Pondicherry: Marking 4 Months of Travel

Today marks 4 months of travelling outside Indonesia. Some of my closest friends wonder why I have been travelling so long… I keep telling them that I’ll be back to Indonesia next year, in 2017.

The truth is simple; I just want to see the world. I want to experience live in a different city (or country) for several days, or weeks, or even a month.

And then what, Firsta?

My mom will surely ask me this when I come back. Well… nothing. I just want to do it because I love it.

And if not now, when?

At the moment I am sitting in a café called Café des Arts in White Town, Pondicherry. Sitting here actually reminds me of my grandma’s house. The old fashioned furniture in the café. The paint is ‘artistically’ peeling off the walls. The decoration is old. There are teapots in glass cabinets, the house-phone that is not plugged in and a camera, which was probably used in the ‘90’s. And of course the relatively high ceiling typical of old buildings.

It’s nice to be sitting here on a Sunday afternoon hundreds of miles away from Indonesia. Yet I’ll be honest with you, there’ s nothing to do in Pondicherry. You can Google it and you’ll find some suggestions.

What do you do then in Pondicherry?

I just live it for 5 days. I had salted butter caramel crepe for breakfast at Crepe in Touch. I cycled through the Indian quarter. I walked along the pier. I smiled to motorbike or car drivers who let me go first (quite rare case in India, but Pondicherry is different).

In the evenings I went out for dinner and ate Special Vada at Surguru Restaurant. I tried the tasty grape juice from Richy Rich, I queued at the ATM, and wrote articles or replied to emails in between.

So back again to where I am at the moment, the White Town. You should definitely visit it. Well… you’ll spend most of the time you have in Pondicherry in White Town anyway.

The White Town or Ville Blanche or the French Quarter is the area with pretty guesthouses and hotels. White Town is a place for the heritage lovers. It is a great area to cycle around and a fantastic playground for sketchers. For me the highlight is the cafes here, which are nice to work from.

Just across the road from the Café des Arts is the Biking Travel Agency “The Royal Riders” and a cute store “Play Clan”. Pondicherry is worth visited because it gives you the different kind of India. It’s a nice reminder of just how diverse India is.