Day 81 - Pondicherry

Made it! It only took a 1 hr bus, a 10 hr train, a 6 hour train and then a 4 hr bus - no problem. The final bus ride was possibly the most painful part, being that I was the only a)westerner and b)woman, I just cranked up the volume on my MP3 player and stared out the window, pretending that the entire bus wasn't staring at me.
We arrived about 8.20 in darkness. I hadn't booked anywhere to stay, so I pulled out the faithful Lonely Paranoid and set up shop in a phone booth. I called all the guest houses in the book, one by one and starting with the cheapest, only to be told, again and again, that they were full. Uh oh. Finally I came across one with a room, the Ram guest house. I was so relieved that I just collapsed in a rickshaw, not bothering to haggle over the fare, and told the driver to step on it ("step on what?" - sigh). The hotel is a heritage hotel; small and charming with old wooden furniture and a balcony. My room is on the compact side, and a mite expensive, but is clean and has a TV and hot water - bliss.

Had somewhat of a shock when I looked in the mirror - after 26hrs of travelling, and broken sleep, I looked like a zombie (see right for an artists impression... and I wondered why everyone was running away, screaming :-). Hot shower and early night needed desperately.

This morning I got up at 7 and went on an epic tour of the hostels of Pondicherry, by foot. They are all full - raaah. Looks like I'll have to stay with the hot water and TV, what a shame! Pondicherry really is a very nice town; wide, tree-lined boulevards and a long promonade along the Bay of Bengal. There are pockets of french culture and architecture here and there, and the town has plenty of coffee shops (that serve real espresso) and nice French/Italian cuisine restaurants. The best way to get around, epecially to the nearby beaches, is by cycle or motorbike - so my mission this evening is to find a cycle hire shop (not going to risk a scooter - eek). I was hoping to go to Auroville and visit the Matrimandir meditation room with its huge 70cm crystal, but unfortunately it is only open to visitors on Sunday, and tickets have to be booked in advance - poo. Guess I'll just have to cycle to a beach instead.

Below: The Matrimandir dome and meditation room (space age..)



Below: A Pondicherry street and the promenade