THE THREE MISTAKES OF MY LIFE- Pondicherry, Goa and Manali

There are some mistakes for which you are fully responsible, some for which you are partially responsible and some… well its not your fault.

Well the title might seem weird. I have a knack for lifting titles (Oh.. I admit it quiet shamelessly) and as my blogging progresses you will realize what I am talking about.

Now, coming back to the main thing, will go about it in chronological order.

Pondicherry, 2005- Jab hum 11 pantar - bikes, college ke routine se break; aur French babes ki talaash me pondicherry nikle the. Humne socha tha duniya ke maze loot lenge. Apni LAG GAYI… (and yes i lift dialogues too)

This one was clearly a blunder. Never, I repeat never ever go on a trip with a lot of people if you don’t know them well, trust me. Or else what ensues is disastrous; the consequences of which, will hit you pretty hard and completely ruin your trip. Well, back then I lacked the superior wisdom for that (which actually I still do, but it’s definitely better now, plus I have learnt from my mistakes).

So off we went 11 guys. Some of us had not even talked to each other. And then began the misery. Well honestly it was the lure of driving bikes around Pondi and watching French chicks cavorting on the beach (the biggest rumor doing its rounds in the hostel in the first year.. well its partially true because a lot of French people do visit Pondi) which led us there because back then hardly any one drank in our group. (for those of you who are not aware- Pondi is the place for cheap alcohol so half our collg ends up spending their new year there or infact any other occasion which calls for a drinking binge!!!).

After a bus journey of around 5 hours we got down at the beach and what greets us there? No my friends, its not French babes or beautiful beaches, it is fishermen relieving themselves and a stinking stretch of the beach (well even our luck was bad that day). Pathetic sight and the beach sucked.
So we, the wandering souls walk up and down in search of you know what and we spot nothing. Fine the morning is ruined. Its time for some snack and this experience was no better. It turned out to be pizza served on stale bases, bland noodles and all the worse things possible. We then headed for the city to rent bikes and went to Rocky beach which was the only good part I believe. One can sit there for hours.
Well then problem no. 2. Some one spotted a water resort or something of that sort on the map and drove all the way out of the city. We spent half the day driving. Finally when we reached there, we didn’t do the main part that, is hire a boat and go to the golden beach (not sure about the name) which is definitely the most beautiful and clean beach around. What we did was tire ourselves paddling some stupid boats in the river!!! 11 people and no one had the sense..Imagine..!!
Lunch at the south Indian restaurant was brilliant. (wow for a change) The biryani it served is still among the best that I have eaten. Some relief, but not for long. We had no idea that the French colony (Auroville) closes in the evening and one cannot go there after 6 pm because there are no lights on the way!!! And the fact that half of our scooters had non working lights didn’t help. So here we were separated, traveling on the darkest, creepiest stretch. (Some crazy people (not in our group) were driving at full speed..!!). Quiet a few of us fell down, had to stop on the way etc etc.. After this dreadful ordeal (of driving) there was more; we were shouting at each other, blaming people with lights on their scooters for not giving company to those without them!!!, this that, in short a complete disaster. We went back to the shack that we had rented, collected our clothes returned the bike and headed back to Vellore with long and weary faces devoid of any pleasure. This was the trip gone very wrong with contributions from every one who was a part of it (bad planning and lack of common sense. )

I must mention here that Pondicherry is a good place if you plan your trip properly and yes you can find good food too.


Kindly wait for the other 2 parts..