[mallumowgli]

Vow, wonderful snaps in a wonderful 'logue. As Suhas says your photography has taken a quantum leap compared to your earlier Nilgiri trip

A question to the regulars - does it rain during the SW Monsoon here and around Salem? I love the hills during the rains, rather!

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by srinath.s

And this was in December.

.

Originally Posted by ampere

I was here during one of the new year eve. The place was really cold and foggy. A couple of days with good food and a time well spent then. Ideal time for visiting this place in my opinion is Dec-Jan. The weather is just fantastic.

Looks like Dec-Jan is the ideal time to visit this place. Will plan next trip to Yercaud around this time frame.

[sami316]

Awesome snaps and awesome weather you got there...!! I had been there a few years back but the place looks really cool now comparatively. Thanks for sharing.

[nandita_bayan21]

Thank you @sami316 and @mallumowgli (sorry guys didn't get your names).

[AKS]

Originally Posted by nandita_bayan21

A An affirmative answer and we were there, with the second event of the day – we were told both of them met with an accident. DOUBLE DAMN!! Apparently, they were hit by a moron who was seeing somewhere else and turning somewhere else with no indicator, his sudden turn and a slight touch to Abhi’s bike, both of them fell with their right legs below the bike.

I suggest if the pillions had used the riding / protective gears, such could have been avoided. Just a suggestion Nandita. Ride Hard, Ride Safe

[Partha80]

Great read guys & I must compliment you all for the wonderful photographs. Next time I would recommend the Kuppanur road to Yeracaud, it is more challenging & fun. We had the privilege of taking a break at Yercaud enroute to Wellington in May 2013. The pics refreshed our memories. I would recommend a visit to Ajith's farmhouse, this gentleman grows coffee, exotic flowers & makes wonderful potpourris. Ajith manages a number of wonderful home stays in Yercaud & can be contacted on travotrek@gmail.com.

[adg_andy]

Wonderful crisp travelogue . Wish a speedy recovery to Abhi and Shailendra. Pics want me to go there soonest possible.Soumyajit, are you game?

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by AKS

I suggest if the pillions had used the riding / protective gears, such could have been avoided. Just a suggestion Nandita. Ride Hard, Ride Safe

@AKS now since you mentioned 'pillions'. I always wear gears and full face helmet while riding pillion. Shail was with no riding gear and helmet, we have advised him to wear it from next time.

Originally Posted by Partha80

Great read guys & I must compliment you all for the wonderful photographs. Next time I would recommend the Kuppanur road to Yeracaud, it is more challenging & fun. We had the privilege of taking a break at Yercaud enroute to Wellington in May 2013. The pics refreshed our memories. I would recommend a visit to Ajith's farmhouse, this gentleman grows coffee, exotic flowers & makes wonderful potpourris. Ajith manages a number of wonderful home stays in Yercaud & can be contacted on travotrek@gmail.com.

Partha, thanks! Will definitely try Kuppanur road next time for Yercaud and would also pay a visit to Ajith's farmhouse.

[D33-PAC]

Thanks so much for the write up. Some of the most pleasant memories from my high school days are my memories of a camping trip we made to Yercaud. The photos we took then were horrible. Your pictures remind me of my memories which I cherish so much. In fact I'm bookmarking this page !

[Zahoor23]

Brilliant pics and travelogue, will definitely make it there during this monsoon. I suppose the hills of TN and Kerala are best explored then. But yeah i shall be prepared for heavy non-stop rains. The side profile pic of the Duke is simply outstanding! Every trip leaves behind memories, may your friends recover ASAP

[nandita_bayan21]

Originally Posted by D33-PAC

Thanks so much for the write up. Some of the most pleasant - bookmarking this page !

Happy to bring back your old memories.

Originally Posted by Zahoor23

Brilliant pics and travelogue, will definitely make it there during this monsoon - may your friends recover ASAP

Thanks! Monsoon is the best time to visit Yercaud - do plan a trip soon.

[Anirban001]

Nice photography !

I was there with a group of riders last weekend. Beautiful roads all the way from Bangalore. Even the roads on the hills were delicious. I couldn't believe the quality of the highway from Bangalore to Salem; truly awesome. I saw my 200NS shed a tear of joy a couple of times.

[Krishroy]

I am sharing my Yercaud road experience during last Christmas.

We had some guests, who were coming from Kolkata by Falaknama and supposed to reach Hyderabad 9:30 am on 24th Dec. Our plan was to start from Hyd around 8 pm in the evening on the same day along with our guests and reach Yercaud next day morning. Unfortunately, the train started from Kolkata 10 hours late and all our plans went for a toss. We kept tracking the train timing, which was getting more delayed without any scope of improvement.

