It was christmas time and everyone was in vacation mood in office. It was almost after 2 years we were going on a vacation, so we both were very excited. Fortunately I was at home that day, so I could manage packing the bags.
Route:
The initial plan was to go to Pondy but later we also visited Mahabalipuram.
Route to Pondy:
Bangalore -> Krishnagiri -> Vellore -> Cheyyar -> Vandavasi -> Tindivanam -> Pondicherry (ard 380 kms)
We left Blore at around 6 in the morning and reached Pondy at 1.00 PM. The road till Vellore is just awesome as it is the 6 lane Chennai express way.Further it is a single lane road and the route is quite confusing at times. On the way, we had breakfast at Krishnagiri.
From Pondy to Mahabalipuram, we took the East Coast road which runs parallel to the coastline. It is just 100 kms and should be around 2 hours drive.
Route back to Blore
Mahabalipuram -> Chengalpattu -> Kanchipuram -> Vellore -> Krishnagiri -> Bangalore (ard 350 kms)
Accomodation:
In Pondicherry, we stayed in Anandha Inn Resorts for 3 days
In Mahabalipuram, we stayed in Pallava Dynasty for 2 days
Day 1: In Pondicherry
We reached Pondy at around 1.00 PM. After having lunch, we took a short nap and then explored the resort. In the evening, we went to the Promenade beach. It is a rocky beach and hence one cannot enter the waters. This was a little disappointment for us. But the beach was really beautiful. We spent the whole evening on the beach side. Along the beach side, you can also see many Fench colonies. There is also this French War Memorial and a Gandhi statue. After having dinner, we returned back to our hotel.
Day 2: In Pondicherry
We got up early morning to visit the beach again, this time to see the sunrise. To our surprise, there was a huge crowd at the beach side. Most of the people had come for morning walk. And some were tourists like us, who had come to experience the divine sunrise. After capturing the sunrise in our eyes, we retuned back to our hotel. Breakfast was included complimentary in our package. After filling our tummies, we started with our next tourist spot - the well known Aurobindo Ashram. Kids are not allowed to enter this Ashram, Hence we had to go one by one. The Ashram is full of potted plants and you can see people in deep meditation around the samadhi. They also sell books on Aurobindo's works - the Mother. After this. we next headed towards Pondy museum. It showcases a wide diversity from astronomy to history. After the museum, we visited the Pondycherry Botanical Gardens. Finally we retuned back to our hotel. After lunch followed by a short nap, we continued our sight seeing again. We visited the Church of Sacred Jesus. It is very huge and has a Gothic architecture. Next we visted the Paradise beach, which is the only sandy beach in Pondy. By the time we reached there, it was very late evening and and the beach was very lonely and dark, so we decided to return back. On the way back, we had dinner in a Vietnamese Restuarent. You can find lot of Thai, Vietnamese, Italian and French restuarents here.
Day 3: In Pondicherry
After having breakfast in the hotel, we left towards the lake. It is around half an hour drive. The lake is very big and they also have boating facilities. We decided to go for motor boat as we had an infant daughter. The boat ride is for half an hour and it will take a complete round of the lake. You can spot some species of birds on a small island housed by the lake. After the mesmerising boat ride, we then went back to our hotel. We had lunch in our hotel and after a short nap started again towards the Paradise beach. My hubby was hoping to have a bath there. There were some handful of people this time on the beach. But the beach is quite deep and hence not suitable for taking a bath. So we just had a stroll along the beach dipping our legs in the water and playing with the water. On the way back, we again visited our favourite Promenade beach and had dinner in one of the restuarents there and returned back. On our way back, we also visited "Pothys". It is a huge shopping mart.
Day 4: In Mahabalipuram
After checking out from the resort, we started our journey to Mahabalipuram. The road to Mahabalipuram runs parallel to the East coastline, and hence it turned out to be a very pleasant drive. Once we reached Mahabalipuram, our first task was hotel hunt. We quickly managed to find a very good hotel in the centre of the city. After reaching there, we realised that it is a very small town. The owner told us that Indian Dance Festival had started there just 2 days back and we should not miss to see that. I guess thats the reason the place was flooded with foreigners. The same day in the evening we went to see the sea shore. The walk to the sea shore was difficult as the place was loaded with tourists and stalls. After that, we went to see the Dance festival. It was a good experience. Earlier we had decided to stay just one day here. But after visiting this place, we fell in love with it and decided to extend by one more day.
Day 5: In Mahabalipuram
Next day, early morning, we went to the beach to see the sun rise. The beach was not very clean but fine enough for a bath and my hubby did not miss this golden oppurtunity. On the other hand, I was having some fun time with my daughter. After the divine bath, we next went to the Varaha caves. The small trekking was really fun. Then we visited the Light House, from where you can get a good view of this town and also the beach. then we visited "Arjuna's Penance" There is also this Stone, which is known for its balancing technique. Then we visted some temples. By then, it was evening time, and we could not miss the Bharatnatyam dance at the Dance Festival. Late night, we explored the city and did some shopping. This city is known for stone sculptures. Here you can see lot of people carving amazing items from stone.
Day 6: In Mahabalipuram
It was the last day of our vacation. Early morning, we visited the Sea Shore Temple and then the Five Rathas. Both these monuments are listed as World Heritage sites and they are must see places in Mahabalipuram. Finally at around 12.00 PM, we left for Bangalore and reached home at around 7.00 PM.
We will always cherish and relive all those wonderful memories and the amazing time spent with family in this trip.
Good one... Me too had a trip to Mahabalipuram few months back..
ReplyDeleteDid you see the place from watch tower? It looks fabulous.. :)
Unfortunately I was not able to go to the top of the tower because of my daughter as the place was too crowded. But Sumit visited the top of watch tower. So I could see it and enjoy it from his eyes ;)
DeleteAwesome. :-)
ReplyDelete