Yercaud: Another Ooty

Tamilnadu is blessed with natural beauty due to presence of Nilgiris and Bangalore is situated at very strategic location from tourism point of view as one can cover all major tourist spots of southern states within 12 hrs. Be it hill stations or beaches. Yercaud is a hill town in Tamilnadu about 260 kms from Bnagalore. One serious suggestion, whenever planning for any of these places on weekend, book your travel and stay in advance.
Most suitable time to visit Yercaud would be post monsoon as greenery would be at peak and one may see mist formation which was absent during our visit in summers. To reach Yercaud one has to reach Salem which is 203 kms from Bangalore. Due to good roads it took our bus only 4 hrs to reach Salem. Thereafter our journey was horrible. Bus to Yercaud was full of people even at morning 4 am. We barely managed seats to sit. Beware of pickpocketers, I could have become a victim but was saved by a co-traveller. We reached Yercaud at 6 am and after that it took us 3 hrs to get a room to stay that too with poor facilities at an amount in which a good resort could have been taken. There are many good resorts but all were booked at that time. We underestimated popularity of the place and found that many people are aware about this place.
I don’t know about the restaurants associated with good hotels but there was no place for good food. All were preparing south Indian meals only and had a long queue waiting outside. In afternoon we had snacks and hired a local auto for site seeing. First place was Sarvnaryan, a cave temple. As per a myth the cave behind the idol of deities went upto Mysore Kaveri. This place has the highest local peak and picturesque view points. Nearby is Bauxite mine. Next place was Rajrajeshwari temple. The famous Botonical garden was closed due to government holiday. Next we went to Rose garden which has some varieties of roses. Near to this place are three different view points at some distance from each other name as children’s seat, gent’s seat and lady’s seat. The final destination was main lake near to our hotel. One can enjoy the boat peddling. Main market is also situated near to this lake. At night we tried a famous local dish Mirchi Bhajji which I will say is a must to try. One fall is also there but it was dried due to summer so we didn’t go there.
Yercaud is full of greenery and people from nearby cities flood this place on weekend. It is famous for coffee gardens, orange gardens and for herbal products which are prepared from locally grown herbs. Hotel booking in advance is a must and many of good hotels also provide transportation facility to pick up from Salem. Best time to visit viewpoints will be early morning as sunlight reduces the clarity of long distance views. Advantage of hiring a taxi would be that you can stop at places for sight seeing and enjoy lush greenery on the way uphill.