On Monday, Feb.15 we took a four hour bus trip to Pondicherry. This whole coast of India from Bubeneshwer south was hit by that terrible tsunami. We passed miles and miles of salt flats that were created by the salt water filling low lying areas. Now they are drying out and salt is being harvested from the residue. I hope that will also leave all that land arable. All along the coast are new hotels and spas. I'm sure it is good for the economy, but just like in New Orleans,, where do the poor go. Of course, in this case, the poor may not have survived.
Pondicherry, originally known as Puducherry, is just beautiful. I feel like I am in the south of France. The French came here in the 1700's, but were later dislodged by the English. These days it seems the French have taken over again. There are many French tourists here. The street names are all French. Rue this or that. There are also many Europeans who live here. We see them riding their scooters or their children coming out of schools. I think most of them live at the Aurobindo commune, Auroville, which has 1500 residents. He was a philosopher who was born in 1872 and died in 1950. He called his philosophy Integral Yoga.
We are staying at the Aurobindo Intenational Guest House, which is quite comfortable but simple. It has four floors, all open to a central courtyard filled with beautiful plants. We have a private bathroom with hot water and air conditioning. The evenings have been very cool thanks to the sea breezes, so we have not used the air conditioning. The restaurants here cater to the Europeans so are a blessed relief from the hot masala of Indian cooking. My lower GI tract is ever so thankful. It is very hot during the day unless you stay by the sea, but the mornings and evenings are glorious. I have been in a lot of pain from my shoulder and hips from too many train and bus trips, so I slept during the heat of the day. JP soldiered on seeing many of the sights the town has to offer.
People are chunky in south India, thanks to a diet of 90% rice. They are also very friendly and smile readily. Throughout this trip I have noticed many women travelers alone on a solitary adventure. This boggles my mind. My idea of a solitary adventure is trying to grow okra in the high desert.
Today we went to an Ayurvedic clinic we passed on the beach. We both had appointments there: JP for arthritis; me for potato allergy. When we were presented with the bill for the appointments and a month's worth of meds, we about fainted. It cost $120. That is an astronomical amount of money here in India and JP thinks we got scammed. It seems I am not going to get any help with my potato allergy here in India. Tomorrow we take a four hour bus trip back to Chennai. I do hate to leave this quiet respite from the hubbub of India.

Peace,
Nadine