Whatta trip !!! I cant ever forget this trip.No planning or hotel bookings nothing at all, just let everything come its way and we traveled like never before. Every travel of mine has been planned well in advance and the hotel bookings made much before the day of travel.
It all started last Wednesday when I got a mail saying that I could take off for 2days.Damn work always takes the 1st place when it comes to such things.
I still remember the night when there was heavy showers in Bangalore (Wednesday night) and was driving back home.
My car was delivered the same day from RNS Motors after the 15k service. She sounded like a rufous nightingale and felt like a damsel in my hands on the roads.I was dying to take her for a long drive.
What more? No work for the next 2 days and Saturday Sunday weekly off’s.. Whooooaaahhh !!! Called my lady and said how about a drive to the east coast for the next 2 days? The answer was a
yes and has always been a
yes when it came to such things
.
We ruled out the Karnataka coast was only coz we have planned for a trip along the coast line post july.
Next question which place on the east coast ? In unison the answer was Pondy.. Cheap beer and petrol
…
All set we packed our bags and over slept till about 6am.Me bad I was supposed to wake up 1st.Thursday being a weekday and we wanted to beat the early morning traffic on Hosur road , which incidentally dint happen.
Left Bangalore @ abt 7 am and as usual was stuck in the hosur road traffic. Crossed e-city phase 2 and from there on it was bliss on the GQ.
Since nothing was planned in advance we only got booking in a City Hotel in Pondy. Promenade has always been my pick but we were unlucky this time around!!
Let me get to the journey straight..
Route taken : Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Thiruvannamalai-Gingee-Thindivanam-Pondy ( 320 kms).
Please note there are 2 Reliance A1 plazas on either side of the GQ.
Am sure most of you guys are pretty much aware with this route.
Once you deviate from the GQ towards Thiruvannamalai the roads are good but one needs to watch out since there are umpteen number of villages by the SH. Do watch out for the TN buses also since their mode of driving is
INVINCIBLE period !!
Some of the bus drivers drive as though the roads are a part of their ancestral property.
Pic taken enroute Thiruvannamalai
All along the drive is scenic and the only drawback is that there are no good hotels.
Our 1st stop for re-fuelling was Thiruvannamalai at the IOC petrol pump. I always fill up from this place since the quality of fuel sold is pretty good.
The IOC petrol pump is just before the railway crossing en-route Pondy.
As for the fairer sex traveling,the rest room is pretty good and nicely maintained.
Picked some mineral water and coke and headed towards to Pondy.
On reaching Gingee we decided this time around lets check the fort here. There are 2 forts here and serious advice, just in case somebody wants to scale them please carry enough water handy for the climb. Takes good 2 hrs to check both the forts.
The forts at Gingee
Reached pondy by about 5pm and had a wash and rested for a while. Headed to the Promenade beach along the famous French coastline and spent time there.
A house in the french quarter of Pondy..
Hit the bed early since we were too tired to even channel surf on the TV .
Day 2 :
No plans as yet as what we would be doing next .. Had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel and was sitting in the lounge. Decided on making Mahabs the destination for the day. Got ready and we hit ECR for the scenic drive to Mahabs.
Shore temple in Mahabs
Visited the shore temple and the beach there and lazed around the beach for sometime. Headed back to Pondy since we had planned for some shopping.
Enroute stopped at this new place called Hotel Mid-way on ECR and they serve pretty good food. Filled our bellies once again !!
Some pics along the scenic ECR
On our drive back things took a turn .. We saw a road side board which read Velankanni 178 kms. This got us thinking but then we were in no mood to do this drive since our plans was to return to Bangalore on Saturday.
Was a nice day at Mahabs and with the shopping our day was through.
Day 3 :
Hadnt packed our bags yet and then this weird thing came up.. Why not drive to Velankanni ? Had breakfast and packed some water and cookies for the drive.
Enquired with the hotels chauffeurs/drivers about the route and was given pin point directions and places to stop over.
Route taken : Pondy –Cuddalore-Chidambaram-Seargazhi(Sirkali) –Karaikkal-Nagoor-Nagapattinam-Velankanni (Distance : 180 kms / Highway : NH45a)
Chidambaram is a beautiful temple town and lots of pilgrims. The drive till Chidambaram was superb. About 10kms from Chidambaram the road narrows down into a 6 feet wide road. On either sides its paddy fields, was pain all through since , we did have to slow down for every single car which came in the opposite direction, leave alone buses and trucks.
Bad roads once again after crossing Nagapattinam. For about 5 kms there is virtually no roads towards Velankanni.
Reached Velankanni and checked out the church and the coastline. Spent about 2 hrs there and picked up some grub for the return journey.
Some pics of the church
Nagapattinam is still recovering from the wrath of the Tsunami. It’s a heart wrenching scene out there , lots of rehab centers and houses are being re-built as a part of the rehab program.Hoping things will happen soon and the folks are handed over their houses.
Pics of Nagapattinam
On the return journey we stopped over at Karaikkal to check out the port and the beach.
There is a road from the highway which heads straight to the beach. On the right hand side is a beautiful view of the port and the Indian Oil Corporation refinery(not too sure which oil refinery).
Spent about 30 mins there and headed back. Reached Pondy by abt 6 pm and the drive was un-eventful other than a few pot holes.
My advice for this route is
“please watchout for the goats”. Looks like there are more goats along this route than humans .
Did a total of 400 kms of driving today and was way too tired. We dint let our spirits down, drove back to the Promenade and took a few more pics of the place before returning to the hotel.
Still no plans of returning to Bangalore because a couple of places more to be visited which we missed out. To name a few Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Chunnambar Water park in Cuddalore.
Was a long day and we hit the bed by about 10pm. Slept like log.
Day 4 :
Had breakfast and decided on doing these places on our next visit,it was 3 days since we left home and thought we did better get back home before folks back home think of dis-owning us.
My 2 cents on Pondicherry :
Have always been attracted by the French Culture and love the way the place has been designed and laid.
Notre Dame des Anges Chruch Love those red caps these chaps use.
Some eat outs I would re-commend if any of you guys are food freaks( willing to try new stuff).
1 – Rendezvous (French cuisines)
2 – Le Club (French and Vietnamese cuisines)
As for shopping try Nehru and Mission streets some of the best places to do window shopping. I checked out this new place called
Casablanca and was a haven of brands.
Last but not the least, off-late Pondy has some real nice looking wine shops with tons of brands. Just head in there and pick up what you like most , coz you wouldn’t be paying taxes on booze atleast.
Bangy boys sorry couldnt get back home by sunday morning to make it for the Nandi hills drive.
Thanks for your time reading through folks.