We finally "decided" to break the jinx and head out on a long drive. It's been over a year since our trip to Leh and we, especially Chandrika, was dying to head out. We found the perfect reason for the drive - her birthday.
Now, Yearcaud is not really a long-drive destination. It is hardly 230 kilometers from Bangalore - a mere 4 hour drive. But beggars cant be choosers, right? With Chandrika's busy work schedule, a weekend was all we could afford.
Yercaud is a cosy little "hill station" near Salem. The most notable thing about the route to Yercaud is the fact that there are 20 hair-pin bends in the road that make ascending a challenge to novice drivers. This was our second trip to Yercaud and we were quite familiar with the route.
Given that we were on a tight schedule, we decided to leave on Friday (24th June, 2011) evening, which meant that we'd be driving in the dark most of the way. There were chances of rain too. So I changed the wiper blades before leaving office.
I reached Chandrika's school in Koramangala by 5:30 and we hit the highway by 6:00. Traffic was just beginning to build up, but we had a smooth drive. I was very hungry, but we decided to stop only once - at A2B (Adyar Anand Bhavan) in Krishnagiri for a quick dinner and to refuel.
I hogged like a pig and by the time we finished, I was feeling full - not a good thing on a long drive, especially a night drive, especially when we were going to be negotiating steep climbs and hairpin bends. Well, the deed was done and all we could do was pray that I did not sleep on the wheel. Leaving nothing to providence, I downed a cup of strong filter coffee.
I kept a steady pace of 70 kmph. Traffic was light and the roads were in very good condition. The coffee was working marvelously - I was very alert. Chandrika kept up a up the banter and by 9:30 PM we reached Salem - 4 hours after starting from Bangalore.
Salem was a revelation!! Unlike Bangalore, the roads were crowded with shoppers AND street food vendors even at 9:30 PM. The best thing was that they were all packed with hungry customers - both the "for here" and the "to go" variety. There were all kinds of delicacies - chicken, mutton, "porotta", "kothu porotta", .......... I didn't see any vegetarian fare though. I rued the fact that I had stuffed myself, but I decided to stop by on the way back.
The climb was magical to say the least. Just as we ascending the hill, I shifted to 2nd gear and keep it that way till we reached the top. The road was desolate and pretty scary. At times, we'd catch glimpses of the bustling city below and the light pollution was disturbingly evident. The Bolero negotiated all the 20 hairpin bends like a champ. We reached the hotel, the Grand Palace, at 11:00 PM. We were delayed by a bus that got stuck trying to climb the very steep ascent to the hotel.
The hotel was swank. The lobby was filled with Bangaloreans (several KA registered cars in the parking lot) lounging around or getting ready for a post dinner walk. To my utter dismay, the bar was closed and the waiters refused to serve me - government rules prohibit the sale of alcohol after 11:00 PM in Tamil Nadu. I should have carried my own booze! Chandrika was very hungry. We ordered some dinner and finally hit the bed at 1:00 AM.
The Grand Palace hotel is perched on top of a small hill overlooking the lake. The rear side of the hotel overlooks the beautiful Silent Valley. This is one of the best hotels in Yercaud and a bit pricey too. Our suite costed us 5,000 rupees per night. Service was very good and so was the food. My only regret is that we did not book a valley-facing room - we booked a lake-facing one instead. The lake is almost invisible from the hotel and is too far away. Something to keep in mind for future trips.
We woke up on time on Saturday. This was partly because of my alarm that was set for 5:30 AM - my Saturday long run. Breakfast was a sumptuous complimentary buffet of continental and south Indian food. We stuffed ourselves and set out on an impromptu drive through Yercaud.
Yercaud is a very small place and can be traversed on foot. We decided to, in addition to driving aimlessly, chalk out a 10 kilometer running track for me. We drove all morning, stopping here and there to enjoy the sights. We did not carry our cameras. This place did not seem to be mapped in detail on Google maps, so our GPS-enabled phones were completely useless. I did however track out trip using my Garmin running watch.
So after a nice long drive, we returned to the hotel - without finding any suitable running tracks. The roads were just too crowded and hilly. However, we did pick up a few bottles of beer (surprisingly fresh - June batch).
I was down with a bad cold when we started and it just got worse. I spent the rest of the day under a thick blanket while Chandu enjoyed the scenery outside the window - clouds coming and going revealing stunning vistas. It rained heavily that evening. So, after dinner, we went out on another impromptu drive, albiet a short one.
My cold had gotten worse on Sunday. However, we woke up early and set out on another drive, this time with a camera. We took a different route though and this time we found great running tracks. We also discovered a Saravana Bhavan near the lake. We stopped to have a strong "filter coffee". The only lousy thing about Grand Palace was their "Yercaud Filter Coffee" - an abominable concoction that definitely did not taste like coffee and was so bloody expensive!
We finally returned to the hotel at 11:30 - we had again driven for over 3 hours. We relaxed a bit and then checked out by 1:00 PM. The hotel allows 24-hour check out on week days. Chandu had lunch while I decided to try my luck with street food in Salem.
Now, Yearcaud is not really a long-drive destination. It is hardly 230 kilometers from Bangalore - a mere 4 hour drive. But beggars cant be choosers, right? With Chandrika's busy work schedule, a weekend was all we could afford.
