Pondicherry !!!
I’ve decided to travel on a budget!! There are plenty of options while using public transport, so traveling on a budget was easy for us. I and my brother took a bus from koyambedu at around 8:00 PM and got down at Auroville turning, around 11:00 PM. We Couldn’t get any autos from there and hence we took another bus and got down at the next stop which is some junction.
We booked our stay in Aditya house in AIRBNB. It took around 10 mins to reach our place from the place we got down. It was a decent calm residential area. Our room was on the 2nd floor. It was a pretty decent room with a big king size cane bed and an extra bed is also there. A small fridge, table, a big bathroom, and a beautiful balcony made the room super worthy of the price we’ve paid. Oh, btw we paid 1000/- per night which is pretty reasonable I feel. Oh man, the sky was so beautiful. I haven’t seen so many stars in the sky in recent days.
The next day I got to witness a beautiful sunrise from the terrace of the place where we were staying. We took a bike on a rental basis which was 350/- per day and headed directly to “Solitude farm and cafe” to have a super tasty healthy organic Dosa Thali for breakfast.
The place is quite peaceful with warm people around to talk to. We saw that a soap-making workshop was happening that day and immediately registered for it. Before that, there was a farm tour which was guided by “Krishna Mckenzie” who owns that place. A person with strong knowledge of farming and a strong desire to give back to nature.
A super delicious lunch followed by a soap-making workshop and a blue pea tea to relax. From there, we headed to Auroville Matrimandir viewpoint and then from there we headed to rock beach. I personally love beaches and farms. But this one was overcrowded probably because it was the weekend. I forgot to pack my shorts and on the way, I’ve seen many street-side vendors selling apparel. I am not really a person to buy clothes from the street-side as I had some bad experiences, but this time I thought I would give it a try again. Trust me, the quality was super duper good and I got shorts for just 150/-. I couldn’t buy more as they don’t have my size in stock 🙁
I heard and read a lot about the baker’s street, so we planned our dinner there. But we didn’t like anything there. So, we left that place with hunger and on the way back home we saw Tanto’s just 5 mins away from our stay. I’ve been to Tanto earlier and I know it can’t go wrong there. We had nice salad and pesto and we were back to the room with happy tummy 🙂 😀
The next day started with a beautiful sunrise at Auroville beach. Then, we headed to Serenity beach. As it was Sunday, by the time we reached there the place was already crowded with people waiting for fishermen to come to the shore with some fresh fish.
We decided to have breakfast at the “Sustenance farm and cafe”. There were two awesome dogs welcoming and pondering their love for the visitors. We had a simple breakfast of dosa’s and quickly followed by a self-guided farm tour 😀
The Farm was decent enough with many coconut and banana trees. They did not have many plants. The owner was telling us that last year they had a problem on the farm with wild boars and they had a great deal of damage. I think now they are getting back into the track and are also thinking of starting some workshop activities as well.
The next one is that we have found it to be interesting. “Sadhana Forest” After a 15 minutes drive we reached there. While walking into the forest we could see many solar panels to the sides of the walking track. We went at breakfast time, and they offered us too 🙂
It was simple food, ragi dosa, tomato curry, and fruits. They started talking to us, we have never felt like outsiders.
Everyone over there is a volunteer. You can just pack your bags and go there directly. If you are below 40 or single you can stay in the dorms. Or if you are coming with a family or above 40 you will get a private hut. If you can afford then you can pay 600/- for your food and other maintenance. Everything is so natural there right from dishwasher powder to stay. They follow sustainability, veganism. We got so connected with the place that we forgot to take pictures inside. One more thing that blew my mind is, the roof of the hut was made with tetra packs. Yes you read it right!! They got these empty tetra packs recycled and made it as a roof for their stay. If you are someone who is looking to connect with nature, have some good people around spreading positive vibes. Then this is the place to go. And btw the most important thing is you won’t have any power after 6 in the evening. Make sure you take some torches along with you. If you are planning to go, better reach there before sunset. If you want to volunteer, for Indians minimum stay is 2 nights and foreigners its 2 weeks.
As it was Sunday, there’s no lunch provided there so we had to head back to Auroville. We decided to have lunch at “naturellement garden cafe”. A calm peaceful place that serves organic food most of them sourced right from their garden. Ahh that Ragi crepes and pesto Ravioli I can never forget. As we were leaving that night, we thought we should cover as many places as we can. For deserts, we have headed to Bread and Chocolates. The place is quite small and super busy. Getting a table there was a big task for us. The lady working over there helped us share a table with others. We weren’t able to eat much as we were already full. We just ate Chocolate cake, ice cream, and pancakes which are undoubtedly delicious. If you want to eat the best desserts you have to come here. I heard their bread is also damn tasty.
Back to our room to pack bags and started back to Chennai 🙂