Shyam's Blog

Visited Ooty recently. Started off from Bangalore on Friday morning at 9:30am. Midway, took a tea break in Shivalli restaurant near Channapatna (about 60 Kms away from Bangalore). Route: Bangalore -> Mysore -> Nanjanagudu -> Gundlupet -> Bandipur National Park -> Theppakadu -> Masinagudi -> 36-hairpin bends -> Ooty Note: We need not go to Gudalur to reach Ooty. But, Road transport buses takes Gudalur route. Road Conditions: After crossing Mysore, road between Mysore and Nanjanagudu was not the best of state roads. Also, after Nanjanagudu, road to Gundlupet was undergoing repair at regular intervals. Apart from these patches, road was very good to reach Bandipur. Inside Bandipur, road was good, but, speed limit was about 30Kmph. We reduced speed and did wildlife watching. After crossing Bandipur, we reached Masinagudi (Tamil Nadu). From here, it took is about an hour to hit the base of Nilgiris. From here starts 36 hairpin bends to Ooty. Our resort, My...

Daily, table topic in office is about traffic jam while commute in Bangalore. Traffic is always high and slow moving in IT corridors. It takes 90 minutes to cover a distance of 20 Kms, i.e., average speed of about 15 Km/hr. Main reasons for slow moving traffic: 1. Excess traffic on road during peak hour. 2. Bus/truck breakdown 3. Bad road condition due to digging or overnight rain creating water logging areas. There seems to be no solution to this concern. But, with existing resources and funds, there are possible areas of improvement: 1. Improve road conditions. Never allow for potholes to grow bigger day-by-day. 2. Clear broken down vehicle at the earliest. Hanging a branch of a tree to the window of the vehicle is an indication that vehicle is broken down. Police should try to move the vehicle to a safer zone and avoid slowing down vehicular movement. Best times to commute to/from office: Before 7:30am and after 11:00pm. Peak hours: 7:30am to 11:00a...