A Road Tip - Chennai=>Salem=>Yercaud=>Hogenakkal=>Chennai

To start of with, I am writing my latest (i.e)2012 trip experience which was a very memorable one. It was a funfilled road trip from the start till the end. I was accompanied by two of my friends in a car from Chennai and one person came from bangalore directly to Salem.We covered 850kms all around and the trip was planned for three days.

DAY 1:

We started from Chennai at 8:30a.m in the morning filling up the fuel for the car. We took NH 45 - Nagapattinam - Chennai Highway and it was 10:30a.m when we halted for our breakfast at Melmaruvathur.

We started our journey in NH 45 at 11:00a.m from Melmaruvathur and travelling for nearly 2 hours, we took NH 68 - Salem - Ulundurpet National Highway.

Salem: Salem, which is also called Mango city, is located in the North Central part of the state, about 340 kilometres (211 mi) southwest of the state capital Chennai. Salem is the fifth biggest city in Tamil Nadu in terms of population after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trichy respectively. The average elevation is 278 m (912 ft).The city of Salem is surrounded by hills on all sides viz. Nagaramalai to the north, Jarugumalai to the south, Kanjamalai to the west, Godumalai to the east and the Sheveroy Hills to the north east. The Kariyaperumal Hill is situated within the city to the southwest. The Thirumanimuthar river flows through the city, dividing it into 2 parts.Salem in general is characterised with scanty rainfall and a dry climate. Salem has moderate-dry weather throughout except during the monsoon season. Generally the first two months of the year are pleasant, but in March, the mercury gains an upward trend which persists till the end of May. The highest temperature is normally recorded during May. The scanty showers during this period do not provide any relief from the oppressive heat. There is a light improvement in the climate during June–July period. During this pre-monsoon period, the mercury reverses its trend and by August, the sky gets overcast heavily but the rains are meagre. the north-east monsoon sets in vigorously only during September–November and by December, the rains disappear rendering the climate clear but pleasant.

 

We reached salem at 3:00p.m and by the time the other person from bangalore was already there. Had our lunch in Hotel Saravana Bhavan located near the bus stand and we rested in salem till 5:00p.m.Then our travel to Yercaud began.

Yercaud: Yercaud is a hill station in Salem district, in Tamil Nadu, India. It located in the Shevaroys range of hills in the Eastern Ghats; the Yercaud hill area is called the Shevaroy hills. It is situated at an altitude of 1515 metres (4970 ft) above sea level., and the highest point in Yercaud is the Servarayan temple, at 5,326 feet (1,623 m). Yercaud is also called as Jewel of the South. The temperature never rises above 29 °C (84 °F) or goes below 13 °C (55 °F). Coffee and citrus fruits, most notably oranges, are grown in abundance apart from bananas, pears and jackfruit. Scenically, Yercaud is as enchanting and picturesque as the hill stations on the Western ghats and trekking here can be one of the most pleasurable ways to pass time.The range Yercaud situated is Archaeon plutonic rocks of charnokite series, and the these have weathered into the rugged masses of hills. There are three routes up to the hills, the Shevaroys range is covered with green grasses, and has not any considerable growth of forests. Bamboos are grown up to an altitude of 3,000 feet (910 m), and on the higher levels some teak, blackwood and sandalwood are seen. There are about 9,000 acres (36 km2) planted with coffee in the hills.There is a huge planted population of Silver Oak {Grevillea robusta}trees that are part of the coffee cultivation estates..The climate of Yercaud is moderate. Winters are fairly mild, starting in September and ending in December. During winter, the hills are covered in mist. Winters range from 12 °C to 25 °C, and Summers from 16 °C to 30 °C. Rainfall is 1500–2000 mm. The coffee bushes blossom in April and offer a spectacular view. The climate is also particularly pleasant.

We took the SH 188 Yercaud road of Salem - Yercaud Ghat road.

The journey from Salem to Yercaud was just an hour's drive with 20 Hair pin bends. We enjoyed the drive and as the altitude was going higher and higher, the weather was cold. At 6:00p.m,we reached Yeracud. The Tamil Nadu tourism hotel was booked in advance as we were there on a weekend.

By the time we checked in to our room, it was 6:45p.m. Dropped our bags, make a quick refresh and planned for a visit to some place. First of all, let me list the places that can be visited.

• Lady's Seat
• Pagoda point
• Lake
• Servaroyan Temple
• Kalliyur Falls

There are lot more places to visit, but we visited only these places as we were running out of time.

 

 The lady's seat view at night was the first in our list of places. One can have a spectacular view of twinkling lights of Salem. It was 20 minutes drive from our hotel. We were there at 7:20p.m. The weather was cold and there were no lights at the telescope house. The most beautiful view from the lady's seat were seen. It was a difficult task for taking picture of the view in the normal mode. We used our tripods to hold on the camera. We used Shutter speed priority mode & finally we took a long exposure shot.



Spending time by enjoying the view, we started back to our hotel at 8:00p.m. On the way, we loved to eat hot chilli Bajji's and drink Tea.We were back to hotel at 9:00p.m. Had our dinner and went to bed early as we would have to wake up early the next morning to head to the Pagoda point for sun rise. Day 1 on our trip was successful.