Finally, we asked our guests to get down at Vijayawada, which is 3/4 hours from Hyderabad and we planned to drive to Vijayawada from Hyderabad. Our guests had a good rest in a hotel in Vijayawada before we reached there, picked them up and started for Yercaud at around 9 pm in the evening.

As per suggestions from Team BHP, we decided to take NH5, with a right turn from Nayudupeta toward Tirpupati, which will eventually cross NH4 at Chittoor. There was not enough recommendation regarding after Chittoor for Yercaud.

After Guntur on NH5, road was new for me. But as expected road was mostly good; except few bad patches (not sure if this is because of recent flood). Major road work was going on this road, resulting in lot of diversions. Tirupati road is a two-lane road again with some bad patches and some well maintained stretches.

Fun started after we crossed Tirupati and was approaching Chittoor. We were on NH 18, which was a 2 lane road again with good number of potholes and it was between 4 to 5 am in the morning. Suddenly, the road was covered with dense fog dropping visibility down to 20-30%. I had such experience earlier, once in Himalayas, where I stopped my car and waited for better visibility and once on Hyd-Vajayawada road, which is a 4-lane well maintained road, where I kept driving in a slower speed. Here I took the second option and kept driving in a slower speed. There were other vehicles also on the road, who were driving in the similar pace maintaining same distance making our life easy.

After reaching Chittoor, we were at a decision point - if we shall continue straight down by SH 88 and drive around 60 KM to reach AH 45, which is part of GQ OR we shall experience cruise on NH4 and take a left turn on NH 219 towards Krishnagiri. Somehow, we had trust on AP & TN road department, hence we took the first option. But, it was an ultimate torture on our Verna. The road was full of giant pot holes. I remembered the quotation "Never trust somebody who has let you down twice, first one is the warning and second one is the lesson." AP & TN road -> you have one more chance.

Once we are up on AH 45, remaining road was a cruise. AH 45 took us safely to Krishnagiri and put us to my favourite road NH 7. Though NH 7 was extremely busy as it was 25th Dec morning and it seems like entire Bangalore was on road. However, we took left turn from Salem and got into Yercaud approaching ghat road having around 20 hairpin bends, which might give a feel of mountain driving; but practically nothing compared to driving in mighty Himalayas.

Yercaud is a nice small town like Ooty (less commercialized though); good for relaxing for couple of days. We took our pet Buddhu with us; and she enjoyed a lot too.

We went to Kiliyur Falls near Yercaud. The drive was little tricky, specially during busy season as the road was narrow.

While returning back to Hyderabad, it was totally NH 7, my favourite, except some bypass in Bangalore like Nice Road etc.

[Moontan]

Q: What do you do when you are bored on a beautiful Sunday during this extended lockdown and you have an F30 328i that is getting increasingly cross with you?

A: You pack a few munchies, a few bottles of water, fire up the F30 and drive through the Vanniar Teak Forests of the Shevaroy Hills.

I've been stuck in these hills for over two months. It's not a bad place to be quarantined in, to be honest. Pictures of the drive follow:

Entering the forest


Driving through the forest. The roads are amazingly well maintained with proper signage.


Pepper vines growing on Silver Oak trees


This is where I got lost and took a wrong turn. I ended up having to drive through approximately 2 kms of badly broken road.


This was the only section of bad road and it was my fault for taking the wrong road.


Tribal deities. There are 2 main tribes in these hills. The Malaiyals and The Bohyans.


A peaceful valley between hills with a clear stream running through it.


You can see Salem in the distance. I was nearly all the way down the hills and was about 10 kms from reaching the base. I turned around in a few kms and drove back, taking the correct, properly paved road this time.


As I took my time with many stops to enjoy the cool weather and the abundant beauty around me, the entire drive was about 5 hours long.

We both returned pretty sorted and happy.

~Peace & Blessings~

[Artyom]

Originally Posted by Moontan

Q: What do you do when you are bored on a beautiful Sunday during this extended lockdown and you have an F30 328i that is getting increasingly cross with you?

A: You pack a few munchies, a few bottles of water, fire up the F30 and drive through the Vanniar Teak Forests of the Shevaroy Hills.

I've been stuck in these hills for over two months. It's not a bad place to be quarantined in, to be honest. Pictures of the drive follow:

Trips like these seems to be a distant dream now.Not sure when we would be avle to make it a reality.Hope everything gets back to normal soon.Till that time post like yours acts like breather.Thanks for sharing.