Well we have to do it as we have a little one.
Pondicherry was not a very preferred destination for me. We had planned to visit this place a couple of times before and always ended dropping the idea. We had a notion that Pondy (as its widely known) is haven for bachelors who would throng the place to enjoy a bay side drinking spree party. So we thought that it’s not an apt place for a couple or a family vacation. But my hubby was persistent that he has to visit it once. There was another point with which he was able to convince me that it’s a drivable 350 KM from Bangalore. So finally we set out for Pondy.
The routes to Pondy from Banagalore. :
Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Chengam-Tiruvanamali-Ginge-Tindvanam-Pondicherry
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We started at morning 9 am. Reached Hosur at 10:30 am and stopped for breakfast. After a quick stop we proceeded on NH4 towards Krishnagiri. While we were close to Krishnagiri, we were watched out to take the turn to the road to Chennai. We had to take the immediate right turn to NH66. If you hit the toll station then it means you have missed the turn. Well, I know this as we very promptly missed to take NH66. If you happen to miss the route then you can go via Tirupattur and meet Tiruvanamali. This road is not that bad but we had to travel an extra 55KM for the mistake.
As we took the Tirupattur route we were completely lost, there were no sign boards and we didn’t know where we were heading to. Then to our rescue came our new Asus P750 with GPS. Just sent an SMS to enable the GPRS needed by the Google Navigator that we had installed just before we started our journey. We could then locate ourselves heading towards NH66. My gizmo freak husbands PDA phone was of great help and he was short of words glorifying the technology and the phone!! He tried Google Maps first which was not as good as the Google Navigator. The all India city map from Satguid that comes from with Asus P750 is of no help once you are outside city limits.
With this round around journey we reached Tirunamamali at 2pm. As my daughter was hungry and we stopped at a hotel for idlis. As idlis were not served at lunch time, we just packed meals and left. Half past two we drove down to a shady tree across the road to gulp the packed food. Arunachalam Temple was in our list but planned to visit it on the way back.
We reached Pondicherry at 5:30 as planned. As we enter this French colony we can see high raised dividers on the road. Our booking at Lotus Comfort was confirmed at 12 noon. This is a new hotel on Sardar Vallabhai Patel Road. Its location is good as it’s a 5 mins walk to the promenade and French colony. The rooms are small but with all amenities and well maintained.
Places to visit in Pondicherry:
The next day we set out to see the promenade. The promenade at Pondicherry would be a disappointment for those who want to splurge into the bay and enjoy. The view of the waves relentlessly surging to reach the rocks is just spectacular. Every tide of the sea has a tale to say, but ebbs away shying away from the invading world. A drive across the promenade is memorable.
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Next we set out to Chunnambar Back Waters. This was a much awaited destination as my one year old daughter is extremely fond of playing in water. It’s around 8 km from the city, on the Cuddalore road.
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This is an interesting place as we had to take a boat ride to reach the sun kissed beautiful beach. You may not fine much of a crowd here. The sea here is very fierce and you can find few guards watching you!! Pranathi was so excited that we had a tough time putting her swim suite. This is surely one of the best Indian beaches I have visited. Clean and not too crowded, just the one you are looking for.
On the way back visited the Anglo French Textile. It’s a good place to shop for cotton material.
Aurobindo Ashram Auroville seem to be a good place to visit. We did not visit either of them. One is suppose to keep silence in the Ashram and kids are not allowed.
The Aurobindo Paper Mill is another interesting place. Its situated on SV Patel road a few feet after Hotel Lotus Comforts. You can find a variety of hand made paper of good quality. You can also pick up some simple gift items from this place, all paper work!!!.
Foodies:
The French area has a few good places to dine. The Promenade is the best place for fine dine. It offers buffet as well as ala carta. If you go for buffet don’t miss the special desserts on the shelf. It’s a hotel of Hidesign group.
Pizza Hut again in the French area is good. But don’t expect a French touch to your pizzas. Pizza hut pizzas taste the same everywhere!.
Anand Bhavan in the market area is a good place for south Indian breakfast and snacks.
The restaurant attached to the Executive Inn is also a good place for buffet breakfast. They also have good rooms.
Places to visit around Pondicherry:
Chidambaram, the city of temples is 70 Kms from Pondy. But the more interested and fascinating destination for lens men like my husband is Pichavaram. Pichavaram the second largest Mangrove forest in the world, near the temple town of Chidambaram , is one of the unique Eco-tourism spots in South India.
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It’s a natural 500+ years old mangrove forest. The boat ride across the mangrove needs to be booked at the counter. As a single boat needs minimum 7-11 members you may have to
wait for sometime. However if you can shell out some extra money then even a group of 5 can be arranged. The trip in the mangrove is appr 30 mins where he could show you a few canals and brief you with geography and history of the place. Again extra bucks can give you a longer ride deeper into the canal giving you ample opportunity for photography.The government restaurant at Pichavaram provides one of the best lunches. We had a sumptuous lunch here for just Rs 35.
At 4 PM the Chidambaram temple doors open. It’s not the right time to enter here as the main temple in this temple complex opens its door at 4:45PM, just keeping us waiting. I was really disappointed here not due to the wait hours but every pujari is upto making contacts. As this temple run privately every pujari is busy asking you, where do you come from, give me your address so that we can send you the Prasad every month at your door step. Give them the address then comes the surprise: Rs 50/month. You can pay for one month upto one year!
The booking for accommodation at Chidambaram needs to be early as there are a few ones. Hotel Saradharam is a good hotel to stay.
Mahabalipuram is another bay bait for weekenders from Chennai. The shore temples are enchanting. However we didn’t visit there as we had already visited during our Chennai trip. But it’s a better option to visit if Pichavaram doesn’t fascinate you.
Back to Bangalore.
We started back from pondy at 9:30am. We reached Tiruvanamalai at 12pm. Tiruvanamalai, famous for its Arunachalam Temple is on NH66 between Bangalore and Pondy. Its very nice temple to visit and worship. The hill at the backdrop of the temple is good to view. We were out of the temple at 2 pm and set out to Bangalore with no more stops!. We were done and very tired due to the scorching heat. We reached home at 5pm.
We took back tons of memories and photos and the last word we had about the trip was “We love PPT (Pondy, Pichavaram and Tiruvanamalai) and will visit it again”.
