Four nights in Pondicherry – split between two hotels – 2 nights at Maison Perumal, a boutique hotel in the heart of Pondy and 2 nights at Ocean Spray, a sprawling resort close to a beach, on the East Coast Road (ECR) but 16 km away from Pondicherry.

It’s perfect for a leisurely walk in the evening. Families makeup the crowd here; kids love splashing in the pool and happy kids translate to happy parents👨‍👩‍👧‍👦.

The breakfast buffet was not good at Ocean Spray; for dinner we ordered a la carte and the food was tasty (spicy) 😋!! The Kheema Naan was very good and we had the Chicken Chettinad and Kozhi Malli Khorma.

We had paid for an extra bed in the room; the room service informed us that there were no spare cots available at the time. But not to disappoint – as an example of Indian jugaad – they made a makeshift cot with three mattresses and put another one of top – and the extra bed is done !!

Walking along the beach at dusk we see tiny but fast moving crabs – sand crabs; I was afraid one would crawl up my legs😬.

From Pondicherry, we head to the historical town on Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, 80 km on the ECR. 

The road is fantastic and scenery outside is pretty, water bodies…

ECR started off a two lane; soon became four lane and as we approached Mahabalipuram, there was road beautification and clean up in progress for the Modi -Jinping meet.

Not happy with the breakfast at Ocean Spray, our first stop is Taj Fisherman’s Cove on the ECR for an early lunch.

Selecting from the Taj Autograph Collection – we tried the Fish & Chips and Chicken Bunny Chow – both were good😋.

The food was good, but the service was soo…. slow, by the time we asked for the bill and made the payment, there was enough time to take a nap😴.

Till next post, take care!!