Even though riding on ECR is like riding on an express highway, its proximity to the ocean, less traffic and a lot of small detours made it a worthy ride for us. It took us good 5 hours to cover the distance of 55 km but all the detours and stops were what made this ride special for us. But our biggest surprise was Mahabalipuram. I personally did not read anything about the place nor had any expectations. It was just a place where we would spend our night after all.

Mahabalipuram was a little hippy town that instantly synced with my frequency. The little cafes on both sides of the streets, the fisherman’s village, its architecture, and people were worth instant love. Our favourite was a café called Buddha Café where we had our lunch and beer. We had friend Calamari with rice which was definitely one of the best-prepared seafood I ever had. We settled for a cute little homestay, came back to the same café for dinner and then walked on the beach, had some more beer and explored the fisherman’s village on foot. This little city is also famous for its half-submerged temple, and other historical monuments but we skipped that and started riding towards Pondicherry the next morning.

Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry

We started riding towards Pondicherry at 4 in the morning and while trying to find a smaller route, we stumbled on the road which was blocked ahead and thus had to ride back to Mahabalipuram and head on to ECR again. Luckily it was only 7-8 km of extra riding.

This trip was so full of surprises for me considering all the pre-judgment I had for Southern India and its people in my mind. The first one was that people in Southern India don’t understand tea and only drinks coffee. They do love coffee and was evident with all the coffee shops you see on the highway but holy fucking god, they make amazing tea too which I never expected even in my wildest dream. Our first stop after the sunrise was a tea break and they served me just the kind of perfect tea I love. We both were instantly happy and full of energy to cover the remaining distance. We rode straight on ECR for a few hours before we stopped for breakfast and loved how a simple Idli and Dosa can be utterly delicious even in a tiny Dhaba. It was also quite impressive how they serve every meal on banana leaves and eat with hands.

It was 10 AM and we started riding again. The roads were narrower now with green covers on both sides, we would get closer to the ocean every now and then, and cross numerous bridges over the backwaters on the way. Coconut trees, backwaters, all the migratory birds around and salt farming was definitely a sight worth falling in love with.

Somewhere past noon, I asked my partner to take a detour and visit the ruins of Alamparai Fort on the beachfront and started riding towards it. The ride to the fort was spectacular and we instantly felt rejuvenated. It was a much smaller village road with markets on both sides, long stretches of coconut farming and almost no traffic. We reached the beachfront and then to the ruins of the fort which was definitely worth the detour. But the more spectacular part was the fisherman market on the beach and when we rode a bit further ahead, the beach was all to us. Without wasting a second, we went straight into the sea, played a bit, took a lot of photographs and relaxed.

We rode back towards ECR after a while and started our journey towards Pondicherry. We had a sense of eternal happiness at this moment. We kept riding making little conversation and listening to our favourite music on the way as we also enjoyed the views which kept mesmerizing us again and again.

It was close to 2 PM and we were some 20 km away from our destination when the heat started taking a toll on our body and we knew we need some rest to cool ourselves down. We stopped in a little café on the way but had a sense that the journey ahead won’t be easy as our body feels tired. We started riding after a while but literally dragged in the final leg of the ride before we reached our Airbnb place in Auroville.