Bangalore to Trichy drive by car

Day 2 of Hyderabad to Kanyakumari Drive: Trip to Trichy

We started from Bangalore @ 7.10 am. Our destination is Banana Leaf Hotel located at Karur Bye Pass Road, Trichy. Distance remaining is 340 km. The mission is to be right there at the hotel for lunch & taste the lip smacking dishes :P

The route we went was NH7 (Bangalore - Electronic City - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri -Salem - Namakkal) and SH25 (Namakkal - Thottiyam - Musiri - Gunaseelam - Tollgate - Right turn to Trichy Chennai Trunk Road -Mambazhasalai - Ramba Urvasi Theatre - Karur Bye Pass Road )

Electronic city toll gate was the 1st one. Paid 35 to use the Elevated express way. After 14 kms, the Hosur toll gate arrives, where we had to pay 50 bucks.

Well, i have to mention the road condition. Being NH7, Road condition from Bangalore to Namakkal is fantastic. All 4 lanes. Up to Hosur, the highway is crowded with trucks and other vehicles. But once you cross the A2B restaurant @ Hosur, the sweet spot starts. Traffic thins down and the drive becomes a breeze. The sides of the roads are  very scenic until Dharmapuri. 

NH7, Bangalore to Namakkal Road Condition

NH7, Bangalore to Namakkal Road Condition

We had breakfast at A2B restaurant, Hosur @ 8:45 am. Even though a weekday, the restaurant was crowded. Managed to get place in table and munched on the following menu. Idly, Vada, Sweet Kesari, Dosas, Pongal & finally a well deserving strong cuppa coffee. Total breakfast menu for 4 costed Rs 383. This place is located 50km from the electronic city tollgate. After fueling and R&R, continued the NH7 cruise. Fueled the vehicle. Had the required R & R. I found this BP Ghar Dhaba as better place for pitstop. It had ATM, Restaurant, Washrooms, Children play area, parking space, Fuel station that accepts credit cards and promptly gives you the printed bill. Well done!

A2B Restaurant, Hosur (BP Ghar Dhaba @ Bangalore - Namakkal Highway)

Between Hosur and Namakkal, there were 3 tollgates. Paid 50 bucks in first toll after A2B, then Rs 66 in the next and Rs 50 in the third. 

Ahead of Namakkal, there is a signboard on highway advising us to take left to get in to the city. And to get in to Trichy, we have follow this sign. We missed this tip and went over the flyover so we had to take a detour to come back in to Namakkal. This costed us additional 15km. We must have gone below the flyover, deviating from NH7 and entered in to Namakkal city. This will take us to the state highway 25.

Although SH25 is in OK condition, we felt choked as we had been travelling so far in the oceanic NH7. SH25 is a 2 lane road without divider. The nature of traffic here are Lorries in majority followed by Vans and then passenger cars, in terms of count. 

SH 25, Namakkal to Trichy Road condition

The climate turned bit sunny. Namakkal & Trichy have a tropical climate. The surrounding are mainly villages and sparse forests with native trees. Forests aren't that cool to eyes. They are bit dried up.

After reaching Thottiyam, we followed the SH25 that takes us to Gunaseelam. But after travelling a while, we realized we could have choosen a better route. Lot of Jalli Lorries (those vehicles carrying river sand) ply in a in large numbers in these roads. One has to drive quite carefully here as the lorry drivers go crazy on these roads. Also the road condition turns bad with potholes, gravel filled routes. We must have taken diversion from Thottiyam to Kulithalai, that connects to the NH67. Driving on the NH67, we could have reached Karur Bye pass road easily. Not sure of the NH67 road condition, but being national highway, supposed to be better than SH25. Anyways, continued in the SH25 to reach Toll gate road. Then took diversion to connect Trichy - Chennai Trunk Road.

SH25, Trichy to Namakkal Road condition after Thottiyam

Then joined the Mambazhasalai road and then reached Chatram Bus stand. Took the Karur Bye pass road, where we spotted out destination, The Banana Leaf Restaurant @ 2:10 pm. It had been 359 km journey, that we had covered in 7 hours including a pit stop of 45 minutes. And we managed to be there right on time. Mission accomplished :)

After having a sumptuous meal, checked in @ Hotel Chitra, Chathram Bus Stand. Evening went to TV koil, Srirangam and Samayapuram. Fueled the car @ BP Petrol Pump, Renganathan Motor Service, TV Koil.
For Dinner, we planned to visit Kannappa Restaurant @ Thillai Nagar. Hospitality in this restaurant was remarkable. First of all, the good feeling was about the parking facilities. Next about the mouth watering delicacies they serve. As suggested by the staff,  we started with Mutton Kola balls, a modified version of mutton kebab. But, Thanks to the native flavor & method of cooking, this item tasted much better. Lamb meat minced & well cooked with unique spices, was melting n the mouth. Mmmm.. Still the taste is lingering n my mind.. Ordered a couple more, smacked on them. Next menu item was Mutton Briyani, one can't stop with just one bowl.  I have to really mention the taste of Briyani here.. The Aroma of cooked lamb and masala was well blended with the rice. it was simply irresistible. Taste buds were still longing for more even after having one more bowl. But since there were no more briyani left, we had to retreat, sadly :) Anyways, also feasted on other items like naatu koli chicken fry and Prawns. The total bill for 4 came to Rs 650.

Feeling heavy after the grand dinner, we wanted to have a walk. Streets & By lanes around Teppakulam was the ideal place that quickly came to our mind. The time was 10.30 pm. We could see the Burma Bazaar was still bustling with activity. Starting from there, we walked towards Rockfort temple. The market vendors were busy packing their stuffs, having finished job for the day. We could see Saradas Shopping mall, Mangal & Mangal Shop on the way to Rockfort. Later we started walking towards Naga nathar temple. Had Rasthali banana, naatu pazham which one could never taste n metros. Tasted Masala Vadai @ the shop close to Mayavaram Cafe.

 Near to vanapattarai amman temple, there used to be couple of Fast food noodles shop, which i used to frequent, when i did my schooling @ trichy. Was wondering if the shop could be still be there & even so, will it be open at 11pm. Eagerly went towards the place & to much of our joy, we could see one shop was still open at that time and some ppl were savoring the delicacy. Well, whats the special here.. Its something more than the taste of the noodles. One should watch the way its made..

 We ordered for egg noodles. The guy prepared the hot large frying pan to work on our menu. First 3 to 4 eggs are broken and the contents poured on the hot pan. While they turn golden brown, curling in to layers, he puts on slices of cut onions & other cut veggies. Soft slender noodles, which are precooked, are put over the egg and veggie scramblings. Handful of spices, chilly , are added over it for taste. Then over this, he puts again two more broken eggs. And the rock band starts.. yeah, with 2 Karandi (Tamil word for a big metal spoon) he bangs the mixture on the frying pan to ensure all of them all blended together. At the same time, enough care is taken the the noodles aren't broken too much. So finally what we get on our plates is tasty noodles, with layers of spice & salt fried eggs with a bunch of veggies. Over this, you can serve yourself with juicy vegetable soup made with liberal dosage of ginger and garlic cooked together. Woww.. what an exotic menu it is.. Our tongues n tummies were the so the happiest ones that day :)