[jairaj]

first, a big thank you to all those who offered advise/tips for my previous driving holiday, in oct'08. the input proved invaluable, and we had a fantastic time.

this time as the title of this post suggests we plan on being more ambitious.

starting on the 18th of may from mumbai at 3.00am (thank you mr. kumar for suggesting early starts!), we hope to be in mangalore in 16-18 hours. this hopefully should be covered by first reaching hubli, then detour towards ankola, and then NH17 till mangalore.

on the 20th of may, we restart our trip from mangalore to cochin. here is where i am a bit confused. should i stay on the NH17, or is there a faster/better route?

next:cochin to kumarakom on the 22nd. best route?

next:kumarakom to kabini on the 24th

next:kabini to chikmagalur on the 26th

next:chikmagalur to north goa on the 28th

next:goa to mumbai on the 30th.

i would appreciate any and every advise. iam looking for the best roads, not necessarily the fastest or shortest. i plan to spend 2 days at each destination, and hope to arrive before lunchtime, everywhere except my first day (mumbai-mangalore) and perhaps the chikmagalur-goa stretch).

any special travelogues that i should have already read? we are travelling by our toyota innova. we includes my wife, 9 year son and me!

thanks bhp for a great forum.
regards
jairaj

[kannan666]

Stay on NH 17 for Mangalore to Cochin, it is a very scenic route and roads were excellent the last time I was on that route but that was a long time ago in 2003, other members will probably give you the current update.

Route for Kumarakom would be Ernakulam-Chotanikara-Kulayattikara-Keechery-Vaikam-Tannirmukkam-Kumarakom. Do not know on current road conditions though. Longer route but better roads would be to keep on NH 47 upto Alappuzha, take a left here for Changanassery, left here agian for Kottayam. From Kottayam, Kumarakm is just around 10kms.

For Kabini, I would recommend Kottayam-Ernakulam-Chavakkad-Kozhikode. Take a right here just after Kozhikode for NH 212. Chevayur-Koduvalli-Vavad-Kedavur-Puduppadi-Vythiri-Kalpetta. After Kalpetta, turn left to reach Mananthavady. From here, get to Kabini via Kartikulam and Vadakinamala.

[StarVegabond]

Hi

I suggest that on your way, i suggest following 3-4 must stay locations, First being Dandeli (River Rafting, Jungle Safari etc), Second being Gokarn (Temple Town, Famous OM beach, some 30KM from Ankola), Third Being Murudeshwar (between Honnavar & Bhatkal, famous for it's temple and beach), Maravanthe (some 10-12KM before Kundapur, where there is about a KM of road seperating sweet river water and saulty sea beach plus turtle bay resort) and Udipi Shrikrishna Temple.

I do not know whether you have visited these places, but for first timers in that region these are must see places. If you include 1-2 days extra, you can experience all these.

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by kannan666

Longer route but better roads would be to keep on NH 47 upto Alappuzha, take a left here for Changanassery, left here agian for Kottayam. From Kottayam, Kumarakm is just around 10kms.

He could turn left at Shertallai, cross it and reach Thanneermukkom, cross it, turn right at the T junction and go to Kumarakom. Roads are narrow, but were decent enough.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by trrk

He could turn left at Shertallai, cross it and reach Thanneermukkom, cross it, turn right at the T junction and go to Kumarakom. Roads are narrow, but were decent enough.

++ to that. This is the best route to K'kom, all the others are equally narrow in stretches (but surfaces are all pretty good) but with this one you get a decent 4-laned stretch until Cherthala.

Mangalore - Cochin, NH17 is your only hope. Start very early in the morning so you can cover the stretch upto Calicut before traffic warms up - else you will get caught in one very long 200km+ traffic jam.

I will recommend crossing over from NH 17 to NH 47 at Trichur (take left at Kunnamkulam on NH 17 before Guruvayur for Trichur, join NH 47 outside Trichur to Cochin) because NH 17 can get on your nerves after Kodungallur as it winds its way through people's backyards and fences.

