When I bought my second bike, the Bajaj Avenger, I was already thinking of riding around, and the first trip I made was to Pondicherry (Pudducherry) in Tamil Nadu. Pondicherry is known for the French influence as this place was once colonized by France. The evidences are easy to find such as the street names in French and arrays of French restaurants.
From Bangalore, it’s 313km via Krishnagiri, a 7-hour drive by bike. I left at 7am and reached Pondicherry at 2pm. It was a weekend holiday and I had a very hard time finding a hotel. It took me more than 3 hours in search of a place to stay. All hotels were full, but before the sun goes down, I found a room in a small hotel nearby the bus station. Not really a good place to stay but I didn’t have choice. So, the lesson learned? Book a hotel before going to Pondicherry when it’s a holiday time.
In my 2-day stay and with the GPS and some help from the locals, I visited Auroville, Matri Mandir, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the Promenade, The Sacred Heart Church, Place du Pantheon/Aayi Mandapam and Bharti Park. And the night before I went back to Bangalore, I had a hearty meal in one of the French restaurant near the Promenade.
Here are some pictures of my first Bajaj Avenger Pondicherry trip that I dig from my computer.
This monument is the emblem of the Government of Pondicherry, previously called as La Place du Panthéon and later change into Aayi mandapam.
Bharti Park is the park surrounding the Aayi mandapam.
This is the golden globe in Matri Mandir. You need to walk for several kilometers before you can reach here. So, wear comfortable shoes and bring water bottle. There’s no place to buy water once you started walking.
The 1.5 km long promenade running along the beach is the pride of Pondicherry. Most of the landmarks are on the sea front: the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Jeanne d’Arc, Duplex, the elegant War Memorial raised be the French, the heritage building “Mairie”, the 27m tall old lighthouse, the circular shaped customs house and Gandhi Thidal. Along the promenade are hotels and restaurants. It’s a good place to hang out at night.
The Sacred Heart Church is one of the churches that French missionaries built in Pondicherry. The Sacred Heart Church is situated on the south boulevard. It contains rare and beautiful stained glass panels depicting saints and events from the life of Christ.
Tags: beach in pondicherry, bike trip to pondicherry, places to visit in pondicherry, pondicherry india, pondicherry photos, tamil nadu, visit pondicherry
I have been absent from my blogs lately as I was quite busy with work and with my latest purchases. Just several days ago, I bought the Xbox 360 Kinect and since then, it has occupied my previously lazy free time. I also found a new and effective way to sweat since my home gym wasn’t that effective, though it is my fault, but with Kinect games, I am able to exercise and enjoy at the same time.
I’ve played several Kinect games and Arcade games in my Xbox and with the free one month Xbox Gold membership, I am able to try demo games. I’ll blog about some of those games later, if I get break time from playing :p
By the way, today, I received an email about the new Xbox 360 Update which includes new entertainment options and with more use of Kinect and less of the controller. It also promises movie viewing, though I haven’t know yet. Microsoft is supposed to release the update today, December 6 however there has been some delay. According to a tweet of Larry Hyrb from Microsoft, they are still working on the release and may take several hours.
I can’t wait to update my Xbox 360 as soon as they release and see what’s new there. Will write about it after I have it. That’s all for now…
Tags: kinect games, xbox 360, xbox 360 kinect, xbox 360 update 2011, xbox games, xbox live
Marina Beach, Chennai
When I say a “hot spot” I mean literally and metaphorically. Marina Beach in Chennai is the largest beach in the world and the longest urban beach in India. When I visited Chennai last month, my first stop was Marina Beach, and it was not a good idea since it was in the middle of the day. Marina Beach is literally a hot spot during that time of the day, though it is still a favorite place to do nothing by the locals.
Marina Beach in Chennai
I was thinking that if Chennai would have a cooler temperature, Marina Beach would be a perfect venue for the beach volley competition for its widest beach that it may even be a perfect spot for the world beach volley competition. But until then, Marina Beach remains the favorite night spot of the locals and tourists to spend time after the sun comes down and air cools.
People saved a man who nearly drowned at the Marina Beach
While I was at the Marina Beach, the scorching heat was not an obstacle for some locals to sit on the sand nearby the water and for some to dip in it. I even witnessed a guy who almost drowned as he couldn’t able to swim back ashore. Luckily, some of the men tried to reach him and was able to recover him back. Marina Beach does not have lifeguards, unlike Goa where every beach has one or two posts. When they recovered the man, he was unconscious that they have to carry him. I didn’t go near them as I did not want to add to the throng of people who were just a mere spectator, which I know would make it difficult for that guy to breath. I only utter a silent wish that he would be fine.
I came back to Marina beach at night and the experience was a total opposite of what I experienced during the day. The entrance of the beach was full of food stalls that you won’t go hungry and thirsty. The water was pitch-black so I basically saw nothing. The sand was cool that sitting or lying on it would be a perfect thing to do. At night, Marina Beach is a hot spot (this time, I mean metaphorically) to spend a cool evening with some tasty idly and rice puffs.
Tags: chennai, india beaches, largest beach in the world, man drowned in marina beach, marina beach chennai india, marina beach largest beach in the world
Two weeks ago, with a long weekend, I went for a long drive with the route Bangalore-Chennai-Mahabalipuram. From Bangalore to Chennai, it was a 350km drive.
