-Angadipuram-Perinthalmana-Pandikkad-Wandoor-Nilambur. Any idea about Valanchery-Angadipuram-Perinthalmana stretch? Since this stretch was not mentioned in any post, is it that it is not worth taking?

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Trichur-Kecheri-Akkikkavu route is what I always take when commuting between my place (Vavanoor) and wife place (Trichur). Also the Edapal-Kottakkal route is the one I took when driving down to Kerala.

While checking your route on Google maps, saw this Valanchery - Nilambur road after Kuttipuram that goes Valanchery-Angadipuram-Perinthalmana-Pandikkad-Wandoor-Nilambur. Any idea about Valanchery-Angadipuram-Perinthalmana stretch? Since this stretch was not mentioned in any post, is it that it is not worth taking?

The Melattor route is a better road as opposed to the Pattikad-Pandikkad-Wandoor-Nilambur route.This road is being widened and there are a lot of culvert works in progress on this route,the reason why the melattoor route should be preferred.It is from Pattikad that you divert to wandoor or to Melattoor.It is a fork road,the left fork goes to wandoor while the straight one goes to melattoor.

Also the kecheri option would be a good one as opposed to the shoranur option.The advantage is that you would not face the dense traffic between pattambi & perinthalmana as well as you wouldnt have to cross the infamous wadakancheri level crossing.This is the only gate that you encounter on this route apart from the one after kulappully towards pattambi.

OT:Where in thrissur are you starting from?

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

The Melattor route is a better road as opposed to the Pattikad-Pandikkad-Wandoor-Nilambur route.This road is being widened and there are a lot of culvert works in progress on this route,the reason why the melattoor route should be preferred.It is from Pattikad that you divert to wandoor or to Melattoor.It is a fork road,the left fork goes to wandoor while the straight one goes to melattoor.

Also the kecheri option would be a good one as opposed to the shoranur option.The advantage is that you would not face the dense traffic between pattambi & perinthalmana as well as you wouldnt have to cross the infamous wadakancheri level crossing.This is the only gate that you encounter on this route apart from the one after kulappully towards pattambi.

OT:Where in thrissur are you starting from?

Sorry Ranjit, but I am a bit confused. From Melattor where do I go? Are you suggesting that I should move on to Karuvarakundu-Kalikavu-Pookotumpadum-Nilambur?

Also on the Kecheri route, are u suggesting that I should take the Valanchery-Angadipuram route and come to Melattor or should I go on till Kotakkal -Malapuram-Manjeri-Edavana-Nilambur?

I will be starting from Ayanthole in Thrissur.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Sorry Ranjit, but I am a bit confused. From Melattor where do I go? Are you suggesting that I should move on to Karuvarakundu-Kalikavu-Pookotumpadum-Nilambur?

Also on the Kecheri route, are u suggesting that I should take the Valanchery-Angadipuram route and come to Melattor or should I go on till Kotakkal -Malapuram-Manjeri-Edavana-Nilambur?

I will be starting from Ayanthole in Thrissur.

Karuvarakundu-Kalikavu-Pookotumpadum-Nilambur looks right. You will have a railway crossing at Nilambur Road Railway Station which will be around 5 kms before you hit CNG (Calicut-Nilambur-Gudalur) highway.

Valanchery-Angadipuram route is good if you are practising for himalayan car rally It is exactly 20 kms (and tempting since it is the straight route at Valanchery junction whereas NH-17 takes a sharp 90-degree left) but that 20 kms may take you around 1 hour as it is very narrow and hilly terrain with many twisties. Also, once you reach NH-213 near Thirumandamkunnu temple, you will have to drive through the busy 5-km stretch towards Perinthalmanna town and early morning means possibility of railway gate closure at Angadippuram and also the rush near the Thirumandamkunnu temple entrance on the NH-213.

BTW, you can skip Valanchery and take the bye-pass a few kms before Valanchery town. The bye-pass is exactly 6 kms and helps you avoid the dreaded hair-pin curve and the mini-ghat section at Vattappara(?) where you can get stuck behind some heavy traffic, read container lorries, any time of the day.

