Bangalore to Pondicherry Roadtrip

This is my first attempt to write a travelogue. I wanted to give it a try not just because we loved the trip.

Since Pondicherry is about 300+ kms from Bangalore, we thought Roadtrip could be the best option since Zaara was also with us. We didn't have many other choices for buses/train as it was a long weekend and people had planned theirs long back J

Another reason to write is not to rely on Google every time. It's a great tool to use for navigation, but sometimes the routes provided by them may not be the great if you drive.

Trip Planning

We had been thinking of multiple options for the Ganesh Chathurthi long weekend. Since most of friends already had finalized their own plans, we had to do it on our own. We were late for booking hotel/resort, so there weren't many options available. We saw Nalla Eco Beach Resort was a good choice both economically and location wise (due to its vicinity to East Coast Road, connecting Chennai to Pondicherry).

We had gone through the reviews on Tripadvisor and some other sites as well. Tripadvisor reviews are a good tool to finalize the place. Instead of booking directly on portal, we called the resort directly and confirmed booking for Standard room (later the management upgraded us to Superior room free of cost).

The rate was Rs. 3500 per night (also remember it was a long weekend). Pondicherry hotels allow checking only after 12 noon and checkout before 12. In case you arrive early, its better to plan some activity before you checkin to hotel.

Our original plan was for two day-one night trip. We were still prepared for an additional night in case required.

Bangalore to Pondicherry

We started from Indira Nagar at 4:40 AM. Not much traffic around and we could get out of Bangalore within 20 minutes (Electronic city flyover).

We had decided to go by the Google route that took us through Krishagiri-Uttangarai-Thiruvannamalai-Gingee-Thindivanam-Pondicherry route, as shown below.

This was the worst part of the trip L. The distance in this route is 310 km. We reached the resort by 11:40 AM. This included a break of half an hour at Thiruvannamali for breakfast.

The road work is in progress from Krishnagiri to Thindivanam. There are good stretches of 1 to 2 km in between, but remaining is either mud road or old road with big pot holes. In case you are driving, please do not follow this route at all.

Thiruvannamalai is a comparatively big town. We reached there by 9 and had breakfast at Aakash Restaurant, near Bus Stand. Love the chutneys they serve with Masala Dosa/Idly. The town also hosts Annamalaiyar temple, which is symmetric in nature.

Enroute to Thidivanam, you can also see the Gingee Fort, which covers two hills and you go in between. We didn't stop  over to ensure we had sufficient time in Pondicherry.

The last stretch of Thindivanam to Pondicherry is a toll road. It was quite relaxing to relax from frequent gear shifts and breaks for the last 3-4 hours.

We checked in to the resort directly and freshened up.

Paradise Beach

The first destination was Paradise Beach, which was about 18 kms from our resort. You need to go to the boathouse first. Ferry is available at Rs. 150 per person (Speed Boats available at Rs. 1200). It takes around 20 minutes by Ferry to reach the island creek.

It's the only beach in Pondicherry, which has shallow waters and you can swim around. The place is well maintained and very clean. We reached there by 1.30. Zaara was very happy to play in the beach after a long time J

If you go in a group, you can spend quality time in the beach, playing Volleyball, swimming. There is only one eatery available, which was a setback. We were already hungry J

The boat service continues until 4 pm into the beach and till 6 pm back.

Promenade Beach:

Promenade can be called as the Marine Drive of Pondicherry. For people familiar with the Queen’s Necklace in Mumbai, Promenade offers a similar experience. The place again is very well maintained.

We had lunch at the Spice Route, near to the Promenade Beach. They served delicious food (Fried Rice and Tawa Machi or deep fried Pomfret). One good thing about Pondicherry is that you can see all sort of quality French/Italian/Thai/Indian restaurants available in the area.

All buildings near the Promenade are built based on French Architecture style. Even the streets have name-boards in French like "Rue Romain Rolland".

The Promenade Beach also has many tourist attractions including Gandhi Statue, French War Memorial, Chief Secretariat etc.

Annasalai Street:

The Annasalai Street belongs to the business district and you can see many big exclusive stores in the area.

We went to the Pothy’s textile showroom in Pondicherry. It was a mind-blowing experience. You need to see the collection of garments they have kept and the best part is that it’s available for all price ranges being displayed.

Auroville:

The next day, we started visiting Auroville first. It’s a world on its own, situated 11 kms from Pondicherry main beach area. The place is vast and it is very different from other places with good vegetation.

The main attraction is the Matri Mandir, which is a golden metallic sphere at the centre of town.You can correlate it much to the Lotus temple in Delhi for the Bahaii believers.From visiting centre, the Matrimandir is around 1 km by walk. We spent around an hour in the Auroville area. Very much different from normal Tamilnadu landscape, with so much greenery around.

Back to Bangalore:

We took the longer route via Thindivanam-Vandavasi-Cheyyar-Arkot-Vellore-Krishnagiri route this time. It was so much relaxing to drive on this route with not even single pothole. The route is about 375 km but we took around 6 hours driving time.

Reached Home by 5.30 pm and at the end, it was a pleasant and joyous trip throughout.

Pondicherry is a calm place to visit anytime around the year other than rainy season. One day is good enough to cover all major attractions in the city.

Good for a weekend drive J