Pondicherry

The series that I am sharing is our South India Coastal expedition of 14days on our Royal Enfield Classic 500, where I and my husband, MJ have covered 2500kms from East to West coast riding from Bangalore > Pondicherry > Rameswaram > Dhanuskodi > Kanyakumari > Trivandrum > Allepey > Kochi > Iritty > Bangalore.

The freedom of travelling on motorcycle, venturing with limited luggage and exploring through the most scenic places, having best meals and meeting awesome people – living a true experience our hearts always yearned for and specially the riding.

Part 1. Bangalore to Pondicherry

We started our journey from Bangalore on 23^rd December 2017 at 5 a.m. The onset of Holidays caused a huge pile up and we took couple of hours to cross the city limits.

Bangalore to Pondicherry

We had our breakfast at Adhith Bhavan which comes on the left hand side just after Attibele cross. We ordered masala dosa, which was served with 3 types of chutneys – plain coconut, tomato chutney & mint chutney and thick sambar, just the way I love. The food was delicious and reasonable.

We took NH 77 then NH48 passing Hosur, Krishnagiri, Chengam, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and we reached our first pit stop Pondicherry around 2pm.  We took a detour from Tiruvannamalai then took the Villupuram route, this road is not in top condition and would not advise at night or during rainy season. There are not many petrol bunks and secluded but we definitely enjoyed the ride.

We spent two days in Pondicherry or Puducherry, which is indeed a marvelous beach town with French legacy written all over.  We stayed at a homestay through Airbnb, the place is about 1.5 kilometers away from the promenade and costed us around INR 1800. Jagat and his wife, Suchi were lovely hosts and have done the house beautifully. The room was clean and the most amazing thing is the king sized swing bed made by Jagat himself, who is an artisan plus scuba diver instructor. The feeling of lightly floating while sleeping was relaxing. I loved the cart wheel dining table and especially the antique door. Here is the link if you are interested to experience it too.

https://www.airbnb.co.in/rooms/9976326

Cosy Room with Swing Bed

After we freshened up, we wandered around the White Town, where the tree lined roads houses some of the prettiest colonial buildings, cafés and boutiques. The seaside Goubert Avenue is spectacular, although it’s around one and half kilometer long and the place is lively, where the old colonial world blends beautifully with the new and there are lot of things to see. Since it was already 5pm, we stopped at this place called Lee café, which is right on the promenade. It’s a self-service restaurant with amazing view and the food was delicious, we had cocktail samosas, cappuccino and pain au chocolate. Please note you may not get what is on the menu & the staff can do better.

Beautiful Lane with my motorcycle

We continued exploring the quite lanes with beautiful balconies and pale yellow buildings transferring us to the colonial times; each corner spilled beauty and froze time. If you are not keen on walking, you can rent bikes too. There are plenty of home stays and boutique hotels available almost everywhere so you can directly go to the roads parallel to the promenade, I am sure who will get a good bargain. We watched a game of boules, which was my first time and I think the ground was next to the Secretariat. Later we had our dinner at Ajantha restaurant, where we sat on the balcony overlooking the busy street and sea. The waves did all the trick and food was just fine and reasonable. We had Nilgris mutton fry, Mongolian beef fry and fried rice with beer. We winded our day watching a lovely cultural performance going on at the promenade.

Strolling around White town, Pondicherry

On the following day, we headed early morning to the promenade hoping to watch the perfect sunrise however the hanging clouds damped the view. I must say this is the best place for morning and evening walks and the traffic is restricted from 6pm to 8am making it easier and relaxing plus safe for pedestrians. 

We rode to Auroville, which is a universal city and 15 kilometers away from White town. We had a scrumptious breakfast at Bread & Chocolates and we tried Chocolate croissants, summertime tartine, French press coffee and lime juice; the food was exquisite and fresh! The Croissants here seems to be better than France, never been to France so can’t comment but it definitely transfers you to heaven temporarily.

Croissants & Summertime tartine

Banyan Tree @ Auroville

In Auroville, we visited the Visitors Centre, which is the only place allowed for tourists else rest of the the place is restricted. We walked for about 1.5 to 2 kms to Matri mandir, which was really calm and serene however one can go inside the temple only for meditation. If you are interested, you can do the bookings a day prior at the visitor’s center. On our way, we found that Auroville has almost everything right from pond, wind mills, football ground, boutique stores run by local artists and vegetable gardens, etc. making it self-sufficient. Once we were done here it was almost noon, we paused at Auroville bakery for a quick coffee break but hardly had anything to eat – everything was sold out. Next time, we will ensure we go here early and eat here too.

Mantri Mandir @ Auroville

We returned to the city late noon and had an amazing lunch at La Villa, a boutique hotel with a small restaurant occupying the lawn and veranda. The place is a hidden gem with great food and ambiance is to die for. The only thing is to find the place where the letters on the gate are not illegible. We tried prawns coconut curry with rice, corn coated crispy fried prawns and lemonade; the food was flavorful and delectable and expensive. 

LaVilla

We hung around the promenade visiting the Rue Domas church on Christmas eve, the pink church built in 1855 is the fourth oldest in Pondicherry and has neoclassical columns, twin bell towers, stained glass windows and a marvelous dome.

Rue Domas Church

We walked around the promenade and found this coffee shop called Kofi Bar, near the court, where people flocked to have Masala milk, a pure sin to indulge with heaps of cream boiled with saffron and crushed almonds.

Masala Milk at Kofee Bar

We wound our stay at Pondicherry watching a lovely performance by the Pondicherry police.

Thank you for reading and do write back for any tips or suggestions! You can watch the all our videos and all the exciting places we travel during these 14 days bike ride on my Youtube Channel.

Like, share and subscribe – Your support means a lot!!

Places we ate on our tour:

Adhith Bhavan - Hosur

Lee Café - White Town Pondicherry

Ajanta restaurant - White Town Pondicherry

Bread and chocolates - Auroville, Pondicherry

Auroville Bakery – Auroville, Pondicherry

La Villa - White Town, Pondicherry