Hotel de l'Orient Pondicherry

Hi all.<br><br>Gonna give this travel blog thing a go, see what happens!<br><br>We went to London from Knock on Monday evening, where we met Paul and Ben for grub and a few drinks. Flew to Chennai early Tuesday morning via Doha, Qatar. <br><br>We landed at 4am. The airport was a kip and we were met straight away by touts promising us the world! We took a trip to the toilet- we paid, walked in and straight out again! Got a taxi to the hostel and dropped off the bags. Finding ...

... and riding around which was fantastic as it's totally flat and i love getting amidst the chaos of the traffic...no lights or signs really, just avoid everyone yet there's no road rage really...hmmmm.<br><br>The first few days my tolerance and patience were tested as the Vietnamese guy just wanted to follow me around, he would wait on his balcony for me to go oot and tell me to wait up, he got to be creepy and wasn't getting the message, even after ...

... bonded. We spend time getting our hands dirty, but not without a lot of laughing as well. We have inside jokes and memories that will last a lifetime. The people living in the village have welcomed us with open arms. They did not know what to expect before we got here, but that did not stop them from greeting us and calling us their family. Tonight - it is currently 7:10pm here - we will be ...

It is the day before our performance workshop, at Adishakti School, in Auroville. For the past four days, we have been staying at a charmingly bohemian guest house in Pondichery, called Villa Pondichery. It sounds French because Pondichery was a French colony for around five hundred years, except for a twenty year period when the Portuguese took over and built the neat grid design roads. Although the French officially left Pondy, as it is generally known ...

... I walked back the 2-mile trail to the visitor center in the company of a bunch of goats. I crossed the path of a few people and as usual they found it odd to see a white woman alone and proceeded to talk to me. I spent some time with an Christian Indian guy named Gerald. I always find it funny how people pick names from other countries. The conversation was flowing but I thought I was going to pass out because of the heat and probably also because of a growling whining ...

... tall gopurams (217 feet - 66 meters - according to the guide, 13 stories high). We were the only visitors and I was for sure the only white person in that town that day! The temples were not empty but people were there to pray, not to visit. It was mid afternoon and I don&#8217;t think I had been that hot in my entire life. Although I have the feeling I&#8217;m going to say the same thing tomorrow and the day after, and the day after&#8230; As we had done the day ...

... things to send home to Australia to a tailor for wrapping in cloth but he was so backed up with work that it was going to be a long wait and it was possible that i wouldn't make the post office by the afternoon. There was elections happening and most of Pondy was on siesta. Whilst waiting someone gave me a ride on the back of a motorbike to the Sri Aurobindo ashram where there is a flower- festooned samadhi tomb shrine of Aurobindo and the Mother in a central courtyard where ...

... of their motto 'may there be many more forests to grow people' at Sadhana Forest in the future and i hope to return some day to see how it has progressed and of course to check up on the ongoing Auroville experiment in human unity and transformation of consciousness<br><br>Silly poem i wrote during creative writing class with Zoe, the topic was beer:<br><br>Have you ever met the man on the moon<br>I hear he is quite the loon<br>he hosts tea parties in a dress<br ...

... also made campfires outside the Forest some nights as well. As with most campfires in life, people brought out drums and guitars (someone once brought a didjerdo) and played and sang. Since the founders have requested that the main hut be quiet after 9pm, the campfires are a great way for everyone to hang out and make noise without bothering sleeping volunteers. Mud pool- just outside the Forest, about a 3 minute walk, is a huge pool of mud. The top layer ...

... wasn't all positive. According to our insider, the Osho devotees he met were involved in a competitive game of meditation. They are literally trying to out-meditate each other in the Ashram. As a result, it is a very quiet place and people were very serious. Nobody wanted to talk to him. It wasn't the positive karmic experience our man was expecting! We were curious how the ...