Pondicherry - The Ever Entertaining Pondi

Pondicherry, a Union Territory of India is situated 150 KM south of Chennai, is the best, easiest and cheapest escape from Chennai city life over a weekend. In my last four years of stay in Chennai, I have visited Pondi (as we call it) 7-8 times and each time the experience was different. Pondi has something to offer to everyone. You can visit Pondi for:

• Spirituality - Aurobindo Ashram and Auroville
• French Architecture - The French colony has building from the time when France was ruling Pondi, some of these buildings have also been converted into Heritage Hotels
• Food - Some of the restaurants in Pondi like Du Parc, La Club etc. serve mouth watering continental food
• Liquor – Pondi, being a Union Territory, offers inexpensive and wide range of liquor. It has lots of liquor showrooms
• Beaches -  Pondi is blessed with different kinds of beaches, there is a rocky beach just next to French Colony, some “yet to be explored” beaches on the way to Pondi (East Coast Road) and an islandbeach- known as paradise beach  (you need to take a boat and reach the beach via back waters of Pondi... this is a different experience, some bit of water sports like motor boats and water bikes are available here)
• Churches – Sacred Heart, Notre Dame des Anges Church are century old churches in Pondi with excellent French Architecture

And so on. So if you are in Chennai or anywhere don’t forget to plan a trip to Pondi, it won’t matter whether you are with your friends, family or love... Pondi will be always relaxing...

PS: Couldn't think of a single photo that will define Pondi thus will soon post a Pondi Photo Blog

First Day with MY DSLR

I love travelling and the best way to capture your memories and stories of your travel is photography. My orkut and FB accounts are full of such photos. Now it was time to put in bit more effort and get a better camera (oh please, I never meant you can’t click good pictures with Point and Shoot Cameraa, good photos are always much more about photographer than camera or even object). But I wanted a DSLR thus got one, Nikon D3100 (lens 18-55).
Mahabalipuram (World Heritage Site) is just 7 KM away from my College. Thus went to Sea Shore Temple early in the morning with my friend Suvasree for my first few click clicks .... J

Sea Shore Temple

A Closer Look

When no one else was there

Few more photos

Mandarmani with Friends and Family

This trip was planned completely by my parents and family friends. I just joined them during my Durga Puja trip to Kolkata. It’s famous for its long (13 KM) motor-able beach along the Bay of Bengal. Mandarmani is not as popular or known as the other popular beaches of Bay of Bengal and thus is a beautiful and peaceful place to spend a weekend.

Date: 1^st Oct 2009 to 2^nd Oct 2009

Place: Mandarmani, West Bengal

With: Parents and Family Friends (total 12 of us)

We hired two big Tata Sumo type cars ( don’t remember exactly which) and started from Kolkata at 6 AM. It’s around 170 Km away from Kolkata,...the first 160 Km have good road and last 10 Km doesn’t have any proper road. The speciality of Mandarmani Resorts is they are all just next to the beach and you can enter the resorts only during low tide. During high tide you have to be inside the resort and enjoy the sea just next to your balcony. We reached around 10 AM and checked-into a resort. Without wasting any time we went to sea to have some “chai chapa chai” time. Next was time for some sumptuous lunch. The resort kitchen called us in the morning while we were on our way to confirm the kind of lunch/dinner we would like to have. Since the resorts get blocked during high tides they need to have their stocks ready.

Around 4:30 PM we hired two cycle vans and went to a nearby delta where one of the tributaries of Ganga meets the Bay of Bengal. The tranquillity of the place is something one can enjoy. We went back to the resort by 6:30 PM. It was time for the high tide and so we spent the rest of the evening chit chatting and relaxing. Next day we started around 11 AM and reached Kolkata at 4 PM. It was time to returnback to Chennai, to Office, to work...

For more photos

Kodai Trip after First Salary

It was 31^st December 2007 when we got our first salary and we immediately set about planning for a trip. Though the initial plan was to go to Kanyakumari but finally went to kodaikanal. This was one of the most memorable trips due to two reasons: One, this was my first trip with friends and second, it was sponsored by my first salary.

Date: 4^th Jan 2008 to 7^th Jan 2008

Place: Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu

With: Souvik, Amit and Kalpana

We board Parveen Travels bus from Chennai CMBT Bus Stop at around 9 PM. It’s an overnight journey from Chennai. We reached on Saturday early morning and got into a hotel near the bus stop. Hotel reception helped us in arranging a cab for sightseeing. Our first stop was Coakers Walk, a narrow strip from where you can get an amazing view of the valley. Then we visited Suicide Point, also known as green valley view (the view was good but they have set up a market near the point, thus serenity expected of the place was not there). Some other places that we visited that day were Silver Cascade, Shanthi Valley and Pine Forest. Some of the spooky scenes of Raaz were shot in these pine forests. On the way we also stopped at a shop that was selling some of the best chocolates I have ever had... the famous Homemade chocolates of Kodaikanal. We spent the evening talking and eating yummy chocolates. Weather wise, it was a nice relief from the never ending summer of Chennai.

Sunday was more about relaxing and refreshing. We went to Kodai Lake which is just 2-3 KM away from our hotel. Saturday was cloudy and cold but on Sunday we enjoyed the sunny cold morning. We did boating on Kodai Lake for two hours (boating is a must-do during any hill station visit). Next we hired two double cycles (or whatever you call them) and it was absolute fun! Kalpana and I don’t even know cycling but managed with Amit and Souvik. Our next venture was even more challenging, roller skating. I didn’t have the guts to leave the handles and go to the center, Amit and Kalpana could successfully cross the ring and Souvik fell down twice. We spent rest of the day walking around the lake. The bus started around 7 PM and we reached Monday morning around 6 AM... and it was time for office.

Few points:

• We spent only 1750 per head including travel
• Pictures were clicked with Nokia 6300 – 2MP cam, thus please excuse the bad quality pics

Click here for few more photos