This was
my and my friends first trip from Chennai. The honeymoon with
this city - Chennai was coming to an end. (about that later!:-))
We were having this sudden urge to go out somewhere outside
Chennai and spend a day enjoying ourselves! It was then that we
decided for this trip to Yelagiri.
It must be noted in the beginning that we didn't plan at all!
But what the heck... who cares! The guys are confident and
believe that they can handle any situation! So we packed our
bags, and went to Parrys bus station in Chennai at 3:20 PM for a
bus to Yelagiri. And pretty soon, in spite of the vast language
barrier between us and the conductors, we understood few things.
1.There is no single
DIRECT bus to Yelagiri!
2. Buses plying between Chennai and Bangalore would
definitely pass through Ponneri, from where connecting
buses would be available to reach Yelagiri.
3. Ponneri would be about 5 hours journey from
Chennai. Yelagiri would add one hour more to the journey
time from Ponneri.
4. The last bus from Ponneri to Yelagiri would be at
9:30 PM, which meant that we had to HURRY!!! So we had
to take a bus which was going to leave in 3:45 PM;
roughly in about 20 minutes! It was actually going to
Thirupattur or some such place! We got
the tickets and hurriedly bought some food stuffs which
was about a kg of (sour) grapes, few litres of (supposed
to be mineral) water and biscuits.
The bus started bang on time. The journey was uneventful till
it was about six in the evening when we faced unexpected lashing
rains. We were traveling in a State Route Transport Bus and it
was leaking from the roof. The best (or the worst: depends
whether you experience it yourself or hear others' experience)
part however was the high speed of the bus! Few things about
these SRT buses. These buses are mostly old, well they atleast
look old. They are rickety. The seats are very basic and
ordinary. Remember, you don't like to travel by SRT buses if
given a chance to travel by other buses. But the drivers are
exceptionally good. Old or new, with or without wiper, comfort
or no comfort, good or bad roads, they don't care! They simply
follow "bindaas" driving. Which is why it is
advisable not to board these buses if you happen to have a weak
heart.
Well, the bus did reach Ponneri by 9PM. It was
still drizzling lightly. Within half an hour, we got the last
bus to Yelagiri hills. This journey was really eventful. Even
now when we think of it, it chills our bones.
This was a mountain (ghat) road. It had
14 hairpin bends. The road was very narrow and badly maintained.
Most importantly, the road was very steep. It was absolutely the
best place to test a driver's skill. Some bends were so sharp
that the bus had to go back(!!!!) and then take the maximum turn
that its wheelbase allowed.
On one of these bends, our bus had to stop to
give way to a jeep that was coming down. And then it just would
not go up and every time ( i guess it was thrice) the driver
tried putting the bus into the gear, it refused and instead
rolled down! The road was also wet because of rain. Wow... it
was real scarry! No doubt, we are safe today and thats because
of the great driver! Salaaam driver saab!
Anyway, we reached, and safely so! We had to do
a little bit of searching for a hotel to suit our needs. Thanks
to Writo, we got one. It was nice and cozy. Then it was time for
us to do two things: have dinner if possible and have few pegs
(no issues on that as we had already bought it! :-)) Thanks
again to Writo that we ate something after sooooo long! Writo,
that way, is great! Simply great! Its just that I and Suman
didn't know what was to come the next day from these two motus...
Next page>>
Writo, Anto, Suman
& Yours truly
Situated
in Tamil Nadu at 1005 mtrs above sea level, is Yelagiri
- a hill station gifted with natural scenic beauty
(lakes, lush green forest) and cool & pleasant
climate.
By Bus: From Bangalore (145 kms) or Chennai (200
kms), one needs to get down at a place called Ponneri or
Jolarpet (on NH 46). From Ponneri/ Jolarpet, one has to
take a bus/ car etc. to Yelagiri. It is about an hour
journey. Jolarpet is 5 kms from Ponneri. The hilly ghat
road starts from Ponneri.
By Train: One needs to get down at Jolarpet
(it is between Coimbatore and Chennai). From there,
buses are available to Yelagiri.