[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Syed_Munazzir

A nice write up Suhas and good pictures to accompany it. Brought back memories of my weekend trip to this place last year.

Originally Posted by gadadhar

Its been long since my last to trip to Yercaud, looks like your travelogue has provided the trigger.

Originally Posted by concorde24

Nice travelogue and excellent pics. Srichakra Maha meru temple is the world's largest Sri-chakra temple as per the Aalayamkanden website.

Originally Posted by Teesh@BHP

Sweet write up.

I had recently been there myself.

Thanks

Originally Posted by NPV

I think you've visited most of the places in and around Yercaud, probably missed just the Kiliyur falls.

Thanks Narayan.
Yes, we had to give Kiliyur falls a miss. Had checked with locals and they informed water flow is almost non existant as of now.

Originally Posted by param22k

In hindsight though, it was quite an adventure.

As they say, you don't get lost. You discover new places.

Originally Posted by concorde24

HI Param22k, AFAIK there are two routes to get to Yercaud -
1) From Salem (20 hairpin bend, for people coming from Bangalore) which reaches close to GRT nature trails in yercaud
2) via Kuppanur/Pagoda point and it is closer for the people coming from Chennai (bye-pass Salem).

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nice write-up and beautiful pics, Suhas.
For the return journey, you could have tried Kuppanur - Harur - Karimangalam, this is a nice stretch as well.

There are 3 routes to Yercaud I am aware of-

• Salem - Yercaud 20 Hairpin SH 188 route (the route we took) - Good road
• Yercaud - Senkadu - Valavandi - Kuppanur. (Again SH 188 as per GMaps. Route mentioned by concorde24 as the one which joins near Pagoda point) - Good roads as per locals.
• Yercaud - Nagalur - Pannapatti (I guess). This is the route I guess Ddrive took last year, will check with him. Also, in the last pic of tourist map, you can notice that they have mentioned this route as new link road to Bangalore.

Thanks Concorde & Arun.

Yes. We were having plan to take either Nagalur road or Kuppanur road, in that order of priority. However, dropped Nagalur plan since it had drizzled the previous night and didn't want to risk taking a hilly slushy road.

The Kuppanur road was dropped due to bad planning from my side. We should have planned Pagoda point for the next day, visit Pagoda point and drive down Kuppanur route. This would have saved us going up and down Yercaud. However, we were planning on Kuppanur - Salem - Bangalore route. The idea of taking Kuppanur -Harur- Karimangalam didn't come.

Had taken Harur - Karimangalam route last year on way back from Thiruvanamalai and conditions were good.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

The Kuppanur road was dropped due to bad planning from my side. We should have planned Pagoda point for the next day, visit Pagoda point and drive down Kuppanur route. This would have saved us going up and down Yercaud. However, we were planning on Kuppanur - Salem - Bangalore route. The idea of taking Kuppanur -Harur- Karimangalam didn't come.

Had taken Harur - Karimangalam route last year on way back from Thiruvanamalai and conditions were good.

Even now it is in good condition, with patch works here and there. I have posted couple of pics here,

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post4040881

But if someone is looking for excellent road condition, then it is the salem route without any doubt.

[arunrajk81]

Nice Thread,

It gives me nostalgic feelings from my student life back in 1998-2002. Yercadu used to be our weekend destination and almost once in a month we used to go there since I studied in Salem. People used to call it "Poor Man's Ooty" back that time. Its only 28Km from Salem town and we used to go in Bike, my Blue Rx100. That bike was used in Popular Rally in Kerala by its previous Owner. (I heard he finished in 16th Position, not sure though). Other bikes were few Samurai's, Shaolin and a Fiero. Mostly we used to go during midnight or later.
Wild elephants are very rare there, but there are occasions it’s seen in Yercadu. There are lots of butterflies which are of my interest since I like photography of wildlife.

Once during a bike trip like that, we caught in front of a Bison near the Orange Farms (It was at that small road going uphill near Yercadu Lake after crossing the bridge). We didn't cared to stop initially, but slowed a bit thinking that it's a stray cattle will move away. But it stayed still at the middle of the road and it was a narrow road. We ended up in stopping in front of it and some bikes got switched off including mine. Luckily, instead of turning towards us, it ran away. Earlier there used to be a bus service from Salem town to Yercadu which was a 1312TC Tata (NS bus service). Tata Busses are rare in Tamilnadu and more over Cummins Engine was relatively Latest offering during that time. Sometimes just to get into that bus, I used to go to Yercadu. Recently when I went there in 2014, I saw NS bus, but they have changed the model to Ashok Leyland cut Chassis.

There is a British Bungalow which was used later as Post office till 80's. That now own by a private guy and it was put on Sale once when I went. I guess its on the way to Radio Station point
I have seen some rare bikes like Royal Enfield Mini Bullet 200cc, BSA etc in Yercadu Town.

[param22k]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nice write-up and beautiful pics, Suhas.
For the return journey, you could have tried Kuppanur - Harur - Karimangalam, this is a nice stretch as well.





