Yercaud...The Jewel of the South...a.k.a "The poor man's Ooty"

As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged on the shingly beach of a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens.
Stephen Graham - The Gentle art of Tramping (1926).

 


For the incessant "roadie" in me, staying back for 2 weekends in a row at Bangalore wasn't what I had planned for, but then...all in good time I guess!!!

I had decided to make the most of the next weekend, by taking off to Yercaud. Located in Tamil Nadu, about 30 km away, along with my colleagues at work we planned at end of office hours. All bags packed, war gear in tow - Cameras, back packs, booze and abundance of motivation for a drive all night, off we went. The six of us, had decided to have great fun, since Yercaud had quite a bit to offer. Getting out of Bangalore onto the Hosur-Salem highway was a nightmare as usual, with traffic driving me nuts.

We had an awesome dinner at a typical Punjabi Dhaba, just after Hosur. We knew we were in for a fun trip, when Shivajee got us in splits after he went into the ladies rest room, with the girls almost walking in, in tow. Hilarious to say the least!!!

Rotis, Dal fry, Punjabi Chicken & Chettinadu Chicken and Egg Burji was what we all agreed upon. Food was absolutely fantastic, as was the setting - typically "khatiyas" to sit and eat.

Off we headed at the stroke of midnight, with a couple of stops for Chai en route. Shamsu provided the entertainment, having us in splits with his typical "Mallu" accent, Gangnam dance steps, and his amazing singing skills.We reached Yercaud at 3.30 am after an absolutely amazing drive of more than 25 km uphill. Yercaud is about 5000 feet with 20+ lethal hairpin bends. And driving at 2 am, with the city lights of Salem far below was fab. We could feel the weather change at every foot we climbed uphill. After what was an exciting drive, we finally reached Yercaud, and managed to trace our resort, after 30 minutes of being lost in the hills. Off to bed at 4.30 am, everyone was waiting for the fun to unfold the next day.

We were up at 9 am, the girls got up earlier. It was pretty cold in the morning, and all of us were desperate to grab some nice hot chai/coffee and be out in the sun. After a shower and some good breakfast - idlis, pongal, vadas with Chutney and Sambhar, we set off to explore the city. We went up Pagoda Point, enjoyed the view there, climbed trees, and walked around for a long time. What was nice to know was that even at 41, I was able to beat the youngsters at climbing trees, an art perfected when I was a kid, as I climbed up trees in the neighbourhood to pluck guavas and other fruit!

After lunch, at a nice, simple restaurant, we headed back to the resort to grab some shut eye, before we got ready to spend the night over drinks, good food and star gazing. I was going to attempt my first tries at capturing the night sky and the city lights of Salem, several thousand feet below. The evening was spent over vodka, snacks, food, music, dance and several hilarious incidents that unfolded. The sunset at Pagoda Point was awesome, with the sunset and twilight taking the peace and calm to the next level. Nirvana!!!

Bottom line, getting your colleagues and team to bond is such an important thing...and as a people manager, I know the value of what it means. But this I will blog on a more serious and separate note.

The next morning, was spent some great breakfast, similar to the previous day's, and then heading out to the Ornamental Lake, in Yercaud town. The team had great fun in the pedal boats, splashing water on one another. We then headed to Kiliyur falls. It was a very steep descent into a valley, and in 30 minutes time we got a wonderful view of the falls. After several photos of the waterfalls and tea pictures, we started our ascent, which by no means was an easy climb. I did pretty well for a 41 year old to get to the summit, and waited a good 20 minutes before the youngsters arrived. After catching our breath, we then headed off to a restaurant called the Forest Lake, which is what Yercaud means. The setting was perfect; it was a British Raj era venue, high ceiling, period wooden furniture, and a wonderful valley as a view. After a nice Chinese meal of Fried rice, Schezwan chicken, we headed back to the resort and get prepared for our return journey. En route Bangalore, as we came down the hill, we stopped to take a few pictures of Salem. Starting off at 9 pm, we reached Bangalore at 1 am, and after dropping everyone off, I crept into bed, and couldn't sleep for a couple of hours, recollecting the wonderful memories of what was another excellent team outing!

All about waterfalls...

"Nature never goes out of style." - Unknown
 

Having done my research of the "must see places" around Bangalore, I had zeroed in on a few waterfalls I had to go to! I had selected Soochipara in Wayanad, Mallahalli & Abbey falls in Coorg, Hogennakal and Kiliyur in Tamil Nadu. I was still learning the nuances of slow shutter speed, and didnt capture Soochipara in that light, but managed to do so at the others.

