Companions - Wife and 10-yr old daughter
Steed - Skoda Rapid 2012
Day 1 - 10th Aug 2019
Plan was to start at 5 am. Got up at 4:30 am to get ready. Surprisingly the little one got up in one call
She was as excited as anyone for the trip.
Started at sharp 5 am. All as per plan now. Drove to Attibele on not so smooth and hump infested roads of Bangalore. Took an hour. After crossing the toll, it was a smooth ride till Krishnagiri. Then took the left to Bagur, and on to NH48 towards Chennai. The tarmac was perfect and few kms into the drive the scenery changed and it was picture perfect. There was virtually no traffic, and it was a breeze to drive through those roads. Took a break at Hotel Anandha's somewhere between Ambur and Pallikonda for breakfast and to stretch the back and legs a bit.
Its a decent highway restaurant . Nothing too fancy. Had Dosas, idlis, vadas and coffee. All reasonably priced.
Then we continued on our journey. Crossed the Pallikonda toll and took the right turn towards Anaicut. If the previous section was the perfect national highway, this was the perfect state highway passing through a rural setting.
The road was just perfect, clearly marked, not a pothole in sight. Speed breakers were few and far between, and each of them correctly marked and with just the correct gradients. I think BBMP should take a leaf out of these books and educate themselves on how to make the speed breakers. Enough of the rant.
So we continued on these picture perfect roads. We continued our journey through Vaniyambadi, Arani, Gengapuram, Gangasoodamani, Chetpet. Chetpet was a bit crowded, but nothing too alarming. We continued till we hit NH77. Then took a left towards Tindivanam. Continued on to Omandur, Kiliyanur, and Pondicherry. Inside the city we did it hit some traffic, but reached our destination around 11:40, which was a 6hr 40 min drive including a 30 min break. So not bad.
We checked into Executive Inn near the Promenade beach. Nice boutique hotel with nice clean rooms and bathrooms. Not too fancy but comfortable enough.
Rested for about an hour. It was a bit clouded, so decided to take a walk down the Promenade. It was very clean, not too crowded and the breeze made the approx 1.5 km walk bearable.
Had lunch in a restaurant on the Promenade, and walked back to the hotel.
Then drove down to Matrimandir in Auroville. The idea was to get a ticket to Matrimandir for either Sunday or Monday. The tickets are free, but you need to go there in person to get the tickets. The tickets are only available for the following day or the next nearest available time slot. So we had to hurry.
Drove through Auroville, to the visitor's centre. Parked the car, and then its about 500m walk to the Vistior's centre through a shaded pathway. We reached the visitor's centre and were directed to the place where passes were being issued to the Matrimandir view point. Please note that this just a pass to a point from where you can see the Matrimandir from a distance. To get inside, you need to get the tickets I mentioned earlier. I enquired about it, and they directed me to an opposite building. So went there, and to my disappointment, the next available tickets were for Wednesday. Sold out for Sunday and Monday. Tuesday is a holiday. :(
So we decided to go to the Matrimandir view point, which is a further 1 km walk.
Notice the giant wind chime at the top
We were tired by this time. Thankfully on the return there is a free shuttle bus to the visitor's centre.
This is the mesmerising scene which we saw from the view point.
Once at the viewpoint, decided to hit the beach. Went to Auroville beach for the day. Its a nice clean beach, the water was a clean as well. But not much activities there.
After spending about an hour at the beach, went back to the hotel, took a shower changed, and headed for dinner. The place of choice for the day was Cafe Xtasi in White town.
After this came back to the hotel and retired for the night.