In an attempt to slow down, I decided to skip out on Calvin and Karen’s Madurai adventure. Instead, I took a flight yesterday to Chennai and then a bus to Pondicherry.
Woke up in Pondicherry this morning to a blackout. With no internet and no way to contact Calvin and Karen, I did what anyone else would do in a former french colony… I rented a bicycle, got some croissants and went to the beach!
But before that I:
- Found this amazing farmer’s market and fish market.
- Bought a coconut!
- Rode to the train station and bus station (no sign of Calvin or Karen).
- Found some Columbia grad students!
- Saw some temples
- Got blessed by an elephant!
Then while staring out at the waves I felt this SHOVE and someone yelled “GIVE ME ALL YOUR MONEY!”. It was Calvin and Karen. They found me!
We got into a rickshaw, headed to Auroville (a super trippy utopian colony that centers around a giant gold golf ball) and checked out their shops/promotional video. I got some hand pressed paper. We walked through the reforested parks. Their whole gardening around the “galaxy” colony is really astounding.