About transport from Chennai to Pondicherry

Nick-H

That sounds all very good.

Koyambedu is the district name where CMBT is. Also there is a huge wholesale vegetable market there, which I've never visited, but mean to one day; photos of it look good.

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Gametotravel

Hi Choropie!

You need not go all the way to Pondicherry by the bus; you could ask the conductor to drop you at the Auroville entrance( the bus should have taken the ECR route).

If you can get good direction or map going from the Auroville ECR entrance to your destination then nothing like it. The autoricks standing outside the Auroville road take flat Rs 30/- for close local destinations .

Like Nick-H mentioned you should take the bus from CMBT itself which is also known as Koyambedu as then you will get a seat as these buses do not have reservation.

If you can then take the 11AM PRTDC bus as this will have two seats on either side of the aisle and not two and three on either side as may be in other buses.You should reach the Auroville request stop by 2.30-2.45pm. If possible take some sandwiches with you for the journey.

atala

Dear choropie

I did not get clear whether you actually have been in India before, after reading your last sentence re: the various info about India and how it made you nervous. If you did not, you should defintely not even consider taking a bus from Chennai to Pondy.

(Chennai to AV by bus is out of the question because how would you communicate your stop-desire? Not knowing the place at all you would get terribly lost. Also there are no Auto-Rickshaws from East Coast Road (ECR) into Auroville. In case you have not been there, Auroville is NOT one place, as even Nick-H seems to believe with his idea of addresses easily traceable for taxi-drivers. There are distances of 20 minutes drive between some communities).

Which community are you heading for? Obviously you do have a reservation there, they know you are coming. So you could order the AV taxi for an Airport pick-up at 1 am, therefore no need to go into Chennai; until you are out of the Airport and have arrived in AV in your community it would be 5 a.m.

The "official" AV taxi service (http://www.aurovilletransport.com/airport.htm) is a little more expensive than the one I mentioned above (they do not have a website, only e-mail address). This new one has emerged from the other one. As it happens in India, once something is established and has been around for a while it tends to relax its standards, become more expensive than necessary etc. The price difference is marginal. The one with the website is still a fine company, I have used it all the time until this year, when I was told that the second one is even better.

You say, if not in good health you would choose the taxi option. Hey, travelling from overseas, (Japan I assume) is not the healthiest thing, missing all the sleep, so you will be happy if a reliable taxi is waiting for you. Worth it any time.

Nick-H

Yes, I really agree

I don't know Auroville, as is obvious! But many Chennai drivers do not know where they are going in Chennai: it all works by various directions, getting less vague, until they home in on the spot.

It's all very strange. Sometimes when my wife asks for directions, she asks for some place nearby where we are heading for. When I enquire why she didn't ask for our actual destination, she says, "they might not have known it!"

choropie

Dear Nick-H, mindgames and atala,
Thank you again

When I read Nick-H(#16)and mindgames(#17),
I almost decided "CMBT, bus to Pondy".
But atala kindly advised "airport to AV directly",
taking my condition such as my first trip to India and a long time flight into consideration.

I really can't decide which way I should take...

On my mind,
1)I'd rather enjoy a journey from Chennai to AV than go straight to AV. I'm not in a hurry.
I'll recover myself by staying in chennai for two nights.

2)The taxi to AV may be safe, but I just feel anxiety about 4 hours in the small hours with a stranger(taxi driver).

3)But actually I'm beginner and don't know well not only the area but local customs, so I had better take the most simle way(taxi from airport to AV).

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Dear Nick-H,
#16
I understood Koyambedu and wholesale vegetable market.
Market sounds nice! It's fun to see place which a guidebook doesn't introduce.

#17
It seems weird Chennai taxi driver doesn't know chennai.
Is he unfamiliar with city or is city changing so quickly

btw in wikitravel http://wikitravel.org/en/Pondicherry,
"the East Coast Road is a scenic highway" but "Most tourists cannot resist the seashore kissing the road".
...May I ask what it means?

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Dear mindgames,

>the 11AM PRTDC bus will have two seats on either side of the
>aisle not two and three on either side as may be in other buses.

it means two and two type is better than two-three type?

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Dear atala,

thanks for your tender care

As I wrote above, this trip is my first to India.
I'm going to have a reservation of Mitra Youth Hostel.
if I take a taxi to AV, first I'll ask uts@auroville.org.in.
I saw the "official" AV taxi service, too,
it(Rs.1500) is a little expensive than the fare you wrote above.
Rs.1400-1500 seems the going rate.

choropie

Nick-H

The simplest thing is to take a car to your destination.

--- If you want to go direct from the airport to your Hostel, I suggest that you either ask them to send a car for you or you use the company that atala recommends, and aske them to meet you.

