[mpksuhas]

Since Goa trip at start of November, all our trips were one day trips near Bangalore. Hence we were planning of going for a week long trip before summer sets.

The plans were big, drive down to Kutch or a week in Sikkim. However, getting leaves for all of us (8 people) in sync was easily said than done. Hence Pondicherry was planned as a feasible for all solution.

Since the group consisted of 8 people and a kid we decided to drive down in two vehicles. My XUV and friends Polo.

After a long search we finalized to book our stay at Mel Ville for three days, they have 3 service apartments which was suitable for us.

14 Feb 2015

Along with TBHP birthday, Valentine day is also celebrated today.

By time both cars and 8 people turn up it is past 05:40 AM at Silkboard junction. Suprisingly toll booths are empty and we reach Shoolagiri HP COCO bunk for a ten min break at 06:30 AM.

We take left from Krishnagiri towards Chennai route and continue towards Vellore. Based on suggestions on TBHP we decide to stop at Hotel Aryas.

For those who are not aware of directions to Aryas, keen an eye for signboard mentioning Chennai as 141 KM's. Stick to left lane from there and couple of KM's ahead you can see another signboard with Chennai marked as 139 KM's and also marking for Tirupati. Take the service road from here and continue alongside the NH for around half a KM. Arya's will come on your left , the place has sufficient parking.

After a breakfast break of one hour we start again at 09:30 AM. We continue towards Chennai till Arcot. Once crossing Arcot we take the right turn towards Tindivanam just before the Palar river.

The road condition is good and it passes through Arcot, Cheyyar, Vandavasi & Tindivanam. Apart from Arcot all towns has bye-pass.







Polo following



Route is straightforward till you reach Tindivanam bye-pass. Just before Tindivanam we take the bye-pass marked as route towards Chennai. This takes you to Tindivanam - Chennai road (NH 45), we continue on this road towards Tindivanam and take left at next flyover. This helps in avoiding Tindivanam town.

Route bye-passing Tindivanam



We take left at this junction to join Pondicherry - Tindivanam road.




We continue on Pondicherry road till we reach Irumbai, from where we take left turn towards Auroville.

Auroville

Road from Irumbai to Auroville







We reached Auroville by noon.

Visitors have to visit Auroville visitor center first, there is big parking space available.





From parking area, visitor center is a short walk



Visitor center main gate





Visitor center has an exhibition area which explains the vision and history of Auroville.



There is also a short film show which explains the same



Outside the film room we get the entry pass to Matrimandir. Do note the timings for public entry.



Matrimandir, the golden dome is easily the most recognized place in Auroville. All buildings in Auroville is made around Matrimandir.

Matrimandir is about 20 mins walk from visitor center, else you can take the free shuttle from visitor center.

We decide to walk on way and take bus during return



It is not allowed to go near or inside Matrimandir, we spend sometime around the structure and return.





Back at visitor center we roam around shopping and food court.





There are couple of cafe's, restaurants and shops selling products mostly made by Auroville residents.

Shopping complex



The person who designed this should be a petrol head



Restaurant entry




By time we finish seeing around and have lunch it is 03:45 PM, we take EC road from Auroville and reach our place of stay by 04:20 PM.

Mel Ville parking area -


The place has parking space for 3 cars, parking is a luxury in many hotels around Pondicherry. However the issue we faced in Mel Ville was that the bye lane to hotel was always having many bikes parked making it tough for us to take vehicle in or out.



Kitchen area


Bed room



Bathroom

[mpksuhas]

Day 1 Ctd..
After a short break we decide to take a walk around the town.

Vinayaka temple

Our first stop was Vinayaka temple. Guess due to upcoming Shivaratri festival, there was considerable crowd.





Goubert avenue

We walk towards Goubert avenue



Traffic is banned in this road all night



The place is crowded, there was rock concert in an open stage

[mpksuhas]

I decide to go for a walk around Goubert avenue in the morning.









Pondicherry policemen




There was some 'Clean India' drive ongoing near Gandhi statue, campaigners were busy posing for camera



While cleaning was done by someone else




French Consulate

Location





French war memorial

Location




Le Cafe

Location


This 24 hour cafe is located next to Goubert avenue.




They have open seating overlooking the beach, menu is mainly continental.