Yercaud is a cosy little "hill station" near Salem. The most notable thing about the route to Yercaud is the fact that there are 20 hair-pin bends in the road that make ascending a challenge to novice drivers. This was our second trip to Yercaud and we were quite familiar with the route.
Bangalore to Yercaud
Given that we were on a tight schedule, we decided to leave on Friday (24th June, 2011) evening, which meant that we'd be driving in the dark most of the way. There were chances of rain too. So I changed the wiper blades before leaving office.
I reached Chandrika's school in Koramangala by 5:30 and we hit the highway by 6:00. Traffic was just beginning to build up, but we had a smooth drive. I was very hungry, but we decided to stop only once - at A2B (Adyar Anand Bhavan) in Krishnagiri for a quick dinner and to refuel.
I hogged like a pig and by the time we finished, I was feeling full - not a good thing on a long drive, especially a night drive, especially when we were going to be negotiating steep climbs and hairpin bends. Well, the deed was done and all we could do was pray that I did not sleep on the wheel. Leaving nothing to providence, I downed a cup of strong filter coffee.
Dinner at A2B, Krishnagiri
I kept a steady pace of 70 kmph. Traffic was light and the roads were in very good condition. The coffee was working marvelously - I was very alert. Chandrika kept up a up the banter and by 9:30 PM we reached Salem - 4 hours after starting from Bangalore.
Salem was a revelation!! Unlike Bangalore, the roads were crowded with shoppers AND street food vendors even at 9:30 PM. The best thing was that they were all packed with hungry customers - both the "for here" and the "to go" variety. There were all kinds of delicacies - chicken, mutton, "porotta", "kothu porotta", .......... I didn't see any vegetarian fare though. I rued the fact that I had stuffed myself, but I decided to stop by on the way back.
The climb was magical to say the least. Just as we ascending the hill, I shifted to 2nd gear and keep it that way till we reached the top. The road was desolate and pretty scary. At times, we'd catch glimpses of the bustling city below and the light pollution was disturbingly evident. The Bolero negotiated all the 20 hairpin bends like a champ. We reached the hotel, the Grand Palace, at 11:00 PM. We were delayed by a bus that got stuck trying to climb the very steep ascent to the hotel.
The hotel was swank. The lobby was filled with Bangaloreans (several KA registered cars in the parking lot) lounging around or getting ready for a post dinner walk. To my utter dismay, the bar was closed and the waiters refused to serve me - government rules prohibit the sale of alcohol after 11:00 PM in Tamil Nadu. I should have carried my own booze! Chandrika was very hungry. We ordered some dinner and finally hit the bed at 1:00 AM.
The Grand Palace hotel is perched on top of a small hill overlooking the lake. The rear side of the hotel overlooks the beautiful Silent Valley. This is one of the best hotels in Yercaud and a bit pricey too. Our suite costed us 5,000 rupees per night. Service was very good and so was the food. My only regret is that we did not book a valley-facing room - we booked a lake-facing one instead. The lake is almost invisible from the hotel and is too far away. Something to keep in mind for future trips.
View of the Grand Palace hotel from the lake (it's the white building :) )
We woke up on time on Saturday. This was partly because of my alarm that was set for 5:30 AM - my Saturday long run. Breakfast was a sumptuous complimentary buffet of continental and south Indian food. We stuffed ourselves and set out on an impromptu drive through Yercaud.
Yercaud is a very small place and can be traversed on foot. We decided to, in addition to driving aimlessly, chalk out a 10 kilometer running track for me. We drove all morning, stopping here and there to enjoy the sights. We did not carry our cameras. This place did not seem to be mapped in detail on Google maps, so our GPS-enabled phones were completely useless. I did however track out trip using my Garmin running watch.
Aimless drive through Yercaud
So after a nice long drive, we returned to the hotel - without finding any suitable running tracks. The roads were just too crowded and hilly. However, we did pick up a few bottles of beer (surprisingly fresh - June batch).
I was down with a bad cold when we started and it just got worse. I spent the rest of the day under a thick blanket while Chandu enjoyed the scenery outside the window - clouds coming and going revealing stunning vistas. It rained heavily that evening. So, after dinner, we went out on another impromptu drive, albiet a short one.
Clouds coming and going
My cold had gotten worse on Sunday. However, we woke up early and set out on another drive, this time with a camera. We took a different route though and this time we found great running tracks. We also discovered a Saravana Bhavan near the lake. We stopped to have a strong "filter coffee". The only lousy thing about Grand Palace was their "Yercaud Filter Coffee" - an abominable concoction that definitely did not taste like coffee and was so bloody expensive!
Filter coffee at Sarvana Bhavan near the lake
We finally returned to the hotel at 11:30 - we had again driven for over 3 hours. We relaxed a bit and then checked out by 1:00 PM. The hotel allows 24-hour check out on week days. Chandu had lunch while I decided to try my luck with street food in Salem.
Some of the plants we bought for dad
The return drive was pleasant. We bought several plants for my Dad from a nursery near the lake. The descent was scenic and relaxed. I stopped at Salem to have "Special Porotta" and "korma." The food was excellent! The road was busy but we made good progress. We reached Bangalore at 8:30 PM - tired but relaxed!
I loved the photographs...amazing shots...yercaud was an awesome time...amazing weather with peak enveloped with clouds...
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