I started at 6 in the morning, and with the great help of GPS and 3G, I did not waste time asking directions. With two stop overs for some snacks, I reached Chennai at 2pm. Originally, I planned of going first to Mahaballipuram but before leaving, I thought of spending a night in Chennai and drive to Mahaballipuram on the next day, fearing of not getting a hotel to stay in Mahaballipuram since it would be my first time to visit. I also didn’t book for a hotel thinking that I would easily find a hotel in Chennai.
Chennai and Marina Beach
So, when I reached Chennai, I went directly to Marina Beach, the longest and widest beach in Asia (I think). It was scorching hot. I sat nearby the water and using Google Map, started to search for the nearby hotel. I called several hotels and inquired for available room. After an hour, I left Marina Beach and went on to find a place to stay. Searching for one of the hotels I called was not easy, specially with the small road in the inner town of Chennai and heavy traffic, I wasted almost 2 hours just searching for that hotel, and when I finally found it, it was too shabby at the outside that I decided not to go inside at all. I recalled of several hotels along the way, so I went to one of them, the Hotel Himalaya. Hotel Himalaya is just a decent hotel if you need one. By the way, hotel rates in Chennai are quite expensive ranging from Rs.1300 up.
After freshening up, I decided not to go out for lunch, instead just eat whatever food is left. I took a nap and woke up at 5pm. I went to the famous place in Chennai for aquariums and fishes. Since it was quite late and got stuck in the traffic too, only few aquarium shops were open that I left the place without buying anything. I think I wasted my time going there.
I went back to Marina beach and had dinner there. I stayed at the beach till the guards were rounding up. I went back to the hotel and slept.
East Coast Road, Chennai – Mahaballipuram
I left Hotel Himalaya and Chennai after breakfast for Mahabalipuram. It was during this trip that I blame myself for stopping by in Chennai. Roads to Mahabalipuram from Chennai is fantastic. All through out, I took ECR, though with toll fee, it was a superb road.
Once I reached ECR, I started to search for a good place to stay. Luckily, I found an affordable beach resort along ECR, it’s Joe Beach. They were able to squeezed me in in their booking since it was holiday and they are fully booked. As soon as I checked in, I freshen up and readied myself for a drive to Mahabalipuram.
Tiger’s Cave at Mahaballipuram ; Shatriya’s Restaurant
Before going to the inner town, I thought of checking out Tiger’s Cave and took some pictures and rested a bit. After an hour, I left the place and headed towards to the town. I took my lunch at Shatriya’s, which is just after entering Mahabalipuram town. I feasted on chicken biryani and prawn fry. While leaving the restaurant, I overheard two foreigners asking for beers after the waiter had given them the choices of drinks. But of course, alcoholic drinks are not allowed, so to my mind, I quipped, “Welcome to India!” LOL
Shore Temple, Mahaballipuram
After entering the town, I first visited the Shore temple. As usual, it was so crowded that it took me 15 minutes to park my car. Shore temple is amazing. The architecture and the scenery is beyond compare. The temple is just nearby the beach. I took some pictures and updated my Facebook status and headed out of the place.
Next place I visited was the Pancha Pandava Rathas or Five Ratha’s . Just like the Shore Temple, it was crowded. It was getting dark and I was quite tired too. There were still some places to visit in my list and I aimed of visiting them in that day. I went to Krishna’s Butter Ball and Anjuna’s Penance , I didn’t get out of my car but just took photos of them from the outside. I left Mahabalipuram after that. I directly went to Crocodile Farm on the ECR. I was in a hurry that it might be closed but there’s not much to see that I was able to finish my sightseeing in 15 minutes.
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I went back to Mahaballipuram town and bought some fruits. It was already past 6. I planned to just order my dinner from the hotel. When I reached the hotel it was already dark. I freshen up and headed to the beach. The gate was locked already so I just sat nearby the shore. After few minutes I went to the kitchen and ordered dinner but I was quite late. The only possible food that I could have was chappati and curry. So I settled for it and had some fruits. After dinner, I went back to the shore, there were some other guests who were just sitting there and watching the moon and relaxing to the sound of waves. After awhile, the hotel manager came and opened the gate. The guests and I went out to the beach and sat on the sands for some time until everyone decided to call it a night.
I planned of waking up early morning to take a dip in the sea but when I got up at 7am, it was already so hot that I decided to go back to bed. I checked out at 10:30am and headed back home.
From Mahaballipuram, I stopped at Kanchipuram for lunch. Kanchipuram is known for Kanjeevaram saris. I inquired some shops for my mom’s but aside from having no knowledge of what sari to buy, they’re also just damned expensive.
After leaving Kanchipuram, I headed to Vellore for the SriPuram Golden Temple. Just several kilometers from the temple, the traffic was so heavy that I spent an hour just to reach the temple from the main town of Vellore. After reaching the temple, I was disappointed and decided not to enter.
One of the Toll plazas along the highway
I headed back to Bangalore and reached my place at 8pm. I can say that it was a trip worth taking for my first long drive since my visit to Pondicherry a year ago. Next stop? Maybe Goa…
Tags: bangalore-chennai trip, bangalore-mahaballipuram trip, drive route bangalore-chennai-mahaballipuram, places to visit in chennai, places to visit in mahaballipuram, tourist places in mamallapuram
Can you guess what flower is this?
It’s from this plant…
You’re right, it’s an aloe vera flower. It’s my first time to see an aloe vera flower, good thing that I keep an aloe vera plant. Is this your first time to see an aloe vera flower too?
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