And Valanchery/Kottakkal and Perinthalmanna/Melattoor are 2 mutually exclusive routes as far as I can think of. Not sure if Ranjit can give you better thoughts about this point !

[Sandy28]

Going by all the inputs, I think my route will be Thrisur-Kecheri-Akikavu-Perimplavu-Kotakal-Malapuram-Manjeri-Nilambur-Gundalpet-Mysore-Bglore. Really excited to do the Silent Valley - Bandipur stretch. Any last minute update / info on the route is still welcome :-)

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Going by all the inputs, I think my route will be Thrisur-Kecheri-Akikavu-Perimplavu-Kotakal-Malapuram-Manjeri-Nilambur-Gundalpet-Mysore-Bglore. Really excited to do the Silent Valley - Bandipur stretch. Any last minute update / info on the route is still welcome :-)

ALL THE BEST !

For general directions and timing considerations, please refer below:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...guruvayur.html

Hope you have planned for food-breaks !

[Sandy28]

Thank you friends. Did the Thrisur-Bglore trip via Nilambur-Mysore on 3rd Aug. And I am so happy to have taken this route instead of the Coimbatore-Salem route. The drive was absolutely heavenly experience. Roads are in good condition though narow and trafic is also sparse upto Mysore. Driving thru Nilambur, Mudumalai and Bandipur was a great experience. Family enjoyed it thoroughly. Mysore - Bglore was a bit heavy on trafic but still nothing to really worry about. Only issue was the unmarked devilish speed breakers (bumps) on this stretch. Can really be nasty esp during night drives. Overall, great route for travelling from Kerala to Bglore.

[ajithbr]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

Thank you friends. Did the Thrisur-Bglore trip via Nilambur-Mysore on 3rd Aug. And I am so happy to have taken this route instead of the Coimbatore-Salem route. The drive was absolutely heavenly experience. Roads are in good condition though narow and trafic is also sparse upto Mysore. Driving thru Nilambur, Mudumalai and Bandipur was a great experience. Family enjoyed it thoroughly. Mysore - Bglore was a bit heavy on trafic but still nothing to really worry about. Only issue was the unmarked devilish speed breakers (bumps) on this stretch. Can really be nasty esp during night drives. Overall, great route for travelling from Kerala to Bglore.

Can you please let us know the detailed route and timings break-up you took? For example, was it via Kottakkal or Perinthalmanna? And where all did you take food-breaks and what is your feedback on those places? Long weekend on Aug 15 approaching and am sure there will be many folks taking this route then

[Sandy28]

Originally Posted by ajithbr

Can you please let us know the detailed route and timings break-up you took? For example, was it via Kottakkal or Perinthalmanna? And where all did you take food-breaks and what is your feedback on those places? Long weekend on Aug 15 approaching and am sure there will be many folks taking this route then

Sorry for the delay in sharing updates - couple of days in Bangalore, drive back to Ahmedabad and initial 2 days at work after a long break.

The route that we followed was Ayathole (Thrisur)-Kecheri-Akkikavu-Prempilavu-Edapal-Kuttipuram-Kottakal-Valanchery- Kottakal-Malapuram-Manjeri-Edavanna-Nilambur-Gudallur-Mudumulai-Bandipur-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore. We started at around 4.45 am from Thrisur and till Akkikavu the route was average like any other roads in Kerala. Akkikavu
onwards the road was in much better condition though there were occasional patches of pot holes but nothing to really slow
you down.




We reached Nilambur at 7.25 am and stopped at KTDC Tamarind restaurant for breakfast. Great place in a very scenic surrounding. The wash rooms were very clean and the place was decent. The restaurant was very small with just 4-5 tables and breakfast options were few - puttu-kadala, puri-bhaji and bread-omlette. We settled for bread-omlette which was good. Not very oily. Also served good tea.

