Back to Pondicherry - Day 27 - Saturday

Awoke and was up and out by 8. Guess what? Yes. Swung in the hammock with my book. Greg, the lazy bollocks, got up around 10. Headed to breakfast in our favourite place, well my mine. We got back, packed our bags and waited for the government bus to Pudu. Bus flew threw the streets blairing it horn and doing it usual miracle of not killing 50 people. Arrived in no time at all. Jumped off before the terminus and walked to the Qualithe. The boys were only getting up. Ian who had being sick for the past two days had already headed around to the Coffee.com to catch up on their game play. I headed around with Greg. Before going in I changed some money and paid Greg the money to replace the camera. To say he brightened up was an understatement.

The boys wanted to catch up on their game play so they were considering booking into a hotel for the night. We decide to get lunch in Pizza Hut. Meet Aidan and Eoghan on the bike. They join us. Gold Card special meal of three pizzas, 6 drinks and garlic bread. The boys find a hotel around the corner called Le Dupleix. A boutique hotel that is rather grand and very elegant with a large three growing in the centre of the foyer. We wait outside as they check out the penthouse/honeymoon suite. They take the somewhat pricey room with a hefty extra charge so they can sleep in late the next day. From a backpackers POV (point of view) it is beyond insanity. If your profession is card playing, it is simple maths. Head space to earn your living, with your resources being a fraction of your earning. Logic.

Eoghan and I get the grand tour. The room is evocative, opulent and rather OTT. It has being explained to the boys the furniture is CoCo Chanel originals. Much of the dark mahogany furniture has being fully restored. The room is masterful in stature and ingenuity of space saving techniques. Its crammed. Not at all what you'd expect to pay for the price on the surface. You have to appreciate the quality. If that's your sort of thing. I think one of the main reasons the boys choose this place was its convenience. Good location and has the WiFi. For non-techies. Wireless Internet. There is a third bed/TV area on a mezzanine sort affair above the screen doored toilet and separate bathroom. The room is chilled nicely and rather impressive decked balcony juts out which is accessed through large shuttered french doors. A large leafy tree over shades two wooden loungers, over looking the street below. Its a cool little paradise available at a very very modest European price. A private outdoor reading area, with loungers and swinging coco mattress bed, accompanies the entrance to the room. When else do you get a chance to live it up like that.

Ian offered the spare bed, if I'd like to stay and I gratefully accepted. The boys retired to the room for the evening and I joint the lads downstairs for in the classy restaurant for dinner. We were given a table after one hour waiting and having to remind them twice we were there. The menu was impressive. My meal was served fridge cold. The boys food was tepid so they wolfed it down. They took mine back and returned with after the lads finished their meal. The sauce was burnt it to the plate. I didn't complain again. What was the point? We ate a collection of desserts. Quite tasty. Knocked back some beers at 150rps per bottle. Headed up to the room. The lads had not got served until a moment ago. Reception had forgotten to brig the menus. An hour after they did the Lamb and Steaks were gone. They ended up with lasagna and an ice cold starter. They were not impressed. The boys left shortly. I headed up and caught up on blogging and uploading photos on Picasa. It was 4am before I went to sleep. Ian was asleep over an hour and Peter was still sitting, in the dark, at the virtual poker tables online.