Blogs from Pondicherry, India, Asia - page 10

This was supposed to be Moria's blog entry, but since dysentery has gotten the best of her and is coming out of both ends I must write in her place. Please forgive me because this is going to be a long one. Since our last entry we have been holidaying on the east coast of India and bathing in the Bay of Bengal. Although the water is not very clean it is nice and warm. We started our stint here with a ten hour bus ride from Bangalore to the former French colony of Pondicherry. The bus ride was not much fun for any of us but we made it through. I am beginning to think that here in India there is no such thing as road safety. Our bus was probably made in 1967 and ... read more

I guess I am getting addicted to travelling. Somebody save me, eh! Ofcourse I am kidding! When a place like Pondicherry is being talked about, who the hell wants to be saved! Pondicherry - also known as 'Puduchery' in the official Tamil language, is a Union Territory of India & an ertswhile colony of France. It consists of 4 small unconnected districts - Pondicherry, Karaikal & Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahe on the Arabian Sea. The 'district' of Pondicherry is located on the east coast & is surrounded by the state of Tamil Nadu on all sides except towards the Bay. An Account of the Adventure:- Like always, it was Rochana who masterminded the plan. Her friend Ann, a professional photographer, apart from being an environmentalist & a keen traveller, wanted to visit ... read more

After a troublesome bus ride to Pondicherry bus stand, a crappy tamil movie with a dance sequence in the middle of violence followed by crappier tamil tunes and a sliding window letting in cold wind every few minutes, I got off the bus, unwrapping the shawl and then taking off the sweatshirt welcoming heat. After a bad attack of acidity calmed down with a coke, we set off to watch the sunrise on the beach. A 3 km walk intruded every few minutes by a musical auto rickshaw telling us he could take us to a cheap hotel and we just refused "Venda" like a million times. So we reached Beach Rd, flooded with morning joggers, some determined to lose weight, some enjoying a morning stroll, some who wanted to lose weight but didn't look like ... read more

Not much to say about Pondicherry...the old part is quite french the new part very indian Hired a moped for the day and made the trip out to Auroville the "dreamchild" of Sri Aurobindo and "The Mother" a French woman back in the early 1900s. It's a project in "human unity" loads of people from all over the world living in india, where no religion or race or politics takes precendence over another. Tried out some of the beaches north of the city, not up to much so headed south, to find another recommended one...couldn't find the bloody thing! Not until it was too late to get there, apparently have to go by boat. As not much to do, in the evening found a gym and then headed off for something to eat. That's about it, ... read more

Ok, so I’m still in search of a beach. My guidebook led me to believe that the ex-French colony of Pondicherry would be full of French hippies tanning themselves on a sandy beach whilst sipping coffee and munching on croissants. No surprise then that Pondi became a pressing call on my journey South. So I booked 3 nights in the superbly named Hotel Jayaram :o), packed my bikini and thanks to Brett, Mark and Jim a couple of good books for a little r & r. The C18th French influence is obvious - with old-style colonial buildings, wide boulevards and French street names. However that’s just the French quarter. Most of the rest of the town is as hectic as any other Indian market town. It’s a good 40 min walk through the usual craziness of ... read more