Hotel KTDC Tamarind @ Nilambur



Now we were in the ghat section and the road begins to wind with many curves and ups & down. Since we were in no hurry to reach Bangalore, I drove at an extremely leisurely pace.The roads were narrow 2-lane but in good condition and also well marked especially in the TN section. It was quite misty even around 11 am and there was a mild chill in the air. Perfect climate for a great holiday drive. Traffic was very sparse.

Some pics of the road.







The Gudallur stretch has many tea estates doting the hill sides. Good place to stop and click snaps. Also some of the estates have factory outlets were they sell tea packs. We bought some packs from the factory outlet of Chambala Tea Estate.





After Nilambur starts the Mudumulai Tiger Reserve. We were lucky to catch a quick glimpse of this lone tusker hidden amongst the bamboo shoots before he turned around and walked off.





However, there are no hotels or restaurants in the Nilambur-Mudumalai-Bandipur stretch except for small road side tea kiosks. Infact after KTDC Tamarind at Nilambur, I did not see any good eatery until Gundalupet. So one has to plan well for food breaks. Also it is very tempting to stop in the Mudumalai-Bandipur section to take some pics but it is not advisable. Best thing is to drive at a steady pace so that you enjoy the forest beauty and also get to click when ever you see something interesting.

After Bandipur, it is a flat terrain and you pass thru some good rural stretches. We reached Mysore at 1.00 pm were we had lunch at Hotel Kamat on Sayaji Road. Ok place and the wash rooms were also not really great. Unless very urgent, you may not use it. Food was also ok. I expected much better idli-sambhar in Mysore than what we had.



It is best to avoid the Mysore bypass as you would be adding unwanted kilometers to your trip without much advantage. Instead drive thru the city. You prety much cut straight thru the city and the traffic is also managable. Only issue is that the roads are not well marked. So you
will have to keep asking for direction (i.e if you dont have a GPS). Our route thru Mysore was JSS Circle - KR Circle-Ayurveda hospital Circle-Putli Park-LIC Building-B M Road.

Mysore - Bangalore route is like any other highway. Good road but with medium to heavy trafic. Lots of eateries enroute. Also watch out for the mostrous unmarked speed breakers. They can throw you in to the air if you dont handle them carefully.

After reaching Bangalore, we turned on to NICE at Kengeri and drove down till the end of NICE. Then we turned towards Bomanhalli and reached our destination (HSR Layout) at 5.30 pm. Total Distance: 454 km. Time Taken: 12 hrs 45 min. Drive more faster and you can easily cut donw atlest 3-4 hours and reach Bangalore in about 8 hours.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Sandy28

However, there are no hotels or restaurants in the Nilambur-Mudumalai-Bandipur stretch except for small road side tea kiosks. Infact after KTDC Tamarind at Nilambur, I did not see any good eatery until Gundalupet.

That is good update Sandy.

Only point to note:

We do have the Jungle Lodges restaurant "Pugmarks" between Bandipur-Gubdlupet.
Technically the place is at Bandipur but at least 7-10km away from the town on the highway 212 towards Gudlupet.

[ranjitp1]

Please note that traffic restrictions are going to be in place on NH212 on the Thamarasserry Ghat from January 2nd,2012 for a couple of months,thanks to repair works which would resume on the ghats.Thanks to TBhpian-Ajithbr for this update.More details on this post :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2610673

[VindyWheels]

Hi,

We are driving down to Calicut tomorrow and returning on Sunday. Crossing Mysore has always been an issue for me. I have tried "left turn bypass" at Columbia Jn once, but drive thru the city is supposed to be shorter right?
Considering we will be reaching Columbia Jn by 6:00 pm and the traffic conditions, what is best option to cross Mysore and proceed towards Muthanga? If going thru City is the best option, pls give detailed directions and landmarks.

Thank You

VW

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Please note that traffic restrictions are going to be in place on NH212 on the Thamarasserry Ghat from January 2nd,2012 for a couple of months,thanks to repair works which would resume on the ghats.Thanks to TBhpian-Ajithbr for this update.More details on this post :

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2610673