Scenic Drive: 27 Hairpin Bends on Dhimbam Ghat

For someone who doesn’t use hairpins at all, the only connection to these pins are on the road :). On Sunday, Jan 5th, we travelled from Coimbatore to Mysore via the Dhimbam Ghat section. There are 27 hairpin bends on this road and it was a fun drive. Needs a lot of attention, but that’s fine as driving on a straight road too requires a lot of attention.

Trip Statistics

Coimbatore Start Time - 10.10 am; 
Route Taken - Coimbatore - Karamadai - Sirumugai - Bhawani Sagar - Bannari - Dhimbam Ghat Section - Chamrajnagar - Mysore.
Pit Stop - 2 p.m at GTC Club, Chamrajnagar for half an hour
Reached Mysore - 3.15 pm
Total Distance Covered - 203 Kms.

Every time we do a road trip, we are struck by the natural beauty our country has…. if only we can get cleaned up, get rid of the plastic garbage and ensure traffic rules are followed, we could be the top country for tourism. Despite the fact that I dislike the both the dravidian parties that keep coming back to power in TamilNadu, I have to give it to them for the road infrastructure. TamilNadu has always had excellent road connectivity and it continues to do so. The Dhimbam ghat section didnt have a single pothole !!! The small villages that we passed through also had good roads.

Note to Mr. Gadkari – Please define a Highway as a four-lane road (minimum specs). Every other road with just two lanes and no divider in-between also claims to be a National Highway. Also standard speed limits of 120 kmph on the highways and 70 kmph on all the other roads. No vehicle in India today can drive at 30 kmph or 40 kmph – those days are gone.

Do watch the short video of the hairpin bends – just four of them.