Chennai to Pondicherry

Theosophical Society, Chennai

Enjoying the peace and quiet

We struggled out of bed after an average sleep and jumped straight on the bike. We were heading South but first wanted to visit the Theosophical Society as recommended by Pete. Chennai's streets were overflowing with traffic. We squeezed between cars and buses, moving at a snail's pace but thanks to Chris' navigational skills found the Theosophical Society with little fuss. We did take a brief detour through the maze of Chennai's backstreets and we did have to ride the wrong way down a one way street for a while but we made it. We signed in and the "security" misheard me and thought we were from Italy. He exclaimed that that explained why my English was below par. It obviously had nothing to do with the fact that we could barely understood a word of his "English." We left Big Red in charge of our luggage figuring if it was safe to do so anywhere in India, it was here. By this stage, we were well and truly ready for the peace and quiet that the Theosophical Society provided. We strolled the paths, snacked on our pre packed brekky of grapes and cookies and basked in the silence.

We needed to keep moving South so we sadly cut our stay at the Theosophical Society short and kept moving, saying to ourselves "surely the traffic can't be this bad everywhere." And it wasn't. Once out of the city the roads opened up, traffic dropped off and the tarmac was smooth. We discovered we were accidentally on our way down a toll road so began queuing with the cars and trucks. Noticing a few motorbikes sneaking down the side, and one motioning for us to follow, we skipped the queue and the toll. Apparently motorbikes don't pay. Thanks Big Red.

Krishna's Butter Ball, Mamallapuram

We could tell we were entering Mamallapuram as shops selling giant stone carvings began to line the road. After one u-turn we entered Mamallapuram and got a taste of touristy India. A few days earlier, Chris saw a photo on Facebook of a giant boulder sitting precariously on a rock that sparked his interest. Hs excitement grew when he realised it was in India and had grown further realising it was only 40km from Chennai in Mamallapuram. Krishna's Butter Ball. We explored the ball and its fascinating surrounds. The boulder stewn landscape had caves and detailed carvings cut into it and we freely wandered between them, on them and under them.

After grabbing a 15 INR lunch we were on the road again. The next 100km stretch to Pondicherry was broken up with one stop to enjoy our lunch at a boat harbour. We watched people kayak, men fish and kids swing in hammocks while we ate.

The sights along the road consisted mainly of giant piles of rubbish and huge concrete fences that surrounded nothing but expanses of grass and sometimes one small building. The landscape was vast, dry and flat for the most part. Every now and then though a bunch of trees would shade us or we would watch people working and the monotony was broken. Women hunched over picking rice and men waded chest deep in the water, fishing, we think. The ride was hot as we managed to be on the road during the hottest part of the day. Unlike our troubles in Sri Lanka, every day in India seems to be blue skies and cloud-free which is wonderful but means we'll need a better sunscreen. Our arms copped it today. And from what Boss Man told us, it's just going to get hotter. This is, of course, only the end of India's winter. In fact, when I mentioned getting closed in boxes for the bike in case it rained, Boss Man looked at me like I was insane and replied matter of factly, "it won't." Let the dry, dusty subcontinent continue!

Arriving in the French (ish) city of Pondicherry about 2pm, we rode around trying to find somewhere to stay that wouldn't break the bank. This was much harder than expected. Things being harder than expected appears to be a recurring theme of our time in India. Regardless, we bargained a guy down to 800 INR a night and were happy not to be paying the 2500+ that other places were asking. Apparently Pondicherry is a bit fancy.

Goubert Avenue, Pondicherry

We took a walk along Goubert Avenue which follows the shoreline. While there's no beach as such, the promenade is bustling with romancing couples, families, bus loads of tourists and stalls. We then headed into the French Quarter and explored the pretty streets which are a strange mix of buzzing India and ordered Europe. Pondicherry is a breath of fresh air after dusty, dirty Chennai.

We found a place that served reasonably prices veg meals and enjoyed a veg biriyanai, a mixed veg curry, chapati, tea, butter milk and and fried vegetables. The fried vegetables were exactly that. Cut up veggies, battered, spiced and deep fried. Kind of undoes the nutritional value but hey...yum. Unfortunately we didn't have enough cash for dinner so I got left as payment until Chris could get to an ATM and get money. All sorted we went home to gather ourselves before meditation.

Yes, collective meditation. We visited Pondicherry's iconic Sri Aurobindo Ashram and for half an hour, sat in silence with the dark lit only by burning incense and a soft blue light. 50+ people, locals and foreigners, sat on the ground, all facing the samadhi, and meditated. A man rang a bell to signal the end of meditation and we left refreshed. As we discussed our experience at the ashram Chris explained to me how it was similar to "toilet time" in that you are able to just sit and think. How lucky I am to have a boyfriend who will happily come and sit on the concrete with my for half an hour in silence. When I thanked Chris he replied with such a great attitude that I just have to share..."Well," he said, "I didn't come all this way not to try things." On our walk from the ashram to Big Red we passed a street where cars and motorbikes lined up to be, what we assume was, blessed. They purchased limes to put under each wheel of their car and a holy man sprinkled unknown substances on the vehicle before they drove off over the limes. Probably the first time we've seen people happily sit in traffic without beeping like crazy.

Just another cow on another road

After dropping Big Red home we walked the dark streets of Pondicherry and noticed that, like Chennai, it is after sunset that the streets come alive with people shopping, eating and praying. Earlier we had found, for the first time in India, a supermarket. An actual supermarket. With aisles. And cashiers. Instead of heading back there tonight though we found a cheap, dodgy, local supermarket and stocked up on supplies for the coming few days and whatever they may bring. Wandering the aisles we found a gigantic bag of dried, red chillies, probably about a kilo, for the equivalent of less than one dollar. No wonder everything is so spicy.

For Pete

For Pete