Easter in Beautiful Pondicherry

Trip Start Aug 15, 2007
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Trip End Aug 31, 2008

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Monday, March 24, 2008

After a 2 hour bus ride (public buses are fun) we arrived in the very French town of Pondicherry. A beautiful town with a great beach promenade. Since it was the Easter weekend and we didn't book ahead we found ourselves running from guesthouse to hotel trying to find a room...and with our luck we ended up finding the last room available in the best hotel in Pondi (Hotel L'Orient - recommended)...ups..a hit to the budget but a sweet indulgence..especially since a storm came in and we got to just chill on the premises.
Given the monsoon-like rain, people left Pondi earlier and we moved to a slightly cheaper place (The French Villa) which was also really nice. It was interesting to see mostly Indian affluent tourists who came down from Chennai and Bangalore as well as the Christian influence down here. We were also surprised on how expensive Pondi was..a regular room in a Guesthouse cost $30 a night and the food was pricey too....but it's definitely worth a stop anyway. We ended up staying 3 days relaxing and visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in town as well as Auroville, the famous "universal township" outside of Pondi (www.auroville.org). We found the Ashram to be interesting but also kind of freaky given the "sect" type feel and the guru adoration for "the Mother" etc. Not our cup of tea but still intriguing.
Lesson of the day: Curry is not a particular dish but just means "spiced dish"...not because of the Curry-leaf or another special ingredient..I was always kind of confused what made a dish a Curry but I guess it's just anything with different spices mixed together. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry)
To our fellow travelers we recommend:
- Hotel L'Orient and The French Villa (if you've got the budget)
- kasha ki aasha cafe
- Renting a moto and exploring the beaches north & Auroville
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