Continued from Part I
The next morning, on
Navin's birthday, we got up (not very early) to find that the weather had
changed - it was beautiful outside - not much sun with a cool breeze blowing.
Dressed in holiday fashion,
in shorts and cotton shirts, we set out to celebrate the day. The first thing
we did was to hire a two-wheeler, a shiny new Kinetic Honda, for just Rs.
100 for the whole day, petrol to be filled by us. (For those interested, this
splendid service was provided to us by VK Travels, Ambour Salai).
We drove to La Coromandale,
a new and neat eatery on Beach Road recommended to us, for a hearty breakfast
of dosais, vadai, and idlis, for a very reasonable price. The
restaurant has a slightly raised portion and sitting at one of the tables
there gives you an exhilarating feeling of being very close to the sea; imagine
this: the dark interior of the restaurant contrasted with the brightness outside
and the blue sea showcased in the frame, as it were, of the restaurant's entrance.
The menu included a full continental breakfast for Rs. 35, but it seemed too
heavy for us to try.
The Beach Road also has the Pondicherry Tourism Directorate and when we went
there to ask for a map and directions, we were pleasantly surprised at the
courteous assistance we got. We had already gathered a lot of info from the
Net but we needed help with the practical details. Based on the instructions,
we ‘mapped' our programme for the day.
First we headed towards PTTDC's Chunnambar Resort, about 7 kilometres down
Cuddalore Road, highly recommended to us for boating trips on the backwaters
and to a nearby beach. Though I don't fancy boating much, the vision of a
secluded golden beach (we were told that we'd be left on the beach for about
one and a half hours and lunch would be delivered there if we so wished) had
me really excited.
Before that, Navin and
I were obsessed about visiting Arikamedu, the village where archaeologists
had found ruined buildings and other objects from a Roman settlement that
had been there centuries ago. The tourism officials' assertion that there
was nothing in the village to see now and that whatever could be retrieved
was in the city's Museum did not deter us. As the village was also on Cuddalore
Road, we decided to do it first and reach Chunnambar for lunch.
The bike was a godsend
and we enjoyed the ride very much, with the pleasant weather keeping us in
true holiday spirits.
But both places were
disappointing. We found Arikamedu after a long search through quaint hamlets,
tiny colonies and shady groves, with wide-eyed but helpful villagers guiding
us along the way, but it was as described: no ruins in sight, an uninhabited
place deep inside, used as a grazing spot for the local cows and goats, but
we did get a glimpse of the river that runs nearby, by which probably the
Roman traders had reached the village.
On the way to Arikamedu,
we kind of discovered a beach, at Veeranampatti village. We stopped and went
down to the beach which we had for ourselves, except for a few fishermen far
away tending to their catamarans. It was quiet and tranquil. At the beach
and when we were nearing Arikamedu, we were delighted to catch sight of a
few birds (something that doesn't happen in the city). We saw Brahminy kites
near water bodies, the elusive shikra, tree pies, common kingfishers, many
babblers and a flock of rock pigeons.
We retraced the route
back to the main road and went to Chunnambar Resorts. It was a smallish place
with a garden of sorts, a seedy-looking restaurant-cum-bar and a jetty. Turned
out that there were some tourists on the beach already and we had to dole
out Rs. 200 for the boat ride, or Rs. 40 each if we could find three other
people to go with us. That turned us off, and we came away deciding to lunch
in the city.
We drove back, stopping
to have bottled badam milk to quench our thirst, with an overall feeling
of having had a satisfactory morning.
To be continued...