Each of the waterfalls had a very unique setting and environment. Soochipara was about a 2 km walk downhill. While the weather was great, I knew that the climb and trek back to my car was going to "knock the breath" out of me. And so it did. It was a steady downward incline, and then you needed to climb up & down a few big rocks, with the help of a rope before you got to the falls. And amazing it was. I hadn't mastered the art of slow shutter speed for capturing waterfalls on this trip, hence some very standard shots.

Mallahalli, I had gone with a few colleagues from work. Different from others, you had to drive going past several tea and coffee estates, before you reached a very desolate spot, park your car and head out for a 2-3 km trek, that went uphill and downhill. Hearing the roar of the water, we were very eager to get our first look. Oh...from about a kilometre away, the water falls tumbled and fell a good few hundred feet. And that's when I realised that you had to go down a km, a very steep descent to get a real close view. The group consensus was to get halfway down there, get a few pictures and then head back to the vehicle. We were glad that we did exactly that as a bunch of unruly boys, with several beer bottles made their way past us. And after getting some very good pictures, we headed back on what seemed an endless & steep climb back to my car.

Abbey falls was a treat as well. I drove into Madikeri and then took a winding route that went up and down before reaching the parking lot at the falls. Getting to the falls was a nice 1 km walk, forest and hills all around. I got a really good shot of a big snail on a tree, and then the magnificent falls appeared. I spent a good hour there, getting some great pictures, before I started my walk back.

Hogenakkal was amongst the best falls I had actually been to & seen. "Smoking Rocks" as it means, was literally that way it was. While the inflows weren't as much, it was still an absolutely outstanding sight. The Cauvery river flows into a gorge, and it gives the effect of a mini Grand Canyon. It is often referred to as the Niagara of India. I had learnt the art of capturing waterfalls with very slow shutter speeds, and the pictures here make me pretty satisfied with what I claim was a very good attempt to do so.

Kiliyur Falls in Yercaud was an excellent sight as well. It was a pretty steep descent downwards, and that took its toll as I climbed back to the car. You had to descend a good kilometre downhill, and at several places, it was a 75 degree incline, which you realised was pretty tough on your way up. The waterfalls here fall from a height of 300 feet. While close up captures were great, getting the entire drop was a challenge, as there was a huge tree right in front, and the pictures weren't great. Nevertheless the attempt to showcase the beauty of the place was important.

The Pandher Pauni encounter...

"There is just something spectacular about seeing wildlife in its natural environment that thrills us and helps us better understand the exotic cats in our care." - Arun Kejriwal
 

Tadoba has always been generous with sightings as far as I am concerned. Of course others have had the opportunity of seeing kills, chases etc, and all in good time before I capture similar events. But then I have extremely luck to capture some brilliant moments with my favourite Big Cat...The Tiger!

This was the summer of 2012, on the 1st weekend of April. Temperatures were soaring into the mid 40s, and for a tiger lover and spotter, this is bonanza time. Off I was with my group, the first vehicle into Tadoba. Having done some excellent ground work with my guide Raju, we knew we were in for a treat at Pandher Pauni. I have been chasing the 4 cubs and their mother for many months, but didn't end up with what I would have termed an excellent sighting.

But that morning, I knew with all the groundwork & homework being were we in for a special treat. Everyone one else were doing their rounds in the Moharli range at TATR, but I decided to head to Pandher Pauni, the main waterhole in the Tadoba range. We had waited for about 20 minutes, and then we started hearing the calls of Chital and Peacocks. After a bit, there was a Sambhar call. And when you head a Sambhar call, it most certainly is a Big Cat. And in seconds, we saw this semi adult come thru the grass, all camouflaged in the undergrowth. He walked into the waterhole had a drink, and looked back, knowing very well he was putting up a good show.

As luck would have it, he walked back in our direction, & came right up to where our gypsy was parked and settled down for about an hour. He was seated at about 15 feet away, looking curiously at all of us. I had a couple of first timers with me, who were very excited, and at the same time were slightly scared. Anyone would if they came face to face with A full grown Tiger at the distance we were at. And within no time, word spread and several other vehicles came and parked up. Of course no one had the vantage point like we did. But the amount of noise and chaos the other vehicles and visitors had created, the Tiger got disturbed and walked away. I ended up getting some fantastic pictures. And the best I had ever clicked!