I suggest that you do not take a car from the airport pre-paid desk. one, I suspect it will be more expensive, and two, the past time I did that even I was a little bit scared by the way the old guy drove his old car (seldom using any lights) and I'm fairly used to Chennai roads, having driven on them myself for the past two years.

--- If you want to spend a day or so seeing Chennai, you can still call the car from AV --- back to atala's original suggestion.

You can use the bus if your budget is very tight. If you can afford this little bit of luxury, take a car!

Yes, the East Coast Road kisses the sea --- just poetry, but you will see some pretty coastal views as the sun comes up.

choropie

Dear Nick-H,

Thanks for quick reply

>I was a little bit scared by the way the old guy drove his old
>car (seldom using any lights)

that's scary!
Even if not fine taxi situation, local people don't complain against it?(as a result, the situation becomes better??)

>You can use the bus if your budget is very tight. If you can
>afford this little bit of luxury, take a car!

well, you too recommend for me to take a taxi from either airport or chennai city?
my reason for heading for Auroville via Pondy by bus is
enjoying the journey as a traveller rather than saving money.

but as I don't know the actual situation such as hot climate
and conjestion etc., I may not take things seriously enough

I'll contact the Hostel and taxi service(atala recommend), then post the result here.
(I don't know if the Hostel might accept my so early arriving)


btw I have a hotel reservation in triplicane, chennai and asked staff to arrange a taxi to pick me up from airport.
They offered Rs.600, but comparing with Rs.1400 from airport to Auroville, it's quite expensive!

choropie

Hello, abbie12!
thanks for the reply

Reading your reply, I'm at a loss again which plan I shoule take...Anyway, thanks a lot!

atala

I do not know how to say this to you. Just take a taxi, because you won't enjoy anything by going by bus. Buses in India offer very little to enjoy.

I think if you had said from beginning on that you have never been in India before, no one would have suggested here that you should take a bus. If you happened to catch a slow bus with frequent stops, you would not even have space for your luggage. if you are sort of masochistic, maybe you could enjoy something going by bus. It takes more energy to find the damn right bus that you won't have any energy left to enjoy anything else, expecially after a looong overseas journey.

choropie

Dear atala,

sorry for replying late.
I read your reply, and imagine how hard getting on a local bus in India!

I've contacted uts@auroville.org.in,UNITY TRANSPORT SERVICE.
(they say they don't have a web address now.)

they offer Rs. 1500 from airport to AV.
It seems the same fare as "official" AV taxi service, doesn' it?

Anyway, I'm asking youth hostel and some guest houses if they accept in early morning.

thanks a lot

choropie

Nick-H

1.00am landing, you said. So you'll be lucky to get out of the airport with your baggage by about 2.00am. You then have an approx. three-hour drive, so you won't be arriving before 5.0am.

India is awake by that time! You shouldn't have any trouble with car/guest house. They are used to people arriving on planes that land in the night.

choropie

Dear Nick-H,

Thanks for the very quick reply!
(it's like a chat!?)

India is awake about 5a.m.? it seems a little early for me.
It's due to hot weather?

If I go to a guest house smoothly, and have a sound sleep,
it'll be a good start in Auroville.
I hope I'm able to post here from AV

choropie

Nick-H

Yes, I think it is due to the climate. Possibly India's majority rural roots still showing even in city life too.

Whilst I admit that it is lovely, first thing in the morning, while it is still cool[er] (you'd think the nights pretty hot at the moment), I remain a night bird.

machadinha

Just to show we all have our different takes, I wouldn't say a public bus is a no-no. It was my first introduction from Delhi airport to the city center, quite enjoyed it. I took many buses both public and private later, short- and long-distance.

So if you're not pressed for time and would rather enjoy the ride and the experience, I wouldn't necessarily speak against it, no. I've (public) bused it from Chennai to Mahabalipuram and back, while this was quite some time ago, I found nothing particularly wrong or out of the ordinary about it, and your bag always goes somewhere in the end. It's how much of India (and quite a number of tourists) gets around.

To find the damn right bus, just ask around at the bus station (then ask a couple times more just to be sure), that's what I do in most countries anyway, even in my own, bus stations always tend to be confusing. It's not a fool-proof process but then very little ever is in India, I found it works most of the time.

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Inua

We're three people travelling from Chennai to pondi and have varying itineraries. We're looking for a taxi service that can fulfill the following:

Pick up from airport - 17th May
Take us around chennai
Pick up a friend at the railway station - 18th morning
Take us around Chennai where we are attending a wedding - 18th
Leave for Pondicherry - 18th afternoon
Take us around Pondicherry should we need a car - 19th, 20th
Drop off one person to Chennai airport - 20th evening
Drop off two people to chennai airport - 21st evening

I know this sounds a little hairbrained but we all just have such varying schedules!

Also how long does it take from chennai to pondi by car?