4 years and going strong!

Well am talking about my marriage! Yup it was on 27th of August, 2006 that I got married. Time is flying at a swift pace too. As yet another anniversary was round the corner it was time of the year to pay special attention to wifey. This time round I had to make up for not doing much for the past 2 years. Given Reema has not explored much of Tamil Nadu I was keen on travelling to Pondicherry and finally we settled for the same. Though Gingerly at first she agreed to a 2 night -3 day trip to The French Dream with the stay @ Ginger.

Having made recent trips to Pondicherry I was keen to explore a lot of those places which I have not seen besides taking Reema to the usual suspects of Beach, Le Cafe, Aurobindo Ashram (http://tourism.pondicherry.gov.in/) etc.

On 27th morning we took a bus to Pondichery reaching there by 2 pm. After relaxing for a few hours, we took a bike on rent and went around town. The exploration started on a rather spiritual note visiting the Sacred Heart Church (http://www.sacredheartpondy.org/) followed by the St. Andrew's Church in a suburb called Reddiar Palayam. From there we went to the Aurobindo Ashram and the famous Manakula Vinayagar Temple nearby! Were amused by the temple elephant Lakshmi and her anklets! This temple is also very famous for poojas for new vehicles.

Are you looking for more spirituality in a single day?

Rounded off the day with a midnight dinner at the famous 24/7 cafe by the beach - Le Cafe.

Day 2 and the spirituality continued. We took a rather brand new Hero Honday CBZ Extreme bike on rent and started with a trip to the Panchamukha Anjaneyar Temple at Panchavati, in the Tindivanam-Pondicherry Road. The idol of Panchamukha Anjaneyar here is 36-feet tall! Interestingly the work inside the temple lookd very similar to the glass work in Churches! We were lucky to see the pooja and also a special pooja where in the entire Ram- Sita swayamvaram was being enacted through shlokas and music!

From there we went to the Chunambar Boat House, located at a distance of about 8 kms on the Cuddalore road. We did a round of speed boating much to the happiness of Reema and then went boating to the Paradise Beach. Oh man....its a place to visit, especially after those crowded beaches in Chennai and even Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry. Given then only way to access this beach was through a boat ride! Its the most pristine beach I have ever seen!!! Clean white sand, nice waves and just 10-20 people around. We spent a good 2 hours enjoying the place and clicking a few pictures. Though we didn't want to but we left and headed to the hotel to take some much needed rest. The evening was spent at Hotel Ajantha Sea View (http://www.ajanthaseaviewhotel.com/) having a relaxed dinner.

On Sunday, 29th August morning, we had breakfast and set out exploring Goubert Avenue and the Beach Road culminating in a visit to the immensely popular Rendez-vous Restaurant. There I came across a rare painting of Ravana. After filling my tank with some really yummy fish while Reema slurped on Oysters, we went back to the bike rental shop, handed over the vehicle and left for the Pondicherry bus stand on our way back home.

By the time we reached home in Chennai it was around 10pm and we realised we have done a lot of travelling and had a lot of fun in lest than 3 days!!!

Pondicherry. Memories. Pondicherry. Recommended.