Rolling Off to Pondicherry

It was a same monotonous evening when I used to have a ROUTINED return from office, stare at walls of my room and buzz off to sleep… when the cell phone rang and I came to know that a trip was in order. Just the location hadn’t been decided. Being adamant for a south-Indian trip, we certainly chose Pondicherry [Cheap booze, beaches, serenity… what else].

I left from Mumbai with a friend whereas others joined us from Bangalore.

DAY1: I boarded a bus to Bangalore from Mumbai, around 8 PM. The zeal was incalculable. After all, I was to breathe in Bangalore after 2 complete years. Too much of nostalgia was already taking over me! I reached there the next day (afternoon), met an old friend for the evening and collectively boarded the bus for Pondicherry at night. Each bone of mine was seeking rest, still packed with the thrill of visiting a new place. I don’t remember how fast I feel asleep on the way, the bus driver doing its job.

DAY2: It was just sunrise when we set our feet on the union territory. The traffic was still coming back to life. All we concerned for was to get an accommodation and rest for couple of hours. The people there seemed friendly & welcoming in nature. The auto-rickshaw driver took us to fewer hotels and finally we got out huts to relax. SIX of us divided ourselves into 2 rooms.

After recharging ourselves with shower and some sleep, we had our breakfasts and wasted no time in hiring bikes to roam around. It wasn’t that lengthy process overall. As per our convenience, we had already prepared our checklist: ROCK BEACH, SERENITY BEACH, AUROVILLE, PARADISE BEACH, CHURCHES and MUSEUMS. We rode towards the other end of the city and beyond in the scorching sun to Auroville. The area is filled with foreigners to be specific. The village was so cool with its people and ways. My mates were already cursing me for bringing them there in that atmospheric heat. LOL, I can’t help the curiosity of a new place being a traveler. I wish I could explain them the historic significance of the place. Anyways!

We returned from the spot by evening and chilled onto the beach. Rocky beach is a bit crowded beach with relatively blue waters (at least cleaner than Mumbai). Later we visited the church which was pure Portuguese in architecture. Gorgeous is all we could say glaring through its glorious glasswork and beauty.

DAY3: In quick succession, we paid visits to the government museum [nearby Rocky beach itself], wandered across the French colonies and saved serenity beach for the evening delight. It was worth it. It is situated on the Chennai-Pondicherry highway (ECR). One can find it hard to get alcohol in those areas, for your information. We had an awesome time having photo shoots, baths, seafood, grabbing some beers there. After dinning back in the city, we all boarded the bus for Bangalore with mixed feelings. Pondicherry was good at everything, except the weather.

We returned from the spot by evening and chilled onto the beach. Rocky beach is a bit crowded beach with relatively blue waters (at least cleaner than Mumbai). Later we visited the church which was pure Portuguese in architecture. Gorgeous is all we could say glaring through its glorious glasswork and beauty.

DAY3: In quick succession, we paid visits to the government museum [nearby Rocky beach itself], wandered across the French colonies and saved serenity beach for the evening delight. It was worth it. It is situated on the Chennai-Pondicherry highway (ECR). One can find it hard to get alcohol in those areas, for your information. We had an awesome time having photo shoots, baths, seafood, grabbing some beers there. After dinning back in the city, we headed to the bus stop, tired. Overall, Pondicherry is a cool place for a quick weekend getaway... the people, food, ease of everything makes it a bookmark spot, except the weather.

NOTE: It’s a good place for weekend getaways from Bangalore/Chennai; Cheep booze, cool people, arrogant auto-rickshaw drivers (every place has some of them) and a place as clean as it should be. The city stretches to just 7 kilometers and is small. Hire a bike (for much cheaper price) and you are done with avoiding all the possible transportation issues. Hotels can be hunted around the beach area itself at much reasonable rates.

One thing I regret is not participating into scuba-diving there. Will surely scratch-off my bucket-list someday!

Au Revoir