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-   -   Bangalore - Yercaud March 2010 (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/78844-bangalore-yercaud-march-2010-a.html)

Route:
Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Salem - Yercaud - Salem - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore
Total Km = 495
Toll: Krishnagiri - 30 + Dharmapuri - 25 + Salem - 45 = Rs. 100 (return)
Fuel consumed: 32 litres @ 15.5 with continuous AC and avg speed 80 + kph
Hi!
Just returned from a drive to Yercaud, TN. It is also sometimes called 'poor man's ooty' although no idea why 'poor man'
Started from Bangalore with my wife 06:00 hrs. Quickly joined NH7 at Atibele and life became suddenly delightful. From Atibele to Salem, miles and miles of 6 lane highway. And the traffic too thinned up as sson as I passed Krishnagiri. I did the 200 km to Salem in 2.5 hrs (including a 20 min. break at Krishnagiri for breakfast.
On reaching Salem, I never found the bypass I had noted in the map. My Nokia GPS (or for that matter any GPS) doesn't turn on quickly enough if you don't have it running already which I forgot to do. So we resorted to the thing that works best in India - asking locals. We soon found the right route and 5 km from Selam we were already on the long winding ghat section.
The road is very well maintained - I would say even better than the 36-hairpin Ooty road (this one is 20 hairpins). Again makes you wonder in what sense it is poorer than Ooty. Had a scare while overtaking a bus uphill when it suddenly swayed right brushing my left ORVM. But survived without even a scratch and continued.
We reached the top of the hill around 09:30 hrs and the route ends right into the central lake (quite literally). We immediately got a copy of the tourist map of the district. Upon a quick scrutiny, we concluded that a overnight stay is not at all necessary. So we attacked the first of the spots listed - 'Pagoda point'. It turned out to be a scenic observatory. We clicked some pictures (and realized that we forgot my Nikkon). Turning back we retraced the whole route back to the central lake.
From here we chose to visit the Kilyuri falls. It turned out to be anothe 4 km odd drive up and down the harsh terrain. From the parking, the falls are a hike of about 2 km and it is quite a tough trail involving a bit of rock-climbing as well. And the end result is just a tiny stream bouncing through the rocks. Strictly for people who can enjoy the trek instead of the end result.
We returned to the town center by 13:00 hrs. Then we drove around the lake in search of a decent restaurant for lunch. We finally ended up at TNTDC Hotel Tamil Nadu Buffet. It was a typical south meal - quite tasty but no bread in any form. So ate truckloads of rice and lingered in the premises inspecting the quality of accomodation there. It was not bad although not comparable to a 3-star hotel.
We started our journey back around 14:00 hrs. Since the road was familiar now, we made it back home by 17:30 hrs (including a 20 mins stop at a HP fuel station between Hosur and Krishnagiri and the adjoining Cafe Coffee Day)
P.S. Got to learn to post pics to TBHP:D

That was a neat writeup. Can you tell me the route from Krishnagiri. I had been to Chennai and for that I took a left at Krishnagiri. What turn(s) do i need to take to reach Salem/Yeracaud. Also, can you recommend any good places between Krihnagiri-Salem for a break. What about hotels in Yeracaud. And yes, please post some pics.

Keep going straight till you hit Salem. At Salem dont take the bypass. There is a board which says 5 roads junction. Ask any one for the Yercaud there.

That should be easier.

Hotels: There is an A2B before Thoppur.

Very neat write up XH_Vee

Which car were you driving?

To upload pics, have a look at the linky below:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/announ...-team-bhp.html

@ShubhamAT: Sorry was caught up with some urgent stuff at work and was off the forum for a while. But I am glad your question got answered.

@ampere: Thanks! :)

@abhinav.s: I am currently driving a Chevy UV-A. I am still learning to post pics... thanks for the link. I did reference the links from my external album but the mod disallowed it.

Pictures...

I am posting pics for the first time... let's hope they appear the way I want them to.

And here's one of the hairpins... I love the way they number and count them for you. Also the critical ones have mirrors - just like the 36-hairpins road in Ooty.

It worked, and they have come out well.. now you can post more pics :)

Yes, more pictures please.
I guess peak summer has taken its toll on the place. You can see some good pictures of kiliyur falls here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1911796-post31.html

Could you pls share the road condition from Salem to Yercaud? We're looking forward getting there sometimes during this month. Tks.

The road from Salem to Yercaud is all ghat section and is narrow but pretty smooth. Some more pictures of the road...

Saw names of few homestays in Yercaud, has anyone tried them?

And a video shot by my wife driving downhill... around 0:58 notice a cab driver giving me a scare by opening his door when I am about to pass him. Hopefully the sound did not come through. Else you have to bear my wife's nagging... :)

YouTube - Yercaud to Salem - the 20-hairpin ghat section

Hi XH_Vee,
Nice quick trip you had to yercaud, while you returned from Yercaud on 3rd April, I was driving up those ghat roads.We drove down from Hyderabad.Here is the link for my thread. I haven't still completed my travelogue:Frustrati
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...pure-josh.html

and be careful with the words here, if your wife sees this, you will be in trouble my friend.

XH_Vee... I guess your zooming on the yercard road :), felt that you driving too fast .. what speed where you on ?