Spiritual Guidance

Gary puzzled by a clean pavement
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From Mamallapuram we took a local bus 2 hours south to Pondicherry, the coastal city renowned for its Ashrams - places of "spiritual learning" that certain types of traveller flock to. We also did, but only as it was the cheapest, cleanest place to stay we could find. Pondicherry was previously a French colony as can be seen in the street names and restaurants of the French quarter, and in the number of French tourists milling around.

The only things worthy of note here are the out of character clean Indian pavements (French quarter only) and the fantastic chicken curry pizza from Pizza Hut. More disgusting beaches nearby with yet more beggars at every turn complete the picture of this over-hyped tourist destination.

I won't write anymore on Pondicherry, we've wasted enough time on this place already.

The promenade
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Unfortunately we were stuck here for several days as we hadn't booked our onward journey in advance, something you need to do in India for overnight trips. I won't write anymore on Pondicherry, we've wasted enough time on this place already.

For all those concerned that we're not having the best time in India - don't worry, it's about to get better. Read on... Gary