[Asta_la_vista]

Pondy is such a superb place. It never fails to impress us. The food pics made this travelogue complete.

Kewl looking Thar btw. 8kmpl sounds a little low. Is it normal or the traffic and the hard driving resulted in a low average?

Cheers

Prasanth

[TheStranger]

Short, sweet and informative TL, BlackPearl.The pics do reveal the 'foodie' in you.

Could you upload the route you drove on Google maps ?

[spyder_p8]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

When was the last time anyone posted about hotel tariffs and food prices on a travelogue? BP has named the hotels, and the route waypoints. I am afraid I find this post unnecessarily critical and nit-picking in nature. God (and Team-BHP) knows I have posted enough travelogues (and read through a lot more) myself, but "I had 3 parathas and the price of each paratha was Rs.28 plus 14.38% taxes" is not part of any travelogue I've come across.

BlackPearl did mention about using TripAdvisor.

Thanks for your response. I think i just have more expectations from a travelogue written by a TeamBHPian. May be BlackPearl didn't have much time. That is fine. But saying that iam nit-picking for more information on a roughly 4000 km long road trip is a bit over the top. If i want to travel the same route, I do not have much information. I would believe actual experiences posted by a member here than believing TripAdvisor. That was the whole point.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by sourav.info111

I love your spirit and passion for driving. Great travelogue and crisp writing. Keep up the good work.

Thanks Sourav!

Originally Posted by Samba

Short & crisp travelogue for a long marathon drive! Rated 5*. The pics are nice and the food pics are mouth watering!

Thanks Samba! Feeling happy that the thread rekindles your memories and lovely pics as usual.

Originally Posted by Sheel

LOL. It was fun reading the opening paragraphs. The food pics made this t'log complete :P

Pondy is one place which I want to go. The pics do suggest a very planned place with a beach.

Thanks for sharing :-)

Thanks Sheel! Pondicherry is a lovely place. Having been there 4 times and to Goa twice, I can't decide which one is the better place

Originally Posted by arjithin

I like this kind of unplanned suprise long drives, though I havent done one for long now.
Why 8 kmpl, isnt that a bit low?

How was the return journey? How much time it took?

Thanks arjithin. Yes 8 kmpl is very low and that is why mentioned it. The reason was the horrible traffic jam along with some hard driving.
The return journey was peaceful, no traffic jam. The Thar gave a mileage of above 13 kmpl on the return leg.

Originally Posted by SanC

BlackPearl , as always the TL is completely full with information and inputs , the nice clips adds up as a topping , awesome overall

Thanks SanC!

Originally Posted by Tharian@KP

Wow. Kolkata to Pondicherry solo, that too in a Thar. Hats off to you. I do have the same question as other BHPian, why only 8 Kmpl on a highway trip?

I'm from Chennai, and I have visited Pondy many times that I have lost count now. Though ECR route is very scenic many accidents do happen because of irresponsible drivers using it as a racetrack. Most of the times, I do avoid ECR road and take Chennai - Dhindivanam - Pondy route. But in last few months, they started widening the ECR road with a median till Mahabalipuram. Hope people will learn to drive and be responsible on roads.

Thanks Tharian@KP. As mentioned above, the horrible traffic jam along with some hard driving resulted in the low figures.
Yes, as you have mentioned, hopefully the traffic will get better after the road widening is completed. There have been too many accidents on that road.

Originally Posted by LoneRidder

Think of the Devil, here he comes

I keep visiting Pondicherry quite often. Small and very beautiful city! I love the traditional coffee joints (my favority KBS Kofe Bar), definitely for not for fans of CCD!

Way to Go!

Lol... Thanks LoneRidder! Pondicherry is indeed beautiful.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Loved the spirit of the drive, BlackPearl. The best way to surprise your wife is to do something like this!

I loved the FoodPorn-style photographs, especially now that I am starting to get used to spectacular plating and presentations without drooling all over the place and being overwhelmed by hunger pangs.

