I really felt time took a break, when i was in PONDICHERY!! This is a small UT, located somewhere 160 kms from chennai. I was there twice and loved both the time. Bus is the easiest and cheapest way to reach , we boarded from koyambedu bus stand. Ac bus was the obvious option, its runs in some particular time, but the ordinary bus can be boarded every half an hour. Taking the ECR route is worth it, the 3 1/2 hr ride passes by watching the shore (which i love the most).
U can find many good hotels to stay u can choose according to your budget, we went for GINGER a TATA group of hotels, worth every penny i must say. There are only few selected places to see but still taking a weekend off is anytime better than one day trip. Transport with auto is little overboard, getting two wheeler or 4 wheeler is the best option available. you can get a 2 wheeler in some 300 rs for a day rent.
After a much excited breakfast buffet we hit the road on our bike
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| way to maitri mandir |
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THE first stop was "AUROVILLE" . It is a beautiful village having lush green trees, maitri mandir and awesome french restaurants. Maitri mandir is a meditation centre , its a golden globe sort of meditation centre , you have to get permission prior to your visit to get entry into the mandir (this we didnot know) anyways you can enjoy it from outside , you have to walk on the kachha road among the tress t see the maitri mandir ,
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| maitri mandir |
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but the place is sp serene.we were not in pondichery to meditate so it hardly mattered. you can shop in the premises of the maitri mandir , but its way too expensive but do visit u never know when u will get something worth and priceless!! there is also a eating outlet and they serve you with some organic juices and shakes and short eat. we just had carrot cake and some flower juice .
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| the great banyan and hum |
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| see the smile s evident it was coz of the big pizza |
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| wood burn pizza oven |
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. On returning we found a small cozy french restaurant . The place should be named OH MY GOD!!!! for the excellent wood fire pizza , it was the one of the best i had, and the jumbo prawns were complementing it!!
you can find some good shoping stores in auroville, wide range of harems, alibaba jumpers, dresses and all these things are not cheap. its like every girls dream .
Then we were again on finding direction to the famous pondicherry beach, (the pondi people are helpful, infact i think every indian is too helpul when it comes to directions) .
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| rocky beach |
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| getting filmy |
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We were little disappointed to know that its a "rocky beach" But to explore the much ado about it we took a walk .We sat on the rocks , saw some small crabs but all in all the waves smashing against the rocks slowly sank us in the beauty of the rocky beach. One can find all sorts of vendor on the beach, the favorite manga was there (raw mango) . after that we scanned the whole beach area, you can find many good hotels and hangout place.
we settled for LE CAFE. i did a little research so it was a must visit place. its a small nice breezy outlet on the beach giving you this awesome view and giving you natural music of the waves,you can find all sorts of people eating there. some of them just leisure , some of them gossip with friends, and some like me spending time with their loved ones. I am in love with this cafe. Again when i am visiting puducherry Le cafe will always be on the top.
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| elaborate menu loved it |
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| papa enjoying his cafe latte |
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| QUICHE YUMM YUMMM |
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| HOT AND COLD |
The meat lasagna which we had their was just so perfect, but one negative point was the service . I was not happy with the service, rather i thought the foreign tourist were more imp than the Indian ones to the staff there, but the lasagna , quiche , tuna sandwich, cold coffee , latte and the breathtaking view made us ignore the late service. you just need a book in your hand , coffee and brownie by your side and u just have to "ENJOY".
After a perfect day one , we were thrilled for the day 2 and was wondering what's more in store for us.We took travel brochure from the travel desk and got info about aurobindo ashram, famous ganpati temple, and paradise beach. Our basanti ( red pulsar) was again set to roar with the explorers. :) Next stop was Aurobindo ashram, its the samadhi place of sri aurobindo ghosh ( i told bhanu may be he is kinda of my great to the power 10 uncle or grandfather) and my dear ganwaar says with a smile " tum bangali log bhi na " . Inside the premises was the samadhi of the guru , which was beautifully decorated with flower, sad the camera was not allowed, people were sitting there meditating , we also sat to feel the power.There is a in house library and book selling counter, there are various book written on sri aurobindo and the mother, bhanu got the pick, spiritual reading is definitely not my cup of tea or coffee!
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| bhanu |
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| he is the star attraction |
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| entrance |
The next stop was vinayaka temple, this is a very famous and old ganpati temple , on the walls there were engraved mythology history of ganpati and about his life. Outside this beautiful temple you can find earthly representation of the lord , there is a big elephant and all the devotees offer him coconut or banana or grass. we also got a bunch of grass for him. and after eating he kept his long nose on bhanu's head like he is giving ashirwad. After getting the blessings we were damn hungry, so again we started searching for a gastronomic solace, and what did we find??? SATSANGA this place is nicely done , cozy and u can feel the warmth, we had seafood platter and steak and glass of wine which was ofcourse for me and bhanu had orange juice.
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| bhanu enjoying jis orange drink |
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| seafood platter |
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| hanging there |
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| pyar ki kashti ;) |
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| love the smile |
After the pet puja we were charged to had towards, paradise beach, its nearly 30 kms from pondicherry , you will come to a place called "chunambar back waters" from there board a small boat per head 75 rs ticket and after some 20 mins ride through the back waters you will reach paradise beach . Its more like a private beach, less crowded and you can have lot of fun . we were regretting that we had only an hour to spare there, the last boat is somewhere around 5 pm. There is a small restaurant prizes are affordable , but we were not left with any choice apart from chips and cold drink, as it was almost shut down. The time spent there was really good, the whole beach belongs to you I was missing my portblair beaches you feel same there also.We enjoyed the ride in the small boat and the rain :).
The last stop was the famous RENDEZVOUS RESTAURANT, we were so full but we were so tempted with the menu so couldn't stop ourselves from ordering.
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| lavish spread |
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| no guesses! |
We wanted to eat something exclusively so we settled for baked oysters and pork ribs. its was a double surprise for bhanu he had never ever tasted both the thing, whereas for me oyster a newbie. so after 30 mins came the dishes on our table, the oyester looked as if some cheese was on the sea shell , we guessed we have to scoop and eat or we can even suck it out ;). finally we had oyester, we had applied all the ways of eating the real taste comes when u chew it, it was like cheese with bit of some flesh with sea salt but we enjoyed it. and pork is always one of the fav, the soft ribs just melted in the mouth.
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| rinky posing by the banyan |
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| so true |
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| some horrible photo tricks :) |
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| salt farms on the way back on ecr |
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| chunambar back waters |
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| some french quarters |
WE REALLY MADE TIME TO TAKE A BREAK !! the joy what i experienced was unmeasurable both the time when i visited this beautiful place. pondi will be one of my favorite destination, and it will always be remembered as a special destination for all the whole family and for us.
