Blogs from Pondicherry, India, Asia - page 7

I got introduced to this old English guy Jon the other day, who runs the farm group. He used to be the right hand man for the agriculture minister of the Labour party (I think!?). He's very cool. I hadn’t realised how much emotional stress had built up, and I burst into tears on him.. Oops! Anyway.. he was so good about it. He's suggested I go and see Krishna at the Solitude community. Got another puncture today.. think the tyre needs replacing. Had such a good conversation with the lovely guy at the bike place again. He was born here.. long before Auroville even existed, and has obviously seen many changes. We chatted about Auroville, and how from the outside things can look rosy, but from the inside things can be very different. We also ... read more

The Journey Begins.. Ok.. so I arrived here to Auroville (an eco-city in the making!) in the early hours on the 28th of Nov. Flight was good overall, good old BA. Couldn't quite believe I was India, as the leaving date had snuck up and bitten me on the arse like a manky dog! (No, not you Moses ;c) Wasn't quite sure what to expect on arrival, but had a feeling it might be a bit mental. As those of you who have been to India know.. it never ceases to surprise. I had organised a taxi to pick me up from Chenni airport and take me Auroville, as last time (when I flew into Delhi) I got totally skanked, mainly due to sleep dep. It was a right hairy taxi ride.. 3 hours through monsoon ... read more

The following is an unsolicited testimonial for CouchSurfing. No money has changed hands in the production of this advert! In case you don't CouchSurfing is an online community in which travellers offer hospiatlity, and make use of hospitality offered while on the road. It's based on the premise that this makes travelling more affordable, but more importantly, gives travellers the opportunity to experience the community they're visiting at first hand, rather than in the somewhat detached way hotels and so forth can offer Bit of a long lead in though. In Thanjavur I stayed with Gwen, an American doing post graduate research at the University there. We'd exchanged emails over a month or two, so she didn't feel like a stranger when I met her. She gave me a wonderful welcome and time with her, so ... read more

In the end, more travelling, more lugging round the wretyched (heavy) rucsac just lost its appeal. I rejected the chance of a night in Chidambaram to see yet another temple, and came through to here the only way possible - on 2 buses. You wait till you see the photos of them, the first in particular. Thanjavur to Chidambaram is nearly 5 hours - not because the road is so long, but because the roads are so dreadful, and the stops so frequent. At Kumbakonam we stopped for 20 minutes at te bus stand while similarly ancient contraptions belched exhaust, and everybody honked loudly and insistently and incessantly at evereyone else. With my luggage in tow, I was obliged to take the font seat with its bird's eye view of all the near misses. What between ... read more

Random photos on the road out of Pondicherry. I particularly like the guy on the bike transporting the eggs. Of course the bull butt is priceless.... read more