Yelagiri, You MUST go !!
If I were to give you one compelling reason to go and visit
Yelagiri, it would be this…
How would you like to be the host and play the most favorite tree for a bunch of beautiful brightly colored and some exotic birds.
For as much time as you wish.
Birds such as these ..
And these and more…
And let them perch on your outstretched arms, peck and eat
the sunflower seed from your palms.
The moment you enter this aviary, a swarm of birds will fly right
at you, flutter their wings right into your face and start finding footholds to
perch on you.
Your head, your shoulders, palms, wrist, fingers, on your
back pack, your handbag.
At first you will feel scared and unnerved, but after a
few minutes you will start enjoying the sensation of their light weights resting on your arms, the feeling of their small claws gripping your arms , the
weight of the big one trying to balance on your head and the small pricks of
their beaks on your palms as they peck at each seed.
This big one sat on my wrist comfortably, ate up all the
seeds and then tentatively started to sample my thumb nail.
And I braced myself
for the right moment when I would feel the pressure of his beak before quickly shrug him off my hand. But just then he looked up at me as if saying,
‘that got you scared , didn’t ya?’ and he showed off his beak proudly.
But the parakeet on my left shoulder was not that sporting and
she took a sharp nibble at my earlobe and I winced in pain before the attendant
shooed her off.
And if you are a weak heart but still want to have this experience,
then wear a full sleeved T-Shirt, and a hat and gloves and a mask to cover your
nose and mouth.
But that won’t be fun, I bet!
Apart from this aviary the Fundera park also has rabbits,
guinea pigs, ponies, calf. You can pet these, feed the ostrich couple, see a
variety of birds, talk to Matilda the white goose and watch your kids have a
lot of fun!
Yelagiri is 160 kms (4 hours drive) by road Banglore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Vaniyambadi- Ponneri -
Yelagiri.
The last stretch of 35 min drive up the hill is wonderful
providing a scenic view of the land below. The hairpin bends are steep, but
easy to negotiate.
There is not much of a town center or a mall road like you have in in
most hill stations. A short stretch of Mangalam road serves as the hub of
Yelagiri and all tourist spots and Auto stand
are around this .
Thankfully Yelagiri is not very popular and well known. So
it has not yet been invaded by scores of resorts, brightly painted boarding
lodges, restaurants. Nor will you find rows of shops selling dried herbs, natural oils &
spices, scarves and walking sticks. Nor plastic toys (made in China) and coffee
branch glass topped tables, bamboo vases, painted and carved wood figurines,
masks etc etc. And none of those huge jarring
advertisements and signage & posters either!
And to keep folks (and newly wed couples) busy, there are a
lot of activity places like the lake & boating, the fruit garden, the
Herbal garden, many nurseries. And for the adventurous there is the adventure
club offering trekking etc. There was paragliding once but discontinued now.
So you got it ?
A nice quite place still preserved in its pristine hilly environment.
Very quite and chilly most times. Nice friendly people . There are fair number
of hotels and resorts spaced far apart and
a few of them are far away in well maintained exclusive resort enclosures
shouldered by huge trees on one side and giving you a spectacular view of the green fields and grassy land on the
other.
And there are two well maintained temples as well.
The Perumal Kovil with its beautifully painted sloping path (Yaanai adi padam/elephant pathway) and a goshala (cowshed)
and a Murugan temple,as expected perched on a small hillock along with a Ganesha sannidhi (shrine).
Early morning we went for a walk. Saw 2 brown cows (A2 desi cows)
and a healthy calf. One villager
carrying a stack of long green grass. No one else. Peaceful silence broken by occasional
chirping of invisible birds and the soft constant rustling of a stream that ran through the dense
undergrowth, stocky trees and thick
bushes.As we were returning the weather suddenly changed. The sun totally shadowed
by clouds and a dense mist rolled from the hills .
And if you need to de-stress and chill out, there is no
better place than Yelagiri.
Just check into one of these remote resorts.
And you take nice slow walks in the mornings and evenings listening
to your favorite music or your audio book. And you eat and drink inside your
balcony watching the silent downpour. And you stretch up on the large sofa and read
a book or solve today's crossword. And then have multiple rounds of chai / coffee. And
go for a walk again in the thick mist breathing in the microscopic droplets of
water, or into the thin drizzle – you hair coated with a thin film of water,
your shoulders damp and your shoes soggy, your nose and ear tips slightly numb due
to the chill. And come back and have a hot bath. And stretch out again to have
a short nap. And watch cartoons and etc & etc .
And we did just that. 2 days of peace.
Far far away from the HAL
engine testing sound, the high pitched roar of the army transport plane flying
overhead, the noisy take off and landing of the Mirage fighter jets, the constant metallic
whine of the helicopter making their sorties, and the traffic jams, the occasional whiff of the drain smell, the irritating ringing of the front door
bell at odd times.
On our way down the hill, the cloud cover caught up with us
.
Less than 10 meters visibility.
And we saw families of monkeys huddle together for warmth
against the chilly weather.
And the only reason why I could not give this trip a perfect
10 is that nowhere on the road side (or in the resort) I could get a large mug
of piping hot filter coffee and a large plate of hot vazhakai bajji and crispy vengaya
pakoda!!
Vazhakai bajji & vengaya pakoda = raw banana fritters
& onion pakora.
Back home finally.
And back to the daily grind – starting with washing our 4
day-load of soiled clothes!
Krish..
