Our first trip on “The Beast” ( the new Mahindra Mojo 300). So we wanted something not too taxing, yet a bit adventurous just to get warmed up to the new Motorbike .Hence we chose Pondicherry for our maiden road trip.Now mind you when we embark on a journey, we make sure most of the journey is clearly outlined.We don’t make decisions on the whim, so even the restaurants were decided well in advance.Though I did not quite understand the importance of deciding everything before-hand initially, the food that we had here was easily among the best we have ever had had.Also my hubby had all the places, that we planned to visit, marked in Google maps and transferred the marked map to my mobile phone so that we could use an offline map and GPS to locate all the places without having to stop every now and then for directions.That helped a lot!
By now we thought we had already gotten used to the stares and glares when people see the bike. But this reached a new high in Pondicherry.People actually came up to us to enquire about it.My dear husband couldn’t just shake off the excitement that it brought. But it also has its downside. ‘Cause now everybody wants to try to change gears,touch it ,feel it! That brings out the ugly side in him 😀 All said the adrenaline rush you feel when college-goers yell “that is soo cool!” beats nothing.
Pondicherry-A perfect example of the confluence of the Western and Eastern cultures and heritage.Pondicherry was a French colony for more than 250 years. The French have left their indelible mark in every aspect of the quaint little town.We started from Chennai at about 6:30 in the morning.Mounted our bags on to the bike and off we went! We took the ECR( East Coast Road) one of the most picturesque roads in the state. What stumped me was how green the entire route was! It was dotted on both sides by palm trees , paddy fields, numerous farms with small ridges growing all sorts of veggies, vast swathes of dried river beds ,salt pans, backwaters.Yes it had it all! The cold crisp air did just about enough to excite us for what lay ahead.There were numerous other bikers too heading to Pondi.
After about an hour and half we stopped for a breather.Had some water and snacked a little and got back on the bike.Our first stop according to plan was Auroville. Auroville, is an experimental township on the outskirts of Pondi which houses hundreds of people from all over the world irrespective of their race,religion, cast,creed.We veered a little off the path trying to find Auroville, but eventually found it.The main reception hall is the first thing that greets you in Auroville.It has all the pictures of its main attraction the MatriMandir (the big golden globe right below), details about its construction, what Auroville does for its people and much more.After collecting the free entry pass for MatriMandir , we could visit the viewing point for the structure. MatriMandir had a huge wave of visitors all the time.While we were there it was a raucous gang of college-goers from the North-East of India.We had a few pictures clicked and wandered a little in and around the area and set off to get some breakfast.
By the time we were out of Auroville we were almost out of energy.According to our plan the breakfast pit-stop was supposed to be The Auroville Bakery.Now being the lazybones I am I did not care to mark it on the map.Hence we could not find it and decided to have something in the cafeteria beside the reception hall.But something changed our mind and we decided to look for the bakery anyway and we found it! Breakfast was sumptuous in Auroville Bakery. A slice of pizza, banana choco-chip bread and chocolate glazed donuts.YUM! If you are visiting Pondi trying the various baked foods is a must! After checking in to the hotel,stole a quick nap and we set off again. Our second stop was Bharti park, Aayi mandapam (Park monument).This is a monument built to commemorate a lady Ayi who destroyed her own house so that a water reservoir could be erected in its stead to supply water to the region.Our third stop was the Pondicherry museum. One of the most remarkable places we visited during our trip.It featured all the historic artefacts that had been excavated at Arikamedu , an archaeological site a few kilometres from Pondi. Camera was prohibited inside the premises hence couldn’t click any pictures.
Had our lunch at Cafe Xtasi in MG road. Best food. Ever. After hogging on some Nachos, chicken wings and pizza , we set off to our fourth destination, the Great Tamil poet Sri Bharatidasan’s memorial museum. It had numerous photographs of him throughout the various stages of his life, some of his works,newspaper clippings featuring the poet and much more.It surely helped me know more about him since I did not know a great deal about him before visiting the museum.
We ended our day just strolling around the Promenade Beach.Listened to a police band play various songs(Guess they were rehearsing for something big). Also paid a visit to the Kargil War Memorial which has been constructed right off the beach. Bought a light dinner , idled and lounged on our bed and called it a day! An eventful one at that!
Eclectic Two 