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Incredible South India: Dravidian Temples, French Towns, and ATRs (9W vs AI)

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  • Incredible South India: Dravidian Temples, French Towns, and ATRs (9W vs AI)

    South India is an amazing place and as a tourist destination is rather under-rated. Every one knows about the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Varanasi, etc but not everyone knows about Kanchipuram, Pondicherry, Trichy, etc. But it’s an incredible place and I hope readers will also be inspired to visit this region of awe-inspiring architecture and charming friendly people before the secret is out.

    BLR-MAA

    Flight: 9W2308
    Aircraft: ATR72-500
    Reg: VT-JCW
    Seat: 16F
    Class: Economy


    Bangalore has never been a place to pass the weekend for me. I always avoid it whenever I can planning my meetings in such a way that Monday or Friday I will be in Mumbai. But as it is not always controllable, that way, I found myself in the region over a particular weekend. Looking around the map, it looks like Kanchipuram and Pondycherry will be a convenient escapade.

    And so the journey started at Bangalore airport, to me 2nd best in the country after BOM.



    Pretty crowded at the check point.



    This looks like a new self-service system to get checked. Like the automatic gates at Changi but hardly anyone uses. I think this needs special application.



    Self service check in is also available. And for domestic flights, no additional checks required at the counter. It’s straight to gate.



    Since I am a Platinum with Jet, I was given lounge access which is located on the mezzanine floor with a distant view to the runways.



    Hmm… what is this airline? Czech Airline? BLR to PRG on an A320?



    Not quite, Spicejet apparently wetleases some of their planes from CSA and B&H Airlines.

    All ATR flights depart from bus gates. Here’s a view of our spanking new ATR72





    Legroom is great.





    The flight was full.


  • #2
    Flight was a short 45 minutes hop but there was a quick meal service.



    This is low-calorie meal, which is my preference on the metro routes because they serve brown rice. On this short hop, a big sandwich was served. With so much carbs, I don’t think this is low calorie. I wonder what their definition is.



    Approaching Chennai, we overshot the Indian landmass into the Bay of Bengal



    And U-turned back towards the airport

    Newish Chennai Airport





    The following section is less aviation-related but I hope readers will appreciate my shots.

    Kanchipuram

    This is a temple town 2 hours drive from Chennai. It was the ancient capital of the Pallava kingdom 1,600 years ago. It’s also known as a temple town, one of the many that dot the south indian landscape. There are so many temples per square mile here.

    Most impressive to me is the Sri Ekambareshwar temple just outside the city core which is 1,500 years old. The gopuram (main gate) is 60 m tall (20-storeys), making it taller than the average Singapore’s HDB flat.



    Impressive door into the compound



    Very well-preserved sculptures adorn the columns in the inner compound



    South Indian temples comprise of a series of concentric courtyards, it gets smaller and smaller towards the inner shrine. Here’s a smaller door but no less impressive as you enter the inner shrine. The closer it gets to the centre, the smaller it is, from the large world outside to the small world within.



    Inside is dark, medieval, dreamlike. It feels eternal, timeless since the beginning.



    Its dark corridors are impressively grand and axial.



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    • #3
      Pondicherry

      Just a further 2 hours away from Kanchipuram is a whole different world together: Pondicherry, former French India - where boulangeries and croissants permeate the air and on parle francais dans quelques etablissements

      I shall let the pictures speak for themselves: mansions, clean streets (so un-Indian), greeneries, bougainvilleas. Isn’t it like the South of France?











      If not for the Bollywood/Kollywood posters, this bus stop could have been in the south of France



      It’s also full of boutique hotels. This is where I stay, Le Dupleix, the former mansion of the French governor general. This cost me INR4,600 (slightly less than SGD 100).





      With a bedroom that is straight out of storybook.



      Throughout the town, there are many cute atmospheric cafes. Like this one, le Cafe des Arts





      Overall, definitely a great place to weekend away. It's still relatively untouched due to accessibility issues. Unlike in Goa, there is no major airport, as there are no big international chain hotels. So yes, this is still relatively a secret, relatively unknown outside India and perhaps the Francophone world. I will definitely be back especially.
      Last edited by SQueeze; 20 September 2015, 03:07 PM.

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      • #4
        PNY-BLR

        Flight: AI9510 (9I510)
        Aircraft: ATR42-300
        Reg: VT-ABB
        Seat: 10F
        Class: Economy



        For the return to Bangalore, I picked the rarely flown route direct from Pondicherry. Pondicherry has a new airport which is pretty much a white elephant. The airport only serves a 5-weekly (not even daily) flight service from Bangalore by Air India Regional, operated by Alliance Air. This flight is served by the tiny ATR42-300. So yes, the airport is a white elephant, for example that day, it served only 20 passengers on our flight.

        The single check-in counter which serves our flight.



        Looking over to the other side (arrival) just across the glass railing.



        And the waiting area. I have to say the airport is quite nice.



        The incoming fligth arrived early



        Boarding commenced well ahead of time, and just like in the past, one walks across to the aircraft.



        My first time on an ATR42 - smallest craft I had ever taken



        I walked in inside to find an old dirty and tattered cabin. I can’t remember the last time I am shocked with the poor state of cabin, even an AI A321 running on other domestic runs are better. May be the vintage VN F70 I flew on 4 years ago from SGN-RGN.



        Window is full of scratches.



        Leg room is good.



        I quite like their colour scheme too. It’s very much Indian in spirit.



        It feels quite vintage.



        Tattered safety card.

        Last edited by SQueeze; 20 September 2015, 11:32 PM.

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        • #5
          The cabin on that day’s flight was less than half full (20 passengers). I wonder why they can’t make this route work better. Pondy is a nice place, with a lot of foreign and domestic visitors (although not in the scale of Goa or Phuket). Most people seem to prefer the 2.5 hour drive from Chennai airport. For me, it would be fantastic to fly in direct into Pondy. The fare is also not much more expensive than flying into MAA.



          We took off towards the east, again went beyond the coast into the Bay of Bengal before turning back



          Even on the short sector, there was meal service which was mediocre. But neither was Jet’s sandwich much better – just bigger.



          But at last we arrived safely in BLR. That is the most important.

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          • #6
            Nice pics of the city, SQueeze.

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            • #7
              Beautiful pictures of Kanchipuram and Pondicherry...thanks for posting!

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