I had heard about a French colonial town in South India called Pondicherry and was planning to take a weekend trip there for great hotels, great restaurants and fun. My bubble was burst when I was telling some of Brian's coworkers about my plans. After hearing it from a few people, I decided it would be better for me to take a day trip there instead of Brian and I doing a weekend trip. Thank goodness! Kevin and Randy Y. made the trip with me so at least I didn't suffer along!
It was about a 2.5 hour drive to Pondicherry, but it could have been a town right next door to Chennai, because it seemed just the same. Sure, the street names were a little more French and there was a park in the center of town that you could tell had some European influence, but other than that it was a typical South Indian town. I soon realized that the only reason people go to Pondicherry is for meditation and booze.
Just outside Pondicherry is a hippie colony called Auroville, where 2000 residents become one with nature and the truth. They have a visitor's center where we had to watch a video to become idoctrinated before we could get a ticket to see the matrimindir, the center of Auroville. After the video, we were funneled into some shops with handmade crafts and items by the residents of Auroville. I bought a few little trinkets, but mostly things were overpriced and similar to items found in every other Indian store.
The walk to the matrimindir was about a mile and although we were shaded by trees, it was hot! I am so glad I had my sweat rag on this trip! Along the path to the matrimindir, we stopped at the 100+ year old banyan tree, which is the geographical center of Auroville. It was a beautiful tree and probably the most interesting part of the trip.
Once we got to the matrimindir, I was underwhelmed. It's basically a gold Epcot ball sitting in a field. And we looked at. And took a picture with it. And that was it. Fun.
You have to make an appointment to actually go in the ball, but from the movie we had to watch, it is basically a temple inside for meditation that has a hole in the top for sunlight to penetrate. So after looking at the ball for a few minutes, we walked the mile back to the car. I was drenched by the time we got there and was hoping that this wasn't the highlight of the trip.
Once in Pondicherry, we saw the beach, which was nothing to write home about. Then we took an autorickshaw to the bazaar, which was fun because it was my first time on one. It cost us 25 rupees (about 50 cents). After getting in one, I am amazed at how many people they cram in there. Randy and Kevin are big guys and there was no way three us us could fit on the bench so Kevin ended up sharing a seat with the driver and hanging half of his body out.
At the bazaar, we saw a million shops that look exactly like any other Indian shops selling saris, bangles, spices, etc. I did ended up buying a few packets of bindis to wear on my forehead.
The coolest thing we did was go into the markets. They had several specialized markets- fish, bananas, fruit & vegetables, textiles, chickens and flowers. I took a photo of the fish market, but the smell kept me out. The fruit and veggie market was pretty cool because they have such different foods here. In the textile market, we saw lots of old men sewing on what we would consider antique sewing machines. My favorite was the flower market. It smelled wonderful and there were so many colors and beautiful flowers. Most of the stalls didn't sell loose flowers, they sell flower garlands, so we got to watch them crafting huge garlands of jasmine, roses, ranaculous, celiosa, mums, marigolds, and more. Garlands like this would cost hundreds of dollar is the US and they sell them for under a dollar!
I also saw a maternity hospital and got a glimpse of some newborn Indian babies. Seeing a pregnant woman or baby are rare here. I don't think people start bringing their babies out until they are about 2 or 3 years old. From what I have seen, people in the villages don't use diapers, strollers and walk everywhere so it makes sense why babies would stay home for a few years. There was a line at the hospital with women and their new babies wrapped in towels or sheets, I could just barely see a few tiny little heads poking out.
On the way home from Pondicherry, we stopped at a great beach resort called GRT Temple Bay for a late lunch. We had some jalapeno poppers and fish and it was delicious! They have a really neat pool lagoon their and beach front cabanas. I need to take Brian there for sure!
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