I never ventured on trips by road which called for more than 4 hours drive. The main reason being my fear of speed on highways, especially the speed with which men drive. Considering the fact that it is India and we have different kinds of people with varied moods and behaviour (the don't care attitude), it becomes extremely difficult to be "safe" even though you try your best to drive safely. Anyways, after some sort of an understanding (on the speed limit) with my hubby who was going to drive, we set out on our trip to Yercaud.
We drove through Poonamallee, Sriperumbudur, Vellore, Krishnagiri (where you have to turn left for Dharmapuri), Salem and then Yercaud. The climb up was pretty OK. There are about 20 hairpin bends but we were able to reach our resort in 40 mns.
I think the best of properties in Yercaud is Hotel Lake Forest (500mts from the Lake). The rooms are really good with antique furnitures. Yercaud in itself does not have many "popular sight-seeing" places but one needs to enjoy nature and the drive through the woods. It is best to have one's own mode of transport in Yercaud as public transport didn't look too great. As for food, there are not too many places where you can enjoy good food.
Some of the interesting places could be the Montford school and just behind that "The retreat" (a college with a good view of Salem city), the drive through the woods while climbing up to Annamalai temple, drive through the teak forest etc. Word of caution - the road is very narrow to the temple. If you happen to see another vehicle on the opposite side, you have to be ready to go reverse gear downhill and find yourself a place to park to let the opposite vehicle go. Boatride on the lake would be another good option in the evenings. The children would especially love that.
While coming back from Yercaud, our Club Mahindra staff at Lake Forest asked us to try another route which he said would be more interesting and lively compared to the one we took to reach Yercaud. From hills take the road to Pallipatti, Harur, Uttangarai, Kunnathur, Tiruppathur and then Vaniyambadi. This route goes through many villages, so you have a good scenic view and some action. From Vaniyambadi, you are back on the NH4.
On the whole the trip was quite memorable !
