Until I researched about Yercaud I never felt the urge to go there. However everything changed ever since I planned my two day visit to the Poor Man’s Ooty (That’s how Yercaud is known as). Its just  230 kms from Bengaluru and my pulsar was more than willing to hit the tarmac.

A slight drizzle delayed my start. With the hope that it would stop drizzling once the sun is out, I kick started my pulsar. For a change nature had different plans. It kept on drizzling till I touched Krishnagiri. That was infact a cool wet ride of 80Kms. I did take a couple of tea breaks in between and once the rains stopped, it was a beautiful ride all the way. NH-7 is indeed one of the best national highways in the country. It is wide, smooth and the urge to push the needle up on the speedometer is always there. Being a weekend a lot of holiday-makers were out heading towards their various destinations.

Just before you touch Salem, the Shevaroy hills appear on to your left. Yercaud is a further 30 kms from Salem. The ghat section starts as soon as you leave the Salem town and the monkeys are there all over welcoming you to Yercaud. With a total of 20 hair pin bends it is a beautiful ride up the hill and slowly the mist shows up everywhere.

As soon as I crossed the 17th hairpin bend, the chill breeze hit me and I suddenly found myself biking through the mist. Even though it was a long ride of 6 hours, I never felt tired as the ride was simply amazing. (Thanks to NH-7 and the lovely ghats).

There isn’t much to explore Yercaud other than a few view points and the lake. However the view from those points is mind blowing. All the places are well marked with sign boards and hence you really don’t have to ask the people for the same.

Killiyur falls is a well known waterfall  in Yercaud. The falls are approx. 3kms from the town and you need to walk down further a kilometer from the parking slot. I went down the narrow path a few meters and then climbed back. It was getting cloudy and I did not want to take a risk. I could hear the water falling below, but decided to give it a miss to escape the rain.

From there I headed straight to the lake which is right in the middle of the town. The lake looked serene, but being a weekend it was quite crowded. However boating was fun and I went pedaling for half an hour. Even though Yercaud doesn’t boast of a great shopping market, I did a couple of rounds through the area before heading to my room for a lovely sunset view amidst the clouds.

Next day I left for Sheveroy temple early in the morning. At more than 5300 feet above sea level, this the highest point in the whole of Yercaud. All that you see is just hills surrounding a small temple in the middle.

A deviation of 6kms from the lake will take you to Pagoda point from where you get a wonderful view of the hills and the mist. The winding narrow roads to the point do test your riding skills. It’s a must visit for all coming to Yercaud. I also did visit the Ladies point which is another viewpoint which I should have given a miss as it doesn’t have anything much other than a few monkeys littering around.

With all the viewpoints and misty rides done, I left Yercaud by afternoon and touched Bengaluru by 8pm. That was indeed a long ride and the rain gods wanted to have a little more fun. It poured heavily for 20 minutes while I was crossing the Krishnagiri hills. Without even a shade to rest I decided to take on the rains. I was drenched to the last thread on my body..
Yercaud is a lovely hill station which many people miss out in the midst of Ootys and Coorgs. I am happy that even though a bit late I didn’t miss out on the Poor man’s Ooty

Club Mahindra has a beautiful resort in this hill station where you can just relax.