After our arrival to India at the minor port town of Nagapattinam and failed attempts at obtaining sim cards, we were very happy to be on our way to a larger city where we would have a few nights to relax and get ourselves sorted for our time in the country.  From the first moment we stepped off the ferry on Indian soil I was buzzing. The best way to describe India is a complete sensory overload. And we were only in a small town! It was overwhelming and we were both feeling a bit stressed about not having SIM cards. We were able to buy a bit of data using e-SIMs, however they are expensive and not always the best connection. 

Pondicherry (commonly called Pondy) was a French settlement for over 100 years until 1954. We had booked our accommodation in the french quarter known as White Town. This charming seaside town felt more akin to the South of France than the South of India. The leafy cobblestone streets are lined with beautiful colonial-era French villas, cafes brew delicious coffee, while bakeries serve mouth-watering pastries. After a month of mainly Sri Lankan and South Indian food, we were excited for some variety. At the same time, we were feeling a bit overwhelmed by India, and wanted some time to find our feet.

It turned out to be a bit of a process getting our SIM cards. The first company we tried wasn’t available for foreigners. We then tried going to another provider and had to give them the address of our accommodation so they could send someone there to give us the SIMs. This was a bit frustrating as we had to wait at our accommodation rather than exploring on our first night in Pondy. However, when the technicians finally arrived they managed to get our SIM cards up and running quickly. This experience was a good reminder that you can’t rush things in India, it will happen eventually but sometimes you just have to wait.

We spent most of our time in Pondy wandering between boutique stores, art galleries and beautiful colonial churches. The rest of our time was spent eating delicious food at French inspired cafes and bakeries. It was the first time on our trip where we weren’t mainly eating local food. Of course we were very excited to dive into South Indian cuisine, but we felt that while we were somewhere with amazing western food we should take that opportunity. It was a nice reset and a cleanse of our pallets from the Sri Lankan food we had been eating so much of.

One of the main events of our time in Pondy was the grand final of the ICC Champions Trophy which is an International cricket tournament. This was a major event because it was India vs New Zealand, and Cricket is by far the most popular sport in Sri Lanka and India. 

This is a very common conversation we have in Sri Lanka and India:

“Hello, what is your country?” 

“Hi! We’re from New Zealand!” 

“Oh very nice country! 

“Thanks, this is a nice country too.” 

“Kane Williamson is a very good player!”

For those who don’t know, Kane Williamson is a New Zealand cricketer and the former captain of the Black Caps. He is held in very high esteem in this part of the world, maybe even more so than back in New Zealand where he is regarded as the greatest New Zealand captain and batsman of all time. 

So being in India for this big clash between the New Zealand and Indian cricket teams was at the same time exciting and a bit concerning as we didn’t know how we would be treated if New Zealand won. We ended up watching the game at a craft beer brewery which had the game playing on a big screen. We met a very friendly and chatty guy there called Arjuna who was visiting Pondy from Chennai to watch the cricket. He was a real character and gave us lots of shit as the Indian team picked apart the New Zealand team in the finals. It was a close game and while we were sad to lose, it is kind of a relief we wouldn’t have to deal with the potential repercussions for the rest of our time in India. 

On our last day in Pondy our new friend Arjuna took us to his favourite South Indian restaurant for breakfast where he explained the menu to us and recommended some things for us to try. It was a great introduction to South Indian cuisine, and made us really excited to go back to our normal travel routine of only eating local food. 

Puducherry is a beautiful place with a wide variety of Indo-French inspired food, amazing shopping, and beautiful colonial architecture. It was the perfect way for us to start in India as we really needed a few days to relax and find our feet. Next up we are heading off to explore ancient southern India at historic Mahabalipuram

It was the distances that worried me most about India. To try and travel this country by boat, road and rail felt silly once I realized it was over 50 times bigger than Sri Lanka. 

Once the coast was within sight, I watched our blue GPS dot inch slowly up the tiniest stretch of coastline. A ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ type of scenario, when looking at a map of the whole country. The boat from Sri Lanka had taken the expected 5 hours, and just like that, we had arrived in India. 

