NH-7 was comfortable to drive on except for a few patches where either construction was on for expansion or some repair work was in progress. As for trucks they are free to choose their lane & drive as they please. You just keep away from these unruly Kingkongs of the roads. By 09.15 we were in Salem covering 200 km.
In maps NH-7 is also shown as AH-43. Asian Highways project is a co op project of 32 countries of Asia, Europe & UN to improve upon Asian highways & they are designated as say AH-43 & so on. India has a share of 11152 km of roads.
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| Long journey begins - Bangaluru > Salem |
Getting to Madurai nearly 450 km same day was tougher & against our laid down rule of 300 km a day. So almost mid way near Salem we took a diversion to hill town of Yercaud. This ride took us more than an hour because of traffic & because did not want to push 800 c/c Buggy hard on 20 hair-pin bends on way up. You can see the zigzag of 30 km road on the map below.
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| Salem > Yercaud |
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| Green hills, cool breeze & clouds keep you company. Can be visited any time during the year. Temprature ranges from 13 to max 30. Variety of hotels, resorts & guest houses are available. |
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| Yercaud lake on the top of hills - cool & beautiful. Boat rides available. |
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| Cross & Christian statues on the road to Yercaud |
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| Hair pin bends add to the adventure. There are 20 such bends & in addition repairs & even cows add to the adventure. Drive carefully ! |
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| Road up the hill is well maintained & is full of greenery all around. Enjoyable ride. |
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| This sign actually says ' no vehicle beyond this point '. We missed it & landed in trouble. Keen to have a look on the Killiyur Fall we pushed ahead with car. |
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| Reached dead end. Ahead was nothing but free fall. U turn for the car was a nightmare for 45 minutes or so |
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| I should have been careful |
