Yercaud- Paradise Lost, Parasite Found!


A weekend is too short or long depending on whether you’re in office or not. A fortnight back, wife n I decided on a quick exile to the hilly confines of Yercaud (220 km from Bangalore). Hopes of simple living, high thinking led us to the TTDC resort (Tamilnadu Resort), more like last resort in retrospect.
Our room supposedly a super deluxe cottage had heritage bathrooms and lots of fauna to boot. The ‘heritage bathroom’, we discovered, was heritage because it hadn’t been cleaned since Rajaraja Chola rode that way many a century ago. It was dimly lit; almost as if it wanted to go unnoticed, in shame. Hot water was confined to within the large sized geyser and didn’t quite manage to find its way out of the tap. Cold water was full of self doubt and made sporadic appearances, making bathing a dry and wet affair. The room had flowery curtains which made you wonder if someone in the vicinity had been relieved of their worn out clothes. Fauna included snails, spiders, grasshoppers and some variety which is exclusive found there. The only saving grace to the place was that it had a gate through which you could escape as easily as you came in. We cut our two day booking short and ran out as fast as we could to the safe confines of Hotel Grand Palace.

Yercaud, is only a day long stay unless you have the compulsive habit of visiting places twice. It takes 20 hair pins to get there, I enjoyed counting them, but you might not especially if you get motion sick. Salem is the closest railhead, mere 30 km away. Yercaud offers views from various perches and not much more. If you’re a hill freak then this place is for you. Trust the local cab guys to take you to a local temple first and then all over. Montfort School was one non hilly landmark that we visited, our driver telling us about how a certain South Indian actor had studied there. Overall it’s not full of spectacular views but has enough to keep you interested and more than enough to make you feel good at the end of it.

Post Script:We've got bitter memories of the hotel and what came free as parting gift from them was a Malarial parasite package for a couple. We're still recuperating.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Just read your blog. Was planning to go to Yercaud in next couple of weeks.
How is the Hotel Grand Palace ?

Any idea on other hotels there ?
November 04, 2007 2:06 pm
Ajith said…
Hi vinod...Grand Palace is a decent hotel...abt 1500 bucks a night...its well located overlooking a valley, try to get a valley facing view room...
Hotel Grand Palace has a website through which you can book!
November 04, 2007 3:41 pm
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