DAY 2:

Alarm rang!! it was 5:30a.m. Waking up early in the morning & getting ready in the cold weather was definitely a tough task. As it was cloudy, the sun rise was not visible. At 6:30a.m ,we reached Pagoda point. It is also called as vantage view point. The mountains and trees were surrounded by fog and mist where we spent more than an hour enjoying the view.

The Sun was slowly peeping out of the sky. It was 7:30a.m, we drove back to our hotel.Our car was almost running out of petrol as we forgot to make a tank fill before climbing the hill. Finally found out a fuel filling station near our hotel and it was the one & only fuel filling station in the hill.so we filled up the tank. We planned to check out our rooms as we have to start to hogenakkal by noon. Handing over the keys, we dumped the luggage in the car.

  

We left hotel at 8:15a.m and had a wonderful breakfast in a small fast food. Our next places to visit were Shervaroyan peak, Bear Caves, Lady's Seat, Kalliyur Falls respectively. As the road to the Bear Caves was damaged due to the earlier rain, visiting that place was ignored from our plan.

Time was very short and hence we hurried to Shervaroyan peak and reached there at 9:15a.m. Had a breathe taking view.

The camera batteries were running out of charge and we decided to get to the reception of the hotel which was vacated by us and charge our batteries. As it would take more than an hour for having an adequate amount of charge, we planned for boating in the lake. It was 10:30a.m we were on a boat ride and the instructor said us to be back at 11:30a.m. pedalling the boat around the lake was amazing. We were having complete fun during the ride. It was 11:40a.m when we returned to the hotel. By the time the batteries were charged which was enough for taking pictures till we reached Hogenakkal. Two more places were left in our visit list (i.e) Lady's Seat in the morning view and Kalliyur Falls. We reached Lady's Seat at 12:00p.m and viewed the beauty of Salem from the peak. One can view the Hairpin bends in the hill.

We ate Cauliflower pakoda's which was hot and crispy. Our watch showed 12:45p.m. The last place to visit in our list was Kalliyur Falls. At 1:00p.m we reached Kalliyur Falls. When we were about to get to the entrance, people there said there was no water. As it was waste of time for visiting the falls, decided to click some pictures where we were and started to Hogenakkal.

 



It started raining heavily as we started our journey to Hogenakkal.

Hogenakkal: Hogenakkal Falls is a waterfalls in South India on the river kaveri. It is located in the Dharmapuri district of the southern Indian state of Tamin Nadu about 180 km (110 mi) from Bangalor and 46 km (29 mi) from Dharmapuri town. It is sometimes referred to as the "Niagara of India". With its fame for medicinal baths and hide boat rides, it is a major site of tourist attraction. Carbonatite rocks in this site are considered to be the oldest of its kind in South Asia and one of the oldest in the world. This is also the site of a proposed project to generate drinking water.The best season to visit is soon after the monsoons, when the river is in full spate. But some tourists prefer to visit during off-season to skip the crowd. The temperature in summer varies between 23–34 °C (73–93 °F) while during the winter it is still pleasant and ranges from 13–27 °C (55–81 °F).

We took the SH 188 Yercaud Ghat road and reached salem by 2:30p.m. From Salem, we took NH 7 - Malur - Hosur - Adiyamancottah road and drove for 1hr 45 minutes. Then driving on SH 60 - Dharmapuri - Hogenakkal road for 3/4 th of an hour, we reached Hogenakkal at 5:00p.m. The room were booked here in advance at Hotel Tamil Nadu tourism. We dropped our luggages in the room and quickly headed to Hogenakkal Falls which was jus 5 minutes walk from our hotel. Two of my friends went to have a shower in the falls while myself and the other were watching the beauty. Around 5:30p.m those two people came back after shower. Started clicking the pictures, we walked through the hanging bridge to see the other side.As it was not a season, not much of water was flowing. however by admiring the falls, we spent there till 6:15p.m.

 It is always a pleasure, having friends beside and making fun all the time. By 6:40p.m we were searching for the vegetarian restaurants but couldn't find any. Finally there was a small road side shop. Had the best dinner there and returned to our room at 8:15p.m. Spending time by uploading the photos, watching movie, making fun were the most memorable one. That night we slept at 12:45p.m. Day 2 was also successful.

DAY 3:

Everyone were so tired and found difficult to wake up. Some how we managed to get ready by 7:00a.m. It was the day which our destination was gonna end. So we planned to visit Hogenakkal once again. We packed our bags and everything was kept ready so that, as soon as we return from falls, we can start our journey. By 7:15a.m we were at falls,moving to all the corners, admiring the beauty and clicking pictures.

Watch showed 9:00a.m. We started moving out from the falls and had breakfast. at 10:30a.m the room was vacated and the luggages were put in the car and hence our return journey started. Driving on SH 60 - Dharmapuri - Hogenakkal road for 3/4th of an hour, we took NH 7 - Malur - Hosur - Adiyamancottah road. We dropped one guy in Krishnagiri at 12:00p.m, as he was heading back to bangalore. From krishnagiri, Driving for 5hrs on NH 4 -Sira Bypass, We reached Chennai at 5:00p.m. Thus it was a wonderful and a memorable road trip.