Our Little Yercaud Escape – with Equal Parts Peace, Chaos & Puttu! ❤️😂

It had been a long time since Suddu wanted to take us on a short weekend break. I dunno how much research he did to make sure it matched all mine and Puttu's criteria, but one day he finally said, "How about Yercaud?" And that's how our little getaway began.

We started early, around 5:30 in the morning, after having theplas and pallya at home. Puttu was fast asleep when we carried him into the car, but the moment he realized we were heading somewhere, his face instantly lit up with excitement. That happiness itself made the trip worth starting.

The drive was beautiful. We chatted, laughed, and enjoyed every bit of the journey. Our breakfast stop was Samrat 100% Veg. Honestly, the food wasn't very memorable. The Pongal was good, but the dosa left us feeling quite bloated. I was desperately looking forward to a good filter coffee, only to realize it was Bru instant coffee! Surprisingly though... I still enjoyed it.

As we covered the winding hairpin bends, Puttu dozed off for a while, and I happily narrated the story of Pachinko—the book I was reading—to my bestie. Those little conversations somehow become my favorite travel memories.

Our first stop in Yercaud was Peeku. The place was enjoyable... until Puttu discovered the toy shop inside! He created absolute chaos over a few overpriced old-stock toys. We somehow escaped that battle and headed to Yercaud Lake, followed by Kaapi Stop.

Kaapi Stop turned out to be one of my favorite places. Sitting right beside the huge glass wall overlooking the lake, sipping coffee, was such a peaceful feeling. Puttu happily enjoyed his choco lava cake and what was called a pizza... though honestly it felt more like an oil-roasted bread topped with cheese and vegetables than an actual pizza!

Next came Moddy's Chocolate Confectionery. Looking at all the glowing reviews, I had high expectations. The place had lovely vibes and everything looked incredibly tempting, but sadly the food quality didn't live up to the hype. To make matters even more entertaining, there was a supermarket downstairs. Puttu suddenly decided he desperately needed random toys... and then a chocolate bar... and then probably the entire store! At that point, I simply bought him the chocolate bar—not because he needed it, but because I desperately needed five minutes of peace to enjoy our food!

Finally, we checked into the resort.

The moment Puttu saw the hot water tub, his face glowed with pure happiness. He kept saying that all he wanted was to stay there and nowhere else! Within minutes he had jumped right in, enjoying every second of it. Of course... he also continued his professional-level annoyance alongside.

By evening, we desperately wanted him to nap because we knew an overtired Puttu would be an even bigger challenge. But no! Sleep wasn't on his agenda. Food was.

Unfortunately, the resort restaurant had already closed, so we drove back into town searching for vegetarian food. As expected, there weren't many proper vegetarian restaurants. Most places offered only coffee, tea, French fries, or fast food. By then Puttu had finally fallen asleep in the car, so we quietly drove back hoping he'd continue sleeping.

Tadnaaaa...

Within minutes of reaching the resort, he woke up.

And absolutely refused to sleep again.

Instead, he cried that he wanted to go out.

All we wanted was to disappear into that cozy spring bed and do absolutely nothing. But Puttu had entirely different plans.

So I took him to the resort café and ordered a vegan cutlet for him and a ginger chai for myself. The café was incredibly calm and peaceful... which apparently motivated Puttu to cry even louder asking them to bring the cutlet immediately! Thanks to the reviews, I already knew the food would take an eternity to arrive, but still tried every possible trick to keep him calm. Soon AppaChaami joined us, and somehow we survived the wait. We peacefully sipped the ginger chai and the three of us shared the cutlet before finally heading back to the room.

A little more hot-tub fun followed before dinner.

The buffet dinner wasn't particularly enjoyable. Only later did we discover that the simple South Indian rice, rasam, and sambar were actually the best items there—after we'd already filled ourselves with everything else! The highlight, however, was definitely the blackcurrant ice cream. Puttu happily polished off one huge cup.

Then came the magic show.

While Puttu and AppaChaami watched with full excitement, I quietly enjoyed another cup of ginger chai before joining them. We returned to the room, packed up a few things, played for a while, and finally called it a day.

The next morning's breakfast buffet wasn't any better. Thankfully, our next stop completely made up for it—Yercaud Filter Coffee. We absolutely loved both the cozy vibes and the coffee.

On our way back, we stopped at Chennai Silks where I happily shopped for a few clothes... while Puttu continued his full-time job of testing our patience.

Lunch at Kailash Parbat wasn't particularly great either—the pizza was quite disappointing. Later, we stopped at Saravana Bhavan just for a comforting cup of chai before heading towards Krishnagiri Dam.

The dam was beautiful and quite enjoyable... although, naturally, Puttu made sure we didn't experience uninterrupted peace there either!

By then the trip had become a perfect mixture of getting half-cooked with Puttu, a quarter of Monday blues, and one hundred percent Puttu wanting something to be fixed every single moment.

On the way home, we bought him a brownie from Crumbz Café, hoping that would finally settle things.

It worked... at least for a while.

Back home, there was one final round of drama because the clothes we had told him would be packed and brought home from the shopping centre (yes, we totally lied!) were nowhere to be seen. Once that emotional crisis was resolved, we all happily collapsed into bed.

Looking back, was it a peaceful vacation?

Not even close.

Was it exhausting?

Absolutely.

Would we remember every bit of this chaos years later and laugh our hearts out?

Without a doubt.

Because that's exactly what travelling with our little Puttu is—equal parts adventure, comedy, patience, and memories we'll treasure forever. ❤️