Star Beach in the White Town Area - Rock beach or Promenade beach
Pondycherry’s popular hangout and slightly crowded beach made an easy place to chill out on our first day of Pondycherry. This beach is Rock beach or Promenade beach. Loads of spots to connect with the spirit of this beach, feeling the wind, hearing the refreshing waves while enjoying other miscellaneous scenic beauty that is accompanied in the process of viewing the beach’s horizon as clouds, sun make things beautiful here.
The area is pretty vast, it has footpath for walkers to walk by while there are benches to sit down though those grand beach rocks serve as seats for those who want to be closer to Rock beach’s waves.
Around the premises of Promenade beach
The Aurobindo Ashram’s landmark is that it's situated opposite this beach, so residents of the Ashram are blessed with a pleasant beach and seaside view.
However, this area by itself has some sightseeing spots with a famous church around, however, I have not checked the churches of Pondy, but they are marveled for their elegance and the good old heritage sentiments around it, all cool!!
I bumped into a very special snacking joint too in that area - KBS Kofi Bar. The masala milk (which I feel unmistakably is an almond flavoured one) over there is just lovely with a delightful thickened layer at the top but the only issue for me here is that it is served with a plastic spoon, but it’s still a delightful drink to have around, after a long evening walk. Rest of the stuff are the common commercial restaurants there about.
However, rock beach is still a spot to view the scenic sunset and the cloud and skyline beauty that comes along with it.
I am sure the area has all those statues of Gandhi and an important french person, you can check all that out if your interested, but the beach is a special attraction for me with those rocks.
Other street side eating joints looked alluring too like the Pasta chat stall vendor, but I never devoured that to give you all my feedback.
A curious side to this beach is a bridge structure at one end of it, however this area is not accessible to the public.
Later I felt that the access to that area is from a strictly guarded entrance.
It’s strictly guarded because even if you bypass the watchmen there, dogs take care to give you a scare as if echoing the message of the watchman to get the hell out of the place if you don’t have the required permit from the port office to make your entrance, albeit in a more threatening tone(: … I witnessed a car try enter the area, sending a small boy to check the inside situation. It so happened the boy gave a thumbs up from the entrance gate signalling that the coast was clear as he managed to go inside and later was chased away out of the entrance gate by the dogs, but he managed to sprint of the gate and enter the waiting car safely. Then the car went inside, only to come out a little later obviously because they were chased away by the watchmen, after that, the area was always closed by the metal gate door(: …
However, it’s a peaceful area to sit by, there’s a seat behind which is a compound area with tree, beach and I think Sea Gull Restaurant is housed there.
All this opposite a petrol pump station. There is a public restroom in the vicinity of this area, for those who need to attend to their Natures call.
White Town charm corrupted thanks to the effects of dirty tourism
Promenade beach is nicely connected with the roads in the left side to Pondy’s once charming Whitetown area. Charming because the White Town area comprises of neat parallel avenues lined with rows of Heritage Cottage structures and trees with stone benches to sit and enjoy sweet movements of serenity.
These streets have nice French names. However, that’s how originally White Town was, now unfortunately, White Town area is not quite or neat with garbage and leaking drains and huge cars passing on this otherwise classically vintage area of charming peaceful simplicity. Stray dogs are plenty, but in my experience these area dogs don’t attack humans, but it still makes things uncomfortable, as these creatures bark and run around, I get nervous.
Now walking in White Town is no longer wonderful with these cars leaving no space for pedestrians to walk carefreely. This area that still retains some of it’s old charm should be prohibited from movements about of cars, it should encourage commute only through cycling, walking or those three wheeled cycle rickshaws. No wonder, there are complaints of Joints not offering parking space for vehicles, that’s not possible, some other creative provision should be made but White Town is designed to be traversed serenely by means of non-polluting transport options mentioned above.
White Town instead of showcasing it’s basic charm allures people for it’s many costly eating restaurants spread about, and with commercial activities dominating in the street expect noise levels up, I found a tree outside of a restaurant called Dragon Inn wrapped with those wire lights that’s harming the poor tree. Restaurants and eateries here are mostly so cost prohibitive as well. I can understand a few restaurants about but everywhere there is some restaurants serving cuisines (Frenchy stuff) that are cost prohibitive. I was completely put off seeing White Town being polluted with effects of dirty Tourism.
White Town’s Heritage, charm, beauty is just corrupted with effects of dirty tourism. I sincerely hope, measures are taken to keep this heritage and legacy place of Pondy clean, neat, quite like it’s supposed to be, else I am afraid, it ceases to be a worthwhile place to visit for me and I really like Pondycherry City, just upset seeing how bad it’s been made now.
However, I can see restaurants here, though cost prohibitive many of them serve delicious food, I have not checked out many eateries here, but of what I did will give my review at a latter post. Still there, I get a feeling that it’s designed to cater to foreign tourists and it’s pricey.
Handy Tip to start of your Exploration of Pondycherry
I also heard, to start off your exploration of Pondycherry, you can head to Tourist Information Centre at Promenade beach, where you can procure a map with details on site seeing places in and around Pondy. If you want to rent cycle and bikes, Mission road I heard is the place to go, however, I did not succeed in availing these things, not much of a person good at finding routes.