Yerkaud is a small hill station situated in Tamil Nadu and is around 5 hours drive from Bangalore. That would also avoid us the Mysore road and its Dushera rush.
Route:
Bangalore -> Krishnagiri -> Dharmapuri -> Salem -> Yerkaud (ard 225 kms)
The road from Bangalore till Salem is a perfect 4 lane road.
Bangalore -> Krishnagiri is the Chennai Expressway.
In Krishnagiri, take the road towards Salem.
From Salem, take a right to reach Yerkaud. From there, the uphill ascent starts with 20 hairpin bends. (ard 30 kms)
This drive from Salem to Yerkaud is really pleasant and enchanting with the dense forests, the mountains, the monkeys, the mist.
Accomodation:
We stayed in the GreenBerry Resort which on the way to Pagoda point.
It is nestled in the lush green forests, around 3 kms away from Yerkaud city.
They have a in house restuarent and also childrens play area.
As it was away from the city, our stay there was very pleasant.
Day 1:
We left Bangalore at 6 in the morning and reached Yerkaud at ard 11.30 noon.
Usually it takes ard 4-5 hours. But due to heavy rush at the Hosur toll gate, we took one hour extra.
Once you enter the Yerkaud town, the first thing that u see is the Yerkaud Lake. There are different boating options available. You can either go for motor boat or pedal boat or row boat. We went for row boating.
Next to it is the Deer Park. Though it is called deer park, you will find many other animals there like peacock, Guinea pig, etc. There are also some swings to entertain the kids.
Thats Charvi feeding the rabbits...
From there, we further went to Ladies Seat, from where you can get a view of the valley. Next to it, is the Gents Seat and also the Rose Garden. After savouring the authentic fruit called "RamFal", we returned back to our resort. Below is the picture of the warning painted on rock next to the Ladies Seat.
In the late evening, we started for the Pagoda Point. The drive to this place is very scenic. Pagoda point is again a view point, but on a cliff where you get a good view of Salem city. The bext time to visit this place is in the late evening. We reached there at around 6.00 PM, when there was still some daylight. The experience of seeing the daylight fading away and taken over by moonlight was a mesmerizing one. Slowly we could see the lights in Salem city coming up.
After a wholesome happening day, we went back to the yerkaud town for dinner. The food options here are really less, especially if you are not a Chettinad fan. Once again we had to survive on the "Kal Dosa".
Day 2:
After having "Kal Dosa" once again for breakfast, we checked out of our resort and then started for Raja Rajeshwari temple. Since it was Dushera, we had reserved all temple visits for that day.
After the Raja Rajeshwari temple visit, we went further to visit the Servaroyan temple. This temple has a narrow and dark cave dedicated to the God Servarayan and the Goddess Kaveri. This place is usually very misty as it is the highest point in Yerkaud.
Finally we went to the Anna Park, which is just opposite the Big Lake. After a big stroll there, we decided to head back. After some fruit shopping - RamFal, Figs and Butter Fruit, we started our way back at around 12.30 PM. We had lunch at Dominos in Salem. On the way, also shopped some firecrackers in Hosur for Diwali preparations. Finally reached home at 6.00 PM.
