Hail to the Hive!

After 2 weeks of traveling around India and the Andaman Islands visiting Dive Shops and having meetings with Dive Shop Owners, Managers and Dive Instructors, I was back in Pondicherry and found myself with a day and a half to myself. Bliss. So I moved hotels to a place where I could just have a good wander about with no agenda whatsoever.

The Hotel was cheap as chips ( or in this case Masala Dosa) and conveniently situated close to eateries, watering holes and coffee/ tea shops.

I also loved the colonial vibe to the place and at £20 a night it was a bargain.

I always seem to get views of some form of construction no matter where I stay in Asia.

But if I always just look left when on the balcony it’s not a problem.

But I didn’t really plan to spend much time here so I hit the streets.

After looking at the obvious stuff like statues of Ghandi on the waterfront.

Which I guess is hard to miss really but not what I was intending to do with my day off.

The beach also wasn’t amazing but anyone that knows me knows I’m not a beach fan really and I rarely spend time on one, too sandy and irritating.

Ahhh busy dirty asian streets! This is more like it. I can spend hours in places like this mooching about being nosey.

If I was looking for a place to do any kind of street photography then I think I found it. A busy mix of commerce, worship, hustle and bustle and noise. Great stuff.

Every side street beckoned me to come and explore and see what it had to offer and I covered some serious mileage in the heat as I strolled up and down endless streets filled with shops selling just about all you could ever imagine.

I had no real culture shock here though. Growing up in Leicester, which is 40% Indian, and living in the Philippines for 7 years I kinda felt right at home. Like I belonged.

I did wander into a shop selling shiny stuff as I posted about before.

And got me a coffee pot. Which was a bargain.

And once more back into the streets.

Where places of worship are vibrant and inviting and not dour and depressing looking which is how they always seem to me in Europe.

I was starting to feel the heat and also my legs were tiring.

I needed to find a place to sit and replenish my energy but looking about I was feeling a little disoriented and needed to home in on where my home patch was.

I retraced my steps past the many street stalls I had passed earlier.

I was hoping they were the same ones anyway.

And then as the sun was starting to set I found myself once again on familiar territory.

And then as if like a miracle

A craft beer brew pub!

It was called Catamaran and the bar staff were saying catamaran is from the Tamil language meaning a boat made from tree trunks lashed together. Hmmm I said I wonder if thats where the boats called Catamarans get their name from. Turns out it was. So drinking beer can definitely learn ya a thing or two eh 😄.

I was very surprised to find this place as it wasn’t something I thought I’d find and apparently it’s the first craft brew pub in the entire region and it was superb.

They had a full aray of beers they make themselves and it was a tough decision to make but I went for a refreshing hazy summer IPA. I have to say having an Indian Pale Ale in India, well what can you say, it felt right. Tasted great too.