Rated a 5-star travelogue.

Thanks SS Da!

Originally Posted by cr4nkshaft

Small but beautiful read, BP! And the pics are droolworthy!

Thanks cr4nkshaft!

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Awesome thread BP. With the amount of travelogues and driving you do, very soon you will contacted by Google maps for advice

Lol... thanks Altocumulus!

Originally Posted by spyder_p8

Sorry to say but there is hardly anything in this travelogue. You reached Chennai in a Thar. What all places you stopped? How was the food? What is the route you have taken? What about hotel tariff and food prices in Pondicherry?

spyder_p8, thanks for the honest and curt feedback, appreciate it. I keep detailed logs of all my highway drives to the point that you might want to kill me if I start giving all the details
But now you have given me an opportunity to provide the details. I will post the maps taken from my Garmin eTrex logger and shown on an open source application named GPSPrune. You will need to have JRE installed in your machine to run it. Alternatively you can open the .gpx files on google earth, though I am not too much used to it. If you need I can email you the .gpx files as well.

Kolkata to Chennai -


The detour through villages that I had written about -


Chennai to Pondicherry


Coming to food, I have mentioned that Pondicherry is a foodie's paradise. You cannot go wrong with any of the places that you choose. I would highly recommend the following - Le Club, Villa Shanti, LB2 Lounge, Le Vietnam, Le Dupleix. You can find a lot more names in the following link -

http://food.ndtv.com/lists/the-foodi...-visit-1201033

Regarding hotels, I have stayed in Palais De Mahe and Le Dupleix, both are fantastic.

http://www.cghearth.com/palaisdemahe

http://www.ledupleix.in/

Originally Posted by Jeevan Sukumar

Agreeing completely with spyder. I was also in huge expectation about this travelogue as I am planning a trip to Pondicherry with my family during September. Please be kind enough to share some more details such as good hotels to stay and their tariffs, if the details are available with you, and some good and tasty food plazas in Pondicherry.

@Jeevan Sukumar, I understand your disappointment. I have tried to provide the details above in response to spyder's post. Please do let me know if you need further details. I will try to provide as much as I can.

Originally Posted by Asta_la_vista

Pondy is such a superb place. It never fails to impress us. The food pics made this travelogue complete.

Kewl looking Thar btw. 8kmpl sounds a little low. Is it normal or the traffic and the hard driving resulted in a low average?

Cheers

Prasanth

Thanks Prasanth. You are spot on with the analysis, it was the traffic along with the hard driving that resulted in poor fuel efficiency. On the highways the Thar usually gives above 13 kmpl.

Originally Posted by TheStranger

Short, sweet and informative TL, BlackPearl.The pics do reveal the 'foodie' in you.

Could you upload the route you drove on Google maps ?

Thanks TheStranger. I have given the details about the route above. Please let me know if you need further details.

[Dr_MNC_SK]

Great Drive. This not only makes you happy but is a reassurance for us (read Thar Owners) that it is absolutely possible to do ultra long 3-4K trips in the Thar (I have done upto 1.8 K trips but 4 K is the Benchmark). Thanks once again for sharing in a crisp manner BP. I wanted to ask you one thing- you managed Kolkata to Chennai in how many hours?

[spyder_p8]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

spyder_p8, thanks for the honest and curt feedback, appreciate it. I keep detailed logs of all my highway drives to the point that you might want to kill me if I start giving all the details
But now you have given me an opportunity to provide the details. I will post the maps taken from my Garmin eTrex logger and shown on an open source application named GPSPrune. You will need to have JRE installed in your machine to run it. Alternatively you can open the .gpx files on google earth, though I am not too much used to it. If you need I can email you the .gpx files as well.

Thanks BlackPearl. I keep travelling to Kolkatta. Next time when i head there, i would like to meet you and criticise you even more over a cup or coffee.


