Woods are Lovely Dark and Deep.......miles to go before I sleep, goes the famous saying, very true for this small, lush green hill station Yercaud. Situated about 237 km from Bangalore and around 300+ kms from Chennai, Yercaud offers a serene escape from the jam-packed city lifestyles!
Day -1, Friday, 12 Sep 2008
Morning 8:00 AM,
We(me and my husband) started our journey from Bangalore on a beautiful Friday morning in our 'Angelina'(hmm don't get excited, its our car's name) playing the tunes of Rock on and Khuade Jaane(Bachna ae Hasseno). We crossed Electronic City at 7:15 am, Bilmey! had never seen it so calm and composed..looked like the silence before the traffic storm. Reached Hosur at 7:30 and finally hit the NH-7 Toll Road. Wow what an amazing drive it offers, the smooth roads, the beautiful scenaries, the 120km/hr speed is a rare treat in the city.The first User Fee Collection Booth comes close to Krishnagiri. We paid the Rs 25 toll fee, parked Angelina to a side and took our first break.Nibbling the Veg Sandwiches made early morning, we enjoyed our breakfast admiring the beautiful views.The best thing about these toll booths is that they provide rest areas with drinking water and washroom facilities. After a good break we continued our journey to Salem our next destination. Salem is famous for the Steel Industury but we didnt have much time to check out the city and trailed straight to the Ghat Road for Yercaud.
Climbing up the Shevaroy hills we negotiated 20 hairpin bends and several view points. We finally reached Yercaud at around 11:30 am and were welcomed by the mystiful Yercaud Lake. To add another spice to our adventure we had not booked ourselves in any hotel and wanted to check out the options available. But to our surprise almost all the hotels were jam packed. Shuffling through the printouts of the hotels/resorts we had taken a night before, we came across a sign on the road "Lake Forest Hotel" and the logo of Club Mahindra. We went in expecting a no vacancy board but our luck favoured and we got a reservation done. The moment we stepped in the resort we felt like reliving the British aura! Antique paintings, big bungalows, British art and craft are all a part of this resort. We felt like we are a admist of a big period film set. To check out more on this Steve Borgia creation click on the link http://yercaud.indecohotels.com/ This Hotel is a must visit and we gave it a 4.5/5! And not to forget the morning plantation trek and the evening get-togethers organized by the hotel staff!
After an hour's rest we were all set to explore this bountiful hill station. Our first spot was Pagoda point which offers a panoramic view of the Shevaroy hills and is named after the pyramid like structures called the Pagoda's present on this spot. There's also a small temple located at this point. One thing in which Yercaud differs from all other hill stations is that for each view point, there has been built a covered dome like structure where in one can sit and enjoy the beauty of the views. We relished fresh corn at the Pagoda point and bid farewell to it. Overall a 3.5/5!
Our next spot was Lady's Seat, we were quite unsure what this place would be like! But it was a beautiful view point which offered a spectacular view of the Salem city. Another treat here were the Onion/Potato Bhaji's with hot tea. Infact fresh onion bhaji's of Yercaud are a must have and are available almost everywhere. We gave this place a score of 3/5!
Our legs were starting to feel tired and so we decided to call it a day and headed towards the hotel! As we entered the4 hotel premises we heard songs from Jaane Tu being played in the garden and people gathering around with their kids. We were then invited by the hotel staff for a evening get-together. This was a good platform to meet all the guests of the hotel. About 70% of the guests were from Bangalore and the remaining from Chennai.After a round of introduction we played several games and then ended the evening with a game of housie! The staff announced the Dinner was ready and we rushed to the restaurant! After filling our bellies, it was time to give mind and body its truly deserved rest! Good Nite!
Day -2, Saturday, 13 Sep 2008
Morning 8:00 AM,
Lazing around in the bed, I opened by eyes to a beautiful green morning with the sun playing hide n seek in the clouds. No alarms, no Kaam Wali Bai's(house maid) morning bells, this morning was really different. Got up and went into the balcony and experienced the sound Chirping beds and flirty wind.
After having the bed-tea we geared ourselves for the Plantation trek organized by the hotel staff. The hotel is located in a big Coffee Estate and these trek offer a sneak peek into the plantations. We saw for the first time the Coffee plants, Vanilla plants, Cardamom Flowers, Pepper plants and so on. It was an adventurous and educating trek. A 4/5 score!
Came back from the trek and got ready to explore the highest peak of Yercaud which is where the Shevaroyan Temple is located. This is an ancient temple and is built inside a cave. One of the popular myths about this cave is that it extends uptil Coorg! Though nobody knows how true it is, but the cave definitely looks quite ancient. A 3.75/5 score!
After the mind blowing views from this point we descended down and took the loop road. The drive through loop road is about 30kms and goes through various plantation estates and villages. There's hardly any traffic on these roads and thus they offer an escape gateway from the crowded city roads. We stopped in between to capture beautiful views and to inhale the Fresh green Oxygen! A 4/5 sc0re!
We reached back the hotel around 5 pm and decided to go for a game of mind boggling Chess. After playing for a while it was time again for the evening fun n frolic! There were a lot new anticipating faces and several new games. But what made this evening more special was the Dance Masti, where in the hotel staff made everyone groove in to popular numbers and not to forget the wonderful Las Ketchup Jugalbandi!
Had dinner and decided to go for a walk to the lake as it was our last night in Yercaud! Lying on the bed at night I was thinking what an experience it had been to visit this beautiful and serene hill station. The plan for next day was to visit the Lake, Botanical Garden, Rose Garden and may be head out for Bangalore! Good Nite again!
Day 3, Sunday, 14 Sep 2008
Morning 8:00 AM
Didn't want to open my eyes as would have to face the reality that the time to go back is approaching, but nevertheless didn't want to miss the mystic morning. So got up and ordered coffee and sipped it while packing the bags! After having a heavy breakfast bid farewell to this wonderful hotel with a promise in the minds to revisit it!
Asked the Gatekeeper of the hotel the way to the Botanical garden and came to know that its closed on Sunday.All of a sudden got reminded of a sign board we had seen two days back for some waterfalls. Immediately enquired through some auto wala's and came to know they are called Killiyur falls and are about 3 Km from the city. So here we went to a new spot and reached its parking lot. After parking the car we decided to remove our shoes and wear slip ons just in case we got wet! We walked a little bit and saw a sign pointing downwards for the Killiyur Falls. We started to descend and OMG were shocked to see that instead of a proper path, there was a rocky climb down the hill to the falls. Even though it looked a bit fishy, we decided to move on and experience the surprise trek! Bilmey and it really was a big-time strenuous trek. All through my way I had been thinking how would I climb up back again! But there's that famous saying Hard work pays a sweet fruit! The Waterfall indeed was a pleasant experience and climbing up too wasn't that difficult. And the truth was that this surprise trek made our trip even more interesting! Definitely a 4/5!
After the waterfall as per the plan we went to the Rose Garden which also had a view point called the Children's Seat. The rose garden in itself was not that great but the view point was OK . A score 2.5/5.
We had lunch at Sterling Resorts located on Lady's Seat and decided to go to the Lake as the weather had suddenly become very cloudy. We hired a 2-seater Pedal boat and pedaled for half an hour. The Lake offers a good view of the city and can be rated as a 3/5. Finally it was time to say Good Bye to this Bountiful hill station and head our way back to the City Of Gardens Bangalore.!
(For those who have been wondering why have I used the word bountiful several times, I hope would now be justified by its usage as Yercaud truly offers a rich experience)
