We reached Pondicherry around 6 in the evening and the auto
wallahs were there offering us a drop to beach in just 40 rupees. We pulled out
Aj’s phone and checked our location. It was a straight road 2.5 km walk and we
decided to walk it and save another 40. I am sure we did earn ourselves some
stars from the cheap travelling god above. Blisters on my feet slowed us down
to a great extent but we somehow managed to get to Ajantha Beach Guest house.
Aj had been in contact with them over last two days and we were awaiting our thousand
rupees a night room to welcome us with AC and a shower. When we reached they
told us they had not made any bookings in our name and we were asked to take
beach view rooms for 1500. We were not having any of this, we walked out.
After walking around a bit we finally cracked a deal at 1200
for a room at the guest house next to it called mother’s guest house. Finally it
was time for a bath as Aj enjoyed the bed and AC. Jobin was coming in next day
and we were once more searching for better accommodation. We decided on an apartment
which Aj had cancelled this morning. It was now on me to get it on the price we
wanted. Though I would have loved 1500 apartment we settled to pay 1800 for the
apartment and it was a blessing.
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| Bhel puri with curry |
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| 1st night @ Promenade with chaat |
Jobin was coming at 5 in the morning and we barely had any
sleep after that. We walked out to greet sun on the promenade. Did I forget to
tell you that the guest house was a stone’s throw from the beach?
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| Le cafe |
We had a
latte at Le Cafe but they were not serving breakfast. Though hungry we were
happy as it would dig a hole albeit small in our pockets. It used to be old
port office for Pondicherry port. After our coffe and a glass of herbal drink
from a local vendor for the boys it was time to freshen up and leave for the ne
accommodation.
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| Our Apartment |
Once we had checked out we started on foot for the apartment
and breakfast. Adamant to have local food, we walked 2kms to our meeting point
with the person who would take us to the apartment. We called him up and he
would come in soon. Finally we saw a ‘bandi’ it served awesome idlis and puri. We
dug into our breakfast of awesome local cuisine and ended up paying 45/- for
our more than filling meal. A cup of tea later we found Mr. Ashok who took us
to the cute apartment which was to house us for next two days. He left after
supplying us with two water bottles and soaps, only to meet us after two days.
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| Blessed???? |
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| Introducing Jobin |
Jobin really liked the place, we all did. The best part
about it was that we did not have to worry about anything no rules no in and
out times and we could make ourselves some food. After stocking up with raw
materials for our breakfast and snacks for next few days we started for the
Mission Street. This is perhaps the best street to find anything in Pondi and
has some popular places on it. We had to get bikes for ourselves and meet Jobin’s
friend Harish for lunch. We got bikes for 200 a day and were quite proud of the
deal for two red non geared scootys. Harish met us at Sri Krishna and we ended
up at Surguru for lunch.
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| On the way to Matrimandir |
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| Visitor's centre |
Both of these are quite famous in Pondi it seems, you can
find them on trip advisor too. I had really wanted to visit kasha ki asha coz
of good reviews on trip advisor but none of us were really feeling like Italian.
I had masala dosa and puri. Mini meals are the things to order if u want to eat
a bit more and try a few varieties. Taking directions from Harish we started
for Auroville.
To sya that Jobin had once lived in auroville for six months
is a joke. He remembers absolutely nothing and was as good as us in guessing
which turn to take. Eventually we reached the visitor’s centre parked our rides
and walked to the centre to see the video and get our passes for the Matri
Mandir. I was disappointed that we will not be able to go inside the mandir but
will only be able to see it from afar. After having a neembu paani at the cafe
we started on our way to Matri mandir. Believe me it is a long walk in the heat
no matter what they say. We filled up our bottles again and missed Gatorade to
take us through the heat.
If you think only Italians can do wood fire pizzas visit here?
It’s barely a shack run by a family and you will find akka taking your order and serving delicious and large pizzas freshly
made. I had wanted to ask them if they use homemade cheese but did not get
around to. While coming from solar kitchen towards ECS via dinesh’s tea stall
look out for the ‘Hot Pizzeria’board. Turn into the small street park your
vehicles and eat away. We ended up ordering a personal size vegetarian for me
and a medium for the boys. The pizzas are huge and easily filled us all up.
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| My pizza |
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| Their's |
We were sue to return the bikes in another 3 hours so we
drove back to the promenade and took an evening stroll. The beach is awesome it
feels as if you are witnessing a family retreat for the locals. With quite a few
thelas you can have some chaat but beware they put curry in the bhel puri,
which is not so tasty. After returning the bike back we walked home and sat
down to rest and make plans for the next day.
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| Fort and beach |
Me and Jobin has already had snack when the bus stopped a
few minutes ago for a rest. So we looked around for a way to get to the beach
3km away from the highway. We found a shared auto paid him 10 pp and reached
the beach. Fort is nothing more than the boundary wall so don’t expect much but
the beach is awesome. I have had very few encounters with the ocean and I had
never seen the junction of sea and backwaters; one calm and other with waves
crashing. It was beyond beautiful. We had a great time with some kids who were
body surfing on a log and now it was time to head back.
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| The shack |
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| Our Lunch |
We caught a bus and rushed to the apartment to get a bath so
that we can move out to get some local sea food for dinner which jobin really
wanted. A little help from just dial we found ourself wandering around on Bharthi
Street looking for Pattuma restaurant. After quite a walk through the busiest
streets ofPondi we finally found it. the food there was awesome. We ordered
parotha, prawn masala, chicken tikka, mix-veg, jeera rice and got the raitha
complimentary. I have to say these were the best parothas I have ever tasted. Harish
and another friend joined us later. He ordered Ceylon paratha which turned out
to be a nice surprise and according to him was really good.
Next day it was time to make a move to Chennai and then off
to Hyderabad for us and Bangalore for Jobin. This time we decided to get an AC
bus. Jobin got some food packed and we got on the bus reading our time away. We
reached Chennai in three and a half hours and had our lunch at the CMBT. We reached central in 15B and now we had to
wait. We said our goodbyes and walked over to our train which was waiting for
us on the platform.
Expenditure in Pondicherry (3 days)
Accomodation 1800/-
Bike rent and petrol 200/-
Bus to kadpakkam and back 86/-
(we over payed while going to kadpakkam)
Shared autos and bus (Pondi and Alambarai) 35/-
Food and other misclenaeous expenditure 1000/-
Bus to Chennai 190/-
Bus to central 9/-
Total 3320/-
Tip: If you are hiring a bike for just one day don’t fill up
for more than 75 (1L) of petrol you can’t really use it all. Also take care
while driving it can be challenging.
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