1st Jan trips are becoming a ritual. We were boozing hard late night on 31st and slept for not more than 2 hours before starting for Yelagiri early morning on 1st. Yelagiri is a small hill station on the way to Chennai from Bangalore - some three hours drive.
There was a YMCA establishment in the outskirts which we visited. Rooms were economical at 500-800 a day.
A small lake and a botanical garden are the major attractions of Yelagiri. We walked around in the pleasant warmth of January sun. As we were hungry since morning we settled at a restaurant near the lake and ordered a massive lunch.
We learned from the locals that there is a waterfall nearby - Jalagamparai Waterfall was five miles by trek or 50 miles by drive. We chose to drive. It proved to be worthy. We had a bath in fresh cold water and then settled near a temple for chit-chat. An hour or so passed by quickly before we decided to return. It was another memorable 1st Jan with friends.