Eglise de notre Dame des Anges

Location




Ajantha Sea view hotel

Location

Another famous hotel in this side of Pondicherry is Ajantha Sea view. The place however has really bad service and mediocore food. Still, due to the spectacular view of beach from its roof top garden, it is worth a visit.




Timings of traffic restriction




I reach at south end of Goubert avenue, I decide to take interior lanes to return towards hotel.

I come across this building. Should tell that French makes everything sounds very posh and sophisticated.

Travaux Publics, in English its PWD office.




The lane I am walking is parallel to Gubert avenue, this route is lined by buildings with European design.




Not often you see this signboard




I reach the lane behind lighthouse




From there I enter Bharathi Park

Location



Saw this colorful and interesting tree



Next to park is Pondicherry legislative assembly.

The law makers in Pondicherry use Honda CRV



Raj Bhavan

Location

[mpksuhas]

Once I reach back at hotel we decide to start for breakfast. Since today's itenary involves only Pondicherry sightseeing we decide to go around in only XUV. Polo gets a rest day.

Since there are few vegetarians in group and they were inclined towards south Indian menu we decide to give Suguru restaurant a try since this was rated highly on TripAdvisor.

Do note that they have 3 branches around Pondicherry. Hence asking for directions may be tricky.

We visited this branch.

The place is neat and spacious and food good.






Breakfast done we start towards Basilica of the Sacred heart of Jesus.

Location

This is the oldest church in Pondicherry and one of the oldest in south India.








The church has beautiful etched glass work






After spending around half hour in church we start towards Pondicherry Museum

Pondicherry Museum

Location

Museum is located next to Raj Bhavan. It gives a good insight to history of the region. However, unfortunately the place is maintained bad. Photography is not allowed inside the museum.





It takes us around an hour to see the museum. Once done, we walk towards Aurobindo Ashram.

We noticed that buildings owned by ashram has this color




Aurobindo Ashram

Location



Vehicles are not allowed on road in front of Ashram



However, there is sufficient parking space on the same lane.




Gandhi Statue

From ashram we proceed towards Gandhi statue

Location






It is around 03.00 PM and we contemplate what to do next. Finally decide to drive towards ECR road and spend the evening at some beach.

We stop somewhere around here and spend time till dark. There were couple of boats which were taking tourists for a short ride in the sea for Rs 50 per head.



Once it got dark we start back to hotel.

[mpksuhas]

There was no specific plans for this day. Hence after a lazy morning start we decide to start back to Bangalore via Thiruvannammalai. Plan was to visit the famous Thiruvannammalai temple enroute if possible.

By around 11.00 AM we start from Pondicherry after filling up from Ashram bunk.

This is the recommended bunk in Pondicherry, however for diesel there is only ~ 2 Rs difference between Pondicherry and KA.

Location





Once done we take cross Pondicherry town and get on to NH 66 towards Tindivanam.

Road condition once you get out of Pondicherry is great and we reach Tindivanam soon. For Thiruvannammalai we need to cross Tindivanam town.



Tindivanam town is a crowded one and we take around 20 mins to cross the same.




As soon as we cross the town road condition changes for worst. This continues till we reach Thiruvannammalai.




We try to compensate the road condition by watching the scenery




En-route we cross Gingee fort




We reach Thiruvannammalai after a 3 hour drive at around 03.30 PM. We stop at Nala Residency for lunch.

This is a descent place for lunch with basement parking.

After lunch we make a quick dash to temple. Since next day is Shivaratri, temple is crowded. Also, half of our group is not allowed to get inside the temple since they are wearing shorts.

Temple visit done, we start off from Thiruvannammalai. Since Krishnagiri route is in bad shape as per reports we decide to take Harur - Morappur - Kadambarahalli - NH 7 - Krishnagiri route.


Road conditions is good to moderate.





We reach Krishnagiri around 09.00 PM and stop for dinner at Adayar Ananda Bhavan. After a one hour break we reach Silkboard Bangalore by around 11.30 PM.

