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Published: February 14th 2010
On Wednesday, our 2nd day in Mamma, we were taken to a local restaurant in the Indian quarter, far from the tourist area (in essence if not geography!), and had a real Indian food experience. Masala Dosa cooked on a hot stone, egg poori, which was a mix of egg, tomato, onion and garlic all cooked together on the stone and chopped up. It was all sublime! We were the only Westerners there. We drank mineral water (to be on the safe side!), and with extra dosas and sambar, the bill was just over 1 pound! Why go down the tourist strip? (When we went for breakfast that morning and I asked for something of the 'Indian Breakfast' section of the menu, the waiter told me there was nothing Indian available!)
That evening, we bought a few beers, and invited Sara and Tomaz (the Slovenians) to join us on our little private patio! We spent an enjoyable evening drinking the beer and chatting.
Thursday, we set off early in the morning to visit 'the rocks', which is a series of 1400 year old rock carvings, forming temples, very close to where we were staying. We had a local guide, Mr Bavan, who was extremely knowledgeable. He also took us to a big Hindu temple, and showed us all the different shrines in there, and explained their meaning. He showed us how to pray Hindu style, and we were blessed by the priests in the different shrines, as well as given the red spot on our foreheads! There is a photo of Baska which I will put up sometime - she looks like a homicide victim!! Baska was also worried about drinking the holy water that was dispensed into our cupped hands. I drank it with gusto, which made Baska giggle fairly uncontrollably.
That afternoon, we went to an Internet cafe to look for places to stay in Pondicherry, as all the places in the guidebooks we had rung were full. We eventually found a website for an Indian artist, Manoj, who has 2 apartments in Pondi, and lets out rooms. They looked good, so we called him. He explained he was away on business, but his father, Ravi, was looking after things for him. He gave us Ravi's number, and said he would call Ravi and tell him we would like to stay. Later in the evening, my mobile rang, and it was Ravi to tell me that he had reserved a room for us for the 3 nights we had requested, and it would be 1500 rupees a night. I told him this was outside our budget, and he apologized and that was the end of the conversation. However a few minutes later he called back and said he had spoken to Manoj, and they would like to have us anyway, so would 800 be OK!! We jumped at the chance. Next morning, off we went on the bus - 2 hours later we were in Pondicherry; I rang him from the bus stand, as arranged, and he gave me instructions for the tuktuk driver. Ravi met us, a charming doctor, and took us to his house, where we met his wife, also charming. Our room is fine, and Manoj's art is hanging everywhere. On the roof is a terrace, with a nice breeze off the Bay of Bengal.
Pondicherry is a lovely town - a promenade on the Bay of Bengal with families promenading in their beautiful saris, the girls with flowers in their hair. A fabulous market, where they sell fish, fruit, veg, flowers, spices and textiles and clothes. The smells assault the senses - rancid fish overlaid with spices and jasmine - your head is in a sensory whirl. We buy fruit and clothes - our packs are getting heavier! We found a great veggie restaurant, right opposite the bay, where we sit in a lovely garden and are served food to die for, and then pay the bill of just pennies. And Manisha, Ravi's daughter, has also been cooking lovely veggie food for us. We really fell on our feet!
Tonight we are catching the night bus to Madurai. We have a double berth - weird or what! London buses don't seem to offer this! And certainly not for 6 pounds for an 8 hour journey! We will arrive in Mondurai at 5.30 tomorrow morning, then find somewhere to stay. We are real travellers!
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Laura
non-member comment
thanks for the updates
Hi Mick, I hope I'm not the only one reading these - I seem to be the only one replying. I love reading about your travels and also to know you're both well and safe. Not much going on here - still too damned cold. xx Laura