How is the drive to Thekkady from Madurai?

kols

Hi all,

I'm quite a good driver. Have been driving my Maruti 800 for a year now. I have driven on small hillocks but not on hilly roads to Kodai or Ooty. I plan to drive to Thekkady from Madurai with friends.

How is the drive actually? Are the roads in good condition? Is it an easy uphill drive or a difficult one more suitable for experienced drivers who have prior experience driving on hills?

Do help!

nomad

road contions change every three months. best bet would be to call up some hotel there and they should be able to give you best advice.

and you shoulld be alrite as long as you dont drink and drive and stick to driving during the day. night driving on hills can be difficult. take 5-10 minute tea/coffee break every hour to avoid fatigue.

all the best for your trip.

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chennaivasi

during summer, the roads would mostly be ok, but expect unusually heavy traffic during may, coz everyone wants to go to a hill station to beat the summer.

i remember a couple of years ago, madurai -kodai road was closed for a day due to landslides caused by traffic.. and traffic was diverted to palani-kodai road.. all of this happened in a matter of hours,xtremely unpredictable. so the best thing would be start off!

Scandojazzbuff

It's an easy drive that should take 3.5 hours at a leisurely pace. The road is decent and when you get some distance from Madurai, road life becomes much quieter with less people, animals, and, crops competing for road space.

manojb

It was hair-raising. But I was in a bus, and the roads are quite narrow with lots of hairpin bends and it was night.

tstfs

just stick to your side and dont go fast and no drinks. Though I have,nt been to thekkady yet, but have over 15,000 km on the hills of HP and Uttranchal. This works the best with a 10 min break every hour. Plus remmber its always the car hich is coming down, which reverses till a broad part, incase of a narrow road

Nick-H

I found it very pleasant, in a taxi back in the spring of 2003.

I seem to remember that the mountain part was over pretty quickly. It was more interesting, though much more gradual, going down the other side!

I think it is quite a bit lower than Ooty.

Oh... Welcome to IM

tstfs... you mean that if you are coming down, you have to reverse back upand give way to cars coming up? That sounds tough .

Hill driving is on my to-do list, but I don't think I'm ready for it yet!

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tstfs

yes thats what I mean. Its not too difficult once you do it., it dangerous if you are backing the car downhill. Infact hill driving is easier than driving in cities, if you follow the rules.

Nick-H

Thanks. It's everybody else following the rules that worries me.

tstfs

very true. and the only solution for that is being alert and slow and sticking to your side.

pundabee

So the ascent is described from I found it very pleasant to It was hair-raising, The road quality from road contions change every three months to The road is decent. It is not easy.

My view is that, comparatively, the ascent up to Kumily from Tamil Nadu is very easy and pleasant. And it is quickly over. Whether or not there is particular traffic in May, I don't know, but there will be in December and January when pilgrims flock to Sabrimala in Kerala. But this should work in your favour since it will slow down the traffic.

The road from Madurai to the mountain is similarly easy to navigate. However, be aware that oncoming vehicles will engage in dangerous overtaking manoeuvres.

SitaParityaga

Its a beautiful road. Loved the road markers counting off the "18 hair pin curves"