Day 83 (Thurs 28 Sep) - Mamallapuram / Pondicherry
Sadly we are leaving Mamallapuram today, we have had a wonderfully relaxing time, but we are looking forward to all the French food and wine in Pondicherry.
We had breakfast and walked to the bus stand, it was a bit of a struggle as it was pretty hot.
We had no idea which bus to catch. Every time a bus approached the stand, Sarb dashed over to see if it was going to Pondicherry. Finally a bus conductor shouted out Pondy so we ran over to the bus. It was pretty full but Jo noticed some spare seats at the back. As she clambered on the bus started to move and left poor Sarb behind. To the shock of the other passengers Jo yelled to the bus driver to stop. Reluctantly he slowed down briefly, giving Sarb just enough time to jump on. As soon as he was on the bus set off on its bouncing, swerving way; Sarb was left standing in the aisle struggling to get his rucksacks off whilst attempting not to get brained by the metal rails. He managed it to the cost of one crack on the collar bone and a deep scratch on the arm.
In just over two hours we arrived in Pondicherry. Getting off the bus we were badgered by an auto rickshaw driver. Jo thought she'd done so well as she managed to barter him down from Rs 50 to Rs 30 but then he took us to his cycle rickshaw! We had to dangerously pile on our rucksacks and hold on for dear life. When we arrived at our destination the cyclist tried to charge us Rs 30 each - now that was a new one!
We popped in a restaurant for lunch whilst we planned where we would stay. All of the accommodation is quite spread around Pondicherry and it was quite hard to find somewhere reasonable to stay. After a bit of hot and bother we checked into the Park House Guest House which is an Ashram with an excellent location on the sea front.
An Ashram is a place of communal living established around the philosophies of a guru. They have codes of conduct; ours was quite simple we couldn't drink, smoke, do drugs and we had to be in bed by 10.30pm. The plus side was that we got to stay in a very clean room with amazing views of the sea and well kept gardens and a balcony for only Rs400 (5 quid) per night. It was also very peaceful and chilled.
Later we strolled along the promenade and into the town, passing a church along the way. Pondicherry definitely has a French feel to it; it's hard to believe you are still in India. The street names are even in French and we can't wait to try out the French food and wine.
Sarb spotted a typical French small town/village scene. A little old lady wheeling her bike up the road with her shopping.
In the evening we went to a French restaurant that had been recommended called Rendezvous. We had a delicious meal, washed down by a bottle of wine in the garden roof top restaurant. For starters Sarb had onion soup and Jo had fish soup followed by fish in a white wine sauce whilst Sarb had a very French coq au vin. When the bill came we realised we'd spent four times as much on the wine as on the food!
We merrily made our way back to the ashram in time for our curfew, trying not to look as if we had been drinking.
We had breakfast and walked to the bus stand, it was a bit of a struggle as it was pretty hot.
We had no idea which bus to catch. Every time a bus approached the stand, Sarb dashed over to see if it was going to Pondicherry. Finally a bus conductor shouted out Pondy so we ran over to the bus. It was pretty full but Jo noticed some spare seats at the back. As she clambered on the bus started to move and left poor Sarb behind. To the shock of the other passengers Jo yelled to the bus driver to stop. Reluctantly he slowed down briefly, giving Sarb just enough time to jump on. As soon as he was on the bus set off on its bouncing, swerving way; Sarb was left standing in the aisle struggling to get his rucksacks off whilst attempting not to get brained by the metal rails. He managed it to the cost of one crack on the collar bone and a deep scratch on the arm.
In just over two hours we arrived in Pondicherry. Getting off the bus we were badgered by an auto rickshaw driver. Jo thought she'd done so well as she managed to barter him down from Rs 50 to Rs 30 but then he took us to his cycle rickshaw! We had to dangerously pile on our rucksacks and hold on for dear life. When we arrived at our destination the cyclist tried to charge us Rs 30 each - now that was a new one!
We popped in a restaurant for lunch whilst we planned where we would stay. All of the accommodation is quite spread around Pondicherry and it was quite hard to find somewhere reasonable to stay. After a bit of hot and bother we checked into the Park House Guest House which is an Ashram with an excellent location on the sea front.
An Ashram is a place of communal living established around the philosophies of a guru. They have codes of conduct; ours was quite simple we couldn't drink, smoke, do drugs and we had to be in bed by 10.30pm. The plus side was that we got to stay in a very clean room with amazing views of the sea and well kept gardens and a balcony for only Rs400 (5 quid) per night. It was also very peaceful and chilled.
Later we strolled along the promenade and into the town, passing a church along the way. Pondicherry definitely has a French feel to it; it's hard to believe you are still in India. The street names are even in French and we can't wait to try out the French food and wine.
Sarb spotted a typical French small town/village scene. A little old lady wheeling her bike up the road with her shopping.
In the evening we went to a French restaurant that had been recommended called Rendezvous. We had a delicious meal, washed down by a bottle of wine in the garden roof top restaurant. For starters Sarb had onion soup and Jo had fish soup followed by fish in a white wine sauce whilst Sarb had a very French coq au vin. When the bill came we realised we'd spent four times as much on the wine as on the food!
We merrily made our way back to the ashram in time for our curfew, trying not to look as if we had been drinking.
posted by Jo and Sarb at
9/28/2006 09:56:00 am
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