Pondicherry- "The Budget Trip"

My first blog...
SO
A brief desc of my travel history...
My dad is a geologist- people who hunt for uranium and other such stuff from deepest and darkest corners of the earth.Am i making it sound like a SUPERHERO job? For that matter it kind of is.
Any which ways for good or for bad i started traveling much before it made any sense to me. I have touched almost all corners of the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, major hill stations, lots of beaches recently (MBA phenomenon+ the scantily clad women have started making a lot of sense to me), national parks (my personal favourites), rural India (yes i am with the choupal division of ITC)
However you guys will only have the privilege to learn and unlearn about my recent travels only.
REASON being my short term memory.

So coming back to Pondicherry or Puducherry which is it's official name..
People say that the management trainee stint is the honeymoon period with the company. We 4 MT's chose not to ignore the old and the wise (adjectives not necessarily referring to the same people) and decided for one last indulgence.
The trip was from Hyderabad to Puducherry via Chennai.
Mode of transport: APSRTC Volvo.
The bus journey from Hyd to Chennai was largely uninteresting apart from the numerous STORIES of my friend (notably) from IIM Indore-pun intended.
And yes how could I forget my tall friend who had issues explaining a co passenger what peaceful co-existence means.
People who are not able to relate to the above incidents… I seriously empathize.
Moving on, the Chennai bus stand offers unique insights into human psychology.
For example: “ Not knowing regional language means that the person’s sense of distance and direction is distorted and hence willing to pay any sum to get from place X to place Y”.
I would suggest a bike ride from Chennai to Puducherry through the ECR, However hiring a taxi is not a bad option either.
Hiring taxi in Chennai has its own peculiarities associated with it.
Like all Buy one get one free discounts the free article doesn’t provide much joy, the same was the case with our eccentric driver.

With all the constrains we still managed to reach Puducherry at around 2 pm in the afternoon.

Some MUST DO’s, once in Puducherry.
1) Eat at the Le Café- the black forest and the Pizza Slice tastes good and so does grilled chicken according to my carnivorous friends (though the dead chicken would never agree with me). Leave the ice tea alone and preferably munch your food on the roof top.
2) Pineapple and Watermelon slices are a must.
3) Hire a cycle.. Why?? It attracts the firangs. (I guess there is no single large incentive, which matches the above.)
After the jazz, we or rather I focused on the beaches,
The first beach that we visited was the Auro Beach the sight was extremely disappointing. To be more vivid; the scene composed of few locals bathing in their jetty’s (it is another name for the famous Indian boxers) plus a lot of body fat, the colour varied from brown to various degrees of black wobbling up and down. It was no less exciting than Hot Blonde’s running on the Baywatch beaches.

Speaking to some locals we realized there is another part of the beach, which is reserved for the fairer race (Firangs). Ladies and Gentlemen racism still exists.
Somehow we guys with our vested interests gained access, now the ROI for the trip seemed viable.
After this particularly pleasurable experience, next on agenda was the sampling process of nightlife of Puducherry.
Which is sadly non-existent, however party people should try their luck at the Auro beach especially on a Saturday night. Scores of private firang parties on offer… what is needed is a lot of charm and luck.
Don’t even try and ask about our efforts in the above direction.
Eventually we ended up on the roof top of The Prominade.. a sea facing restaurant. An absolute must do especially when you are in the mood of Bakar and whisky/rum/vodka (Choose your spirit). Though try and avoid any seating close to a family with small kids and especially when the kids can talk.
Our hangover remedy was beach volleyball at The Paradise beach. Exceptional skill was on display by my teammate and my opponents. The Olympic gold medal for fair play was won hands down by Nitin.
Pondicherry is also home to Hi Design, which according to my friend is as important to Leather accessories as travel is to a sales job. The good part is that you get this stuff for 30% discount. So load stuff for all the important women in your lives.
Since my nose is not exactly the best in smelling business, I did not venture into Incense sticks. However my eyes saw a perfectly normal women spend 2.5 K on the same product.
If you are the romantic kinds then Le Duplex can be a nice place for dinner but we guys are more into other forms of intoxication and hence ended up on the Prominade roof top yet again.
The dinner was more or less the perfect climax to our Puducherry trip.

A last tip: leave at least 3-4 days for Puducherry, give yourself some time to understand and enjoy the laid back feel of this place..
This place is a perfect synthesis of the stylish french and the crude yet amazing ways of the locals.........