Courte voyage sur Pondicherry...


... or a short trip to Pondicherry, as we say in English. Thursday and Friday were holidays for our team in office. Temesh and I decided that we will go on a trip to Pondicherry taking advantage of the extended weekend. Vimal, Sathish, Vijay and Kapil also decided to join us. Primary inspiration and information for this trip was gathered from Anu's digital world.

Thursday morning, six of us gathered in the Kempe Gowda Bus Terminus. The KSRTC Airavat (Volvo) bus started at 8:40. The bus stopped twice on its way to Pondicherry, finally reaching at 15:00. We checked in to our guest house, and soon came out to explore Pondicherry. A stroll on Goubert Street (or Beach Road as it is popularly known as), shows you the French connection. The buildings, clean streets, the old lighthouse, the road signs all tell tales of French colonial times. After sunset, we came back to the “Indian” side of Pondicherry. This side of the city is like any other small town in India – crowded, dirty and chaotic.

The next morning, Temesh and I went out at 5:40 to see the sunrise. An hour of roaming around the clean streets, clicking a few photographs was a perfect start to a long day. Later we went to the bus stand to bid adieu to Sathish – he left Pondicherry for his home town.

After breakfast we went to Aurobindo Ashram. Then we hired bicycles and explored the city. This is probably the best way to see the city. After three hours of cycling, we called it quits and took a taxi to Auroville. Auroville is a planned international city, for people who are spiritual and wants to live a divine life, without following any religion. We enjoyed our tour there and shopped quite a lot, in the end.

After coming back to our guest house, we relaxed in the evening. We sat on the roof top and shared drinks and stories. We came to know a couple of us a little better than we knew them earlier.

On Saturday, we went to a water sports complex called Chunnambar. This is a back water area. There were not too many options for water sports though. Just your usual row boats and paddle boats. We chose to take a ride to the nearby Paradise beach. This is a natural sand beach where we all enjoyed the water a lot. One can also play beach volleyball and football there.

On our return, we went straight to a French restaurant for lunch. We did not want to miss the opportunity to have French food, at least once, and we were not disappointed.

We checked out in the evening and went shopping. We got tired pretty soon and settled down in a restaurant soon for a couple of hours of food, drinks and tour recap. The bus started at 22:30 and by 4:00 we were back in Bangalore.

Some more pics are uploaded on flickr.

24 comments:

R said...

ME FIRST!

Muhahahaa. :D

R said...

Hahaha! Note the way you wrote about the two sides of Pondicherry... finishing with 'dirty and chaotic'.. :|

Supercool! I've realised that these short trips can be so cool. Mujhe bhi jana hai! Oh what about French food? Please give details.

And you'd better put pictures up soon.

~ ॐ ~ said...

wah...

and can i officially hate you for this trip?

~ Deeps ~ said...

nice place......boozer's paradise......and good food....missing the name of that restaurant but the food out there is good..............waiting for pics

Richa said...

This was short and crisp. :-)

Kanika said...

I simply ditto Prashant's feelings....wow...And I am straight JEALOUS....sounds like a beautiful trip...

I really need to start packing my bags and leave...


And I am waiting for the pictures...

Anuradha said...

hey , waiting for the pics.
good to hear the info on my blog was of some use :)

Banvri said...

mast trip ho gayi aapki toh :P

chalo pics posto :D

Subhadip said...

@Rohit
I am waiting for the pics too. And I know "tumhe bhi jaana hai", but as I say "All in good time".

@Pete
Nafrat! Yeh achhi baat nehi hai. Tum bhi kaheen ghoom ke aa jao. Tumhara Rajasthan trip ka kya hua?

@Deeps
Bhai... one kingfisher bottle for 37 bucks! I could easily retire there.

@BASTM
:-)

@Kanu
Guys have all the fun - once again? Just do it. Go out there.

@Anu
Your blog was most helpful. Thanks so much.
And our discussion on D80 vs. 30D is pending :-)

Subhadip said...

@Chitrangada
Mast trip tha, thanks.
Photu postenge jaldi hi.

Kanika said...

Hmmm...they do. But one day soon I would just go out there...and when I do that I promise my blog would turn you guys green with envy!!!

:)

~ ॐ ~ said...

have you see this link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/prashantbhardwaj_ut/251913795/in/set-72157594282235117/

Richa said...

The pictures look good and calm. pretty! :)

R said...

Yay! The boats shot is so cool! Awesome composition...and natural colours. =)

I wanna see all 36 :|

Anonymous said...

I like the sunrise pic.. the sky has turned out beautifully... :)

~ Deeps ~ said...

I dont want to retire anywhere near to chennai irrespective of how much cheap a bottle of beer is :D

Subhadip said...

@Kanu
Would be only too happy to read them.

@Prashant
Tu cheeta hai bhai!

@Rohit
Most of them are on Flickr.

@BASTM
Thanks. It is a peaceful place.

@Adisha
Glad you liked it. Thanks.

@Deepak
:-) I understand.

Butterfly said...

Going around Pondicherry in bicycles! Very interesting. I went to Pondicherry when I was about six. So, I don't remember much.And the fact that you could taste French food is also exciting.

Banvri said...

Wonderful pics :)

saari ki saari :)

Unknown said...

sahi ekdum masta laga

Subhadip said...

@Butterfly
It's a nice place. Go back if you can. Thanks for stopping by.

@Chitrangada
Thank you, thank you.

@Aseem
Thank you brother.

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