News
BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
The intent behind this post is to explain with pictures Route no.4 that bhpian @JacksonStorm had mentioned in his post and introduce a small variant of this route for the benefit of road users.
I'd experimented with the Namakkal - Karur - Trichy route on a recent Bengaluru - Trichy drive; experiences documented here. For my return leg, I had set the Trichy - Karur - Namakkal route on my map and was almost going to turn left just ahead of the Kaveri bridge, when I decided to pull over and just mark Route no.4 that bhpian @JacksonStorm had mentioned in his post.
I set Kannanur as a waypoint and just confirmed that the route was taking me via Pulivalam. However, I didn't bother to check the route past Kannanur as I'd assumed that the route would follow the road to Namakkal. Only later did I discover that I had gone on a variant of route no.4, which I will fondly call Route 4.1. The benefit of Route 4.1 is that it bypasses Namakkal and takes one straight to the NH at Budansanthai.
Route 4.1
The best road to drive on was after crossing the Uthamarkoil railway overbridge and turning right at Nochiyam onto the road to Thuraiyur - an absolutely fantastic surface where one feels like just cruising at 60-70kmph.
Manachanallur Bypass
Pulivalam
Trichy - Thuraiyur Road
Typical village entry
Typical speed breakers at entry-exit at any of the villages en route
Again beautiful road - immediately after turning left at Pagalavadi, the farms look all dull, but suddenly, one sees lush green patches, coconut trees and bovines
Not so green
Turning into green
Bovines at Kaliyampatty
Chinnasalempatti
Very average road surface, but happy that it wasn't too far (just approx. 2km)
Good road with little to no traffic, as seen in the pic below.
One has to keep as left as possible and navigate both bends carefully as this is the main road through the village - watch out for the town buses that swerve in with a little warning.
The three right-angle bends at T.Pettai
Nice roads with a lake around Pavithiram
This is the sector bypassing Namakkal and that's why I've christened this Route 4.1; the road is good except for road relaying work around the Palapalayam lakes and a little ahead, which can throw up a lot of dust.
Palapalayam lake road - WIP
Nainamalai
The NH till Salem, post which one has to turn left onto the highway to Omalur. My most favourite sight on this road is the up-and-down section between Krishnagiri and Hosur.
Krishnagiri to Hosur
Route Comparison - No.3 vs No. 4.1
Toll roads eg. Karur to Trichy need not be better than non-toll roads (Nochiyam to Thuraiyur); toll roads also have barriers at intersections and speed breakers at certain points.
Thoppur toll - definitely not worth the INR 120
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.