It was only a 3 hour drive from Chennai to Pondicherry (Puducherry) and as soon as we stepped out of the taxi, we could feel that this place had a different vibe. Once a French colony, this coastal town is famous for its chilled out atmosphere, beautiful beaches, yoga/ashrams, and the obvious French influence.
My cousins and I chose Pondy as our New Years destination because we thought it would be something different to the usual big-city life new year bash etc. The city is easy to get around (by auto rickshaw or hired scooters if you are willing to try). The main Pondicherry beach gives the public a picturesque view of the Indian Ocean, a large Gandhi statue and plenty of fruit and general merchandise sellers to buy from.
We enjoyed some awesome seafood while we were there. I highly recommend people to try the various prawn and fish preparations that are available in Pondy. We tried chili prawn , fish 65 (65 is a Hyderabadi style of food - to be explained when I visit in a few days), prawn 65, prawn masala and grilled fish. I think crab is also popular but we were unable to find a place that would do it justice.
Those people who have a sweet tooth must try one of the many French pastry cafés. We found one on TripAdvisor called Zuka which had great reviews. Located on a main street (Misson Road), we took an auto from the other end because it was too hot to walk. We were greeted by a life sized chocolate replica of Gandhi ji (a theme of Pondicherry maybe). My cousins and I struggled to make our choice from the numerous options available. Eventually we had different brownies with ice cream cold coffees. They were just what we needed in the heat. Highly recommend Zuka.
For breakfast we stuck to traditional "south Indian" (categorized by North Indians) food including dosa, vada, sambar and idli. This was a good plan because it gave us tasty and filling meals in the morning which were light enough to digest quickly so that we could eat plenty for lunch and dinner.
Overall, the food in Pondy was awesome, the vibe was chilled out and relaxing, people were friendly and the weather was hot but bearable. If you are looking for a quiet coastal getaway but not keen to deal with the crowds and commercial vibes of Goa, then make Pondy your next destination!
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