[mpksuhas]

Route Details

Onward journey

Link




Return journey

Link




Epilogue

• Avoid Krishnagiri - Thiruvannamallai route at all cost
• Do take bye pass for Cheyyar, Vandavasi & Thindivanam.
• Route thread
• Our place of stay.
• There is a crackdown ongoing against IND number plates in TN. We were caught on our way back and fined Rs 100 each. TBHP Link
• Fuel expense Rs. 2950

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved from Assembly Line to Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing

[Ddrive]

Nice photos and a passionate write-up.
Such an important road Tindivanam-Tiruvanamalai looking so pathetic huh ?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Ddrive

Nice photos and a passionate write-up.
Such an important road Tindivanam-Tiruvanamalai looking so pathetic huh ?

Its been like for that for ages now. In fact you see its because of this situation, that workarounds to Thiruvannamalai and Pondicherry have come up. (Arcot Cheyyar for Pondicherry and Karimangalam/Morappur/Harur for Thiruvannamalai)

I clearly remember 4-5 years back, when this road was getting worse, proposing both these workaround options on this forum. Thats when many of us started testing these new routes and come out quite satisfied. And since many of us now use these modified routes, Google as a part of keeping track of usage, now proposes these routes as a default many a times!

More power to the people! That clearly speaks about how options change over time.

@MPK great story as usual. Need I say anything more?

[Tushar]

Great read and a special thanks for providing the details on your travel route and not to mention - so many of the points of interest. Loved the pictures, particularly this postcard worthy snap and the "petrolhead table"

[ajay_satpute]

Good one Suhas!

You refreshed my memories of the wonderful Pondicherry trip we'd done a year ago.

Here's my travelogue of the trip : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ndicherry.html

Cheers !

[ant_vas]

Wonderful writeup.

I used to frequently visit pondicherry in the past as my sister is based out of pondy. Due to work commitments was not able to visit for 2.5 years.

but finally took some time off and visited pondy in feb when the weather gods are at their best.

Among other things you could have visited chunnambar beach on cuddalore road. You will have to cross the backwaters on a boat to access the beach which is pretty clean and not too much of a crowd. The sea is not rough so you can play in the water as well. Other option to play in the sea is the auroville beach on ECR.

Food options are good if you are willing to try french/continental. For simple south indian i would recommend jayarams opp big cinema just before the JN road signal. there are few places which have a good buffet spread: Annamalai, accord, promenade etc.

Hotel ajantha on the Goubert Avenue has nice sea view and nothing else as you rightly mentioned.

Cheers

[Srikji]

Tantos (on Pondicherry-Chennai ECR and on Pondy-Auroville Road) is an excellent place for pizza and other continental food.

[Tabasco Sauce]

Talking of pizzas, Cafe Xtasi probably has the best pizzas in town... Amazingly wide variety at surprisingly affordable prices in a tiny little place..

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Ddrive

Such an important road Tindivanam-Tiruvanamalai looking so pathetic huh ?

Thanks Ddrive.
Yes and worse, it has been in that state since long time and may continue to remain the same for a long time based on the work.

Originally Posted by ampere

And since many of us now use these modified routes, Google as a part of keeping track of usage, now proposes these routes as a default many a times!

Thanks Ampere.
Yes, I guess around last year when I had checked the route to Pondi, it was displayed via Thiruvanammalai. However, this time was surprised to see the default route mapped through Arcot.

Originally Posted by Tushar

Great read and a special thanks for providing the details on your travel route and not to mention - so many of the points of interest. Loved the pictures, particularly

Thanks Tushar.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

You refreshed my memories of the wonderful Pondicherry trip we'd done a year ago.

Thanks Ajay. Yes, I had gone though your Pondi travelogue. If you remember, I had PM'ed soon after your travelogue was online regarding the hotel rates.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

but finally took some time off and visited pondy in feb when the weather gods are at their best.

Other option to play in the sea is the auroville beach on ECR.

Thanks. Yes, the beach near Auroville road is good. Though I guess it may be bit isolated by evening.

Originally Posted by Srikji

Tantos (on Pondicherry-Chennai ECR and on Pondy-Auroville Road) is an excellent place

Thanks Srikji.
Yes, had heard lots of good reviews about Tantos. We had planned to have lunch there initially. However, once we completed Auroville it was late. Hence had lunch from Auroville shopping area itself.

Originally Posted by Tabasco Sauce

Talking of pizzas, Cafe Xtasi probably has the best pizzas in town... Amazingly wide variety at surprisingly affordable prices in a tiny little place..

Thanks for the update. From maps it looks like this was next to Suguru where we had breakfast from. Would have tried if I was aware of the same.

Location