Yercaud Visit - A Perfect Getaway for a Blissful Weekend

Thursday, November 21, 2019

I just came back from a five days trip from Sri Lanka and was not planning to visit anywhere till November 2019 due to my sister's marriage! Fortunately, one of my friend's marriage was also fixed for December 2nd which I would not be able to attend. Since he lives in Chennai and I was in Madurai, we decided to meet before his marriage somewhere in between the two cities. Initially, we were exploring all hill stations that comes between Madurai and Chennai and made a small list including Yelagiri, Kalrayan Hill Forests, and Yercaud.

After exploring all these places in detail and getting reviews from my Madurai friends, we finalized Yercaud as our go-to place! I booked an overnight train Banglore Express which departs at 11:50 pm from Madurai and reaches Salem Junction at 3:30 am. Salem junction was very clean and the platform was literally shinning!

Shining Platform at Salem Junction

I reached on time. My friend's bus from Chennai was scheduled to reach 6 am at Salem New Bus Stand. I had 2.5 hours to kill and there was no sign of sleep! I took an auto to reach the bus stop. I had a few cups of tea and explored the bus station. Again, following "Swachch Bharat Abhiyan", the area was clean at most of the places but still, few points were stinking due to pee in open. That stink was the worst part actually! I was calling my friend since I boarded the train but his phone was switched off. I tried calling him multiple times from the bus stand as well but wasn't able to reach him. Finally, around 6:30 am I was able to connect to him and he arrived after 30 minutes. 

We went to a nearby shop (Relax Rental Bikes) where we already booked a bike for the weekend. We started from Salem at 7:30 am towards Yercaud. At the starting of the hills, there is a beautiful Shri Arupadai Murugan Temple. We stopped there for ten minutes.

Shri Arupadai Murugan Temple

After starting from the temple we continued our journey towards Yercaud and reached at 8:30 am. We saw beautiful coffee plantations and black pepper trees on our way.

Beautiful Coffee Plantation and Black Pepper Plants

Soon we figured out that most of the Yercaud hills were covered with Coffee plantation and Black Pepper farming. The view on the roadsides was amazing. We had a few stops on the way to take a close look at the coffee plants. It was my first time I was looking for black pepper and coffee plants live! 

Beautiful Coffee Plantation and Pepper plants on the way to Yercaud

Coffee Plant from a closer look

After reaching near Yercaud Lake, we had a nice tea and a couple of Bhajjis. After having our delicious breakfast, I called the hotel owner which I booked from Oyo to ask if I could check in earlier. Unfortunately, I came to know that the owner had canceled my booking and was not taking any more bookings from Oyo. I was very disappointed and a little angry at the same. I started looking for hotels at booking.com and found a good two-star hotel near the lake - Guru Residency and paid INR 1200 for the night for two people but early check-in was denied as the room wasn't ready in the morning.

We got this as an opportunity to visit our first destination in the list - Kiliyur Falls.

Kiliyur Falls - A True Hidden Falls!

Kiliyur Falls is around two kilometers from Yercaud Lake in the lap of nature. To reach the falls, you need to go down around 200 steps. The weather was favorable to take a relaxing bath in the falls. The amount of water flowing down from the falls was also limited but enough to enjoy it! There is a jungle on the other sides of the falls. We took a bath one by one and clicked lots of photos. Since we reached early morning so there was not too much crowd and I was able to get a nice spot under the fall enjoying a natural massage on my shoulders and head. The water was a little cold but I was enjoying it! 

Kiliyur Falls, Yercaud

We spent a couple of hours there before heading back to Yercaud. Coming up was a little harder for us as we had to climb 200 steps and we were already tired due to spending too much time inside water. As we were coming back, the crowd had been increased drastically! I felt lucky that our hotel owner denied check-in otherwise we would also be coming at the same time making us stuck in the crowd and waiting for our turn to go inside the falls.

Kiliyur Falls, Yercaud

After coming back, we headed to our hotel and took a quick nap! After waking up, we were very hungry and planned to go out for lunch. Since my friend is a pure vegetarian, I also decided to have vegetarian only. We found a very nice restaurant nearby - Malar Pure Veg on the Lovers Ln. 

Beautiful Flowers and Plants in Lake View Park 

After having heavy and delicious meals followed by a nice piece of Pie, we were feeling lazy and drowsy! To take some rest while enjoying the weather, we decided to go to Lake View Park. The entry ticket for the park is INR 30 per person. The park is very beautiful from inside and well maintained. 30 rupees for this park were worth it! Many colorful flowers were blooming with a nice panoramic view of the Yercaud Lake glittering by the sunlight!

