[navin]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

a six pack of Fosters can be had for Rs.180.00

Wow! I think I have found a place to retire. Can Indian Citizens buy homes here? Really. It is awfully pretty. Reminds me of the small Mediterranean towns or one of the small towns you see along the Pacific Coast Highway.

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by navin

Wow! I think I have found a place to retire. Can Indian Citizens buy homes here? Really. It is awfully pretty. Reminds me of the small Mediterranean towns or one of the small towns you see along the Pacific Coast Highway.

I guess so, about buying property!.The reason for me traversing this scenic road is in the pic below

[Thad E Ginathom]

Gets a bit hot in the summer, and never gets cool in the winter.

Maybe Mumbai is no better, I don't know. A friend of mine from Hyderabad dropped by there (Pondy), considering a retirement move, and decided it was too hot for him, and that was in October!

I don't know what the property prices are like, but I suspect they'd be quite high, especially in the old part of the city, where demand is probably rather greater than supply.

My beef with Pondicherry is that I can't pronounce the street names. Or should that boeuf?

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

as one of the nice things about the ECR route is that there is very little heavy traffic

Quite interesting!!

Could an alternative interpretation can be "heavy traffic" as in "heavy vehicle traffic"?

[nickatnite]

One more set of ECR pics taken at the last Chennai BHP-ian off-roading Meet. This stretch of the ECR runs almost parallel to the sea(within viewing distance) which is an inspiring sight indeed.The earlier ECR pics in this thread are taken on the inland stretches driving towards Pondicherry.

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Gets a bit hot in the summer, and never gets cool in the winter.

Maybe Mumbai is no better, I don't know. A friend of mine from Hyderabad dropped by there (Pondy), considering a retirement move, and decided it was too hot for him, and that was in October!

I don't know what the property prices are like, but I suspect they'd be quite high, especially in the old part of the city, where demand is probably rather greater than supply.

My beef with Pondicherry is that I can't pronounce the street names. Or should that boeuf?

I was in Pondy in October and the weather was quite pleasant. About your friend from Hyderabad. Really!.. My French is awful. There's a lot of French's living/working there what with Auroville, which warrants an entire thread!(i do have lotsa pics of Auroville.) The French Consulate is also located in Pondicherry.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Quite interesting!!

Could an alternative interpretation can be "heavy traffic" as in "heavy vehicle traffic"?

Woops. You'll have to forgive my English; I'm forgetting it fast!

Unfortunately I'm not learning the Tamil to make up for it.

Yes... I meant heavy vehicles

(Blush)

[Thad E Ginathom]

When I visited my Hyderabad friend, I felt cold at night. You never really get that sensation on the TN coast (loosely including Pondy). I guess some people might miss it!

[fiery enzyme]

Originally Posted by nickatnite

This road is a country road and not a highway. If one wants to take the highway to Pondicherry from Chennai, there's NH45. I think it's a great 'getaway from the rat-race' road that takes one through many scenic locales and green fields and the seaview is inspiring. I like the drive and i give this road a .

I can't personally fathom anyone choosing the NH45 over the ECR to get to Pondy from Chennai

[Thad E Ginathom]

If, as I'm assuming is the case, the truck drivers go that way, then I wonder what their reason is?

[nickatnite]

Re: NH45. Here are some pics i took of this portion of the highway between Chennai and Pondicherry. This highway leads to Trichy and further South to Kanayakumari eventually.

[nickatnite]

more NH-45 images, pics taken between Chennai to Pondicherry portion of the highway...

[Wolffe]

The pics are goodThe last coupla times I stayed at Ajantha Sea View-overlooking the beach.Awesome view of the ocean-wish I had a villa overlooking the beach like that!Huh..

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by diabloo

2 lane road as benchmark . Ideal would be 6 lane. Atleast it must be 4 lane. This might be a good stretch. But not a benchmark by any stretch of imagination.

It's an exciting road to drive, and overtaking is a bit of fun and you need to concentrate continuously. I will personally prefer this road over the NH-45 or the bangalore highway as i get bored soon when driving on them.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

If, as I'm assuming is the case, the truck drivers go that way, then I wonder what their reason is?

I guess the trucks do that to avoid paying higher toll on this road (and maybe to avoid passing checkposts on ECR??)

@nick - great pics man. Guess you have been all over TamilNadu of late and the TN highways deparment can use you for advertising their highways (you've captured the best parts of it, where are the worst?? LOL)

[nickatnite]

Originally Posted by praveen_v

It's an exciting road to drive, and overtaking is a bit of fun and you need to concentrate continuously. I will personally prefer this road over the NH-45 or the bangalore highway as i get bored soon when driving on them.


I guess the trucks do that to avoid paying higher toll on this road (and maybe to avoid passing checkposts on ECR??)

@nick - great pics man. Guess you have been all over TamilNadu of late and the TN highways deparment can use you for advertising their highways (you've captured the best parts of it, where are the worst?? LOL)

City roads in Chennai need a lot of work!. Country roads and highways are good. Here's a few pics from my TTDC conducted tour of TN that took me all over the state in 10 days , 11 nights with food, accomodation included and no night driving...it was a fascinating experience....there's so much to see in our neck of the woods...a sample of pics from that tour...

1st pic....my tour bus at our 1st night halt at a motel in Seerkazhi
2nd pic.... backwaters of Pitchavaram Lake
3rd pic....country road from Seerkazhi to Nagapattinam
4th pic...country road from Nagapattinam to Chidambaram through the rice fields of Thanjavur district
5th pic...need i say more...the rice fields of Thanjavur district, the 'rice bowl' of India, apparently!.

and, ofcoursebreathtaking views in Rameswaram island and Kanyakumari...i can open a thread with all the pics from that tour if anyone is interested...