Pondicherry , Gingee Fort, Tiruvannamalai.

The Journey :

Pondicherry, which is around 300 kms from Bangalore, is the nearest beach to Bangalore. We were getting bored coz of the weekend and wanted to go somewhere on bikes . We decided to go to Pondicherry for the first time. 4 of us started our journey in a Thunderbird and  Pulsar 180. We left at 4.30 in the morning, which proved to be a perfect time to start the trip. Better to eat some biscuits or bread before leaving, since the nearest clean hotel you get will be at Uttangarai, which is nearly 150-180 kms from Bangalore. After having a good breakfast, we went to Tiruvannamalai. The temple at Tiruvannamalai is huge and wonderful. Its a must visit place on the way to Pondicherry.

From Tiruvannamalai, you need to go in the Tindivanam road. In the Tiruvannamalai-Tindivanam road, somewhere around 40-50 kms from Tiruvannamalai, comes a place called Gingee fort. Many haven't heard of the Gingee fort. But it was called as the "Troy of India". It is an amazing fort, which covers 4-5 hills. The wall of the fort covers the 3 mountains which you can see from the road itself. To go on top of the fort, you need to climb some steps. Takes around 20 mins to go to the top. We got a very good feeling after going to the top that it was worth it. Spent some time there resting and chatting.

From Gingee fort, we went to Pondicherry riding continuously, only stopping once to drink coconut water. Especially in summer, you need to carry water bottles with you since nothing is available at Gingee fort. So better buy whatever you want to, at Tiruvannamalai itself, or wait till Tindivanam.

Right after entering Pondicherry, we started our hunt for the lodge. Of course there were too many lodges in Pondicherry. But many of them were too costly, which we couldn't afford being students. If you're going with your family, then you can afford it. We found a cheaper lodge with 5 beds in the room which cost us Rs.750/- per day.

After getting freshed up, we had our lunch at Hotel Karthik, which is pretty clean. Then we left off to Chunnambar boat house. You can go speedboating, pedal boating, etc etc in that boat house but the Island trip is the best one. They charge 75 bucks per head to take us to an island trip on a boat, which is worth every penny. They'll take us to a beach called Paradise Beach in the trip and leave us there. It is a beautiful small island in which the chunnambar river meets the Bay of Bengal. Its one of the cleanest beaches in India and the best. Its very clean coz not too many people come there. Only means to come there is by a boat.

There is also a volleyball court in the beach. So carry a volleyball to play the beach volleyball for fun. Cool drinks are available at the island itself. The island closes at 5pm. So better go in the morning itself to have more fun. The water is also very clean in this beach. Its so blue!

From the Paradise beach, we went back to Pondicherry. Took a bath again and took off to the Beach Road. The Pondicherry Beach Road is one of its kind. It is closed to vehicles from evening 5 to 10. Many people come here just to walk on the road parallel to the sea shore, with the wind blowing smoothly and pleasantly, listening to the sound of the waves. It was an unforgettable walk. We spent as much of the time as we could, there. From there, we roamed in the city till midnight. It isn't as happening as Goa. Everything closes around 11-11.30 itself.

 We enjoyed our time sitting at the beautiful moonlit beach and had a very pleasant time.

The next day morning, we woke up at 5, excited to see the sunrise in the beach. But surprisingly, the weather changed drastically and it was raining right from the early morning.! The previous day, temperature was around 40 degrees and now all of a sudden it started to rain, spoiling our chance to see a sunrise. At around 9 am, we went to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It is a very quiet place. Nobody speaks loudly in the entire ashram. If you want to meditate for hours or days, go there. You will definitely forget all your worldly tensions once you go to the ashram and spend some time there. You can also visit Sri Aurobindo's grave in the ashram. 

Next we went to the Auroville, which was a famous spot. We didn't know why it was famous and why so many people go there. In the Auroville, they made us to watch a 10 min video regarding the details of a structure called Matrimandir. The video was so inspiring. It took them 35 years to construct this Matrimandir, which is a place to meditate. You can watch it just from outside. To go inside the Matrimandir, you need to register two days before itself. So we just watched it from outside and got amazed!

 

From Auroville, we went to the last destination in Pondicherry, The Auro Beach. It is a famous beach in Pondicherry and will be quite crowded always. It is a very good beach to have fun for sometime, but the beach is not clean since too many people come there to visit.

 

That was the last place in Pondicherry we visited and from there we took off to Mahabalipuram/Mamallapuram, in the famed East Coast Road(ECR).

Routes :

Bangalore - Krishnagiri - Uttangarai - Tiruvannamalai - Gingee Fort - Tindivanam - Villupuram - Pondicherry

Final Review :

Pondicherry is a very good place to go out on a weekend. Away from our day to day life. 

Beaches are also very good. Don't miss Gingee fort and Tiruvannamalai on the way.

There are also some temples, churches, museums, parks in Pondicherry if you want to spend more time there. Also don't miss a walk in the beach road in the night.

Rating :

Gingee Fort - 3.5/5

Tiruvannamalai Temple - 3.5/5

Chunnambar Boat House - Paradise Beach - 4.5/5

Auroville - 4/5

Sri Aurobindo Ashram - 3/5

Beach Road aka Pondicherry Sea Shore- 4/5

Auro Beach - 3/5