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After a night spent in the pits of a hotel at Delhi airport we flew early on Spice jet to the spice capital; Madras, jumped in an old Ambassador taxi and driven 150km south to the coast and onto our next port of call; Pondicherry.
It was wonderful to see the ocean at last.
We have gone from one extreme in Varanasi to what must be the cleanest, most peaceful and civilized town in India (as peaceful as India can get with their love for riding bikes and sounding their horns!)
Pondicherry is a small part of the French Riviera plonke'd on the Bay of Bengal with Indians strolling up and down its promenade.
I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised - I love Pondicherry; it's mix of colonial architecture and Indian madness - more importantly it's a mix of French and Indian food; it has in fact been mentioned that I may be enjoying it a little too much, a gentle suggestion has been made that I am drinking and eating more than I should?? (…it's what the French would do isn't it? - I'd be more concerned about the smack habit I picked up in Varanasi - but hey ho, I'm sure I can cut out a Kingfisher or two!)
It's been very, very relaxing - 5 days of strolling the picturesque streets and reading - and a little shopping; both Sheena and I have been able to indulge ourselves in our one shared obsession; stationary! (Yes - stationary!) Pondicherry has a couple of small paper factories and local craft shops and we have come away with an extra bag of notebooks of various sizes and colours.
Patricia's guesthouse was Sheena's finest Lonely planet find. She has already mentioned that this was by far and away the best place we have stayed so far - and something that will be hard to beat - anywhere in the world.
Pondi is a town that has grown with the ashram and the influence of the Mother surrounds you and of course there is the utopian town of Auroville.
We visited the huge golf ball covered in gold satellite dishes that sits on a plinth in it's own manicured gardens and sculptural walkways; looking something akin to an alien planet in the early episodes of Star Trek.
I was a little skeptical at first but I can assure you that it's not at all like one of those places in Texas where you can have ten wives and keep a machine gun under your bunk bed - quite the opposite in fact, it's all about a new way of living through the power of the inner spirit and plenty of yoga and meditation.
You can't help but be swept up on the spiritual side of the place, making one consider ones place in the universe and what all this is really about………
……maybe we should take another look at that enrolment form……..I could start a clothing factory…….natural hemp, recyclable, organic, and carbon free ju-Jitzu chic collections…..grab a notebook; I feel a list coming on…..
Although the place would be great with a golf course!
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