Hats off to you and your family. It takes a lot of courage to experience such journeys. While most of us simply board a train or fly out, you reach for glory. Keep going.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Excellent Travelogue there BlackPearl !! I had been there sometime back in 2009 and must say that it is a fantastic place indeed. After seeing the pictures of the food in your travelogue, it was very difficult for me to have the home cooked food for Lunch today. Rated a Well Deserved 5*

You should have named the TL as "An immortal drive to Puducherry"

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by Dr_MNC_SK

Great Drive. This not only makes you happy but is a reassurance for us (read Thar Owners) that it is absolutely possible to do ultra long 3-4K trips in the Thar (I have done upto 1.8 K trips but 4 K is the Benchmark). Thanks once again for sharing in a crisp manner BP. I wanted to ask you one thing- you managed Kolkata to Chennai in how many hours?

Thanks Doc! Total time taken was 29 hours.

Originally Posted by spyder_p8

Thanks BlackPearl. I keep travelling to Kolkatta. Next time when i head there, i would like to meet you and criticise you even more over a cup or coffee.


Hats off to you and your family. It takes a lot of courage to experience such journeys. While most of us simply board a train or fly out, you reach for glory. Keep going.

Thanks spyder_p8. I have PMed you my number. Please do give me a call when you come to Kolkata next time.

Originally Posted by AJ-got-BHP

Excellent Travelogue there BlackPearl !! I had been there sometime back in 2009 and must say that it is a fantastic place indeed. After seeing the pictures of the food in your travelogue, it was very difficult for me to have the home cooked food for Lunch today. Rated a Well Deserved 5*

You should have named the TL as "An immortal drive to Puducherry"

Thanks Arav

[kannan666]

Wow ! Lovely travelogue BP and like someone already said - drooly pics, thanks for sharing ! Brings back memories of my trips to Pondicherry, great place for good food, wine and relaxation !

[ganguly]

Thanks BP for the wonderful write-up! I have always been a big fan of Thar but was a tad disappointed to hear that it gave just over 8 km/l on a highway trip. How much does it then give in city traffic with Ac on in Kolkata?

[ARAY]

Very crisp and detailed writeup there BPda. The tale of 4 sandwitches was ironic. Would be doing this stretch very soon. You have taken "giving surprises" to a whole new level and a very commend able one indeed. Although Duster is doing its duty Thar has a very special place in my heart. That 8kmpl is okey I feel given the stretch .The ECR section is fun /scenic / dangerous all at same time which makes it ever more interesting. Delicacies of Poducherry has always attracted me and after reading ur blog this has become a requirement which needs to fulfilled asap.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by kannan666

Wow ! Lovely travelogue BP and like someone already said - drooly pics, thanks for sharing ! Brings back memories of my trips to Pondicherry, great place for good food, wine and relaxation !

Thanks kannan666!

Originally Posted by ganguly

Thanks BP for the wonderful write-up! I have always been a big fan of Thar but was a tad disappointed to hear that it gave just over 8 km/l on a highway trip. How much does it then give in city traffic with Ac on in Kolkata?

Thanks ganguly. The Thar becomes quite inefficient if driven hard. While going I was in a bit of a hurry, hence the poor figures. While coming back the Thar returned more than 13 kmpl. In city the Thar gives between 9 to 10 kmpl with AC.

Originally Posted by ARAY

Very crisp and detailed writeup there BPda. The tale of 4 sandwitches was ironic. Would be doing this stretch very soon. You have taken "giving surprises" to a whole new level and a very commend able one indeed. Although Duster is doing its duty Thar has a very special place in my heart. That 8kmpl is okey I feel given the stretch .The ECR section is fun /scenic / dangerous all at same time which makes it ever more interesting. Delicacies of Poducherry has always attracted me and after reading ur blog this has become a requirement which needs to fulfilled asap.

Thanks a lot ARAY! The way you are travelling with your new vehicle is making us jealous