[jairaj]

hey kannan666,
i guess my best bet to cochin is NH17. thanks for the kumarakom route. quick question on the kumarakom route. do i need to go to ernakulam to proceed towards kumarakom or can i go towards chottanikkara and onwards? my eicher map is a bit confusing on this front.

StarVegabond
thanks on the must see places. dandeli, like you suggested is fantastic. the rest of the places are new to me, but presently are under serious consideration.

trrk
thanks for the tip on getting to kumarakom. quick question here. is kumarakom and kumaragam one and the same place?

Steeroid
what are the travel times on each of these routes? any ideas? we usually start very early from most places, so early mornings are very much on!

any other BHPians would like to chip in on my possible routes? as usual any and every advise is most eagerly looked forward to!!!

any of these routes seem improbably long or unreachable within a day?

my routes:
day 1: mumbai to mangalore
day 3:mangalore to cochin
day 5:cochin to kumarakom
day 7:kumarakom to kabini
day 9:kabini to chikmagalur
day 11: chikmagalur to goa
day 13: goa to mumbai


i look forward to any inputs to any of these routes.
thanks again everyone.
regards
jairaj

[jairaj]

hi guys
24 hours to go, and a few pieces of the jigsaw still left to put together. can anyone help with these last 2 routes that i am looking for?
kabini to chikmagalur
chikmagalur to goa
i sincerely would like to thank all those who read and helped with all my questions.
regards
jairaj

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by jairaj

hey kannan666,
i guess my best bet to cochin is NH17. thanks for the kumarakom route. quick question on the kumarakom route. do i need to go to ernakulam to proceed towards kumarakom or can i go towards chottanikkara and onwards? my eicher map is a bit confusing on this front. jairaj

To get to Chottanikkara from Cochin, you will need to come into Ernakulam first. As far as I remember, there were no bridges to cut across the backwaters from Cochin directly to Chottanikkara. Kochi Ernakulam is hardly any distance to cover though. If possible, get yourself this - Road Atlas of Kerala brought out by TTK Publications, it has detailed districtwise maps and is quite accurate. Will get back to you shortly on the Kabini Chickmagalur route. Do you want the shorter but slightly more complicated route or don't you mind the extra distance travelled on the easier routes to follow ?

[jairaj]

hey kannan
any and every advise is welcome.
think of it this way. what would you prefer? i am staying in each of these places for just 1.5 days and that includes the time/day that it takes to get there. so starting early and getting there soon helps to have the most of each location.
in one of the responses given below, it says that i must, on my way from cochin to kumarakom, drive towards shertallai, and then take a left towards thanneermukkom and then head towards kumarakom. this was seconded by steeroid too. what are your thoughts on this?

plus, my main worries are the long drive from chikmagalur to goa. which is the best/fastest route? which are the best ghats to drive through? please help here!

thanks again for the prompt reply
jairaj

[kannan666]

Originally Posted by jairaj

in one of the responses given below, it says that i must, on my way from cochin to kumarakom, drive towards shertallai, and then take a left towards thanneermukkom and then head towards kumarakom. this was seconded by steeroid too. what are your thoughts on this?

I personally don't know about that route by I would go by their advise any day !

Kabini to Chickmagalur, this is the route I would take - head to HD Kote, from there head on to Hunsur, take a right there and look out on your left for the turn off from the highway to Kroshnarajanagara. Head on straight past KR Nagara to Hole Narasipur. Again, head on straight from here to Hassan via Hosahalli. At Hassan, take the Belur road, hit Belur and from here Chikmagalur is about 23kms. The only thing is I am not sure about the present road conditions here.

Slightly longer route would be to head towards Kartikulam (on the route to Mananthavady), hang a right here towards Tholpetty, continue straight to Kutta, take a right here, go past Nagara Hole and hit Hunsur. After getting here, follow the above route for Chikmagalur.

Another route is to head past HD Kote turn off along NH 212, hit outskirts of Mysore, take the ring road towards Elival-Bilikere. After Bilikere, look out for the right turn to KR Nagara, then same route as above. This is the same junction that you would be headed for while coming from Hunsur side too. Only problem is that last time round, there was repair work going on this road and parts of it were closed, need to check this out locally at Kabini.

