I have been requesting my mother for a very long time to visit yelagiri hills. But she never agreed fearing the roads would be steep like Munnar or Ooty. So after few more requests I finally stopped requesting here about Yelagiri once for all. But surprisingly, 2 weeks ago, she herself came up with the idea of visiting the hills! First I did not believe her words but she insisted me on this again.! So then, we planned and executed the trip.
We Visited Yelagiri just for 2 days on 10th and 11th Oct 2015. Just one night stay. So coming below is the Trip Details and our experience -
Stage 1 - Planning -
We searched on the internet and finally decided to go for a budget hotel. The hotel is "Hotel Emerald Dove". We called up the Hotel reception for booking but they told that its better to book the room through online. The Direct hotel booking costed about 3500/- but the online price was just about 2100/- and hence we booked the room through "Make my trip". The Actual price was 3100/- but we got 1000 rupees discount.
From the other reviews here on Mouthshut I came to know that Yelagiri's temperature is just as normal as in the plain regions. Hence our packing was way too simple. Dress for 2 days, Camera stuff, some cash and thats all. No Jackets, no Sweaters, No Kettle and so on.
Stage 2 - The Trip -
There is only one preffered route to yelagiri from Chennai - NH4 and AH 45(Asian Highway 45 formerly known as NH46).
The Checkpoints - Chrompet -> Kathipara -> Porur -> Kancheepuram -> Arcot -> Vellore -> Ambur -> Vaniyambadi -> Yelagiri.
Distance - Its about 224 kms from Kathipara to Yelagiri hill top.
Travel Time - It took about 5 hours in total including an half hour break for fast at Nandambakkam.
Road Condition - The road is not good until you stay on NH4. Full of Patch work. Ups and downs. So one can only top to the speeds of about 100kmph. The major time loss for us was between nandambakkam and Irungattukottai. It took about 90 minutes cross with section. Then it took just about 3 hours from Kanchipuram to yelagiri hill top.
The=Asian Highway 45(AH45) was an awesome road, anyone will love to drive on this road for sure. Its a ==three lane freeway I would say.
I was planning to reach to speed of about 170 Kmph on my Elantra, but couldn't because of my mother's request. I had to control the speeds to 140 kmph on AH45.
The Yelagiri Hill roads are very small and is very difficult to accommodate 2 buses at a time. ==But the Road is built very safe and very smooth=. Full high raised cement barricades on the Cliff sides. I did not find even one path hole on the Road. Absolutely brand new lovely road.
=> Day 1 -
-> Towards Yelagiri -
We began our journey in our Sedan by 8am on 10th oct. Then stopped at Nanbambakkam "Hotel Sangeetha" to have Break fast. Wow! What a yummy food there. Probably the second best Sangeetha in the City. It was a great Experience there. My mom loved the food there to the core.
We had - Masala Dosa, Podi Oothapam and Pongal. All dipped in Ghee.
Then we started from Sangeetha by around 8:30am and reached the hill top by 1:15 pm. My brother drove until Kancheepuram and then I took the wheels upto yelagiri hill top. Just one stop in between at arcot for 5 minutes.
Then we Checking in at "Hotel Emerald dove" by 1:20 pm.
-> Hotel Emerald Dove -
The hotel is budget hotel. I think its a 2 star hotel. We got the Room at 2nd floor.
The Hotel amenities -
1) Has Lift facility. The lift is small enough to accommodate only 3 to 4 max.
2) Has a Swimming pool divided into two. Best for kids.(we did use it though).
3) The Room has LED TV, ext Phone and electronic door locks.
4) The 3rd floor has facilities like - Indoor Sports(Table Tennis, chess, Carom, an exercising machine and other small games) and A Conference room.
5) The ground floor has a restaurant called "Peacock Restaurant". The lunch only had meals. We did not had dinner here. But The Complementary breakfast was hot and good here.
The bad experience - The bed and extra bed provided were not clean enough. Lot of black unknown strains. The Bathroom locks were not installed properly(though we had basic locks). The Switch board was popping out posing danger to us occupants. The Hotel has no View good view at all. The TV cable reception was not so great and no signal during rain. And so on.
Overall the hotel emerald was good one. Mixed experience.
