1st weekend trip- Pondicherry

A couple weeks ago, we went to Ponicherry for a long weekend.  On the way we visited some really cool stone temples.  We also went to a crocodile farm.  All three of our hotels had a pool and we're located right on the beach.  The first was the nicest resort I've ever been to.  The pool even had a swim-up bar and we got to swim in the Bay of Bengal.  The second was a really cool eco friendly resort with a really neat atmosphere and we got bikes to ride around the resort.  The last was actually in Pondicherry so we were able to walk to places to shop.  Pondicherry is a Union Territory in the South and it was a really cool place to visit.  Because of French influence, some of the streets we walked down looked a little like Europe and the area did not seem as crowded or polluted as the other places in India that we have visited.

At the Dune Eco Resort

On the balcony of our hotel in Pondicherry

At a rock temple- can you spot the goat?  (there are always goats around the temples)

A man kept following us around at this temple trying to insist that we pay him to be our tour guide but our teacher kept telling him to go away.  That didn't discourage him though, he literally followed us until we left.

We spent a day in Auroville.  Auroville is a unique city in Pondicherry.  This is a little introduction from the website:

"Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity."

At first we thought it was a cool place but the longer we stayed there, the weirder it got.  Some of our group is convinced that it's a kult I think.  There are a lot of good things about the place.   Community is emphasized and living sustainably is really important.  But the society is based on having no religion but meditating and doing what "the Mother would want you to do".  They spent a ton of money on this huge gold ball that they go inside to meditate.  It is suspended off the ground.  It's crazy how much they spent on that when they have so many other plans for the town that they need to finance. They don't let tourists inside except during certain times and we weren't supposed to take pictures once we were inside the gate surrounding it but we snuck pictures anyway.

 We also visited a huge lignite mine on our trip.  It was amazing how big it is and in the U.S. it is really hard to get permission to go down into a mine.  We got to take a bus down into the mine.  The drive was a little scary to me but it was neat to see.

Mary and I at the Mine

 On the way back to Chennai we visited a mangrove forest and rode on a boat.  It was nice to see green and no visible trash and pollution (I'm not sure about the quality of the water) after being in so many dirty crowded cities.  The boat ride through the mangroves reminded me of Florida which I really enjoyed.  A lot of people compared it to the Everglades.

As good as it was to get back to MCC after the trip, I enjoyed being spoiled at the hotels.  All offered American food which was such a nice treat and the hotels were so nice.  I will miss MCC but I'm looking forward to the last 4 weeks of the trip when we are in hotels.