While coming back from Kannur recently, I did use the Kartikulam-Tholpetty-Nagara Hole-Hunsur road and for most part, although roads were narrow, they were quite motorable except for the stretch between Kutta and Nagara Hole which is around 12kms. Here, patch work was going on, so I suppose it is completed by now.

Have not been on the Chikmagalur Goa route but I guess you can take Sakrepatna-Kadur-Tarikere-Bhadravathi-Shimoga-Sagar-Jog Falls-Honnavar-Kamta-Ankola-Karwar-Panjim. Roads from Honnavar to Panjim is excellent but am not sure of present road conditions of the Chikmagalur Honnavar stretch. Alternately, from Bhadravathy, you can take a right and hit Chitradurga and proceed on the Davangere-Haveri-Hubli route but this is much more longer than the earlier route. Hope this helps.

And yes, I guess you are using Eicher Road Maps where there is a small mistake on page 118 while depicting the Muvattupuzha road , isnt that what you meant ? That road actually hits Ernakulam. BTW, what car are you going to use for the trip ?

[trrk]

Originally Posted by jairaj

trrk
thanks for the tip on getting to kumarakom. quick question here. is kumarakom and kumaragam one and the same place?

They are both the same places, I should say, the latter is the way it is said in Malayalam.

Please also remember the tip from steeroid to get across to NH47 for the last part towards Cochin.

Cochin (Kochi) loosely stands for the Old Cochin part, Willingdon island and the Ernakulam town. Where are you put up in Kochi?

Originally Posted by jairaj

any of these routes seem improbably long or unreachable within a day?
day 5:cochin to kumarakom

I can say only about this route. It should take you about 2 hours or a little more.

The route mentioned by me (and supported by Steeroid) requires you to take the Ernakulam byepass (NH47) and proceed towards Alleppey. At Aroor, the 4 lane starts and ends on the northern side of Shertallai (cherthala). The Hotel Karthyayini is at the junction where the 4 lane ends and the left (just before the hotel) take you into Sherthallai town and onwards to Thanneermukkom and Kumarakom. You have to cross the town for this.

Alternatively, go further on the NH47 for another 3 kms where you reach a big junction with traffic lights at a right curve. Here you take the sharpest left (like a U turn). This lead into Sherthallai town from the south end. About a kilometre further you will find a right bend with a road leading towards the right.

After this the road is common. You have to choose only one of the above.

This road goes in front of the bus stand which is about 100 metres of the junction. Take this road and go straight. If in doubt, ask for Thanneermukkom or Kumarakom. I am not sure about the distance (could be 8 to 10 kms), but you will see a three road junction. promininent markings are there. Continue on to the Thanneermukkom bund and beyond. Once you cross this, in another 2 kms you reach a T junction where you turn right and keep on that road. This is narrow and busy, but in very good shape. You will have to pay a toll of Rs 2 for one side / Rs 3 if you are coming back on the same day before you reach Kumarakom proper.

I stay in Alleppey (20kms south of Shertahllai town).

Let me wish you a very very happy and pleasant journey and stay in Kumarakom.

[jairaj]

hey kannan
thanks for all the info. yes iam looking at the eicher map book. you guys are amazing to know that! and i am driving my innova.

thanks ttrk
for new and old info. i am staying at the taj garden retreat.

a special thanks to mr. h.v.kumar for last minute detailed information. i will be in touch sir!

o.k. it's 3.30a.m. and time to start my journey. thanks everyone, and i hope to provide my side of the experience, once i am back.

see you guys soon.
regards
jairaj

[kannan666]

Have a great drive and trip Jairaj ! Do keep us all posted on your experience and current road conditions once you get back so that other TBhpians can benefit from that ! A few pics would also be welcome ! Drive Safe !

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by jairaj

thanks ttrk
for new and old info. i am staying at the taj garden retreat.

I would be happy if that info was eventually useful. The Taj is about 3 kms after that toll.

I intended your stay in Cochin. Anyway it was too late for direcions from your Cochin stay to the NH through this forum.

I am sure you would have no problems regarding the route or your trip / stay.

Enjoy.

[kannan666]

Jairaj, please update us here about your trip, guess you must have got back by now !