We pulled into the bay with a few spectators watching along the shore, and then into the port with much more than a few border patrol, army, navy and other official looking people waiting. It was actually sunset when we arrived, the whole place cast in a golden glow. It felt otherworldly, and many cameras were out as we made our way to the terminal. Here, as in Sri Lanka, immigration was an easy process. We wouldn’t have been able to get in without our paper visas, and it was nice to see the pre planning that had gone into getting these pay off. We were actually asked how we were leaving the country (it can be difficult not having a return air ticket), but the officer wasn’t bothered when we said we would be catching a bus into Nepal. 

We tried to get answers out of the boat company team on a few key questions:

We didn’t get any comprehensible answers, and within a few minutes were ushered out the gates to start our journey with a polite goodbye. Bracing ourselves to be hustled we approached the nearest group of Auto drivers, who although speaking very little English, were very helpful in taking us to get cash out, and then to our accommodation for what seemed like a reasonable price. (To break the fourth wall, about four days into India as I’m writing this, I’m still unsure about how much to pay for autos. It seems to vary every time and we seem to have no hope in hell with bargaining. I’ll update you in another week, hopefully we’ve got the hang of it!!) 

Our first impressions of India on that auto ride were exactly what I remembered and totally what I imagined. It was more chaotic, noisier, dirtier and busier than the streets of Sri Lanka. We saw cows, sewars, rubbish piles and people urinating basically straight away. We also saw the most beautiful saris, so many chai shops, a bustling port town, and people trading and selling everywhere. Key words there being ‘people’ and ‘everywhere’, it’s immediately clear that this country has the largest population in the world. We both had a kind of anxious excitement. Feeling hesitant to dip a toe in, it was hard to imagine how we would fit into this picture. But, India doesn’t really give you the option of dipping a toe in, it’s more like jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool. 

Our accommodation was fine, and after dropping our bags we decided it was time to go for it and jump in. A short walk down the street was enough for night one, and there was plenty to see and explore. We found some delicious paratha and sambar for dinner (basically a flaky flat bread and curry), served on a banana leaf as it has been in Northern Sri Lanka. After dinner we had the obligatory chai, which was simply delicious. Looking forward to many more cups of this!! We talked to lots of people on the street and were asked many times, “what country”! New Zealand is always greeted with smiles and handshakes, and responses of “Black Caps” and “Kane Williamson”!

I’m not quite sure how to explain how it feels to walk down the street in India. About 80% of your focus goes to the cars, motorbikes, trucks and buses that are hurtling past. Another 10% goes to making sure you don’t step into anything unsavory, or walk into anyone. That leaves 8% to take in what’s going on around you, and 2% to consult your google maps. There is enough to see for that 8% to be 100%, so stopping at various points to take it all in is essential. 

I do feel like I’m being stared at much more than Sri Lanka already, but that is to be expected and nothing has felt at all hostile or predatory, just curious. We were out walking for about an hour and a half, and that felt like enough for night one. There was so much to see but we were pretty exhausted and it was overwhelming. At this point we realized it would definitely take a few days to get used to this. 

That night we both slept pretty badly, it was pretty hot in our non ac room without the window open, but there wasn’t a mosquito net (or somewhere to hang one). The following morning we spent a couple of hours trying to get SIM cards, eventually working out that waiting until the bigger town of Puducherry would be much easier. Thank god for e-sims which were providing us with data in the meantime. We found our way to the bus station and had a great breakfast of dosas and coffee (the local filter coffee here is really great, and cheap). Then it was time to find the bus, and we swiftly got ushered onto an AC semi sleeper, without a lot of say in the matter! We had intended on trying to take the local bus, but for 460 rupee (less than $10 NZD), we were happy to do what we were told. 

Sitting down on that AC bus I felt a sense of relief. Like, okay, we can do this! We fed ourselves and got ourselves around and we are now successfully on the bus to our next destination. The bus was about four hours (160km), and I laughed to myself again watching how small of a distance the blue dot was again inching across. What a journey we are in for. India, we have arrived, but I don’t think you’ve noticed. 

A small P.S. - pictures are a bit limited, as most of our attention at this point was on surviving, not documenting!