A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud

Tripoto
5th Feb 2015
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 1/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
View from the Ladies seat
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 2/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
Yercaud Lake
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 3/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
Loop road
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 4/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
Valley view room
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 5/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
Valley view room 2
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 6/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
View from the balcony
Photo of A Trip to Poor man's Ooty, Yercaud 7/7 by Deepti Joshi Luthria
Sky walk bridge

With the hectic lifestyle people lead today all of us need a break... We needed one too... and so we were off to a place we usually go to when all we want is to rest, relax and rejuvenate our minds.. Yercaud....

Yercaud is situated at around 240 kms from Bangalore in the Shevaroy Hills. Its often referred to as "Poor man's Ooty" or as the Queen of the Shevaroys.

We started off pretty late on a Thursday morning at around 7 am from our home in Bangalore. The route taken was Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Dharmapuri - Salem - Yercaud. The roads are excellent and even with a breakfast break (~45 mins) and a small detour in Salem we reached Yercaud by 11:45 am. You have to be extremely careful maneuvering the hair pin bends and most importantly dodging the monkeys. There are just too many Monkeys around.....

Once you reach Salem and start climbing the 20 hairpin bends, a kind of calmness comes over you. I guess its just the fact that we were leaving a stressful life behind for a few days ... This is our third trip to Yercaud and all the 3 times we have stayed at the GRT Nature Trails resort, It located right at the end of the 20th Hairpin bend and offers extremely beautiful views of the valley. Especially in the nights, its a treat to watch the lights coming on in Salem.

Coming to the hotel we stayed in, GRT nature trails is one of the best hotels in Yercaud. There are different types of rooms to cater to different types of people.

We generally prefer staying in the Valley View room. We have tried the pool view and the panorama rooms before but the views are almost the same from any room. Plus the fact that the terrace and the Skywalk near the dining area is generally where you spend most of your time, the Valley view room is a good deal.

Sky walk is a glass bridge in the resort from where you can actually see down the valley.

The resort has a swimming pool and a lot of indoor games to keep you occupied throughout the day.

Now coming to the food at the resort. The Salem heights, is the multi-cuisine restaurant in the resort. It also has a bar ( Salem Rocks) attached to it. The food is pretty good and the service is excellent. We tried the north Indian and Chinese cuisine mostly and found the food to be pretty good. On major holiday weekends they do have a buffet for lunch and dinner. The breakfast is complimentary and is by far one of the best we have had during all out travels.

Since this was our third trip to Yercaud, we didn't do a lot of sight seeing but if one is interested then they can visit the following places.

1. Yercaud Lake: This is in the center of yercaud and is the biggest tourist attraction. However, try to avoid going in the evenings as it is super crowded.

2. Ladies , Gents and Children view point: These are about 1-2 kms of each other and at various altitudes.

3. Pagoda point : Just another view point.

4: Shevroyan temple

5. Killiyur falls : Only for people who can trek and only in the monsoons ( Might be closed in monsoons)

6. Loop road: This is a 13-14 km road which just passes through a lot of estates and villages and is just a beautiful drive around.

I have heard that there is a botanical garden that has come up but haven't been there.

Overall, Yercaud is the place to go to when you just need to get out of the hustle bustle of Bangalore and want to just relax. I strongly recommend the GRT nature trails resort to stay. The other options are Club Mahindra Lake forest and the Grand Palace Resort and Spa.

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