Thursday, March 10, 2005

Doing Pondicherry over the Weekend... (From Hyderabad)

vandana gombar a fellow ryzer, writes.....

I wasn't sure how about its doability until I actually did it...

For those who want the sun, the sand and some spiritualism in the air...head to Pondi for the weekend...a backpackers guide...

Friday.
1600 hrs: I leave HYd in the Chennai Express...some reading...some food and sleep...

Saturday.
0600 Hrs: At Chennai Railway station
0700 Hrs: After taking a lift to the bus-stand, I hopped onto a 3-hour ride through the scenic ECR (East Coast Road)...to Pondi
1000 Hrs:At Pondi...

I managed to get a room at the Ashram Guest house...amazingly scenic (its right on the beach)...quiet..economical (RS 300/single)...you can rent bicycles at the guest house...you get food...BUT drugs, alcohol, smoking strictly forbidden...For those who enjoy these indulgences...there are other options to stay...cottages...guest houses..

After some refreshments, I booked myslf into the Pondi Tourism Devt Corp. half day tour of the city...they took me to a museum (very boring...cannot get excited by looking at the primitive elements man used thousands of years ago...how do I care...)...and some temples...the most intersting thing was AUROVILLE...and the famous shrine where soil from 120 countries was mixed to emphasize the universal unity of mankind...you will see people from many many countries there...

Nightfall...you can walk on the beach road till late at night...very amiable...lots of people...flowers in the hair...and sleep with the lulling sound of waves loud in your ear...

Sunday...
0530 hrs :up to see the sunrise (it is the east coast remember...)
Leisurely breakfast at the guest house...few hours in the garden overlooking the sea...some buys of incense sticks...

1300 hrs: Bus to Chennai...
1800 hrs: Charminar Express starts for Hyd...

Monday...
0830 hrs: In HYD
1000 hrs...am at work.

If anyone wants to prebook...I could help with the phone numbers...Vandana

Visit Vandana's Ryze page

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah! It's been an year since I left Hyd and I feel so nostalgic reading your restaurant reviews :(

Btw, I along with my friends, were the first customers of Galloping Gooseberries! No wonder it folded :)

Anonymous said...

Exactly what i was looking for!
Have relocated to hyd recently and was finding places to visit.
Pondi was first in my list.
Thanks, was resourceful.

Kim said...

Anytime :)

Unknown said...

Hi Kim ... I am planning to go to Pondicherry from Hyderabad over this Diwali Weekend.. may be start from here on 24th Oct (Friday) .. Planning to come back on Tuesday Morning (Oh Yeah .. .Diwali Morning .. as my company has no Holiday on Tue..)

Could You help in the preboooking ...

Unknown said...

My email is there on my profile ...

Kim said...

Dude!

I'm not a travel agent.

And currently I live on a different continent!


LOL.

I hope you find someone who can help you.

Unknown said...

As much as I want the travel agents over here in Hyd to be more friendly/coopertive, I would never want a lovely lady to be one of them.

I asked for help . as It was mentioned in the post itself. I guess it was a statement by Vandana not you..


Enjoy the new place of stay .. looking for reading some more .. may be on your new place :D


Cheers
PP

Kim said...

:D

check out
http://whazzupegypt.blogspot.com

:)

ansuman pattnaik said...

Hi ,

I was rellay planning hard to to do pondecherry for a long time , this seems to be a good start for me !!

Thank a lot for the infos

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