The GPS Adventure (Part 1)

Pondy trip #2 (in 2 years), which is a shame as we should totally visit that place more often. But our not having visited it too often did although prevent the familiarity and monotony to shadow the fun throughout the trip. So I, with a totally different compadres than the last time, made the second trip ever so memorable. Starting off with an outrageous 'To DO' list, and not enough money to take us to the bus stand, the start was the first oxymoron among the plenty. So we go to the secret ATM, which actually EVERYONE knows of and have lunch at Big (godforsaken) Chik, a place I don't quite like for their unarguably copious amounts of oil in the chicken, and an overpriced menu to challenge fallacy number one, which was a prescience of a similarly to follow trip. JFTR, there was this table behind us with five guys and one girl, resembling a usual Pandava weekend lunch. And "Karna" being on OUR table and not theirs, only added to the analogy and semblance.

Buses to Pondi were ofcourse not as frequent as we had idealised them to be. The GPS Adventure had begun. The conductor was adamant that Shreyas keep his camera bag "under" the seat, without the slightest notion of how obscene the suggestion sounded to us photographers. Fearing his adamantine rigidity, and Tamil Nadu state highways'contours, dismantling the cameras and holding them close was the only solution. The bus was bad, the Tamil movie being played worse, and the cacaphonous background score defied all degrees of atrocity. Anand although came up with what would fascinate, amuse, addict and entertain me throughout the journey. Our journey from a "honestly-couldn't-care-any-less" satellite's perspective. The slight showers added to the aesthetics of anotherwise digitised amusement source. Checking out distance to destination every 2 kilometers or 5 mins, whichever first, looking up ratings of eating joints and reading conflicting reviews of the same restaurant, calling up lodges to book a room, 6 hours and we DID reach Pondi.

The auto walas at the Pondicherry bus station claimed indirectly that anyplace from there, is 80 bucks. The availability of cheap liquor was evident. Anyhow, Mother lodge was a decent place, with A/C rooms and all. Quite a luxurious affair to me who in the last trip had put up in a bamboo hut on pillars. We had although 4 hours to brutally kill, before our all too generous college friends vacate the rooms we were to get. So Rendezvous it was, quite literally, as we ended up dining at the most debated, criticised and fancy sounding restaurant around (apart ofcourse from the French Pizzerias and exquisite sounding places). The food and drinks were really good though. Cubalibre (which Shreyas diluted to homeopathic standards with his coke, and after which he took a moment to blame rolling friction for his mushroom falling off the Sizzler platter) and Chicken Steak go well, is all I can conclude of the meal. And the fact that vegetarians have a miserable life. Very miserable (Thats the thursday apart carnivore speaking, pardon me). Karna (a humble plant eater) decided to eat at Pizzeria, and Shreyas and me walked out to buy copies of Better Photography and Lonely Planet. Having no sense of direction, or celestail GPS to navigate with, we were walking on instinct, determination and slippery roads due to rains. After going so far as the auto to charge us 40 Rs back to Rendezvous, frowning, tired and dejected, we returned to enter Overpriced-by-our-budget eating joint#2. It felt kind of like food court, with the largest round table being occupoed by VITians giving us "the looks". 3 couples being intruded upon by people they don't want to see them with people they don't want to be seen with can only have dismay to wear at an acquaintance gathering.

Samwise Shefin had this ingenious idea to scathe the locale for every possible lodge/hotel and with time to spare, we could not deny his desire. What started off was a good idea of discovering new places outside of guide books ended up in a wit famished search for some Surya hotel where yet another VIT group had put up at. SO after the city closed, in the the darkness of the night impregnated by a stray illuminated bulb we make our way through the labyrinthine crossroads made ever so labyrinthine by the good sir who could not point out "left" in his right mind, and for Samwise having found a deeper meaning in his pun. Hotel Surya turned out to be a good place, with pet ducks and all, claiming "Extra Person : 1000 Rs" in the tarrif card. We already had enough people with us to pay for extras, so we retraced our steps back, to Gandhi Rock beach. That was my (and Shreyas') first time ever midninght photography. With painfully slow shutters, and impossible to pull off immobility for that span, we did get some brilliant shots, lucky even to get lightning in one of them.

This is pretty much what happened on the first day. And given to chose between writing a euphemised post hence doing injustice to the trip, or to write one painfullylong ballad-ic post, I chose to split it into parts. And what do you mean by that is not even an option? Just in case you overlooked, I make the rules here.

To be continued...

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