Of lakes, hills and roads

For many years I had been thinking of upgrading my car’s infotainment system from nothing to something. But for a lack of priority I kept that in abeyance. I was managing with my phone as a stand-in. With the increasing traffic rowdiness and unpredictable traffic patterns it became important I had to have a decent touchscreen unit installed in my car. Also, the fact that a friend of mine seeded a wild idea in my head. Since I have a car and time on hand, why don’t I go driving out of town. But without a modern infotainment system driving out of city would be no fun. The idea bit me and after scouring various car accessories shops I settled for a tiny accessories shop that was offering the best deal and device right near my house. A quick check for reviews online showed up that the device the shopkeeper was giving me was a worthwhile investment, and way better than those peddled by car dealers and other accessories outlet elsewhere. Without wasting much time I got my car refurbished with a spanking new infotainment system.

But this upgrade came with a pleasant surprise — the device was meant to primarily amp up the sound output. Suddenly the music in my car started sounding like music. I don’t know why I waited ten years to do this! Anyways, now that I could “see” the route better and had good music playing in the car it was time for me to put the next step into action. What fun of having done an upgrade if I was going to waste it by not going on a ride.

A quick search brought up interesting places within short driving of Bengaluru. I picked Yercaud. The weather was right and it was off season. Going here during the week made much sense to escape the boredom of Bengaluru, and touristy crowds.

I started off quite late in the morning, anticipating the office rush to have reduced. To exit the city, I had to drive through the city and its dreaded IT townships, which would be thronging with cars crawling their way into the IT parks. I was spot on with my decision. But God had other plans. I complete miscalculated that being a working day there would commercial truck traffic on the highways.

Midway coffee stop off the meandering highway

Yujing is coffee. Fuel for the drive

The highway laid out like a meandering river and I had to weave through these trucks who like buffaloes would crawl on all available lanes of the highway impeding your speed and progress. But it was all good as I had to be alert all the time, to identify the gaps to squeeze through but also not overspeed.

Weaving through these truck traffic felt like a video game, with the music blaring in the background. It was an exciting drive. I rarely am happy with any expensive purchases I do. But this was one of the best things I bought in recent times.

The pre-monsoon showers had worked its magic on the landscape. All along the highway it was as if nature had laid out a fresh carpet of green. The soothing greens with good music and smooth tarmac made the drive a relaxed one, despite the heavily laden trucks clogging up the roads.

Within a few hours I was driving up the circuitous, hairpin bend laden road up to Yercaud. It was a pleasure driving up with no major traffic on the road. What was interesting was that there were several spots along the climb where one could park their vehicle and enjoy the valley views below.

At one of the view spots along the winding road uphill, filled with hairpin bends

outskirts of Salem in the background

Somewhere along the winding road up

Flowers in bloom

Simian friend

Trust us to do what we aren’t supposed to do. Animal feeding and trashing the place

I reached Yercaud by evening and was expecting major traffic on its winding narrow roads. But being off-season there was hardly any rush or overcrowding on the roads. I checked into my hotel and hit the town once again on foot. The hotel where I stayed was ideally located near the town center. There were a lot of restaurants and local tea shops within walking distance of the hotel. It was a nice walk through a non-crowded Yercaud in the evening. There was one spoil sport though. The acute gas shortage due to the ongoing Iran-US conflicts. Almost everywhere they didn’t have neither the stove burning nor many of the items listed on the menu. They were conserving expensively procured gas. Every eatery had hiked up its prices as well. But that wasn’t going to hold me back from splurging on local eats. I spent some time looking around the lake and taking in the beauty of the place in the setting sun before retiring for the night.

Garden by the lake with the sun behind the horizon

Moon was a tiny spec in the cloudy sky of the evening

There is something magical about the air in the mountains. I woke up fresh to a crisp, bright and clear sunrise. Today was going to be my roaming around day. I stepped out for a quick coffee and breakfast early in the morning. It was a lovely, pleasant walk on empty roads, with a lovely crisp air to breath.

The white clouds, blue sky, tree lined road

Local scenes

Dosa, dosa everywhere

Once I was done with the morning rituals, I was ready to hit the roads of Yercaud to explore it. I started by driving through the serene and tranquil Loop road. It’s a 32Kms long circuitous, looping road around hills, starting at the center point of the city and ending back there. The drive through was mesmerizing, with hardly anyone on the road. The occasional bus would pass by me blaring their loud horn like an elephant’s trumpet.

Start bright and easy to enjoy the views

But go slow…

Of Roads, Gods and Car

Somewhere around the midpoint of the loop I spotted this beautifully placed café. A coffee estate had converted one of their work site into a café. Considering there was no network coverage on this section section of the route, with my music system and navigation gone silent and still, this café was a welcome relief. The only sounds you hear here are those of the leaves rustling in the wind and chirping of birds. Nothing else. No noise or air pollution around.

The beautiful man with long trusses

The thing with Yercaud is a day is enough to drive, eat, drink and view all there is to see in a day. Provided the weather cooperates. I can well imagine how dense and intense this place would be during the wet season, with low hanging clouds. Around the hills of Yercaud are a couple of famous view points from where you can see the hot, dusty plains below. Viewing the plains from up above gives you the feeling that you have come up a few degrees above in life and are presently relaxing while watching the lowly life churn around in the dusty plains below.

The clouds providing some relief to the scortched plains below

Capturing the last golden sunset

With the day done it was time to rest it off and get up fresh for a drive back home. Back to the din and hustle of a city life.