Ok, here is my first thread here at T-BHP.
Made a trip down to Pondicherry, from Bangalore, over the last weekend. Read thru most of the travelogues available here including the ones to Tiruvanamallai (since it talked about the road till there).
And also a special thanks Prashanthyr.
Started on Saturday morning at 6.30 (actual plan was 5.30, but ended up waking up late!). Expected heavy rush at the Hosur / EC road, but it was ok. But there was a lot of mist, quiet heavy at certain spots which made the visibility very bad. This mist was there till Hosur and also a little beyond that.
The drive till Krishnagiri, as usual, was wonderful. Took 1.5hrs to cover this distance. After that, took the turn to Tiruvanammalli!!!
The road, I would say, is pathetic. Too many patches where there were no road available. And also be careful of huge drops in between, the road just vanishes! Seems like the road was built around potholes! Couldn't believe that this was a NH and that between two tourist destinations!!!
On reaching Tiruvanamalli, got lost in the town (too many detours and no proper road signs!). Asked and got on to the proper road.
The road from here was better than the previous stretch; was able to maintain 80-90kmph for 40-50 minutes at a stretch. Watched the fort at Gingee pass by (made a note to visit it on the next trip).
Came up to a point where a tractor with a load tripped and was blocking the only available bridge across the highway! Waited for 15 minutes and then noticed a PY registered vehicle shooting off on another direction, followed him and Viole! came out on the other side in 10 minutes flat!
Talk about luck!
Noticed that there was a very huge line up of vehicle on this side also and trust our transport vehicles to do a double parking on such small road! Managed to squeeze through and put the traffic behind. (was very lucky indeed here!).
Reached Pondicherry at 1.15PM. Checked into Hotel Annamalai International. Took rest for some time - the afternoon sun was a killer!
First spot of visit - the beach road. Was kinda of late in the evening but was perfect for enjoying a small breeze and enjoying a hot cup of tea over there.
Next was to Bharathi park near the beach. Good for a stroll. Not many kid games over there. There is a water fountain there worth a look. Not sure if they were trying to make a musical fountain there.
Me and wife enjoying the center piece at Bharathi park!
The next day we headed to Sampourna water theme park - a one month old theme park which has two hours of entertainment worth in it. Since it was new, there was not much of rush, which was good! The dry games a absolutely worthless, as of now!
The park:
inside the park:
As part of the Pongal celebration, the lunch was provided within the park free of cost. Had that and then started down to the ECR road.
Got into one of the (un)official roads besides the road towards ECR and got to the beach. There was hardly any crowd and it was just perfect. Had some very good fun over here till late evening.
Beach, here we come:
Long free beach:
After that, it was back to the hotel, a quick wash and then a small walk around to check the offering around the place of stay. Not much!
Next day, did some family visits and then off we went to the Panchavati Lord Hanuman temple on the NH. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside since it was closed and it opens, after the morning session, only at 4PM. But, fortunately, we got the prasadam. Guess we have to visit the Lord the next time around.
Panchavati Lord Hanuman temple:
Back to the hotel and off we packed.
Got into some neat farming activity.
Peanuts:
Only pain point was the 30 minutes or so of nerve recking drive thru a market - that too when the Pongal shopping was in full swing!!!
Apart from that, reached Krishnagiri at 18:30 - in time before full darkness hit us, which is good, since I didn't want to drive in that section in dark.
At home at 20:00! :thumbs up
Analysis: Roads:
Bangalore to Krishnagiri - Best!
Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamalli - Potholes and more potholes. Road missing at certain stretches! Small road, watch out for Govt. buses, buffaloes, cows, goats, cycles (anything and everything that does not belong on a NH!!!)
Tiruvanamalli to Pondicherry - same as above, except for good stretches being present for a good deal of the way.
Traffic in Pondicherry is crazy. Seems like bikes and cycles rule the road. Those people seems not to see vehicles in front of them and seems not to know nothing about traffic on both sides of the road!
Stay:
Hotel Annalmalai Intl:
Good service.
Restaurant has some good food.
Ample parking space.
Good access to most of the places (maybe I just visited only accessing place from here!!!)
24hrs check out!
Places of interest:
Beach road is very good for a good walk. Very relaxing. They have plays and things like that over there.
Aurobindo Ashram - what to say, its an ashram. Good as it gets.
Sampourna Park - If you have been to Wonderla, Vega Land, Black Thunder and such - you will find this place boring! But on the way to reach there has place for boat ride, a place where you can sit and look at the back waters and so on. If going to Sampourna, take your time at these places also.
On the way to Sampourna:
Bharathi Park - good park. Nice place to from where to view the various government bungalows. They have a great and majestic look!
Panchavati Lord Hanuman temple:
Worth the visit. Make sure you get there to have the darshan!
Beaches off ECR / en-route to ECR:
You want some space for yourself, get here. If you have a 4WD, nothing is there to stop you from driving down. (Not sure on the law over here! Please make sure its legal to do so!)
Others:
Please try to be on the main road as much as possible. Pondicherry is just a couple of main roads. Even if you get lost, you will finally land on one of them. Try to avoid the artery road - was stuck most of the time and bikes & cycles all around left their mark on the car! Dammm!!!
People over there are very friendly and will give you perfect directions on how to get to a spot. As said before, very difficult to get lost!
nice writeup. but not a single word on the automobile that helped you do all this !? that too on TBHP ! :D
whao.....i was almost on ur tails...
started off for pondy on sat @1. took the same route...
blr->t'malai(stayed there for the nite+visit to the temple there next morning)->pondi(night stay)->mahabalipuram->kanchipuram->bangalore.
ECR+kanchipuram-bangalore roads are heaven on earth!
Regards,
Nice update HappyWheels, How to go to the Sampoorna Water park? Pls update the exact route and directions
Abhi
Okay plan to go to pondy very soon any tips for not getting lost. Landmarks for the turns etc.
- for Krishnagiri
- across Tiruvanammalli
Tiruvannamalai town is not confusing, pretty straightforward route across town. At Tindivanam town too, go over the flyover to cross NH45 towads Pondicherry.