Pondicherry also known as the Paris of the East which is an union territory whose charm will mesmerize you. Have been to Pondicherry many a times now. Each visit i have explored something new and an out of the world experience.

It’s a former French colony with still a lot of French influence felt around the white town. I used to sit in the alliance francias cafe and read french magazine, feel the french vibes with francophones all around you. A walk in the French university was an experience in itself.

The story teller walking tour was very informative and tells you the entire history of Pondicherry. Also cycle tour with Sita Cultural center was a nice experience. It covers mostly the French connection of Pondicherry like the house of French people in Pondy, churches built by them, how the French government connects with French here and many more. We also had authentic French food from La villa Helena were we stayed for a couple of days. It was run by a Belgic-French person. Cheese platter a French specialty was amazing.

Famous Tamil poet Bharathiyar house turned into museum can be visited, the Pondicherry museum itself is huge with lot of artifacts. Heritage town is beautiful and a lot of cafes to choose from. Stroll on the promenade is a must and sicily cafe was my favorite place to chill on an afternoon, it’s run by the Katamaran brewing company.

If you are looking for an adventure then Pondicherry is no short of it. Temple adventures conduct regular diving in the ocean and regular courses are run by them. When i was there due to some reason ocean diving was cancelled, so they took us to  fresh water lake for fun dives. It was definitely an experience, more like a night dive it was. The dive was professionally done and met quite a few people, after dive we all went to Katamaran for a late Lunch. Definitely recommend!

When in Pondicherry one thing not to missed is Mother Ashram. Meditating there early in the morning is just bliss. Such a silent place where you can feel the vibration so very well, energy flow is amazing if you can feel it.

A place which is entirely different world is Auroville. People live here are from different nationality. Auroville has it’s own rules for obtaining a status to live there.

Two important places of interest that i wanted to visit where the Sadhana forest and Solitude farm. Sadhana forest is a self sustainable place were volunteers from around the globe live in a forest setup and just a natural way of farming without destroying any trees or any creature. It’s a complete vegan affair, if you love to connect with people and nature it’s your place!

Even the human excretes are made manure for the trees and plants grown there. They take you on a tour to show how they live sustainably in Sadhana forest and their daily routine.

Solitude farm is an organic farm where Krishna Mckenize an English who is an Aurovillen now runs this place. If you go there donot forget to say hi to him. And also taste his organic meal from his own farm.

Apart from this you can also visit a lot of museums like the Auroville museum, sound museum and many more. There are also a lot of cafes where you can just chill and have some authentic French breads. One recommend place is the Auroville cafe, it’s very famous for it’s bread.

There are a lot of group events that happen in Auroville, if interested you can contact their office for what’s going on and can take part in some of those activities.