Day 29 - Monday - 14th of July - Pondicherry

Awake at 10am wrapped in my clean down duvet. I try to wake the boys gently, allowing light into the room, by opening a few of the large shuttered windows. We have our last hot showers for a while. Peter gets up and we all pack our bags for a slightly delayed checkout. As Ian and Peter pay the bill I meet an Indian gentleman that I saw a couple of times in the Qualithe bar. We chat and I discover he owns one of the main wind turbine manufacturing companies. He is disheartened by the Indian system and explains some of the difficulties of doing business in India. Its not the first time I hear his type of story.

We head to Le Café for a light breakfast. The heat is extra humid after two days in a/c living. Ian tries to order the butter and cheese baguette with extra chicken and they end giving him two baguettes. One as we are about to leave. The watch the waiter pocket the adjusted bill amount straight into is pocket. We get a rickshaw to the government bus stand. After 20 minutes or so walking around inquiring, we find the best route is to Kodai is through Dindugal and not Mudrai. This is one of those generic India lessons. Knowing how and what to ask for. This will saves us five to six hours of travel and hassle. We book the 7 hour journey, non a/c, with two sleepers and one non-sleeper for 300rps each approx. We jump into a rickshaw to checkout a clothes branded factory outlet, back in the city. We arrive into the ice chilled shop and the prices range to a tenth of the Irish cost. G Star, Diesel, Zara, Tommy Hilfiger and more line the shelves. Unfortunately the clothes styles are far more suitable for the Irish climate and will only add to our already heavy backpack loads.

We walk back through the city. We visit a temple that is surrounded with small shops and stalls selling wares of all kinds. We joke at buying swastika stickers for our bags. We decide to spend the remainder of our wait in Coffee.com using the internet and watching a movie in their projector room. We choose, Munich. The screen is at least 20 feet across and the impeccable a/c room has large bean bags to melt in to. Well Ian's bag is meltable, myself and Peters are smaller and less flexible. The movie leaves me a little on edge. It brings up a recurring thought as I have traveled India. Ignorance. That of course being my own. Not knowing about the religion and culture of other countries. Once again seen how it affects so many people lives. India is so filled with religion, every where you turn. The movie shows how people justify their actions because of religion. Strange world we live in. I still believe the core message of all religion is love. This I argued strongly with Aidan in Hampi. Nevertheless, Aidan's counter argument is shown in Munich and every where you turn in India.

With 40 minutes to spare we raced to Pizza hut around the corner, jumped into a rickshaw, collected our bags at the Dupleix and sped to the bus stand. The rickshaw broke down on route. We looked at each other anxiously. It started again and broke down in the middle of a main junction. The driver pushed it to the side of the road. We jumped out and ran sweating down the road to our awaiting bus. We jumped on board pumping sweat. Ian and Peter seemed to have laid themselves a sweet deal. There sleeper bunks where a curtain of double at the end of the bus. I rested into my surprisingly cosy semi and relaxed as the bus drove out of the city. My attention was kept as we passed the out skirting street of Pondicherry. A hive of activity alive every where you looked. Street vendors lit by an arrangement of florescent tubing, gas lights or candles worked away as we drove by. India is truly and amazing place and so are its people. Westerners and there way of life is meek in comparison. The coach picked up speed got further outside the city. The next five hours was a forty foot racing over a dirt track. Ian and Peter being continuously launched into the air from their soft beds. Your bones and teeth jolting and chattering together. There was no sleep on this journey, well for us anyway. Indians lay around me deep in slumber. An hour after departing my bladder began to call. Thankfully at 2am we had a pit stop.