Last weekend, we planned a trip to Yercaud, a hill station in Tamil Nadu, India. There were close to 40 of us on this trip, so we booked an entire bus for ourselves.
The journey from Bangalore to Yercaud was close to 6 hours, including a lunch break.
After checking into our hotel, The Great Indian Holidays, we set out to explore the town. The hotel itself is wonderful and affordable, with individual 'villas', each having four rooms. The hotel also has a swimming pool and a restaurant. Breakfast was included in the booking. The hotel also has a few outdoor activities like zip lining that they arrange at an extra charge.
For lunch, we stepped out into town, exploring what was near the hotel. We ate a tiny cafe called Eggetarian (limited vegetarian and vegan options). After this, we set out to a sunrise point, locally known as ________. Though we got there late afternoon and didn't get to see the sunrise, the view is still stunning and the place is usually quite deserted.
People are allowed to enter only upto a certain point, after which there is a fence. However if you ask the caretaker politely, he may just allow you to cross this barrier. The sun had set by the time we left this place, so we headed back to the hotel where the staff were happy to start a bonfire and serve dinner outside so we could sit by the fire.
If you're not tired yet, lie down by the villa and look up at the stars; on a clear night you'll see a million.
The next day, a bunch of us woke at 5am, to trek to the nearby Shevaroy Hills to catch the sunrise. We reached the hills by rickshaw (they from around 5.30am) and trekked for about 30 minutes uphill and found ourselves a nice spot to view the sunrise.
The sunrise was spectacular, the sky was the perfect canvas and we could see every color of the rainbow as the sun began to rise from behind the farthest hills.
After viewing the sunrise, we walked back downhill and returned to the hotel by rickshaw (it may be difficult to find one near these hills in the morning).
After breakfast at the hotel, we went to the hub of this town, which is the lake. It's about $1.50 (₹110) for two if you want to use a peddle boat for about 20 minutes. If you're hungry, there is plenty of roadside food beside the lake. The roasted corn on the cob and the Gobi 65 (spicy fried cauliflower) were especially tasty. If a bigger meal is what you're looking for, there are a couple of small eateries at walking distance from the lake. Beside the lake is the Deer Park which is a nice place for an evening stroll.
Yercaud is still a partially hidden spot and while there isn't much to do here, it's a lovely weekend getaway, especially if you're visiting Tamil Nadu.
This post was originally published on Two Thrifty Gadabouts.
