Weekend at Pondicherry
Pondicherry is a union territory of India with the city of Pondicherry as its capital. The city fondly called Pondy is a coastal city with a mix of different ethnicities, architectures. The city is well planned and some of its areas are simply mesmerizing in terms of its beauty. I visited the place recently with a friend of mine.
We started our journey to Pondicherry from Bangalore on the night of 31st July 2015. The bus journey started around 2300Hrs in the night and ended 8 hours later in the morning around 0730Hrs. took an auto rickshaw to a place called New Guest House. The guest house is a religious place so you aren’t allowed to drink or smoke and need to be back before 2230Hrs in the night. If that’s fine with you then it’s the place of your stay in Pondicherry for several reasons. First it’s just 50mtrs away from the promenade beach and at the edge of the most famous white town area of Pondy. Secondly it’s pretty cheap considering the locality as it costs only 400 rupees for a single night stay, and being affiliated to religious organization it’s neat and tidy. We checked in, got refreshed and came out on the promenade beach for a refreshingly beautiful morning walk. Beaches are the most serene places to be at in the mornings.
We had a breakfast at a road side joint, the street food in Pondy is quite cheaper and won’t burn into your pockets. We decided to take an auto to a place called Paradise beach also famously called Boat House. The autos in Pondy don’t make use of the meters and the drivers will let you know the fare firsthand. The self-fixed prices of the autos are quite steep and will remain so even after a hard bargain, sometimes you can’t even bargain. Alternately the public transport in Pondicherry is almost free, it costs you just 5 rupees from any place to place. So make it a point to lookout for public buses or ask around. Sometime you won’t have a choice and would need to use the auto.
Paradise beach is sort of an island beach and requires a boat ride to reach. The beach is clean, no litter in the vicinity with lots of photogenic spaces.
We visited a place called Arikamedu in the afternoon, it used to be a Roman trading hub in the ancient times. There is not much to see there and you should visit only if you are a true history enthusiast. In this part of the Pondy you will find simple Tamil style homes and is a part of Pondy that is often less talked of.
Relics from the first century
We were back to the guest house by late afternoon and decided to explore Pondy markets after a brief rest. We had some street food at Chinna Kadai market, then walked from street to street. There are specialized streets in the city, they give you a glimpse into the planning of the city. One should explore all the streets around MG road area like Nehru Street, Mission Street and many others. Also give a visit to Arulmigu Manakula temple. There are also quite a many churches in the city. You can also find Aurobindo Ashram near the same area. The city looks pretty amazing in the night. The walk along the Promenade beach in the night will make you spellbound, the French windows just look majestic at night. Sit for some long time at the beach and listen to the sound of the waves and observe the people around.
We checked out the next day from the guest house. Took a bus to the New city bus stand from the market near Pondicherry railway station. Got into another bus towards Auroville. The bus drops you at the main road leading to Auroville, however the places to visit in Auroville are about 8kms from there. Through some miscalculation we didn’t take an auto rickshaw to the Auroville town and ended up walking 8kms.
Auroville is an experimental township, it’s an international community undivided by ideas of nationality, religion or ethnicity. Since we walked our way we got to see the place in all its glory. The place is one big man made forest. The architecture of the place is awe inspiring and will make you promise yourself that you will come back for more number of days to stay here.
Took an auto from the Auroville back to the main road, visited Auroville beach a walkable distance from there. Had some fun at the beach, there were few absolutely drunk college students at the beach and had an opportunity to photograph one.
Back from the beach and back to the city bus stand, we visited Pondicherry botanical garden, it’s more of a park that botanical garden. We spent last few hours in the city at the Promenade beach. I had some really creative thoughts emerging in my mind as I stared at the endless ocean.
Pondicherry is a city to visit, for its architecture, for its culture and for its simplicity. It’s not a perfect city and there is a lot that its people and infrastructure can improve upon. I found one thing very disturbing, the chief minister of the territory was on an image making spree in the city. There were these huge poster of Mr. N. Rangaswamy flanking every corner of the city. However amusing the posters might be, the sight was plain ugly. On another aspect the city has a lot of open sewers, the smaller sewers should be covered at the very least. However I liked the fact that people were quite laid back and didn’t seem to be in a lot of hurry like in the cities of Mumbai, Pune or Bangalore.
The map of the places to explore.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zNGkMTWtKgM4.kaMfL_7jo_ms&usp=sharing