Yabbering about Yercaud and Hogenakkal...

Date: 24th and 25th May 2008

Crew: My mom, Archana’s mom, Archana, Ritz, Khushboo and Me

Route: Bangalore>> Hosur>> Krishnagiri>> Salem>> Yercaud>> Salem>> Dharmapuri>> Hoggenekkal>> Hosur>> Bangalore

The planning: started as soon as I got to know that mom and Ritz are coming to Blr. Their tickets weren’t confirmed till the time the train came. So we couldn’t even do an advance planning of where to go…well we had some options…Chickmagalur, Munnar and Yercaud…finally we decided on Yercaud… but the problem was that till their tickets are finalized, we can’t book the hotel… the worst thing was since it is vacation season there weren’t any hotels left… we hardly had any options…so as soon as mom and ritz was in train…Archana booked the hotel immediately…so yess…now our trip was finalized…only cab was left and that wasn’t very difficult… so on the day of our trip it was decided that the cab will first come to my place at 5 am and from there we will pick up Archana and then Khushboo and shall be out of Blr by 6…but but but…that cabbie wasn’t able to find my place…so had a tough time explaining him the route…why…well he didn’t understand either English or Hindi and I didn’t understand Kannada! So you can very well imagine…so at 5.30 we left my place and by the time we picked up Khushboo, it was already 7…by that time the traffic on Bangalore was bad!

Even before we could cross the Bangalore border, Archana began feeling hungry… we gave her biscuits etc. so that it will keep her occupied for some time…anyways after crossing Hosur, we halted at one Reliance A1 restaurant… the best bet at a South-Indian hotel is always Idlis and dosas…this is what experience has taught me! So even here, we ordered idlis and vadas and dosas with tea of course….after the breakfast, we resumed our journey to Yercaud… the landscape and the scenic beauty around was awesome… the roads were very smooth, but our driver didn’t cross 100kmph…so we were actually running behind schedule! Anyways…we had a nice journey…again the solace was Ritz CD which we used even during our Madhugiri trek… it had more than 90 songs…lasted our whole round trip!!! A hearty thanks to Ritz!

We reached Yercaud at around 1230 via Krishnagiri and Salem. There were 20 Hair-Pin bends from Salem to Yercaud…and each bend was an event…we clapped and cheered as each bend passed… I know it would sound childish…but who cares! Checked in the hotel (M.M. Holiday Inn), freshened up, had tea and was ready for the tour of the town…

But first, we were all starving…so after searching a couple of hotels, we landed up at Shevaroys Hotel,(sounds like some Oberoi…isn’t it…but it’s nowhere neat it…so don’t raise your hopes!!!) the place was ok…food was also manageable…but service was very slow…poorly managed place!
So after having lunch, we went to the the lake… well, this place was so crowded that it took us half an hour to get the tickets… the people here were “ ghooroing” us as if we were from some other planet!

Anyways, we took two boats…one 4-seater and the other two-seater which Ritz and Archana occupied. I and Khushboo paddled the other boat. Had a great time…a good half an hour boat ride…numerous photos…wow what a scene it was…a lake surrounded on all the sides by mountains…covered with trees… just awesome…there was a children’s park just besides the lake…from another side of the lake we had a beautiful view of Yercaud zoo….and also we managed to see a water snake in the lake…light green in color…about a foot long!!

After the lake trip, we came out, Ritz wanted a candy floss… so all of us posed with the candy and had snaps taken [:)]… then Ritz and Archana went to an aquarium….we didn’t have the energy to check that out…the place was a bit stingy and smelly…so we opted out…

After the lake, we headed towards Lady’s Point…. No no…don’t add wings to your ideas…this is just a sunset point! Why is it called Lady’s point…well even I don’t have any idea! But the view was good… there were a lot of monkeys here! Here we had juicy pineapples…needless to say shot some photos…then about half a km up the hill there was Gents Point… (Again don’t ask the relevance of the name.) From here we could see 6 out of the 20 Hair pin bends! the sun set from here looked amazing…

While returning we stopped at a couple of local perfume shops which the others wanted to see…and then went to a nursery….oh god….the flowers here were amazing….most of them I had seen for the first time!! I saw dog-flower there…which I had not seen since ages…I guess the last time I played with this flower was when I was 13 years old! Lovely flowers!

