Arrived at the beautiful "Ocean Spray"Hotel about an hour outside of Pondicherry, formerly in French hands, until the Indians kicked them out in 1954. There are still some French touches, police dressed as gendarmes, an engaging accent which is a fusion of Tamil with a Gallic twist;French Bread, and wine freely on sale, unlike Tamil Nadu, where a Bottle of Chateau Pas de Kyber can only be purchased from seedy back-street liquor stores.
We got here by train. I had pre-booked through the only British agents there are for Indian rail journeys. By return I received two lots of Indian rail passes, and instructions which were not so clear. After some anxious questioning around,I decided the only course of action was to go to Katpadi Junction, and find out if we had any seats reserved or not. A driver from the hospital drove me and came with me; as a result, we got on the correct train three hours later, and with reserved seats in "AC" Class (air-conditioned) plus, double glazing full of water, sports commentary, Bollywood hits, and the smell of tiffin tins beckoning the nose to imagine places more exotic than the normal smells associated with Indian railways. More on. Pondicherry tomorrow.
We got here by train. I had pre-booked through the only British agents there are for Indian rail journeys. By return I received two lots of Indian rail passes, and instructions which were not so clear. After some anxious questioning around,I decided the only course of action was to go to Katpadi Junction, and find out if we had any seats reserved or not. A driver from the hospital drove me and came with me; as a result, we got on the correct train three hours later, and with reserved seats in "AC" Class (air-conditioned) plus, double glazing full of water, sports commentary, Bollywood hits, and the smell of tiffin tins beckoning the nose to imagine places more exotic than the normal smells associated with Indian railways. More on. Pondicherry tomorrow.
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