Lake View Park, Yercaud

People were enjoying different kinds of boat rides in the lake - pedal boat, Shikara boat, and the fast motorboat! We planned to come back to the lake and enjoy boating in the cold weather. As we were resting in the park, suddenly, heavy rain had started. We did not have an umbrella with us. We took shelter under a tree that kept us dry for some time but with the heavier rain, it could not help much! We were sticking to the tree or changing our locations trying to figure out the driest place. After some time, the rain slowed down and we immediately took our bike and returned to the hotel!

Panoramic Lake View from Lake View Park, Yercaud

Beautiful Evening and Unforgettable Sunrise at Manjakuttai Viewpoint

The Evening

We resumed our trip after a short nap in the heavy rain. Initially, we planned to visit Karadiyoor Viewpoint which is 8 km north from Yercaud but due to heavy rainfall, the final road to the hill was broken and closed. We had to come back from the last turn. While coming back we decided to visit the Manjakuttai viewpoint which was on our way to towards the Yercaud lake.

Manjakuttai was very calm. There were hardly four people at that point in the evening. We grabbed a tea and went to the top of a small viewpoint tower. The sky was almost clear and the view in front of me was astonishing! I could see all the mountains on the east side. There was a flock of beautiful and colorful birds singing in the sky! We also did some adventure trying going down the hill but it is not safe to do so. We spend an hour there.

Evening view at Manjakuttai viewpoint

It was almost 5 pm and sunset is best viewed from the west side of the hill station which includes the famous - Lady's Seat, Gents Seat. The sunset time for the day was around 5:30 pm and we were 9 km away which could take up to 30 minutes! We started in a hurry and reached at the Gents Seat by 5:25 pm! Sadly, there were lots of clouds on the west side and we could not enjoy a nice sunset.

Cloudy Sunset from Gents Seat, Yercaud

Back for Sunrise at Manjakuttai

We had already lost the sunset due to clouds. We decided to go back to Manjakuttai early in the morning to witness the amazing sunrise! We started from our hotel to Manjakuttai at 5:20 am and reached by 5:40 am. The sun was still in the lap of the mountains! We could now see the beautiful "red" color of the sky! There were a few clouds too. Because of the low clouds, mountains and red hot color of the sky, the view was giving a resemblance to a known view that can be seen from an early morning flight!  

The morning flight view from the Manjakuttai viewpoint

By the time the sun was coming up, tourists starting gathering around to enjoy the most beautiful sunrise! It was the perfect sunrise! yes, perfect! There were minimal clouds, the sun was coming up slowly out of the mountains! If you visit Yercaud, then you must visit Manjakuttai early in the morning to be the eyewitness of this beautiful unforgettable moment!

Perfect sunrise at Manjakuttai viewpoint

Shevaroy Temple Viewpoint

The sun was now totally up glaring on us with the warm rays feeling us comfortable. The next viewpoint Shevaroy Temple. It is 4 km from the Manjakuttai viewpoint. We headed towards the Shevaroy temple from there. The view on the way to the temple was spectacular and mesmerizing! Hills were very clear with a very light layer of the clouds covering the blue sky was giving a feeling of snow over there! Other than us, there were a couple of more bikes only. Due to the minimal crowd, the whole place was very quiet and peaceful!

Amazing clouds from Shevaroy Temple

Since it was very early, the temple was still closed and planned to be opened by 6:30 am. There was an entry fee for any outside vehicle. We paid INR 10 for our bike parking. We spent around 25 minutes there embracing the view and then returned back to the hotel at 7:30 am.

Our ride towards the Shevaroy Temple viewpoint

Flying Fox Zip-Line at Grange TreeTop Adventure

After checking out our hotel room, we planned to cover a few more places before coming back to Yercaud. The next main stop was Pagoda Point. On the way to this viewpoint from the Yercaud, there is a famous adventure sports camp - Grange TreeTrop Adventure where they offer different kinds of activities for both adults and kids which includes Zip-Line, Rope Walking and many more. We both did a Zip-Line activity. 

Grange TreeTop Adventure Home, Yercaud

Initially, I was not sure if I would be able to do this activity but "darr ke aage jeet hai" (The win is just next to the fear! ). We both did zip-line which was just 30 seconds each but it filled us with lots of energy and confidence! The activity was very cheap. We paid INR 300 per head for one activity. There is a coffee house near the activity park where you can have a nice sip while planning to finalize your activities for you or your friends or family!

Pagoda Viewpoint

After riding the bike for another 15 minutes, we finally reached the Pagoda viewpoint. There is a lot of space for bike and car parking near the place and there is not any parking fee or entry fee to the point. The main view from the point was the Coffee Estate and a small village in the valley! There was a small temple in the valley which was looking beautiful and tiny from the top! Earlier, there were a lot of clouds which were blocking the view from the top but later it got cleared! 

Beautiful Valley from the Pagoda viewpoint

There is a small Lord Rama temple at the viewpoint giving you a feeling of devotee if you reach the viewpoint in the morning! We have a couple of snacks as well at the point. If you are interested, there is a facility of Anti Terrain Bikes (ATBs) to enjoy the mountain land of the hills!

