Weekend in Pondicherry

Day 1

1. Chennai Airport or Chennai Railway Station - Rent a bike for 48 hours from https://www.rentrip.in/refCode/ARJJL19MG0 . I had hired a Hero Passion Pro at 550/- per day i.e 1100/- for 2 days

2. I left Chennai at 4:00PM on our rented bike. We were suppose to make a brief stop at the Historic city Mahabalipuram . Chennai to Mahabalipuram ( 1hrs 10mins ) ( 60Kms) . Mahabalipuram is right on the way to Pondicherry with just a small diversion of 2kms . Mahabalipuran is also known as Mamallapuram. So, dont get confused as all the signed boards says Mamallapuram.

3. The Pancha Rathas @ 5:15PM, all the temples and sites are very close to each other. We had plan to see only 2 most important sites. Pancha Rathas and Shore Temple as we also had to catch up on Pondicherry on time. This is the site where PM Narendra Modi and President of China Xi JinPing met in Oct,2019

4. Shore Temple @ 5:40PM - This is one of the best sites of Mahabalipuram. This temple get closed at 5:45PM. So, make sure you are on-time as this site cannot be missed. A temple on the beach i.e Shore Temple . I wanted to visit this place ever since I say the image of temple on the 5/- Stamp during my school days.

5. Mahabalipuram Beach - Asthe temple is right on the beach, it straight away heads up to the shore. You can wait there until Sunset and leave. We left Mahabalipuram for the journey ahead at 6:30PM

6. Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry (97kMS) (2HRS). We made a pit stop of 25kms before Pondicherry for a cup of tea in a small town called Mandavi

7. Checkin at the hotel @ 9PM - Hotel Villa Krish , The same hotel is also named as Villa Du Ocean on some sites. I had paid 2200/- per night for 2ppl here incl. breakfast. You can use my referal link to get 2000/- discount on your stay here. https://www.airbnb.co.in/c/akashb176?referral_share_id=11b6dee0-701d-4432-ad73-4f98f97fab08 Sign up using this link and then look up for Villa Du Ocean8

8. After Checkin we rested for sometime and then went to the roof-top for some drinks, Hookah , ocean view and dinner. We bought our own liquor from a wineshop and only ordered mixers and dinner at the hotel roof top restaurant. Restaurant serves good fish here.

Day 2

1. Wake up at 6AM. Breakfast at 7AM

2. 7:30AM - Walk around White town it is the same area where the hotel is situated. Walk through the lanes of the French colonial past

3. 8:00AM - In front of the White Town there is Pondicherry Beach. This beach is a rock beach. Just like marine drive in Mumbai

5. 9:00AM - Matrimandir - Is one of the most famous landmarks of Pondicherry and is located in the centre of Auroville

4. 8:30AM - AuroVille - Auroville is a town or a city which wants to be an universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, race , religions , all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realize human unity. Go around the Auroville town

6. 10AM - Auroville Beach - is a beach with a seashore to it. The main pondicherry beach is a rocky beach. This beach has various sports activities like Surfing.

7. 11AM - Cafes at Serenity Beach and a rock long walk in the sea. Lunch at the cafes here

8. Manakula Vinayagar Temple - 1PM - This is a 400 year old ganesha temple just 10mins walk from the White town. French did many attempts to destroy the temple but widespread protests of locals and threats from Martha's of Travancore to invade Pondicherry if temple was destroyed, kept the French's away from destroying it.

9. 1PM - 4PM I had couple of business meetings in this duration. So, couldnt explore much. However, during this time you can go to the Paradise Beach which is the cleanest beach in Pondi , you can go to Aurobindho Asharam & The Sacred Heart Basilica. I had my plan fixed for 5PM.

10. 5PM - PARAMOTORING - This was the best activity so far on this weekend trip. "Wow a Sunset while flying in a Paramotor with a beautiful city of Pondicherry beneath and the lovely bay of bengal". Fortunately when I visited the Paramotoring here , they had just started the organisation and was lucky to get some discounts as an early bird. The owner of the paramotoring club Bluewing's is an Ex PARA SF of Indian Army. So, you definitely are in safe hands. The owners contact no. is - 8428222111 , 8098000111 . The cost when i did it in 2018 was 2200/-

7. 7PM came back to the room rested for an hour after a long day.

8. Nightlife of Pondicherry is not that great. However, we had to do bar hoping to the best bars and pubs of Pondi. So, the 1st one we visited was Kofi Bar which was right next to our hotel , then we visited The Storyteller's Bar and then the Bay of Buddha. I found Kofi Bar the best and good prices with good young crowd aswell. The Storyteller's Bar is good too however its a closed Bar without an open space but it does have live music sometimes. Bay of Buddha is expensive but yes it has a good view and ambience.

Day 3

1. Wake up at 6:30. Quick breakfast from 7AM To 7:15AM

2. Check out and leave at 7:30AM . Reach Chennai at 10:30 - 11AM

3. Submit the bike back and take flight or train back to your town