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You'll need to take Pondi-Tindivanam-Arcot-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Bangalore-Mysore-Gonikoppal-Kannur. All way from Chennai upto Mysore is a boring highway & good for speed demons. I don't know beyond Gonikoppal as I haven't been there.

Note - Maps showing route via Tiruvannamalai is total pathetic. Fellow member can give his latest experience from last weekend on this route

If you're able to cover 650 Kms, yes possible; I've done in a smokey 2 stroke of about 740 Kms on a single day, just that I started by about 5:30 AM in the morning & reached home by 6:00 PM. So it totally depends on you.

Nothing to think in those lines

While its possible to do 650 in a day, it totally depends on how much time you want to spend on the roads; like I said before, Vellore-Bangalore is boring; Bangalore-Mysore is slightly better.

Try & leave early & reach Mysore for the stay

Try this one & let us know your feedback - Guest Houses| Budget Hotels | Bed & Breakfasts | Last Minute Hotels - MyGuestHouse.Net

If you allow me to suggest
Day 1 - Chennai - Salem - Ooty
Day 2 - Ooty - Bandipur Forest - Gundlupet
Day 3 - Gundlupet - Kaniyambeta - Thalassery - Kannur


Pls see my suggestion above

Will get to you on this

Pondy? Why don't you have a meet up before you leave from here?
I am stationed at Pondy.

I did Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Bangalore
last week

The roads are good Highways are good for crusing. And speeding if u want. I prefer cruising.

You can take the NICE ring road[At nights there are no street lights on this road] just after you reach Electronic city[approx 20km form Housur] so that you can avoid Bangalore traffic.
And Join in Mysore Highway NH17 at Kengari.

For Salem route, after coiambatore- walayar road is pathetic.
From Palakad I would racommend you Ottapalam Road

Drive Safe. Happy Cruising

Hi all,

thank you for your precious feedback, so you believe going up to Bangalore then down via Mysore is the best route? I have been told by pro car drivers & fellow bikers that from Pondi to Krishnagiri the road is hell. I will not be riding 650km in one day that's for sure, minimum two with an overnight stay somewhere.

Aargee : thanks for your thorough reply, don't you think all in all it is a bit of a detour going up in order to avoid the dreaded Tiru-Krishna road? Regarding your proposed itinerary, may I ask why you advise passing via Ooty? It seems from Salem/Erode to Coimbatore is a straight line & a good road isn't it? I've been asking around here and the southern Salem-bound itinerary has been receiving more votes than the northern Bangalore-bound one...mostly because of lost time reaching krishnagiri from pondi. Remember i'm not a speeder but a cruiser and my bike won't allow me to go 110 for hours and hours, it is only 150cc & 35 000km...

Makky : Sure, I emailed you my number, give me a call & we can catch up!

Hackdrag : Love your sig! The long lights thing in India is insane. So many accidents & mournings simply because people are not aware of what long lights are actually made for. I guess the reasoning is a very binary "More light More visibility" whereas in practice it is the exact opposite...I hope this changes sooner than later, the gov needs to do some awareness campaigns about night driving on busy roads with long lights... Anyway thanks for your feedback I'll look into it, especially the Pallakad road advice.

Got the bike serviced today, brand new brake pads, plug, oils & filters, tomorrow will be buying a helmet, a lockchain, some bungee cord for the bags & a new rear tyre. Regardless of the north or south route do you guys think I might get cold during the day through some eventually mountainous portions of the trip? I'd rather not spend cash on a jacket since I won't be needing it afterwards, will long sleeve shirt+sweater+jeans+shoes do the job? I will stop driving long before nightfall in any case.

Will keep you updated, thanks again for helping me out boys!

The route I suggested is not dreaded & you can do it comfortably; suggested the same route to fellow xBhpian who did Bangalore-Pondi last weekend.

Yes it is; the deviation is to enjoy riding in hills...if you're interested

Yes; pls add Nivea cream for moisturizing the skin & WD40/Colin (if possible) to clean your visor.

Hey all,

it took me some time to reply but here I am safe, sound and notably fresher in Kannur!

I took the Puducherry-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Kozhikode-Kannur itinerary, leaving Pondi beach on monday morning *way* too late (10:35 instead of the planned 6:00! Spent some unexpected time with friends in Auroville the night before) and got to Kannur's Pallyam Moola beach on wednesday at around 18:00...

All in all 730km (i notably got lost around Kozhikode bypass, after the brand new road ends, must have wasted an hour at least) as opposed to mapmyindia's planned 650.

