24TH Weds. En route to and arrival at Pondicherry

Pondicherry (or Puducherry) is a former French colony which was under French rule till 1954 and French influence on the culture is obvious here with many street signs in French and Indian and policemen wearing the  traditional French kepi (hat) . 

We got here early and our room wasn't ready so we went for a wander for an hour.   Its very, very hot/humid today so we had a look around a local museum which was nice and cool.  Photography wasn't allowed inside.

Last night we decided that we'd like to extend our stay in Pondicherry from one night to two and Joshy organised it for us (at nearly £30 per night cheaper than we'd have done it - good to have Indian 'mates).   This will shorten our time in Chennai but at this stage we think we prefer to be in a quieter town.

We plan to head out later this afternoon/evening when its cooler and get a proper feel for the place.   There's a lovely promenade along the sea/beach which is pedestrianised at night and some 'beach' markets which weren't open this morning.   

A few pics taken through the car window this morning  on the road to Pondicherry ...

Doggy enjoying the ride (and smells)

Sorry for yet another bullock cart - I love these!  Joshy pooh-poohed it a bit because its a modern, non traditional cart.   The traditional ones have large wooden wheels rather than these modern 'car' tyres.

En route today we stopped at another local farmers market ... it was a small one but they're always good for a photo or two!

Betel leaves - chewed by the locals.   Its a vine type creeper related to pepper and is believed to have medicinal benefits

I don't know what these fruits/vegetables are ... although they are pear shaped they are the size of small pumpkins

We're staying at Le Dupleix in Pondicherry

our room is the one on the first floor at the end of this terrace overlooking the courtyard dining area.  The two sections you can see are the areas of our balcony where I'm sitting now watching a group of French visitors enjoying a very  prolonged lunch ... they are on the lobster course now (none of that Indian muck for them it seems)!

The entrance - the hotel is 18th century and has lots of traditional tiling/woodwork and glass. 





The first room we were shown to was lovely - huge four poster bed etc., but it was on the top floor (no lift) and David wasn't happy with all those stairs.   So we were shown another room which is a tad dark but very quirky and its on the 1st floor so a nice compromise re. steps and view. 

The Reception Manager showed us both rooms and told us the history of the place, the materials used in the decoration and was obviously very proud of 'his' hotel.

No four poster in this room but still a very large bed and antique furniture.   There is a separate hallway/entrance with lots of room for our cases and the huge bathroom is behind the wood/glass panelled section off the bedroom area.

Best of all .... taxes are lower in Pondicherry.   The room has a minibar with bottles of Bacardi (60ml) for only £2.     First 'proper' drink for 3 weeks ... I'm getting fed up with beer!

outside dining area in the courtyard in the shade of the mango tree

The balcony is quite shallow but more than adequate and I've enjoyed sitting here and catching up on the Blog posts (no internet at last hotel).   The Bacardi slipped down nicely!

23RD JAN. Tues. Fishing/Pied Kingfisher/Scenery

When we left Chidambaram Joshy decided to take a village road route rather than the main road as it was more interesting. As we crossed a bridge over a river we noticed lots of people standing in the water and assumed they were bathing or washing laundry

Once over the bridge, I asked Joshy to stop so we could take a closer look and it turned out they were fishing – throwing nets to trap small fish then hauling the nets in and putting their catches into baskets worn at their hips

a few more street scenes taken through the car windows

Sugar cane being transported

Sugar cane leaves - used for roofing/thatching houses and/or fuel for fires

Got to love these over-burdened carts/tractors

We passed by lots of these thatched houses.   Some were brick built but most were wooden structures and I imagine they get badly damaged in Monsoon season.   I would have liked to take a closer look but there was just too much traffic on this little country track so these are taken through the car window as we drove past

Under the banyan tree

Further along the road I spotted a bird hovering in the air. We passed it quickly and I couldn't figure what sort of bird it was. I asked Joshy to stop but we were way past it by then and David thought it would be a waste of time going back to investigate. However the ever-flexible Joshy reversed back towards where I'd seen the bird. (no mean feat on these busy Indian tracks) and I'm so pleased he did.

I was amazed to see it was a Pied Kingfisher. I've never seen one before.

 I got a few pics of it standing on a rock

Then in flight to nearby trees where it was joined by a second one

Hovering over the water looking for lunch - Quite amazing (just sorry that my camera/my skills aren't up to photographing birds on the wing).

 David came across to see what the fuss was about just as one of them flew towards him and I got a quick snapshot.   I didn't realise I'd got (part of) David in the photo till I looked at the pics later  – not sure who looked more surprised here, the bird or David.

18. 23RD Tues. Chidambaram area, Mangrove Boat Tour

We left Paradise Resort after breakfast and headed for Chidambaram which is en route to Pondicherry. Our main aim was to take a Mangrove Boat tour but Joshy wanted us to visit another temple before that.

The temple was nice enough – beautifully maintained and, in fact the grass was being mowed in the gardens when we got there. We didn't go into the inner sanctum as there was obviously some sort of ceremony taking place but we wandered around the outside for half an hour and took a few pictures.

Another statue of the ever-faithful/vigilant Nandi 

I'm not sure what this statue represents (one of the drawbacks of not travelling with a guide .... but I think the advantages outweigh the drawbacks for us as we have freedom to wander)

David, dwarfed by one of the smaller sections of the temple building

Line-up of stone statues

and a resting place for 'fallen idols' tucked away behind the scenes.   I guess these will be restored/replaced at some stage

Couldn't resist the parakeets …. they always seem to be in pairs and these wonderful stone temples offer them lots of nooks and crannies to nest in

Then on to the Mangrove Swamp.

We'd expected to see more birds on the swamp/backwaters but soon reliased this wasn't to be. The trees are all 'rubber plant' types which aren't really attractive to birds. However we had a lovely peaceful 2 hours being rowed around. 

 We had read online that the trip could be boring unless you slip the 'driver' a cash incentive so he takes you into the really narrow waterways where the motorised boats can't go (nor the row boats with customers who don't pay the extra fee). As the temperatures were in the 30s and we had to wear bulky orange lifejackets we were happy to head into the cool shade of  the mangroves

David looking very fetching in his designer orange life jacket

Cattle Egrets and little herons were the only birds we saw

Our 'driver' rowed across the wide stretches of waterway then punted or pulled us along by using the aerial roots of the trees when in the narrow bits

Tarzan and Jane!!

We went straight to our hotel (which was dreadful, but enough of that - full details will be on Trip Advisor).   Joshy had wanted us to visit a nearby temple first but we told him we'd look at it later when we explored the town after a little rest.

In the event we didn't go out till 7pm ... the town was bustling and very, very noisy - a real assault on all the senses.   It was interesting but we we looking for somewhere to eat so didn't linger ... I didn't take the camera with me.

We settled on a restaurant  which looked very clean and bright.    The locals were all opting for the 'menu of the day' which involved a couple of trays of assorted dishes and breads.   Not really knowing what they were we played safe and ordered a vegetable Dopiaza and a paneer (cheese) and potato dish with jeera (cumin) rice and a naan bread.    The food was fantastic but, try as we might, we can't eat with our fingers (right hand only) like the locals.   We're OK when there is bread that we can kind of pinch together around a bit of curry but when it comes to picking up rice/curry without dropping it all down our fronts we fail dismally.   We asked for cutlery which caused consternation but the lovely manager came out with  a couple of spoons to help us out of our predicament and spare our blushes. 

The meal was fab and, including bottled water, was around £4.70 for the both of us.  !!