Day 84 (Fri 29 Sep) - Pondicherry
Had a good night sleep but felt a bit dodgy when we got up. Think we drank too much wine and the food was a bit rich.
Noticed that Pondicherry is full of large dragonflies (at least a couple of inches long). There are millions of them! If the photos look like they have loads of dark specks all over them that'll be the dragonflies.
Decided to go to Satsanga for breakfast, as recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was OK but a bit overrated.
A walking tour was on the agenda this morning. We set off from Satsanga and strolled down the pretty residential streets before arriving at the Notre Dame de Anges which was built in 1858 ( [1], [2], [3] ).
Continuing past the police HQ we spotted a few very French looking policemen in bright red kepis. Walking around the government square we dodged the rickshaws and cyclists and admired the many statues. On the sea front we walked past the Hotel de Ville and onto Gandhi square which boasts a large impressive statue of the man himself.
As we walked around we noticed the rickshaws here were all using small squeaky horns attached to the drivers side. Quite comical to watch a driver, weave through traffic and every now and then give off an energetic squeak.
(Unknown fact that Pondicherry is plagued by rather rampant rabbits.)
It was getting quite hot by the end of the walk so we decided to head back to the ashram for a rest. We spent a few hours resting in the room and admiring the spectacular view before we decided to head of to the botanical gardens.
The botanical gardens were established by the French in 1826 and by the looks of them they had been left untouched since then. It was a shame they were fairly overgrown and unkempt, although you could see that they once had been pretty impressive. We had hoped to chill out in the gardens but as there wasn't really anywhere to sit we headed back to the ashram. On the way we popped into Seagulls restaurant for a drink, located on the sea front.
Popped back to Rendezvous for dinner. We shared a huge grilled halibut in garlic sauce. Lovely.
Noticed that Pondicherry is full of large dragonflies (at least a couple of inches long). There are millions of them! If the photos look like they have loads of dark specks all over them that'll be the dragonflies.
Decided to go to Satsanga for breakfast, as recommended by the Lonely Planet. It was OK but a bit overrated.
A walking tour was on the agenda this morning. We set off from Satsanga and strolled down the pretty residential streets before arriving at the Notre Dame de Anges which was built in 1858 ( [1], [2], [3] ).
Continuing past the police HQ we spotted a few very French looking policemen in bright red kepis. Walking around the government square we dodged the rickshaws and cyclists and admired the many statues. On the sea front we walked past the Hotel de Ville and onto Gandhi square which boasts a large impressive statue of the man himself.
As we walked around we noticed the rickshaws here were all using small squeaky horns attached to the drivers side. Quite comical to watch a driver, weave through traffic and every now and then give off an energetic squeak.
(Unknown fact that Pondicherry is plagued by rather rampant rabbits.)
It was getting quite hot by the end of the walk so we decided to head back to the ashram for a rest. We spent a few hours resting in the room and admiring the spectacular view before we decided to head of to the botanical gardens.
The botanical gardens were established by the French in 1826 and by the looks of them they had been left untouched since then. It was a shame they were fairly overgrown and unkempt, although you could see that they once had been pretty impressive. We had hoped to chill out in the gardens but as there wasn't really anywhere to sit we headed back to the ashram. On the way we popped into Seagulls restaurant for a drink, located on the sea front.
Popped back to Rendezvous for dinner. We shared a huge grilled halibut in garlic sauce. Lovely.
posted by Jo and Sarb at
9/29/2006 11:08:00 am
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