Rising Star: Day 11: Pondicherry

Pundicherry

We went on a little adventure to a French colony called Pondicherry.

On the way we stopped at auraville.  Apparently a man had a vision of this town being the center of the world where everyone could come to receive insight.  The center of this town is a large golden sphere building surrounded by beautiful gardens.

We walked along this path to go to the viewing area because we are not allowed inside.  Inside privileges are only for those who are "sincere and serious about receiving their own insights and revelations". Also you have to denounce any religion current, past, or present.

So we could not enter.

We got about halfway down this nature walk when a guard stopped us and asked for our tickets.....we did not have tickets.

We had to turn around and walk back in the very hot sun to the visitors center where we had to watch a movie informing us about the big gold ball. Inside everything is white and in the very middle of the sphere shaped room is a glass ball.  Apparently if you are "serious and sincere" staring into this glass orb will enlighten your mind. Pretty crazy stuff but we got the free tickets and started the walk back to the ball.

The structure and ground were pretty fantastic.  Impressive to say the least.

On the way back we took a bus back to the visitors center.  We were on a time crunch so we all started in our own bench to make the bus appear to be full so we could leave but the driver didn't buy it and we had to wait.  In India a full bus means every seat is filled and the aisles are stuffed full of people standing back to back.

Hannah and I were on a bench together when a man came and sat next to us.  Our bench was full so him sitting there was very awkward.  He put his arm on the back of the seat and it was a very uncomfortable drive.  Everyone made fun of us after that. 

We eventually got to Pondicherry.

We pulled up to a huge statue of Gandhi!  SO COOL!

There was a big crowd next to the statue forming a circle - turns out they were filming a Bollywood movie!

We split off into small groups and were told to meet back up at the statue in a few hours.  Me, Bri, Sarah, and Nicole set off with a few goals of things to find and buy.

Number one on the list was American food...actually, anything but Indian food.  After walking through some sewage scented streets we saw the bonbon cafe.  What a beautiful sight!

I'm not sure why it is really called a French colony because the only thing French about it was the bakery but I am sure glad it was there.  We had some pizza and pasta and French fries to share - we indulged just a tad.  Amazing.  Nothing has ever tasted so good.

Best part about this find was that when we walked in the whole place was filled with people from our rising star group.  Somehow each small group had found their way there.

After eating we walked a few blocks to the bazaar.  It was really neat and very different than anything you see in the States, that's for sure.

It is outside but the stalls are all packed tightly in and there is a ceiling made of tarps, all pieced together to cover the majority of this good size block.

There are different parts if the bazaar: fruit, vegetables, spices, clothing, and random things like bangles or biscuits.

We explored in there for a while then made our way out to the street where stopped at several places including a jersey store and a music/movie store.

By this point it was extremely hot outside and we were all drenched with sweat so we decided to head back to the Gandhi statue which was on the beach.  We walked along the beach and looked at the cart stalls there while enjoying a "cold" Merinda and the cooler breeze coming off the Bay of Bengal.

Merinda  is like orange Fanta and those two drinks are all over the place here.  I prefer Merinda over Fanta because the Fanta here is really carbonated compared to what I'm used to.

We were pretty early so we had to wait awhile for everyone else to show up.  We found some crabs on the rocks and watched them for a while.

While waiting many Indian men took our pictures constantly.  We learned before we came to India not to stare but I don't think that is against any social norms because it happens constantly.  After the tenth photo this man took I grabbed someone's camera and started taking pictures of him.  He got the idea and moved on.

It was another good, but hot day!  Still no elephant siting, but I'll keep working on it!