No wayout of Pondi!

Pudicherry seduced with its French quartier glimpses, its grand seaside architecture, and its promenade wide as Le Promenade Des Anglais in Nice. It had us caught up in its ambiance for a while as we settled in to the Sri Aurobindo Society Seaside guest house, with its whitewashed walls, calm orderliness and courtyards full of pots and sunlight. We attended meditation at the Sri Aurobindo Meditation Centre, lighting incense and sitting in silence with several hundred other visitors as the evening breeze wafted the smoke to and fro. We go carried away by booking to see Avatar at a cavernous cinema in Pudicherry (aka Pondi), then found it was in Tamil. Stayed anyway and got the gist -not a taxing plot luckily! But then.. the rub. Next day we couldn't get out of Pondi. No buses or trains for a week, welearned, after queuing up for hours at various ticket booths. So what was it to be - a plane? a bribe? No - we opted for a car service. Smallest car ever, but a careful driver took us 13 hours overnight from our guest house to the next guest house on our route - over thei hills and far away in Ooty (aka Udhagamalame....) Arrived just as Santa was delivering the last gifts and hanging the last stockings on the tree - 5.45am. and here we are ready to go horseriding and trekking to wash away the toxins of urban traffic and explore the hills. It is described as a mix between Australia, with its eucalyptus trees, and England with its flowers and green hills. Looking forward to seeing the tea plantations - reminiscent of Kenya days.