A short trip to pondicherry..

The magic of a sunset, is the orange hues

splashed across the bronzed sky

as the wide leaves of the coconut trees

sway in the cool mystical sea breeze!!

Sunset at Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India 

The story started from a friend's wedding in Chennai, and with the long weekend around the corner. We decided to go to Pondicherry, the land where time stops. Unlike the beach capital of Goa, a pondicherry holiday is about relaxation and cafe hopping and shopping at auroville!!

We took an AC bus from koyambedu bus stop in Chennai, and got lucky as the bus was waiting at the stop. With the ticket cost of only Rs.135, it was an awesome bargain and the bus didn't disappoint at all. We started around 9.30 pm and by 1.30 the bus had dropped us to our destination, pondicherry bus stop.

Our earlier booked hotel, a bed and breakfast Inn in the french quarters had cancelled our booking at last minute and we stayed at hotel sathya sai, which turned out to be a great bargain again at Rs.800 a day for 2 person stay. The room was clean with a big enough bathroom and a functional TV, and teh staff was helpful and cooperative.

To roam around the city, you can easily hire a bike or a bicycle. A bike would only cost around Rs.400 for a day and you can bargain for 2 days easily.

Here's my summary of the Best Cafes I liked in Pondicherry:

1. The Indian Kaffe Express
- Absolutely great for breakfast with innovative options and really tasty food. The service takes a bit of time but then pondicherry is for relaxation. It is well situated within the french quarters and you should definitely give it a try!!

2. Zuka
- For all chocolate lovers, this is nothing less than heaven and absolute must try!!

3. The Hidesign Cafe
- An absolute bargain with delicious food!! and a great location being inside the pondicherry bazaar
Much better than the expensive options

4. Le Cafe
- Awesome location right beside the beach and good snack options

We also tried LB2 lounge and cafe Shanti, but they were ok nothing great as such! and you can try so many other cafe options available!!

Coming back to attractions, we did roam around the majestic french quarters, its a must see. And we did some shopping around the bazaar, if you like leather bags, definitely try hidesign factory outlet where you can get as much as 60-70% off.

Pondicherry Market, pondicherry, Tamil Nadu

I loved this small bazaar with mud objects, they were a treat to watch.

Next day we started off in morning to auroville, on our rented bike and reached quite easily in about 35 minutes. We walked to the statue, which was nice and then shopped around for incense sticks and hand made soaps. We had a nice quite lunch and then moved to serenity beach in pondicherry.

Coming to beaches, there is obviously the promenade, the rocky beach but it is mostly crowded. Serenity beach was a great discovery. It has less crowd, you can do surfing here and it's great to just sit on the rocks and watch waves crash by. Its quite clean, littered with fishermen boats.

Serenity Beach, Pondicherry

Pondicherry is a great weekend break, for relaxation! For just roaming around!!

Serenity Beach, Pondicherry