Visiting Yercaud !

While my wife and I, were visiting one of my old buddies, Prince, in Bangalore this October, we wanted to spend sometime in a hill station nearby.

Ooty or Kodaikkanal were the apparent choices but we decided to visit a slightly lesser known place – Yercaud primarily because we thought it would be less crowded and also because it is the nearest from Bangalore.

We set off in our car in the afternoon and after driving about 175 Km we stopped for lunch at Salem town which is at a distance of 30 Km from Yercaud. We understood from our study that Yercaud is situated at a height of 1,515 meters and therefore I was pretty surprised when I saw no hill starting even after driving about 5 Km from Salem. However, right after that we were at the Shevaroy foothills and the winding hill road with its 20 hairpin bends began.
It was a pretty steep climb on the narrow road but the thickly forested hill & the slope on either side of the way was really refreshing. There’s feeling of a hill station already and if you love hills, it’s a wonderful sensation. We reached Yercaud at 5:30 pm and the first job was to find out a suitable place to stay.

The Bougan Villa Suite of Shevaroy Hotel priced at about 1k was quite good but as we didn’t like the location of the rooms, we thought of checking out some other places as well. One of our team members Khona, had strong desire to stay by the lake which is one of the center of attraction in Yercaud.

Hotel Tamilnadu is situated on a hillock overlooking the lake. They have few cottages facing the lake but the rooms were pretty average with low cleanliness standards and thereby putting such an excellent location into shame. Our next mission was Hotel Lake Forest, an affiliate resort of Club Mahindra and I must say it is beautifully located amidst coffee estate. The authentic interiors of the ‘Estate Suites’ with big balconies were highly maintained.

However, considering the price tag of 2.5k, we couldn’t have a unanimous decision of putting up there. We were actually enjoying this adventure of checking out places especially when we knew that we didn’t have much slated for the day. We finally decided to stay at a place called Silver Holiday Cottage. We found that place pretty neat and were good value for money. The following day was set for sightseeing and the friendly manager of our hotel explained us about the places to visit and drew a detail road map for our convenience.

The Servarayan Temple – It is the highest point in Yercaud situated at a height of 5326 feet and that was our first place of visit. The cave temple with a modern facade is dedicated to the local deity Lord Shervarayan and his wife Goddess Kaveri. There are 2 view points which gives a wonderful sight of the surrounding hills and the valleys.

The Botanical garden - While coming down we stopped at the Botanical garden which showcases thousands of species of plants. The Orchidarium within the garden has more than 100 species of orchids. There is also a pitcher plant that eats insects and a peculiar rock known as 'Bell Rock' which makes a bell sound when you hit it with a stone.

Herbal & Aroma Therapy - On the way we saw quite a few Herbal & Aroma Therapy products making & selling points and had visited one – Agathier Herbarium. They have a wide range of herbal products and we got some to check it up later.

Pagoda Point - This point is located on the Yercaud Hills and has four piles of stones placed in pagoda-style, thus rendering the place its name.

Children's Seat – It’s a climb thru a rose garden which provides another breathtaking view of the ghat with its winding roads. Lady's Seat - This place gives the best view of the town of Yercaud. A telescope is installed at this point for tourists to have a closer look at the plains below and the winding roads in between.

Emerald Lake – At the end of our sightseeing expedition, we came to the Big Lake surrounded by appealing gardens and inviting greenery.

The 2 kids – Yana & Eklavya who had been pressing for boating all along were really excited to have finally found their act. We left Yercaud the next day but its fond memories will remain. Yercaud is a small town and it might lack the usual buzz of activities that are visible in the other hill retreats but is rich in natural panoramas – rolling mountains and gushing waterfalls. It lives up to its name – Lake Forest, set in the mountains of the Eastern Ghats.