ATB rides and temple at Pagoda viewpoint

Pagoda viewpoint, Yercaud

Overall, the experience of the viewpoint was amazing! We had enjoyed our time and were satisfied. 

We were looted a little at the Pagoda viewpoint!

As soon as we reached the parking place, a person was selling sweet corns rushed towards us offering some sample sweet corns to taste and park our bikes. He forced us to take some of the corns and asked us to buy one or two cups of the corns during return. He also pushed our bike near his stall mentioning that he was taking care of it. He told us that the price of one cup is INR 10. When we came back the person asked us to buy the corn cup. As a courtesy, we decided to purchase two cups of corn. After eating, he asked us to pay INR 100 telling us that each sweet American corn cup was of INR 50 each. My friend and I were looking at each other faces and were in shock about this 500% price hike!! Anyways, we did not have any proof of INR 10 so we had to pay INR 100 for two cups of the corns!!

Now we were almost out of the places to visit in Yercaud as this is a very small hill station and were planning to go do boating but we kept it as our last option since we have already done boating at lots of different places like Kodaikanal, India Gate and other hill stations like Munnar!

While going to Tipperary we came across the famous Titch Square at Yercaud.

Titch Square, Yercaud

Hidden Viewpoint of Tipperary

Tipperary is a hidden viewpoint in the southeast area of the Yercaud. While looking for more places to visit in Yercaud we discovered it. Since we had a bike so we did not think twice and visited this place asap! After reaching there, we found that most of the activities at this viewpoint are held at a private property which can only be accessed by paying a decent amount of money which includes - camping in the night, jungle safari, bison watching, viewpoint, and other activities.  

We found a small route next to the property going at the top of the hill to the Tipperary viewpoint. We trekked for a few hundred meters to reach the viewpoint. The place was very quiet and only a few people were there at the top. We planned to go further but due to the fresh marks of Bison, we decided not to move further up as we did not know much about that place and there was not any guide to help us.

Trekking to Tipperary Viewpoint

The Rose Garden  

We still had a lot of time to spend in Yercaud. Though it is not a rose season we still decided to visit this place to see some natural rose plants. Rose Garden is nearby Ladie's Seat. The entry ticket per person was INR 30. It is a very big place with lots of small rose gardens in it and a couple of nice viewpoints on the other side of the park. 

As I said, it was not the rose season, there were a few gardens at the entry which were full of roses but other gardens inside the park did not have any roses. Most of the place was properly maintained except for a few small areas. 

Rose Garden, Yercaud

Rose Garden, Yercaud

We took a tour of the whole garden in around 40 minutes. Since we had time, we sat down in a shelter at the top of the garden to take some rest and embrace the peace! 

There is a small open canteen in the middle of the park where you can grab a nice tea, and some quick bites including delicious ice cream. We also had a nice cup of tea with some Bhajjis.

A pre-wedding photoshoot was going on near our shelter catching a lot of crowds. The "to be" a bride and groom were wearing and changing different types of clothes, jackets, stalls for different photos! :p

View from the top at Rose Garden

It was around 4 pm in the evening. We came out of the garden and headed back to Salem. It takes a maximum of one hour to reach Salem from Yercaud. On the way back, we purchased fresh black pepper for home use.

1008 Shiva Temple in Salem

Our bus and train back to our homes were scheduled for late in the night. We looked for places to visit in or nearby Salem and found a temple 1008 Shiva Temple which is around 17 km southwest of Salem on the way to Erode in Ariyanoor. The ratings for this temple were good that helped us to finalize our next destination. While coming down, we made a stop at a restaurant to grab lunch/dinner (we did not have any heavy food in the day).

The Temple

It is a large holy place with a set of multiple big shrines. The whole place is surrounded by small 1008 Shiva Lingam temples and named 1008 Shiva Temple. The temple is built on a hillside near the highway hence accessible easily and can be seen from the road during the daytime. 

There were beautiful shrines of Lord Hanuman, Nav (Nine) Mahalakshmi,  God Murugan, and the main temple of Arunachala Sundareshwar with the Lingam of height 18 feet. The place is very calm and peaceful. No photography is allowed inside the Sundareshwar temple.

Exit road of 1008 Shiva Temple

Since we did not have much time, we spent only 30 minutes. To embrace the full beauty of the temple, try to visit during day time. It can take up to an hour to visit all the shrines in the vicinity. 

Lord Hanuman Shrine, 1008 Shivam Temple

Main Gopuram under construction at 1008 Shiva Temple

This was our last place to visit before going back to our homes. Since my train was scheduled earlier than his bus, he dropped me first at the train station and returned the bike. We had a delicious glass of Badam Milk before parting our ways!

With my friend Siddharth!

Please let me know your reviews and experiences of Yercaud's visit in the comments! Thanks for reading my blog 😊