A lovable weekend
This time, we decided that we are not going to waste the weekend in Chennai and set out to Yelagiri on Saturday morning. My wife & son, along with 6 of our friends hired a Qualis for the trip which had a very friendly driver too. 
The road towards Bangalore was a pleasure from Chennai and my hands were itching to hold the wheel. I resisted and sat behind having all the fun with friends and Sid. We stopped at Vellore for the breakfast and some of us ate as if that was our destination. Finally, we managed to stop it and set out again towards Yelagiri. My famous nausea didn't haunt me all through the 14 hairpin bends (why are they named after Bharathiyaar, Valluvar, Paari, Ouvaiyyar, etc.?) as we stopped half-way on the hill to catch come nature in our cameras. After driving a little more, we reached Hotel Hills where we had hurriedly booked the rooms on Friday night.
After some rest & refreshment, we just walked across to the boat club and park to have the first glimpse of Yelagiri. Before anything, we munched on some chips and some really sour star-fruits. We took a row boat and went through the circumference of the Punganur lake which was quite scenic, even if you didn't go from Chennai.
After the boat ride and some photos by the lake-side, we went into the park to get back to the child inside us along with Sid. Enjoyed the swing and a few other nursery games and walked around the lake and had some nice clicks. We then walked back to the hotel for the lunch which was good enough at a hill station. After that, the child inside us wanted more as we saw a play area inside the hotel. All of us had a whale of a time there for about an hour as we saw the clouds settling down for a pelt and pushed us indoors. Some Twenty20 cricket and some movies helped us for a while, as the pack of cards took over till late in the evening. We then moved to our respective rooms for a break and since my little son slept tired, we had to use the room service for dinner. Some more card games followed until midnight and some nice sleep without an air-conditioner after a long time. The one thing that we missed was the movie in the open air theatre inside the hotel premises, due to the rain. But, for someone from Chennai, the cool weather mattered much more than anything else.
Sunday morning - woke up early by 6ish while some took time till 8am to get out of bed, rushed a bath,
broke the fast and drove to the trekking point. We missed the road and travelled a little bit extra, but we couldn't complain as it was picturesque and beautiful. We stopped by a lotus-pond and it was such a rare sight for us from the busy & hectic city life. We then proceeded to the trekking path on Swamimalai. The path was extremely green and the climate too helped us by carrying a lot of clouds. We came across very nice grasslands, huge trees, pretty & tiny flowers and some weird little insects & worms. The plants (or small trees) bearing guavas and custard apples gave us a nice feel of the nature, 
more so because, there was no one to restrict us from plucking them. We came across an old man, after living there for many years, gave us the information that we could bump into bears though its rare. But, he was forthright when he said 'don't worry, it will run away if you throw stones at it' and we were wondering if he was talking about dogs or bears. I am sure its fortunate that we didn't happen to see a bear on our way. All of us enjoyed the trek, though we didn't reach the top to see the shivalingam. Huffing and puffing, we decided to trek down after some time and we have carried back a lot of digital memories along with the ones at heart & mind.
Drove back to the hotel and enjoyed a good lunch before we checked out. We had the time and so decided to drive to the Jalagamparai waterfalls, before driving back to the polluted city. Inspite of such a nice waterfall, thanks to the people, the place looks extremely untidy and I think these temples & waterfalls should never go together. Just a little blot in an otherwise wonderful weekend. I slept for a little while on the way back and had some fun with all, only to come home and have a good sleep and rest.
It was such a refreshing break after a long time and the weekend still lingers. Personally, it was beyond words to see Sid having all the fun and he can claim that he has trekked now and he is not even three. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this nice memorable weekend.
The road towards Bangalore was a pleasure from Chennai and my hands were itching to hold the wheel. I resisted and sat behind having all the fun with friends and Sid. We stopped at Vellore for the breakfast and some of us ate as if that was our destination. Finally, we managed to stop it and set out again towards Yelagiri. My famous nausea didn't haunt me all through the 14 hairpin bends (why are they named after Bharathiyaar, Valluvar, Paari, Ouvaiyyar, etc.?) as we stopped half-way on the hill to catch come nature in our cameras. After driving a little more, we reached Hotel Hills where we had hurriedly booked the rooms on Friday night.After some rest & refreshment, we just walked across to the boat club and park to have the first glimpse of Yelagiri. Before anything, we munched on some chips and some really sour star-fruits. We took a row boat and went through the circumference of the Punganur lake which was quite scenic, even if you didn't go from Chennai.
After the boat ride and some photos by the lake-side, we went into the park to get back to the child inside us along with Sid. Enjoyed the swing and a few other nursery games and walked around the lake and had some nice clicks. We then walked back to the hotel for the lunch which was good enough at a hill station. After that, the child inside us wanted more as we saw a play area inside the hotel. All of us had a whale of a time there for about an hour as we saw the clouds settling down for a pelt and pushed us indoors. Some Twenty20 cricket and some movies helped us for a while, as the pack of cards took over till late in the evening. We then moved to our respective rooms for a break and since my little son slept tired, we had to use the room service for dinner. Some more card games followed until midnight and some nice sleep without an air-conditioner after a long time. The one thing that we missed was the movie in the open air theatre inside the hotel premises, due to the rain. But, for someone from Chennai, the cool weather mattered much more than anything else.Sunday morning - woke up early by 6ish while some took time till 8am to get out of bed, rushed a bath,
broke the fast and drove to the trekking point. We missed the road and travelled a little bit extra, but we couldn't complain as it was picturesque and beautiful. We stopped by a lotus-pond and it was such a rare sight for us from the busy & hectic city life. We then proceeded to the trekking path on Swamimalai. The path was extremely green and the climate too helped us by carrying a lot of clouds. We came across very nice grasslands, huge trees, pretty & tiny flowers and some weird little insects & worms. The plants (or small trees) bearing guavas and custard apples gave us a nice feel of the nature, 
more so because, there was no one to restrict us from plucking them. We came across an old man, after living there for many years, gave us the information that we could bump into bears though its rare. But, he was forthright when he said 'don't worry, it will run away if you throw stones at it' and we were wondering if he was talking about dogs or bears. I am sure its fortunate that we didn't happen to see a bear on our way. All of us enjoyed the trek, though we didn't reach the top to see the shivalingam. Huffing and puffing, we decided to trek down after some time and we have carried back a lot of digital memories along with the ones at heart & mind.Drove back to the hotel and enjoyed a good lunch before we checked out. We had the time and so decided to drive to the Jalagamparai waterfalls, before driving back to the polluted city. Inspite of such a nice waterfall, thanks to the people, the place looks extremely untidy and I think these temples & waterfalls should never go together. Just a little blot in an otherwise wonderful weekend. I slept for a little while on the way back and had some fun with all, only to come home and have a good sleep and rest.
It was such a refreshing break after a long time and the weekend still lingers. Personally, it was beyond words to see Sid having all the fun and he can claim that he has trekked now and he is not even three. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this nice memorable weekend.
Scribbled by Ganesh at 15:39
1 Comments:
Yes Ganesh, we can't forget this trip and Sid is the one who really njoyed!!!
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