This year I just did the thing that I was craving for years: visiting a place alone! Being a travel addict, I have traveled to various parts of India ranging from East to West and North to South, always being accompanied by either my friends or family. This time I finally had the opportunity to try something new and exciting in my life!
Making the visit plan:
Busy with the load of work and managing the household stuffs
was taking my energy level down and the weekend was coming with Friday an
Optional holiday as a bonus! Called up my friends just to hear that each one of
them were busy with their “extra office
work”. A bit disappointed on the fact that my plans to enjoy the long
weekend is going to meet a premature death, and then something hit my mind! “Am I going to let such an opportunity go
just because others don’t have time?” thought this to myself and decided to
travel alone. But my parents and friend were really not catching up with the
fact that I would travel alone, “won’t
you get bored?”; “none to share your
excitement with” and more such objections. Meanwhile not paying much
attention to those, I was busy packing my bags after coming back from office,
the evening before my unplanned trip. Luckily got a ticket to travel from Bengaluru to Pondicherry by train (it’s so
easy when you have to book just one ticket! 😁).
The day of my
journey:
Thursday, the day finally came to begin my first solo trip, it’s so thrilling to think of visiting a place with no prior plans, no hotel booking and an unknown language! Started from my office quickly, locked my apartment and took a metro to reach the Bengaluru station. Reached a bit earlier than expected, but the railway station is never boring, unlike airports, always something goes on that catches your attention and passing time is just a child’s play.
The train was placed on the platform right on time and I got a pretty comfortable lower birth. Just got my new boAT headphones in my ears and enjoying the music!
As the train started to move, it was night
time and still my adrenaline was on a rush so I decided to search on some
hotels for a convenient stay. I already knew about Aurobindo Ashram, one of the most popular places in Pondicherry located in the hearts of
the City, so preferred to stay nearby to that place. I am not someone who likes
to spend excess amount of money to stay at a hotel which I’ll just use to sleep
at night. So I finally got my budget friendly hotel, which to my joy was just
walking distance from the railway station! So I decided to get some sleep and
halt the rest of the excitement for the next day.
The day I finally
reached my destination:
Next day as I woke up, checked my map and saw I have almost
reached Pondicherry station, a
mixture of nervousness and excitement went down my veins as I was tucking my
shoes ready to get down. Since it was a long holiday, saw a lot of crowd as I
was getting down----some with families, some with friends, some with their
gfs/bfs, and there was just me, a solo traveler! Started towards the hotel I
planned for, opened my Google Maps
and wondering if I would get a room since a lot of people came there to enjoy.
Luckily got my budget friendly single room, the staff was cooperative. Freshened
myself and planned what all places to visit. The best thing about travelling
alone is, I can plan according to my convenience and might do something totally
unplanned without requiring to think if the other person would like it or not.
Oh, by the way, you can rent scooters and bikes in
Pondicherry and it’s quite easy to check out the city with that, but being a
non-rider I did not have that option. Since it was not too hot during the
beginning of the year, I could still walk around and check out the city instead
of renting a car and increase the expenses. So for the first day morning, I
decided to not strain myself much and visit Aurobindo Ashram which was barely 1-1.5 kms from the hotel and a
nearby temple, and obviously kept a schedule for going to the beach during the
evenings compulsory. The sea breeze and the sound of the waves were so
refreshing, especially after a long week of tireless work schedule. Although it
was not much peaceful with so much crowd, still the beach was soothing and one
can find inner peace if you want.
Visit to
Auroville:
Auroville and Aurobindo Ashram apart from the beach
are the must visiting places if you are planning to visit Pondicherry, so how
could I miss it myself! So the next day I was planned to visit the next
place---Auroville, but there was a
problem. I had no idea how to go there, the price that were showing for the
cars were quite high for a solo traveler, so I asked in the hotel while having
my breakfast and they gave me the best idea, travelling by bus. So I went to
the nearest bus stop and after asking few people onboarded a bus, but due to
the language barrier could not understand the place where they were asking me
to get down. So again Google Maps
being my savior got down to a stop which was the Auroville junction in ECR Road. Took an auto from there
(unreserved) and finally reached.
It was a peaceful place with so many people coming from
different parts of the world and even some staying there. There is a dome
structured architecture named Matri
Mandir which is basically a place for meditation and not allowed to enter
unless prior permission. Spent the whole day there, watching so many people
coming to watch the beautiful place. Before afternoon, decided to get back and
followed the same route.
Once I reached my hotel, I was exhausted from the long walks
but had to do the most important thing----booking my return ticket! Yes, I kept
everything unplanned; but by then no seats were left in the train, so decided
to do a bus journey on my way home and luckily again got one seat, which was
the only empty one available!
Final day of my Pondicherry trip:
So, finally the day had come when I had to again return back
to the old routine. The good thing was, my bus was at night so I decided to
visit some places that were left. Since it was an earlier French colony, there were many historical places and also a
beautiful botanical garden. So
without wasting my morning, went on to explore the raining parts of the city;
there were old cafes that still serve French
delicacies, war memorial and the best one----the botanical garden. The only place which was not crowded and I
could feel my energy level rising due to the fresh air, away from all the
honkings and noises of the city. No tension, no pressure of getting the work
done, just relaxing and hearing the chirping of the birds and watching the
squirrels playing around.
But every good thing has to come to an end, I thought this
to myself as I was packing my bagpack, trying to reach the bus stop on time. It
was night time and after having my dinner, sluggishly walking on the silent
road. As I reached there, I came to know the bus will get delayed and have the
test my patience among the crowd that were all eagerly waiting their buses to
start. Next day early morning, got down nearby a metro station and as I was
going up the stairs, a flashback of the last two days was appearing in my mind.
Conclusion:
I know it’s always more fun to travel with friends and family, but don’t restrict yourselves based on other’s schedule. If you want to change your environment for few days, why think so much? Just travel somewhere without planning much, what’s the harm in trying something new! I guarantee you if you don’t get bored with yourselves, it’ll be definitely one of your exciting trips and yes, don’t plan much! 😎.
Please share with me if you had any such experiences!
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