Might be taking a small vacation with friends. I have no idea about this place other than it is supposed to be wonderful. So, what am I looking for? Where to stay? What to check out? What to do?What to eat? etc. etc.I assume we would have people who either live in Pondicherry or have traveled to this place in the past. Any details are welcome!
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Pondicherry
- Thread starter Sushubh
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neldamathis
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Without infuriating people, Pondicherry is just 'nice'. It isn't out of this world or anything like that, however a lot of the credit it gets is probably due to the fact that it is a nice break from the city (Chennai), as also the fact that Pondicherry does not have liquor restrictions like Chennai, and then it is also cheaper being a Union Territory. There are plenty of beach resorts, so you can make your pick from any of those - they are all more or less the same. I prefer the Ginger since it is in the city and also because it is extremely good value for what they charge. Not to forget that they are clean and maintain the property well - atleast was the case till a couple of years back. The view outside from the windows isn't great though as they all face some kinda canal. Places to visit - the Aurobindo ashram for sure, though I am not sure how many of you are looking for peace and solitude over a happening place. For food, try French at the restaurants near the coast, I have heard they are good. I am a desi guy, so I have Indian wherever I go 😀For visiting, flight to Chennai, and a hire car if you can to hit the ECR (East Coast Road, though you might get strange looks if you say that name). It is a 2 hour drive on a nice road (need to add its 2 lane and two way). Do not drive in the night. Also do not speed on the turns. Enroute there is Mahabalipuram (about 50 kms from Chennai) where you might want to stop at a resort and do some hanging out in the nearby places.PS: There is a very nice French resort there which I cannot recollect, let me see if I can refresh my memory.Mahindra also has a Zest resort there, which is pretty good
I am surprised that people would want to travel from the other side of the country to visit. Like agantuk said its not a huge fancy place or anything. It was my "naniyaal" & I used to visit till my early teens until most of the relatives migrated to different parts of the country/world. If you can tell me when you are travelling (if its not anytime soon like today or anything), I can ask my cousins who used to live there & visit once a while if they can give any input on this.
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I had been to Pondichery last month. We stayed in the Dumas Guest House which is kind of a home stay and 90% of the people who stay there are Foreigners.
Here is the Website: Guest House in Pondicherry,Pondicherry Guest House,Welcome - Dumas Guest House .They had charged me 2400/night on a twin sharing basis. The Pondi Beach is just 100 meters from the guest house and the French restaurant which Agantuk mentioned in his post is just next to the guest House.
Now coming to the places to see in Pondi, Daruu is dam cheap and so it petrol, Hire a scooter and keep roaming. DO NOT MISS Paradise beach, The sand is white and the beach is very neat and clean, Pick up a beer and enjoy the sunset. Beach was not crowded when we went. Do not go to Auroville beach, Nothing special there and that place stinks!
On the Pondi Beach road, Go to "La cafe" which is 24 hours coffee and snacks place, there coffees and sandwiches were perfect! You can even try Vietnamese food, there are hell lot of restaurants to try food. The cuisine ranges from South India, North Indian, French, Italian and many more ...
This is the best I could remember from my trip. Yeh and I had been there by train from Bangalore which is 8 hours journey!
Here is the Website: Guest House in Pondicherry,Pondicherry Guest House,Welcome - Dumas Guest House .They had charged me 2400/night on a twin sharing basis. The Pondi Beach is just 100 meters from the guest house and the French restaurant which Agantuk mentioned in his post is just next to the guest House.
Now coming to the places to see in Pondi, Daruu is dam cheap and so it petrol, Hire a scooter and keep roaming. DO NOT MISS Paradise beach, The sand is white and the beach is very neat and clean, Pick up a beer and enjoy the sunset. Beach was not crowded when we went. Do not go to Auroville beach, Nothing special there and that place stinks!
On the Pondi Beach road, Go to "La cafe" which is 24 hours coffee and snacks place, there coffees and sandwiches were perfect! You can even try Vietnamese food, there are hell lot of restaurants to try food. The cuisine ranges from South India, North Indian, French, Italian and many more ...
This is the best I could remember from my trip. Yeh and I had been there by train from Bangalore which is 8 hours journey!
And yes, no airport. Even trains are very limited & by road is the norm mode of travel. And agantuk. Why that ECR thing? Am I missing something? Also night travel is to be avoided especially on weekends for obvious reasons.Oh, and by the way its Puducherry now 😉
I meant, not many know the full form of that road, nor do they call it by name. I remember I had a tough time locating Lattice Bridge road while all the time being on that road. The damn auto guy and his clan, as also people on the street were clueless where that was. Some enlightened soul said, "you are wrong, you are looking for LB Road". He was right.
lol... yeah, but ECR is pretty common. Most chennaites would know it. LB road (in its full form) is ofcourse a little unknown, and only some locals may know it.A similar incident happened years ago, when I was asking sort of - Where is "Lattice Road" (Not the actual name, of course), but no one had a clue, but a few finally pointed it to "Lattice Bridge" Road. I came to know the officials had removed the 2nd name because it was the name of a caste. But locals knew it as a 2-worded road as it was originally called & were confused when mentioned only the official single word.
play got delayed (they always do). i would be interested in other locations easily accessible through flight. and can be visited for 2-3 days of relaxing time. i just thought about pondicherry expecting it to be sort of peaceful and not full of tourists. something like mcleodganj for example.
and thanks for all the details. at least now i have an idea of what pondicherry is all about 😀 i actually had no idea that it actually consists of multiple locations spread across the country 😀 Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé on the Arabian Sea.
and thanks for all the details. at least now i have an idea of what pondicherry is all about 😀 i actually had no idea that it actually consists of multiple locations spread across the country 😀 Pondicherry consists of four small unconnected districts: Pondicherry, Karaikal and Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé on the Arabian Sea.