There is another route via Kadayampatti, this is not a recommended route but sometimes GPS suggests this route. You will have to take a left after crossing thoppur, this will help to bypass Salem. I think this is the one param22k would have taken.

Attachment 1545734

Hi Arun, yup that seems like the route we finally took to reach Yercaud. The jungle route that we had to abandon was suggested by Sygic. I'll try and share a grab if I manage to re-plot it. While the GMap route turned left along the railway line, the jungle route went right from a railway underpass through a small village.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Thanks

As they say, you don't get lost. You discover new places.

Those are golden words my friend!

[Landkruzer]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Epilogue

• For those who keep an eye on fuel quality. I guess its best to fill up at COCO in Bangalore - Salem section.
• Shops at Yercaud closes early. Hence plan your dinner by around 08.00 PM
• There is another route for reaching Bangalore - Salem highway from Yercaud by taking Loop road - Nagalur road. I wanted to try this route, however since there was drizzle around the time we visited in night I dropped the plan. I guess TBHPian Ddrive has taken this route few months back.
• Keep an eye for vehicles flouting rules and ending up in your lane in ghat sections.
• Watch out for suicidal two wheelers around Salem.

As usual a detailed and informative travelogue. Your travelogues are a one stop travel guide with the all the information (route, places to visit, food, etc) needed for the traveler. I used your Gandikota/Belum caves travelogue as my guide.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Nice write-up and beautiful pics, Suhas.
For the return journey, you could have tried Kuppanur - Harur - Karimangalam, this is a nice stretch as well.

There is another route via Kadayampatti, this is not a recommended route but sometimes GPS suggests this route. You will have to take a left after crossing thoppur, this will help to bypass Salem. I think this is the one param22k would have taken.

I checked the Navimaps on my phone with the latest map (May'16) and still it shows the non-existent route, from Danishpet to Nagalur. (attachment 1) So I guess param22k drove towards the hill in a mud road and turned back. Since he said he didnt see 20 hairpin bends, I guess he took the Kanavaipudur-Nagalur (attachment 2) route to reach Yercaud. This is the 3rd route mentioned by Suhas.

While updating the GMaps, I came across another route to Nagalur from Bommidi, that joins the Kanavaipudur-Nagalur road. Route Link. Got this video from Google search. Not sure whether the biker had taken the same route that I am talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie4H9e3heFU

.

[Zahoor23]

Brilliant travelogue Suhas! Great pics. Definitely an eye-opener for people like me who are quenching for some good places to drive around Bangalore. Yercaud was on my mind for quite some time but your travelogue says a lot about that place. Definitely a driver's delight!

[MSAneesh]

Visited Yercaud with family last weekend. Started from Bangalore on 1st Nov morning and reached the hotel by 1:30 PM. Stayed 2 nights and returned on 3rd noon. Reached back home at sharp 6 PM.
The weather was perfect - misty, foggy and cool. Absolutely no crowd. Loved every bit of it. Timing matters, after all! I guess the story would be a lot different in summer.
We didn’t want to rush through the tourist spots with kids, chose to have a rather relaxed trip, and spent time at placed we liked the most. The lake and parks were very clean and well maintained.
We visited:

• Boating at lake - Pedal boat, row boat and motor boats are available
• Deer park (Bio Diversity Park) – Neat and clean. There are a couple of deers, peacocks, rabbits, geese and guinea pigs. It is beside the lake and has lots of trees, swings to play and animal statues on which kids can climb.
• Viewpoints - Children's seat, ladies seat, gents seat (a bit touristy)
• Shevaroy temple - Further climb up from Yercaud. Nothing much to see, but the foggy weather made us feel we were among the clouds. Visibility was only one or 2 meters at times. But 200 meters down the road, everything was clear

Stayed in Great Trails Yercaud by GRT. The resort is awesome, with their deck having one of the best view points in town, you can really skip the other viewpoints. The hotel is very clean and well maintained, decent sized rooms and construction is nature friendly with stone walls. They have a very good breakfast buffet which was included in the package.
They have kids play area with trampoline, swings, slides etc. and adventure sports like zip-line, rope walk (for which you have to pay additional). A decent swimming pool is also available. Only drawback I found is, for lunch and dinner, the menu is not so great and is very expensive!

Took the Salem route both ways, roads are good throughout (you have to time it to avoid queues at toll booths). There is flyover construction going on at a stretch in Salem town (Sarada College road) The roads is narrow and there are chances of getting stuck in peak hours.

Enjoyed the relaxed trip a lot and I am happy I chose the dates I did!

[redcruiser]

I am going to Yercaud Tomorrow (start by 6:30-7). Need suggestions for some good restaurants in Salem for lunch?
Any good restaurants in Yercaud for non-veg food?

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

I am going to Yercaud Tomorrow (start by 6:30-7). Need suggestions for some good restaurants in Salem for lunch?
Any good restaurants in Yercaud for non-veg food?

Dindigul ponram biriyani and Selvi Mess are good for Non - Veg food in Salem.