Yercaud - 'Poor man's Ooty'

On the way up the winding hill road with its 20 hairpin bends, stop at a thatched wayside stall selling 'Fresh Garden Produce' packets of cloves and pepper. Then come the coffee plantations before entering cottagedotted Yercaud.

Before getting into this coffeeplantation hamlet, you have to drive through the textile town of Salem. If you browse around the shops, you might pick up bright handloom fabrics at half the price you would pay elsewhere. Salem is the promotion centre of mangoes.

Trees

Sandalwood, Teak and Silver Oak are abundant besides Eucalyptus, guava and jack. Spices. A variety of homegrown spices are sold and are available along side eucalyptus oils and products. Shops selling such products are situated at the lake, in town and also on the way to Lady's seat

Chief Crop

The main crop of this Taluk is Coffee. At first, Coffee was cultivated in "Grange Estate" in the year 1820. Coffee is easily available for purchase in the dried seed form or as grounded sweet smelling coffee powder. You could wait to pick up freshly ground coffee. It is easily available in more than two shops situated in the heart of town.

The land of lakes and forests – that’s literally what Yercaud means (Yeri – lake, kaadu – forest). But a visit there will tell you that the place has a lot more to offer – coffee plantations, orange groves, temples and a wide gamut of wildlife, from bison to bulbul, from snakes to sparrows. Other forms of wildlife include deer, rabbits, hares, foxes, mongoose, squirrels, partridges, kites and swallows.

The roads are narrow but both sides are mostly covered by coffee plantations and huge trees that has pepper wrapping around them.

Stock up on fresh garden produce such as coffee, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon on sale. Pick up handlooms in the textile town of Salem before hopping on to the train

Flowers

The Orchidarium, Botanical Garden, Horticultural research station and a lot of private parties sell a diverse range of plants. But most of these plants show favourable growth only in a hill station. The flowers range from anthuriums, roses, marigolds to daisies.

The flowers and leaves were in all colors and the nursery was well spaced out. There were guava trees and their beautiful bodies. There were Italian flower with a ready made bunch and the roses were big and orange, red, white.