Yercaud is a Hill station in Tamilnadu near the city of salem and is not much heard or spoken of like Ooty or Kodaikkanal. I had been to this place in March this year and trust me it has got a lot more in it than most people can think of.
Yercaud in a nutshell:
Location : 28 Km from the city of Salem in tamilnadu (1.5 hr journey)
Ideal for : People who love exploring places and want get a break from City life. Weather : Pleasant most of the year.(Ideal between Sep and Nov)
Tourist spots : Lake, Pagoda Point, Shervaroyan hills, Kiliyur falls, Kotachedu teak forest, Rose garden, Lady’s seat etc.
Languages:Tamil, English, Hindi
It is better to book your own cab to get to the place and go on for sight seeing for the simple reason that you cant rely on Govt. buses here.You get the liberty to spend more time at one place or cut down the time on some places which you think are not worth watching.You can also save time by not waiting for the buses to reach to some places and also to get back from there.You really cant count on local bus service here.
My experience:
Traveling up the hills:
It is ideal to travel from Salem to yercaud early in the morning to enjoy the pristine beauty of the hills.As we travelled up the hills in the morning, we could get the sweet scent of the coffee flowers blossoming.It did smell like jasmine.And we also get the smell of Eucalyptus pinching our nostrills and suddenly we feel so fresh and energetic.
It is not an uncommon scene if you come across a gang of monkeys obstructing your way just to wish you Good Morning for something in return from you.There are about 20 curves up the hill, kind of hairpin bends and the views from here are quite enchanting.As we travelled up the hills, we felt as though we were leaving those cities full of chaos and crowd and nearing the doors of heaven itself.It was a complete transformation and you get to realise calmness in the place all of a sudden.
About Yercaud:
Accomodation in Yercaud is not much of a problem and a double bed will cost you anywhere between 300 to 500 bucks.Yercaud is relatively smaller compared to Ooty or kodaikanal and you can complete all sight seeing business within a day. So what has Yercaud got that makes it worth spending your time there.Here they are....
Yercaud lake:
This is the heart of the hill station yercaud and boating in this lake in the evening time would be a pleasant experience.The water in the lake though, is not very clean
and hence it would be a good habit not to drop your hands to bring out the effect as in duets in cinemas..
View points :
There are a few good view points like the Lady’s seat, Gent’s seat and the Pagoda point all of which are worth watching. Lady’s seat is the best of the lot which gives a panoramic view of the ghats and all the distant vehicles dwindling their way in and out of trees along the winding ghat road.It surely is a breath-taking view. You can have a closer view of the plains below with the help of the telescope mounted at the Lady’s Seat.
Shervaroyan temple:
This place is much spoken about as an important tourist spot in Yercaud and it is advised to tourists not to build too much of expectation out of this as there is not much but a small temple with Lord Shervaroyan Perumal and Goddess Kaveri amma as the deities.The temple is in the form of narrow cave and one has to be on all fours to get into the temple and offer your prayers.Localites claim that a tunnel which is beyond the temple extends to about 450Km, taking you to Talai Kaveri in Karnataka.I bet you dint buy this story, but that is what the inhabitants say.This is the highest spot in the hill of Yercaud.
Other places one might be interested to look are Botanical garden, Anna park, Horticultural research station, Rose garden(a good collection of colourful Roses and you can purchase nursery plants from here.) and Silk farm. One might be interested in buying some Herbal products from the various shops located on the way to Shervaroyan hills.
Coffee estates and plantations are worth watching here but forbidden access to most Coffee plantations owned by Private parties is bit of a disappointment.
And for those of you who need ’’ACTION and ADVENTURE’’:
Kiliyur falls:
This falls is located at about 3 km from the Yercaud lake and is a 300 feet high falls.Infact the trekking experience to reach this falls is more interesting than the falls itself.Locals also claim that this place is quite dangerous when there is abundance of water in this falls.But this place is probably the only one that really has something in stores for those who love to take up adventure.Ideal for a group of youngsters and not much recommended for aged people.Infact this is the place that we enjoyed most in our trip to Yercaud.Few times when some of us slipped and stumbled, we saw our great grand fathers saying ’’Hi’’ from heaven.Quite adventurous and fun filled.
Kottachedu teak forest:
This is another place in Yercaud(about 13 km from the lake that not many people would recommend you to go to; for the simple reason that this place is frequented by wild Bisons that might at times give you a Pleasant surprise ;-) popping out from the wilderness. This is a good place to visit if you are interested in exploring the wild and is strongly advised that you travel in groups so that you can outsmart the wild bulls that come there to have some water.We still recollect the footmarks of those Bisons which were believed to have left that place just a few minutes before we got there.That incident for sure got some butterflies in our stomach.This place being quite far off from Yercaud can be reached only by bus or cab.
Conclusion:
So Yercaud, as the cliche goes is definitely the ’’poor man’s Ooty’’ as there is much much to be developed here to make it full fledged Tourist spot to be at par with Ooty or Kodaikanal.This is an ideal place for those who would like to take a break from the busy city life and have a peaceful time off the city, free of dirt, noise and pollution.A group of about ten people who are ready to explore and trek and would not crib about the lack of tourist attractions would make the ideal visitors to this serene hill station.
Thanks a lot for having taken time to go through this looooong review of mine. Hope the information provided was useful.I will be glad to hear your suggestions and comments on this review.