First day - 215km :

Pondi to Salem, had lunch in Villupuram, couldn't believe it took me so long just to get to Vilu...maybe 2 and half or 3 hours for just 50kms...But then the afternoon raced by and I managed to get to Salem outskirts a bit before nightfall. The road from Vilu to Salem was really good, nice & empty, probably also because I rode through the hot hours. Very good condition, mostly 2x2 lanes. In Salem i slept at the first place I stumbled upon, Siva Lodge, 275 TVK road in Ammapet, 4 or 5 km before Salem city, very close to the bypass junction. Very decent lodging, 250inr for a big double bed relatively clean fan room. Would stop again if I had to, and they have a guarded parking. While in Ammapet bought myself one of those 20 rps rug mats, used it as a saddle for the rest of the trip and it helped ease the buttocks pain.


The mighty Red Unicorn...



Roadside friends...



The view from Siva Lodge, during a powercut...





2nd day 240km :

Again couldn't wake up & leave early, had tea and left the lodge around 8, bypass Salem (partially in construction), then onto Erode, Avanashi and Coimbatore. Avanashi-Coimbatore was rough & slow, loads of diversions, loads of trucks & buses seemingly not aware of the purpose of a 2x2 lane road driving in the opposite direction on the left part of the 2x2, saw a collision between a truck & a bus driving on the wrong lane, nothing exceedingly serious thankfully. Very tiring and dusty. Had a late lunch a bit before the Kerala border at a roadside place called Mojo on the road to Palakkad, nice food & very nice & tranquil place. By then, 3pm, decided I would keep on riding and sleep in Palakkad instead of Coimbatore. Reached the outskirts, the nice & wide Tamil road shrinked to a 1x1 road, within half an hour in Kerala I noticed autorickshaws & buses drive much more dangerously than in TN, little horning, no tailights, no stretched arm & dangerously close overtakings. I decided to sleep in Malapuzham Dam, 7km away from PLKD rather than enter the city, excellent choice, peaceful place, stopped at Govardhana Resort, lovely place, spread out little houses around a pond garden, lovely staff, from watchman to manager, 1000rps for a spacious double bed room with sofas & a complete & very welcome toiletry pack.

The Spice Express!!! I was looking all over India for it!



On the way to Malampuzham Dam...



The Viewpoint, in case one hadn't guessed...



In Europe we use those to go up a mountain, in Kerala they use it to go across a dam...diversity is the spice of life.



The Govardhan Resort



3rd day 260km :

Left at 8:40 because the xerox was out of order and the manager hadn't made a copy of my passport so he had to hop on his yamaha and go somewhere to get it copied, anyway no biggie, I've gotten used to indian bureaucracy ...The 3rd day was the most scenic drive by an order of magnitude thanks to forests, fiels, paddys, hills but also the most tiring & seemingly never-ending. NH213 as they call it is not a Highway, it is a simple 1x1 road that crosses loads of villages, until Mallapuzam it is loaded with curves & bends and the complimentary buses overtaking you in the middle of a blind bend. I really didn't like the way the Kerali road professionals were driving and still don't. They take unecessary risks compared to the Tamils. Which is strange because I find Keralis much more laid back & peaced out as a people than Tamils. Yet on the road they drive more dangerously, that's my foreigner's opinion for you. So it was a long unnerving drive from Palakkad to Kozhikode, where finally I encountered the first 2x2 portion of the road which was the bypass. Maybe 10 or 15km long, the best and only the day had to offer. Then I guess I took a wrong turn west and found myself in never-ending coconut fields, going through many small places, no signs, no info, I hadn't had lunch except for a few juices & bananas, it was very irritating driving without knowing where nor when you'll be able to catch up with the NH (that isnt really one since it goes through villages)....I caught up eventually with the seaside portion of the NH from Kozhikode to Kannur, passed through Mahe, a binge drinker's paradise, then Thelassi and finally made it to Kannur beach where once again I stopped at the first resort I found, Pranav Beach Resort. Lovely place, very helpful owner and the only sound you hear is the waves crashing on the beach. So good I'm staying for my whole Kannur stay here.

Didn't felt like taking pictures on the 3rd day sorry!

So there you have it, thanks for your help, I hope this report can help others as well in the future and maybe I'll write another one in a month or so when I leave Kannur for a nice & slow Kerala trip...

Safe driving y'all, don't forget it's all about the going, not the arriving...

s0l