8 ways to enjoy Pondicherry

FOOD: Cafe culture
Laidback, lotus-eating Pondy is best seen in its cafés. So saunter over to Café des Arts (www.cafedesartspondicherry.com) and enjoy home-style crêpes and croissants; try organic smoked tofu sandwiches with iced tea at Naturellement Café (www.naturellement.in); order the hibiscus cooler first and then anything from the exotic Continental menu in the tree-filled garden of La Maison Rose (www.lamaisonrosepondicherry.com); relax at the innovative Solitude Farm and Organic Kitchen (on Facebook), which often has live music performances; submit to the cheerful chocolate heaven that’s Zuka (on Facebook); and ask for falafel and sublime cheesecake at Well Café (also on Facebook). Be sure to take your time!

HERITAGE: Arikamedu
Six kilometres south of pondicherry, by the banks of the Ariyankuppam River, lie the ruins of Arikamedu (ironically, the ‘eroding mount’) a collection of perpendicular walls and a mission house, further devastated by the cyclone of 2012. What’s now a coastal palm grove was a once-thriving maritime port dating to the 2nd century BCE, which had significant bead-making traditions and strong trade links to Rome.

The forlorn museum onsite has some of the artefacts—lamps, glassware, gems, jewellery—excavated here by the controversial archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler in the mid-1940s. More such artefacts can be found among the Chola and Pallava treasures of the frequently overlooked Government Museum in town. (www.pondytourism.in)

WELLNESS: Healthful therapies
The relaxing vibe of pondy is surely conducive to some inspiring therapies. The Dune Eco Village and Spa (www.duneecogroup.com) promises magical water-based therapies that are fluid, musical, meditative and freeing. They are regrettably closed as we write, but back in mid-August. Auroville’s Quiet Healing Center (www.quiethealingcenter.info) is an oasis of calming wellness by the ocean with a wide range of natural healing courses and workshops that include acupuncture, reflexology, bioresonance, the ‘Birenda Massage’, lomi lomi and Shiatsu. The Windflower Resort and Spa (www.thewindflower.com/Pondicherry), on the other hand, is a modern beach resort with unapologetically pampering Ayurvedic and Balinese massages.

WHERE TO STAY: Stay heritage
It’s hard to be sure which came to town first: heritage hospitality or tourism. Here are four idiosyncratic and welcoming properties that make a Pondy holiday so unique. The elegant Villa Helena (from Rs 2,000; www.villa-helena-pondicherry.com), a 19th-century house that was originally a women’s clinic and then an administrative office , became Pondy’s first heritage guest house in 2001. Other lovelies to follow include the clean and popular Anantha Heritage (from Rs 4,700; www.ananthaheritage.com), the sunny and homespun Du Parc (above; from Rs 3,500; www.hotelduparc.co.in), and the 120-year-old beauty that’s Les Hibiscus (from Rs 3,000; www.leshibiscus.in), which belongs to the sweet-natured Bascaranes family.

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE: Golden Bridge Pottery
In 1971, americans ray meeker and Deborah Smith set up the legendary Golden Bridge Pottery, the first workshop to make glazed stoneware pottery by hand in southern India. Their teaching practice, which continues to attract serious students, is the reason why Pondicherry has over 20 small-scale and studio potteries producing everything from raku to porcelain, now sold in many artisanal stores stocking eclectic work of the highest quality. The low-profile Golden Bridge is an eye-opener to visit, though not as a tourist pit stop, and the small store here is sure to tempt even the most seasoned shopper. (www.raymeeker.com)

WILDLIFE: Birdwatching at Ousteri
The Ousteri bird sanctuary, designated an important Asian wetland by IUCN and an Important Bird Area by BNHS (but sadly neglected), is located 10 kilometres outside Pondy on the Villupuram road, some of its 390 hectares spilling into Tamil Nadu. The tank here, by some accounts constructed during the late Vijayanagara period and connected via the Suthukanni channel to Gingee, supplies drinking water to the urban agglomeration. A BNHS census recorded 25,000 birds of 44 species at Ousteri in 1998, including residents like the cotton teal and white ibis, and large numbers of migratory species like the Eurasian Wigeon. (www.pondytourism.in)

ADVENTURE: Parasailing
Parasailing is a sport of which we don’t have enough in India despite our wide-ranging topographies. Roads and Journeys, a Pondy-based adventure enterprise offering fun activities like boating, surfing and cycling, enables visitors to go parasailing near the new light house. It’s a short and sweet experience, at a height of about 25 metres, and depending on the speed of the wind and other weather factors (refunds are given if conditions are inclement), the delightful flight lasts anywhere between one to five minutes. Arrive in no-fuss clothing and closed shoes. (Rs 500 per adult for the first ride; +91-9159036200, www.roadsandjourneys.com/parasailing)

CULTURE: Kasha ki asha
Kasha and her daughter Lisianne, Isabelle and her daughter Rebecca, and Madeleine, Elisa, Sumathi and Manju—that’s the all-woman team behind this sweetly welcoming ‘art boutique and café’ (www.kkapondy.com) set in a lovingly restored Tamil home full of potted plants and things to read.

The ground floor is a quiet store for thoughtfully selected pretty fabrics, handmade sandals, handmade Indian garments, home accessories, jewellery and bags; the rooftop café is popular for its delicious cakes, American pancakes, ‘Indian enchiladas’ and ‘European thalis’. Kasha is also an important part of the Pondy ART project (www.pondyart.org) and her store is often used as a space for their thematic photo exhibitions.