A lovely weekend. Review on Yeracaud

My husband and I went to Yercuad in Sept. 2011 during a long weekend . The drive from Bangalore to Yercaud is awesome: verdant hills on either side with a smattering of ponds and miles and miles of four lane roads.

Once you reach Salem, the roads get narrower and are mostly uphill but a delight to the eyes nonetheless. We started the uphill climb at around 1:30 PM and reached Yercaud around 2:30. There are 20 hairpin bends on the way up and at each bend the view is breathtaking. When we were driving up, a fine mist was settling and it gave the entire view a surreal look. The tiny white flowers in the grassy hill sides looked like tiny snowflakes.

After relaxing a bit at the hotel, we went out, around 6:00, to explore the nearby places. what was a fine mist in the afternoon was now a full-fledged fog. We felt as if we had entered the clouds, it was indeed a cloud that had settled over Yercaud. We could hardly see beyond a few feet. However, the cloud had moved on by night and Yercaud had that faint yellow glow of small towns in winters.

The next day we set out to see the town. The Botanical Garden was a disappointment. It is not very well maintained. We scaled many a peak in search of the famous Bell Rock(supposed to make a bell like sound when struck) but couldn't find it. However, our labours were rewarded with splendid views from the top.

The Shevroyana temple isn't grand from outside but is unique because it is inside a cave and the view from top is nice. The drive is pleasant as well.

All the usual tourist spots are good in terms of the view they offer. Couldn't go to Arthur's Seat as no one knew how to go there.

The rose garden is well maintained but there were hardly any roses when we went and it was disappointing too.

What we did differently?

We visited resorts. And since Yercaud is not a very commercialized place yet, people don't mind visitors strolling amid their estates. We went to the Grange Estate, the Hill side Regent Heritage Hotel, and the Lake Forest Heritage Hotel. All were beautiful. The Hill Side and Lake Forest also have mini museums with some interesting artefacts from the British Era.

We also went to "The Retreat." It is a place for meditation and is blissfully quiet. The view from the top is good and you can hear the breeze, the birds, and the sundry insects buzzing around you. Strictly if you know how to keep your mouth shut!:-D

We had heard of the Kardiyoor Watch Tower and decided to see it. However, after an arduous journey by car and then by foot we realized that the road was un- walkable due to the rains and we returned. Forgot to tell that it rained heavily in Yercaud, the second day of our stay. lovely sight from inside the cafe but you know how Indian roads become after the rains!

We did not go to the Killiyuri falls because we were cautioned against going there in the rainy season and the pics of the falls on the net didn't look worth the effort.

We went paddle-boating in the Yercaud Lake and it was fun. The costs aren't prohibitive though they have an entrance fee which is totally unnecessary given that the entry to the park is free and you anyway pay for the boat.

On the last day we went to see the Montfort school. It has a nice campus- complete with a Chapel and a small zoo(with Emus, peacocks, turkeys, ducks, rabbits, and love-birds). They allow visitors only from 10AM-12PM and 2PM- 4PM on Sundays.

We skipped the parks. We’ve seen better ones. But they are good if you have kids with you.

Where we stayed?

We stayed at Silver Holiday Cottages. A budget hotel that is worth every penny. It was clean, the people were helpful, there was a TV, power backup, hot water geyser, good location. Overall worth the 550 bucks we paid per day. It is at a walk-able distance from the Lake and other eating joints.

Where we ate?

Our stay was on budget but our eating wasn't. We tried all the hotels we could and here is my take on them:

• Salem Heights: Stopped for lunch on the way to Yercaud. The view from the restaurant is great. The prices are high but so is the quantity and quality.

Bhajji stalls near the Lake: The Bhajji's are good and reasonably priced. The tea was awful. The coffee was too sugary!

• Silver Restaurant: Tried to have dinner at the small restaurant next to where we stayed. At 8:30 PM the food was over! We were supposed to have told them in advance if and what we wanted to eat.

  
  




• The Tamil Nadu Hotel(TTDC Hotel): They said they weren't serving food because of some function in the hotel.  (?)

  
  




• Grand Palace Hotel: Turned away from two eateries, we found our way to the Grand Palace Hotel. The place is nice and offers some great views. We ordered Chinese. The food was ok, the service bad, and if you don't pay attention they'll charge you what you didn't order. We ordered 2 glasses of lassi and paid for 3. Also, Ala Carte took more than 30 minutes, people around us complained about the buffet, they bring you wrong or half of what you ordered. Sample this.gulab jamun and ice cream when we had ordered lassi! Man chow soup without fried noodles.God! And they claim to be a 3-star place. Only in prices I guess.

  
  




• Pear Tree Cafe: This was an interesting place. Right opposite the Montfort School. It’s a nice and cosy and the owner Yeshwin was very friendly. We got a lot of info about Yercaud from him. The place serves sumptuous snacks and light eats.good for a change. Reasonable prices too! The food and the ambience have a very homely feel. Didn’t like the tea very much but only because it wasn’t as strong as we like.

  
  

Coffee at Pagoda Point:* Though the view was wow the coffee wasn’t.

• Lake Forest Hotel: This place was a revelation. The food was good, the ambience great, a small museum of artefacts from the Raj, and beautiful landscaping. The prices were reasonable. I tried their chicken sandwich and it was the best I’ve ever eaten. We tried Tea with Porai and we discovered a new snack to go with tea! We immediately drove to VP the Bakery near the bus stop and brought 2 packs of Porai to take home with us. What is Porai you ask.well you gotta eat it to find out. The weekend dinner buffet was priced at Rs 350 including tax but the items weren’t worth the price.

Shevroys Hotel: We read good reviews of this place and we decided to dine there on my husband’s birthday. I called them and ordered a cake and asked them if it could be sent to the restaurant and brought to the table. I wanted it to be a surprise. Imagine my surprise that when we went there, the waiters were totally clueless. I had to go and fetch the cake myself. The surprise was ruined by then! Coming to the food.we ordered their speciality dish and it wasn’t great. The chicken lollypop was too dry, the Malabar parathas slightly uncooked. We had a tummy ache in the night! Wouldn’t recommend it.

Malar Restaurant: A pure veg south Indian place next to the Shevroys hotel. We ate dosas there and they were quite good. The sambhar and chutney were yumm. However, a word of caution to my north Indian friends. unless you have a taste for sour dosa/idli batter, you should give this a miss. The dosas are quite sour.

The Grange: We loitered through the resort and thought it only decent to order something at their restaurant so we ordered a lime juice. At Rs. 30 it was steep but worth it. Very refreshing it was!

One tip: Speak in English, almost everyone follows that language.