My trip to Pondicherry. Review on Pondicherry

*A Trip de Pondicherry

*Pondicherry(also known as "Pondi", and now officially called Pondicherry), is a city and capital of the Pondicherry union territory of Southern India.

Pondicherry was the largest French colony in India. The city has a long and interesting history of trade and war. There is a strong French influence in the city, especially in the old quarters, with Rues and Boulevards lined with Mediterranean style houses and bakeries, although the city remains very much Indian. French is still widely understood, and the whole city makes for rather pleasant mix of East and West.

27th March: Chennai to Pondicherry

How I reached:

By bus: Koyambedu CMBT bus stop to Pondicherry

·(Bus frequency is quite good 20-30 min/ 160 KM/ 100Rs/ 3-4 hours)

The road from Chennai to Pondicherry(the East Coast Road, commonly called ECR) is a scenic highway and a normal journey would take about 3 hours. Most tourists however, cannot resist the seashore kissing the road and take a number of stops en route. This route passes through Mahabalipuram, Kalpakkam, Pudupattinam, Idaikkazhinadu(Alambara Fort), Mudaliarkuppam(has a cool boat house), Marakkanam(contains large areas under salt pans), Kanagachettikulam/Kalapet etc. before reaching Pondicherry.

Other way to Get in:

Pondicherry is well connected from all sides. Chennai is situated 160 km north of the city. Getting to Pondicherry involves a three hour road journey from Chennai. One can get a bus from CMBT in Koyambedu or from Thiruvanmiyur or Guindy. You can be sure of a seat only from CMBT in Koyambedu.

The other route that can be taken to reach Pondy is through the National Highway 45(NH-45) famously called as the Grand Southern Trunk GST Road. This route passes through Tambaram, Madhurantakam, Melmaruvathur, Tindivanam before reaching Pondicherry. Both the major roads from Chennai are toll roads and approximately take the same time.

Pondicherry is about 320 km from Bangalore. Drive down National Highway 7(NH-7) till Krishnagiri, take a left off the main highway(roadsigns mark the route) and then take National Highway 66(NH-66) to Pondicherry. This route passes through Uthangarai, Chengam, Tiruvannamalai, Gingee and Tindivanam. One can reach Pondicherry either through Tindivanam(via Gingee) or Villupuram(via Thirukovilur). Gingee fort is also on the way to Tindivanam and worth spending some time. It is a Archealogical survey of India(ASI)Heritage site. The total travel time should be about 5-6 hours. Do pack some food or snacks for the way as there are no good restaurants enroute.

Pondicherry is well connected to Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, etc to the South by National Highway 45A(NH-45A). The road is well maintained till Chidambaram.

Pondicherry connects to the GST or NH - 45 in two places viz. at Villupuram by NH-45A and at Tindivanam by NH-66.

By Rail Marg

Pondicherry is also connected to Chennai by an electric broad gauge railway line through Villupuram. There are 2 passenger trains running daily to Chennai Egmore Railway station and Tirupati and there is a weekly express train service to Bhubaneswar. In addition to this, there is also a daily express train to Chennai Egmore. Pondicherry is also accessible from Bangalore. Train starts from Bangalore on Friday night 11.15, return journey starts on Saturday night 10.00pm.

The best way to see Pondicherry and its surrounding areas is by renting out a "Pedal cycle" or a "motorcycle" or "ungeared scooter". So we took pedal cycle for the day @ 30/- only.

Get around in city

Note: we need to submit a Photo Identity proof for Guaranty.

There are a lot of nice hotels in the city, but most of them I found fully reserved, I recommend to make advance reservation. Anyways I could get a room in Hotel Heritage house in city center.

To Stay:

The Beach Gandhi Statue This is a highlight of puducherry. A four-meter statue of Mahatma Gandhi is surrounded by eight magnificent granite pillars, which were supposedly brought from Gingee, a fort some 70 Kms. from puducherry.

19th Century Light House: This light house was used for the first time on July 1st 1836 and continued to be used upto the year 1979. This now- abandoned lighthouse stands on the edge of the sea.