| Yercaud on 13th & 14th August
2 days before the weekend started, my lady Ashwini and I tried getting a booking at every good hotel in Yercaud that Google told us about. Some receptionists even laughed at us, for trying to book so close to the long weekend!
So we thought of making it a one-day trip, but carry necessary stuff in case we manage to find a room. We managed to wake up at 3.30 am on Saturday morning. After some Maggi, tea and a hot shower, I was ready by 4 am. But my one-and-only is not a man. For the next hour and a half, I watched TV till she got ready.
Finally, when I turned on the ignition of my other one-and-only, its clock was showing 5.35. In the next 15 minutes, we had covered 10 km and had reached Attibele tollbooth, following a blue Wagon R with LCLC and LTD stickers on its rear bumper.
We drove on, having to zigzag between trucks that drove in all lanes. By now, the blue Wagon R was long gone. After crossing Hosur, we could constantly do 80 to 100 kmph. We covered about 40 km in the first hour, and 70 km in the second hour. After crossing Krishnagiri, the traffic was sparse, and it was much easier to drive.
We entered Salem at around 8 am, having taken 150 minutes to cover 180 km. the next 30 km, including 20 km of ghat section, was probably the worst part of the drive. Excellent road, but almost every vehicle that came behind us kept honking. I am not sure if they were honking at me to give them way, or at blind curves to warn the oncoming traffic. Could not be the latter, since these honkers would not even pause to listen to other honks. At every opportunity, I pulled to the side and signalled to these honking idiots to go ahead, so that I could enjoy the drive. I also noticed that none of these guys bothered to slow down at sharp bends, and would drift to oncoming lane. Some even tried overtaking at hairpin bends.
We reached Yercaud and enquired at a few hotels. It was all fruitless. So we went to Hotel Shevaroys for breakfast. As a last option, we enquired there, and to our pleasant surprise, they had a room worth 2353 Rs available only for that night. He also said that there is a tad cheaper room, but we must book it for 2 days to get it. Nah, we preferred the costlier one. At the same time, he answered to someone over the phone that they were booked for the weekend. Whoa! What a business strategy!!!! During my previous 2 trips to Yercaud, I had given them a call for room booking, and had received negative replies. Now I know what to do!
From my previous trips, I had a feeling that this is the best hotel in economy class, and I was right. In fact, I saw guests in M-class, A6 and A7. I also saw a Fluence dCi, my only spotting so far of that car.
After check-in and breakfast, we headed to Shevaroyan temple. For the first time, I entered the temple. It is a natural temple. Well, it is actually a cave. We were not allowed to click photographs there. The lady (poojarin?) said clicking photos there brings ill-luck to family.
We spent some time there, enjoying the breeze and the view, and then headed to Ladies Seat/Gents Seat/Rose Garden. It was not easy to find the place, since it involved taking a few turns, and there were no signs after initial few junctions. Cell phone’s GPS kept trying to find signals, but the usual Indian GPS (local people) were able to guide us.
After this, we headed back to the hotel, had lunch and completed the night’s sleep. By 5 pm, we were at Pagoda Point, which is another view point to see the Salem city. After this, we didn’t have any other places to visit. Kiliyur falls was not in our list, since I have been there once, and have found it not worth the effort. Yet, since we had time, we drove till where cars are allowed. On the way to Kiliyur Falls is Wild Orchid resort. Every time I pass by it, I drool. I wish I could afford to stay there for a week :-(.
Then we headed back to the hotel for dinner. The Chinese food was bad. We had to return the Gobi Manchurian, since it seemed stale and tasted nowhere like usual. In fact, a waiter (who is actually a student at Shevaroys Hotel Management Institute and was working part time there, for the long weekend) told us that it didn't even look like gobi manchurian!!!
We stuck to good old Indian food, which was quite good.
Sunday morning, we checked out by 9.30 am, and again drove non-stop. This time, I did 100 to 110 kmph, although there were stretches filled with trucks. Worst was the uphill climb somewhere close to Krishnagiri, where the road tar has come loose and has formed lumps, due to tar melting at high temperatures and then trucks driving over it. And on this stretch, at that uphill climb, trucks and buses try overtaking each other. Well, their speeds are limited to 10 to 30 kmph, and a line of cars have to follow them until they reach level ground. The road’s shoulder is wide enough for a truck to go, but I didn’t want to drive on it. There could be some broken down truck there! Even with all these delays, we managed to reach back by 12.55 pm, just in time to watch Avatar on Star Movies! | 
16th August 2011, 21:47
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Thanks