Then Since we decided to have dinner somewhere else, we decided to try out lunch at Zeenat Taj Gardens(located right behind Our Hotel). but after walking in there, the rude Receptionist told us "We don't have restaurant". So with no option, we decided to try Hotel Niygress to have food. This one is a basic hotel which has both Stay and as well as Restaurant. the Hotel is very close to our Emerald Dove. The restaurant is a non-veg restaurant. But we ordered Veg food. The food was normal and acceptable. We had Meals, fried rice and ice cream at end. The Pricing was nominal either.
Then, we took an random car drive on the hill for about 30 minutes and then came back to room and had a small nap until 5pm. On that evening we actually planned to visit two places - Murugan temple and The Musical fountain which starts by 7pm.
So we left the hotel by 5:15 pm and Drove to Murugan Temple.
-> Murugan Temple - The temple is located very close to the Yelagiri Lake and hotel Marigold ridge. The Temple is situated on a small hill there too, one needs to climb up to reach the temple. The temple is very well maintained, painted new and had pujari until 6 pm. So we had the Dhardshan there, took the photos of cloudy dawn sunset and came down by 6pm.
By the time we reached our car, it started to drizzle. So our hopes to music mountain was already slipping out of our hands. And when we reached the Musical mountains park, it started to pour heavily.
So with no options, we had to skip the musical fountain and reached back hotel by 6:30 pm.
And to add our smile, the hotel staff said that, "Sir, Anyways today the musical fountain is closed in the evening, owing to visit by some minister".
Hence, then we decided to go to third floor and played some indoor games. I enjoyed Table Tenis(TT) and Carom. The games were then joined by some the other kids who stayed at the hotel too and we enjoyed till 8 pm. By that time, the rain had stopped.!
Then we came back to room, refreshed ourselves and we walked back again to Niygree Hotel to take our Dinner there.
There was only one Server at that time and he was in a hurry as it was the closing time. So we ordered Rotis Mushroom Masala and Paneer kadai and finished the dinner off. There was crowd there but only one server to attend and hence it took about 30 min to get our food. But its okey, we waited and had the food. Because we usually have our dinner at 9:30pm.
Note - Hotels at Yelagiri gets closed by 9 or 9:30 pm. So don't go to restaurant any later.
Then we came back to hotel and watched Tv. Surprisingly a local Channel called "Citi Tv" was playing the latest movie "Vasuvum Saravananum Onna padichavanga(VSOP)" and I then watched the whole movie till 11:30 pm and then Slept off. sssssss.
=> Day 2 -
We Woke up at 7 am, ordered for teas, teas arrived in less than 15 minutes, had tea, got ready and came down for having the complementary BF. Just before leaving the room, the Receptionist called us up and informed us the BF food menu and timing.
Then we enjoyed the hot BF. The food offered was - Idly, dosas(medium), Pongal vada, 2 variety Chutneys, Watery Sambar, Bread toast, umpa, Lemon rice and kersari. Dosa, Vada and Kesari were yummy.! It was Buffet type food but the servers also served us the food to our table. That was nice.!
Then by 9:30pm, we took the car and drove first to "Lake" first -
-> Yelagir Lake -
The Car parking is there few meters from the entrance. The Entrance fee to the park and lake was Rs.15 for Adult and Rs.5 for Camera. The way to the Lake is covered by a small greenery park which has mini play areas for kids. The lake water is very clean and maintained well. The boating started only by 10:30 am. But we did not had the patience to do boating and all, and so decided to leave the place. The Boating fee is separate which is about Rs.60 per person.
Then we came out of the Lake by 9:50 am and did some mini purchasing like Mountain Bananas, Honey and some natural Facial and then left the place.
Then we decided to go to "Yelagiri Wild Zone" -
-> Yelagiri Wild Zone -
Finding this place was a hectic. my brother drove to this place with the help of Google maps. No signboards to reach this place at all. But after lots of Roaming here and there we actually decided to return back to park but surprisingly the spotted the place on our way back via another way(which was misguided by an idiot previously).
The Wild zone is probably located about 5 kms from Yelagiri park. Little outskirts I would say. You need Guts and patience to reach here.
