Pondicherry: Day One

I don't know why I thought Pondicherry would be idyllic, scenic, and pastoral. When I woke up in the bus in the midst of traffic and neon lights, I thought we were in a traffic jam, with miles to go before we reached our destination. But, no, we had arrived. And this place resembles Gulisthan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, if you know what I mean.

Image via SajjadF

Our two blocks to a South Indian restaurant for dosa ended up being more like ten blocks as we lost our way; it was nice because it gave us the opportunity to feel the pulse of this small city teeming with
baby-taxis or tuktuks, motor bikes, rickshaws, cars, vans, vendors, and an occasional cow.

We maneuvered our way through narrow and not-so-narrow alleys and people tried not to stare at this very large group of strangers courageously marching on. As Carolyn said, this was like a video game where the game was to follow Padma, and in doing so we had to overcome obstacles and remain alive. If you get hit, game over.

This may be the last day we have these 'touristy' posts, so I hope you have been enjoying our musings. We should move on to more 'intellectual' material tomorrow with our visit to EFEO. Let's see.