From there we explored a restaurant called Lake Forest Hotel (which was a heritage hotel)…where the tagline said was… “From here on….. Insects, Birds, Animals, Have First right of way…. !!!” We asked the manager when the restaurant shuts down and he said…during weekends it is 930 pm…we were surprised… I mean how come so early…he gave me a smile and said….madam, this is Yercaud, here people sleep at 730! Lake Forest Hotel was a beautiful theme restaurant whose theme was Britain in 1930’s…all the furniture, and interiors had those themes…be it the grandfather clock or the gramophone or the rolling camera or the cutlery or the music! The food wasn’t that great…but definitely better than what we had for lunch…

So from here we headed back to our hotel….no no…the day didn’t end here…after reaching home till 1230 am, we played cards. Archana taught mom, Ritz and Khushboo how to play Shanghai…a game which we always played whenever we had a get together!!! Thought that was the end of the day…wrong again…till around 2 am, me and Khushboo were chatting…chatting about you know who to you know whats! Gosh…at 2 in the night, we were laughing like maniacs… then we realized that we have to get up early the next morning….5 am to be precise…why???? Well to see the sun rise!!!

Managed to drag myself out of the bed at 520…left the place at 540 and went to Pagoda Point…hey hey hey…its not Pakoda point…read it again…its Pagoda point!! The view from here was amazing…the color of the sky, the color of the mountains, the field below…the amber color of the sun behind the clouds…wow…it was beautiful! After spending around half an hour there, we returned to our hotel, got ready to check out, had sandwiches as breakfast and checked out of the hotel by around 930!

From there we went to a temple called Servaroyan Temple which was on set atop the highest point in the hill town, inside a small cave!
From there we headed for Killiyur waterfalls…after reaching there, we had to trek for around 250 meters…there we came to know that to reach the base of the falls we had to walk another half-a-kilometer and the water wasn’t much and it wasn’t really worth going…so we decided, that instead we will go to Hoggenekkal falls and enjoy there… So by around 1030 we started our descend from Yercaud…again the same 20 Hair Pin bends then Salem… at around 1230 we reached Dharampuri where we had lunch and after that a paan…wow…I had paan after a very long time…and it was good…

From there, Hogenekkal was around 1 hour…so we were just waiting for it to come…at around 2, we reached Hogennakkal…was really excited…got down and after much haggling took the boat…well... It’s actually called a coracle (circular basket boats) …we were 6 ppl plus the boatman ….ooof..that person cheated us like hell…don’t want to write the details here…but if you plan to visit the place, please make sure that whether he is going to stop at the end so that u can get into the water and enjoy or will he charge extra…coz with us he tried to act smart and even though he charged Rs. 500 for the one hour ride, he asked for Rs. 300 for the stop…we got so pissed off by this “cheater-cock”….so we decided not to get off there….anyways…let’s talk about the good things…well the best part of the boating was when the boat is just below the waterfall…wow…the pressure with which the waterfalls on your head…on your back…is just awesome…it can’t be explained….it HAS to be experienced…initially when the boatman asked us whether we wanted to go there…we were a bit skeptical… Archana and Aunty were like…no…we don’t want to go in the waterfall…mom and Ritz were neutral…then me and Khushboo looked at each other and our eyes twinkled…and we both said….WE WANT TO GO….PLEASE!!! After some persuasion, everyone agreed but with a condition that the boat will be taken under the fall in such a manner that the water majorly fall on only the two of us…and there we went….oh my God!! Kya experience thaa…we enjoyed like hell….and will cherish the feeling forever…after that we went for the 45 mins ki boat ride…an amazing thing we saw there…small kids were jumping from the great height of around 100 ft into the water….and the most surprising thing was…that this they were doing for a mere Rs 2 per jump….amazing…what life makes us do for survival…and we crib that life doesn’t treat US well…just look at these kids …maximum 7-8 years of age… for Rs 2 risking their lives for survival…you won’t crib about the challenges which life poses in front of you once you see them!

After 45 minutes and after the argument with the boat waala, we told him to take us below the falls once again…arey…paise toh wasool ho! So went there again and just loved it!!!
From there we came back to our destination and then posed for some photos near the falls….totally drenched and tired at the same time, but decided that to immediately start off our journey back to Bangalore…with a halt for tea where we could also change…me and Khushboo were totally drenched…others weren’t wet that much…so we started on our way back…but couldn’t find even a single hotel on the way back…after crossing Hosur, we stopped at a hotel, by that time, we were almost dry and didn’t even have the energy to change…it was already 7…and we didn’t have the energy to go home and cook again, so had an early dinner there itself which consisted of dosa and idli and coffee and tea etc.etc.

From there it took around 45 minutes to reach home…dropped Archana and Aunty first followed by Khushboo and then us….A wonderful experience!!