Pondicherry

Last weekend, some of us decided to spend a day in Pondicherry. Knowing that the city is relatively small and walkable, we figured one whole day would be enough. In retrospect, this is true although I have to admit the full day was very exhausting. I think this was due in part to the fact that we took sleeper buses Saturday and Sunday nights and we were there from 7am to 10pm. This was my first sleeper bus experience and I will be honest and admit it certainly was not glamorous. Roads here are incredibly bumpy so sometimes it felt like I was sleeping on a roller coaster- but I am just thankful that the beds appeared clean! I split a double bed sleeper with my friend Lindsey but she had a bit of an unpleasant ride be because she desperately had to go to the bathroom. As her promised bathroom buddy, around 3am we asked the driver if he would please stop. Unfortunately he pulled over to a dark little row of shack like homes with a bunch of men standing around, which we quickly decided was not a safe spot. This was probably one of the first times I've had a real reality check that we are in India. As I tried to sleep for the rest of the night, I watched very deserted and desolate towns fly by that looked as if they had no electricity or running water. It reminded me how far away from home I was. This continued when we arrived in Pondicherry, literally at the side of some deserted road with some filthy shops and rickshaws waiting. As bus stations aren't really a thing in India, we asked around for a toilet and were lead to a rickety staircase leading up to a room with a squat toilet. Another first for me- again not glamorous, but I'm just thankful I came prepared with t.p. and sanitizer. Even in nicer places in India, it seems that handsoap is not a thing, let alone bathroom sanitation - but this was probably the grossest experience I've had thus far. But I feel like a blog on India is not complete without a mention of bathrooms...it almost felt like a rite of passage to experience it!

After we all visited the restrooms, we took rickshaws into town and explored. Here are some photos of the rocky beach front. 

 

Gandhi statue:

We quickly realized Pondicherry was an overwhelmingly hot place. At 8am we had already sweat through our clothes and it felt like it must have been over 30 degrees. The day got even hotter and hotter and our level of comfortable had to be redefined. This was again another harsh reminder of where I am and how it is not exactly a comfortable place. BUT, I quickly learnt that if you have the mental power to ignore the uncomfortable, India can has a plethora of amazing things to do and see. One of which is the town of Auroville which is on the outskirts of Pondicherry. Auroville is an experimental township built on the principles of human unity, peace, meditation and yoga. To visit you are required to watch a video about its beliefs and then have the options of wandering around its shops, medicinal herb garden, meditation areas and the Matrimandir, a temple-like structure built for the community of Auroville to listen to the preachings of the Mother. I realize this sounds like a bit of a confusing place, and to be honest, I find it sortof hard to explain - but all I can say is that it is a very harmonious and peaceful place that practices a very ethical way of life. It was really interesting to hear and see the result of small group of people's way of life and how they've set it up to educate outsiders on it.

Some of my friends at the entry to Auroville:

The walk to Matrimandir

The orb like structure is matrimandir:

We already stand out as non-natives so why not go for a tourist photo?

We then took an auto back into town. We asked our driver to take us to the "promenade", which we thought meant the beachfront, but he ended up taking us to a fancy hotel/restaurant called the promenade instead. Hungry for lunch, we decided to check it out and were pleasantly greeted by a 5 star buffet. At 900 rupees for lunch, we were not about to eat here, but it was one of the first air conditioned places we'd been to in weeks -and with the sweltering heat, it seemed worth it. So we got to have a fancy lunch and hangout in a chilled nice place for a few hours, which was really enjoyable. 

A glimpse of some of what I ate...I'd missed having some hummus!

Then we wandered around more:

It felt so good to be by the water (Bay of Bengal to be exact!)

Then we walked through the Sri Aurobindo ashram (no photos allowed) and then explored the old French quarter. This felt like a slightly older, more delapidated version of the south of France. 

We went inside a courtyard and realized it was the first time we had been able to walk on grass since being in India. Grass is nowhere to be seen in Bangalore, except for in parks, where it is fenced off. Even the children in my French class didn't really know what grass is! It felt so good to walk in grass barefoot - you don't realize the little things you are grateful for until you haven't had them in a while. I wish this was a photo of my sandal tan, but it's mostly dirt! 

Then we settled on a restaurant for dinner and drinks and waited there until it was time for our bus! We were peasantly surprised to discover our bus was air conditioned which made it much easier to sleep. 

More posts to come!