Yercaud

This post is about Yercaud which we visited in August 2009. We spent 2 days here. We were 3 couples plus 1 kid taking a short break from work :) All of us were Club Mahindra members. So we tried booking the Lake Forest Resort in Yercaud through Club Mahindra and were lucky enough given that this was a last minute booking!

Journey

We started on a Sunday morning from our home at around 6 AM. We had decided to meet near Electronic City. However, due to some last minute delays (again!) we met up only around 8 AM. Nevertheless,the enthusiasm was evident :) Since the road was pretty empty, we cruised on the highway without any further delays. Had a quick breakfast at A2B near Hosur and were near Salem by 11.30! This highway is too good and one of our favorites. We have done quite a few drives here while going to Krishnagiri, Vellore and Dharmapuri. After crossing Salem,the climb up the hill started. There were plenty of hairpin bends to navigate. The feeling one gets in the hills cannot be matched anywhere else. I felt elated at the prospect of spending 2 days away from the crowded city. We reached the resort at around 1 PM in time for some pet pooja (lunch :)).

Lake Forest Resort

This resort is set amidst a coffee estate and has beautiful rooms whose interiors are done up in the Colonial British Raj style. Nagesh and me were very lucky to have got the only room which was part of the 200 year old original bungalow ‘Rosar’ belonging to the then estate owner Henrietta Charlotte Rosario. I felt as though I was transported back in time when I first entered our room. It was the perfect setting to sit back and read an Agatha Christie book. And I had one with me!! The four poster bed was so high that I had to climb a stool and get onto the bed :) This was my most favorite place to sit in the room for my reading. Not to be forgetting the other lovely furniture in the room which gave it that elegant yesteryear look.

Rishi, the four year kid was so excited that he was running around and very happy to play with the stuffed tiger that was kept on our bed. He couldn’t bear to part with it and took it along when it was time to go back to his room :) Relics from the raj era were strewn all over the resort. I’ll let the pics do more talking about this.

I felt the furniture just outside the room in the courtyard was so “Flintstone”ish and was perfect for us to while away some time lounging :)  We spent the evening walking around the resort and had some nice Arabietta Coffee :)

Dinner was followed by indoor games like Uno and Monopoly. Rishi was all excited and wanted me to go on playing Uno with him!! We go so busy playing Uno that even Nagesh forgot to capture pics of us playing ;) Finally we were all sleepy eyed but Rishi was all full energy and enthu!! It was some task to convince hime to stop for the night and let us all sleep :) To this day, Rishi supposedly tells everyone who comes home that the best time he’s ever had on a holiday was here as he played Uno :)

Yercaud and around

We woke up early next morning and went for a walk around the Yercaud lake which is very close to the resort. Saw an interesting signboard and we were left wondering if we were in some foreign country. Do have a look at the below pic and see for yourselves :)

Just in case you still haven’t realised what it says… That’s the “local” flavor of English and says that cycles are available for rent on a half-hourly (hofenour!) basis :) Hilarious!!

After a hearty breakfast we set forth to explore  Yercaud further. Our first destination was Pagoda point. This is a view point and the Shevaroy hills looked majestic from here. We spent some time gazing at the beauty of nature and proceeded towards the Shevaroy temple which was atop a hill. Though the temple was very small, the views from the top of this hill did not disappoint us at all.

On the way back we spotted an Orchidarium and stepped inside to have a peek. There were lots of plants here… but surprise surprise, orchids were not present :)

We went back to Yercaud lake to do some boating as Rishi wanted to go there. For the first time, Nagesh and me did boating :) Generally both of us tend to back out of any form of boating. But this time we had no choice but to follow. It was rather a case of “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” ;)

As the food in our resort was nothing special, we decided to eat somewhere outside. I remembered having read about the Sky Rocca resort which had a skyway. I had seen this place when we reached Yercaud the previous day. We went there for lunch around 3 PM and the food was delicious. I happily feasted on the mini Roasted Idlis with the Chutney Powder followed by a full fledged meal. We then walked on the skyway. Only glass separated us and the looooooooong drop down. That was some experience!

It was time for us to head back to Bangalore the next morning. We decided to have breakfast outside and set ahead to Grand Palace Hotel atop a hill near the lake. The views from this hill were also lovely. With heavy hearts we started on our return journey. At Salem, Rishi and his parents went along to Pondicherry for an extended vacation while the rest of us turned back towards Bangalore. The only highlight of the return journey for me was a 5 minute stop at a sunflower field near Hosur and my long time dream of a pic of myself in a Sunflower field came true :)

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