Well, from where I left off, the next stop in the travel with Hayley was Pondicherry, a previous French colonial town/city (I can't tell the difference anymore). Part of the town is dusty and bustling, i.e. very typically Indian, but the East portion is decidedly more European. There are cafes to go to, wide, cobbled, quieter streets with buildings and houses that are creams, blues, and soft yellows. Old colonial buildings are now either used for prestigious government residencies or otherwise have been converted into posh hotels. I saw a couple of schools on this side of the town that were French government ones. Pondy is somewhat talked-about as far as the tourist treadmill goes, so I had actually expected even more ambience than I experienced…I did manage to pick up an Indian Christmas/New Year's card in French for my old host family from that summer in Quebec! In Pondicherry, we self-toured a handmade paper factory that's run by the local, but nationally very famous, Sri Aurobindo Ashram (an ashram is a community of common spiritual seekers). Some of you had stuff sent recently in the mail if you had a birthday or for some other reason, and everything will be packaged in paper from this place ;) It's actually 100% cotton. Pondicherry was a nice place to go around on bicycles, especially the seaside promenade. This is where Hayley and I parted. Later, when I was reading my Lonely Planet on a bench by the on my own, it really annoyed me how I would get interrupted about every three minutes.
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