It was a short trip to Puducherry which is located at east coast of India. It is a mixture of Tamil and French culture. French colony, french cuisine, Tamil culture and cuisine, clean beaches, mangrove forest, Auroville (Universal Township) and the local vibe were the highlights of the tour.
How to reach?
Pune - Chennai and Chennai - Pune by flight. [cost ₹6000]
Chennai - Pondicherry and Pondicherry - Chennai by local bus PRTC/TNSTC . [cost ₹250]
Cab will cost around ₹2000 one way.
Once you reach Chennai airport you can get buses to Pondicherry from Koyambedu (CMBT). You can reach CMBT by Metro. Metro does not operate after midnight. You can also find AC buses for Pondicherry. There are two routes 1. ECR (East Coast Road) 2. Express way - ECR is very scenic route and it adds advantage to visit Mahabalipuram. We opted for Express Way as we started our journey at 5 am from Chennai and we wanted to cover most of the Pondicherry in 3 days. Also ECR is bit busy as bus goes through villages on this route.
Where to stay?
Best places to stay are in White Town and nearby area. There are many boutique hotels. We stayed at "Villa Krish". It costed ₹10000 for 2 nights with breakfast. You may find decent stays from ₹2500 per night if you book well in advance.
French Colony and Cafes
Pondicherry has a very rich French and Indian culture. We visited "Cafe des Arts" for the breakfast. It serves amazing french breakfast. Then we went to hire a scooter and it costed ₹750 for 3 days. We went to different areas of French Colony and area around it. Promenade Beach area is just about 500 meters from White Town. Artistic walls, colorful homes and beautiful streets make it very attractive.
We tried Coriander Fish at "Masion Perumal Restaurant" and had lunch at "Fish Aurant Restaurant".
After resting for some time in the afternoon we went to Promenade Beach to have a coffee at "Le Cafe" with the scenic view of beach and surrounding area. You can see many small attractions around it - French War Memorial, Old Light House. We roamed around French Colony and then had some small bites at "Coromandel Cafe and Restaurant", one of the top 20 restaurants in India. We tried mutton croquettes. Then for main course we went to "Villa Shanti", one of the finest restaurants in Pondy.
On day 2, we went to Promenade Beach to see beautiful sunrise. It was a mesmerizing view. We had a breakfast at our hotel and headed towards "Pichavaram Mangrove Forests", 60km far from Pondicherry. We took a bus to Chidambaram which is 45km from Pondicherry and then town bus to Pichavaram for next 15km. Its a very happening ride in the local buses. They are full of South Indian music and the way drivers drive the bus reminds you about formula 1 race.
Ticket to Mangrove Forest is about ₹300 for 2. We took a rowing boat and we paid extra ₹500 for the rower and he took us to deep forest. You can bargain on this. It was around 1 hour ride. We tried Lemon Rice and Banana Pakoda at the bus stop on Pichavaram Boat Center as there are no other restaurants in nearby area. You can find one restaurant 500 meters far from Boat Center which serves delicious fish.
We returned by evening and took a rest at hotel. In the evening we went to "New Light House" from where you can see beautiful view of the town. For dinner we went to "Palais de Mahe - CGH Earth" and "Villa Shanti" again.
We had a breakfast at our hotel but still we went to try something local at "Indain Coffee House". We tried Rice Pongal, Idali Sambar and Coffee.
Then we headed towards "Auroville". It is around 10-15km far from White Town. It takes at least a half day to cover major parts of the township. You can read about Auroville on online sources. Its very interesting to know about this universal township in India. We visited Matrimandir View Point and surrounded area. We went to few shops near visitors center where one can buy many things manufactured inside Auroville.
After that we went to "Auroville Bakery". They serve worlds best cakes. We had Chicken Burger, Chicken Wrap and Choco-Walnut cakes. We spent around 4 hours in Auroville and returned to Pondicherry.
This was our last day in Podicherry. We went to Chennai by public transport. In Chennai our stop was at Perungalathur from where we took city bus to airport.
This way 3 days trip to Podicherry came to an end. You can cover Paradise Beach in Pondicherry. Also visit Mahabalipuram if you have one more day. Staying at Auroville is also an amazing experience. You can also visit Auroville Beach if you have full day to spend in Auroville.
You can buy some sweets while returning home. Shree Krishna Sweets is the famous one in Pondy for their specialty of Mysore-pak.
Hope you liked my blog. Please share, like and add comments. For any travel related queries contact me on +91 9970366484 and a4ajinkya@gmail.com.
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