This Zone has got -=ATV bikes(4 of them), rifle and paintball shooting, archery, Rope ride and Paintball field playing. The ATV bike rides cost about Rs.300 to 800, shooting and archery about Rs.40 to 60 for 4 shots and Paintball game cost about Rs.300 per person.=.
I basically went there for Paintball field playing but could not play because this play needed 4 persons. We also opted out the ATV rides because of other crowds and hence only did Rifle shooting and Archery and then decided to leave.
The funny feeling thing was - I only paid for the Rifle shooting but forgot to pay for Archery. I felt bad after I realised that later.:(
Then we reached the yelagiri park by around 11 am.
-> Yelagiri park -
I guess this is the only best place to visit in yelagiri. Park is so clean and fresh air to breath. Very well maintained place. I took a lots of photos in there.
the park has no Car parking inside the premises and so visitors have to park their cars on the road side outside. Only bike parking is allowed till the gate of the park.
the Park entrance fee is same as Boating Entrance fee.
The Park has Various variety of plantations and flora. Fauna! Yes, only Dogs.
We enjoyed Ice cream in there at the park and left at 12:30 pm. Then we came out and head straight back to hotel since the check out time was 12 pm. But though it was already 12:30 pm, we were in a fear that the hotel staff would ask us the vacate ASAP. But they did not ask any questions and offered us little more time to pack our things and come down.
So we refreshed ourselves, packed our bags and checked out by 1:10 pm. the Receptionist was very polite for the whole stay and hence we thanked her for the hospitality. Our Car was also well cleaned by the Hotel staff and hence we gave those staff some tips and said good bye to hotel emerald dove.
-> Way back home -
I took the wheels and it just took about 25 minutes to ride down the hill with two small stops for Covering Valley on my camera.(though I was recording the whole hill ride on my Dash cam as well!).
Then for lunch we stopped at "Star Biriyani" at Ambur to check the famous Ambur biriyanis.
The hotel is located just outside the Ambur City on AH 45, come on the right side on the way back to Chennai. One needs to take an U turn to reach the hotel which is located on the main highway.
I expected a lot but the Biriyani was okay. the food did not have the taste of Thalapakkatti or Halal Biriyanis but taste was close to home made Biriyanis.
So We ordered the Chicken Biriyani and Mutton Fry and enjoyed the food there. Not so great but definitely a different biriyani. The only thing I did't like was the quantity. The Quantity was very less. The Price was too little on the higher side, may due to highway location.
After enjoying Ambur Biriyani, we continued the ride and stopped for a driver change at Kancheepuram(4 pm). Then my brother took over the wheels and we reached home by 6pm. It took about 2 hours flat from Kanchipuram to Chrompet because of the worst traffic at poonnamalli and porur.
Then after 6pm at home we watched the Sad Demise of Legendary Comedy Actress "Manorama Aachi". I love her. I miss her. RIP Aachi.
Points to Remember(mixture of Pros, cons and info) -
- The road on Yelagiri town are very small and the main road on yelagiri is under construction. So get ready to brace.
Yelagiri is not advisable to visit in Summer. It will be too hot I guess. Best time to visit is between October and February. Yelagiri Temperature in October is 25 Deg in Day and 18 Deg at night. So no Coats or sweaters needed.
The hill top has no Petrol Pumps. So fill the gas at down hill. Chennai to Yelagiri requires Rs.2000 of Petrol for a Sedan.
Many reviewers here told that the Yelagiri people are polite. NO. Most of them are very Rude and give wrong information.
One of them gave wrong route info to "Wild Zone". We had to take the longest route to reach there whereas there was an another shortest route available. The shop owners were all very rude, don't give proper answers.
Only the Hotel Staff and Restaurant staff were helpful and extremely polite.
Don't Visit "Zeenat Taj Gardens" for food. They have food facility but it is only for the people who stay there I guess. No respect for outsiders at this racist hotel. Better Avoid this place.
The hill has no shopping complexes at all and don't dream of Anything like shopping there. Only basic shops like Fancy stores or Snack shops available.
Expect Rain in the evenings and nights in Octobers. So better be prepared for those too.
VERDICT -
Overall, Yelagiri is a best hill Station for relaxation and for people who love highway driving. For those who love to enjoying attraction places better go to Ooty, kodaikanal or munnar.
