Bangalore - Valparai : Route & Road Conditions


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Just completed a round trip. Bangalore - Valparai - Bangalore.

Onward journey:
Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Bhavani - Avinashi - Mangalam - Palladam - Pollachi - Aliyar - Valparai.

355am: Chamarajpet, Bangalore
715am: Salem (Aasai-Dosai Saravana Bhavan)
1030am: Pollachi (2.5 hrs break, had to wait for a friend & pack lunch for friends)
1pm: Pollachi (wasted 25min due to road closure, just to exit Pollachi)
4pm: Valparai (had to stop for snacks, checkpost, biobreaks, etc. Can be done in 2 hrs without a break).
445pm: Korangumudi Tea Estate (had to weave through a km of mud tea-estate road).
40 hairpin bends: One has to drive there to enjoy. Easily one of the best in recent memory.

Same route was taken for return journey as well.

Road conditions:
Bangalore - Salem: NH 44 (old NH 7), amazing roads 4/6-laned.
Salem - Avinashi: NH 544 (old NH 47), Salem - Kochi Highway, amazing roads 4/6-laned.
Avinashi - Pollachi: State Highway Road, 2-lane carriageway, no divider, good roads except for the odd/minor pothole.
Pollachi - Valparai: State Highway Road, 2-lane carriageway, no divider, ghat section included with 40+ hairpin bends.

Climate during 13-14 Aug weekend. Moist, rainy/drizzling always (usually its totally wet during the season, this time around not much rain), not much chill, totally green. In a 2.5 hr morning bird-watching drive, we would have seen 10 varieties of bird, 2-3 animals.

Stayed in an outhouse in Korangumudi Estate (not available in Google maps). This is the other side of Sholayar Dam. Almost on the other side of the banks of the Sholayar Dam reservoir.
 

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