27th December 2019
Pondicherry diaries, Early next morning, DJ and Skanda ventured out of the Valentine hostel to go to the Promenade beach, famous for a globe. While reaching this destination, the guys didn’t realize that they passed over a woman’s Rangoli on the road, destroying it completely. With her abuse in the background, they raced ahead and got to know that rangolis with Gulal were made in front of all homes here.
While on the beach, the guys saw a lot of boats with crabs on them. Fishermen were also using nets, but more crustaceans were visible as compared to fish. From here, Skanda and DJ went back to the hostel to pack their bags for the next leg of their journey towards Thanjavur, stopping at Kumbakonam for brunch.
About Kumbakonam
Kumbakonam is the name of a municipality within the Thanjavur district. This town is known for its beautifully carved temples, with the name ‘Kumbakonam’ coming from Lord Aadhi Kumbeshwarar. For Skanda and DJ, the place was right between Pondicherry and Thanjavur City, and they stopped here for coconut water and brunch. This is the only stretch here with bad roads, and negotiating them had built up quite an appetite. Brunch for them comprised of ghee roast dosa, veg fried rice, and filter coffee.
So far on this trip, both DJ and Skanda have become best friends with filter coffee and coconut water. These two liquids helped them constantly recharge themselves on the way, considering that biking gear was also heavy.
During brunch, the two men booked an Oyo property in Thanjavur city as their place of stay. From Kumbakonam, they traveled another 150-200 km to get to Thanjavur city.
Special Mention: No need to worry about mobile network throughout this trip as it is available throughout the way.
Having reached the Oyo at around 4 p.m., they kept their luggage and headed off towards a Shiv Mandir in the nearby area. This tall temple had a massive dome that was more than 80 tons in weight. The dome has an interesting story, whereby a 60 km platform was made to push the structure into place by hand. This being a religious place, the guys were not allowed to fly their drones there. The area was otherwise very quiet all around.
There was a children’s park close to the temple, and this is where the boys got a chance to take drone shots. The park was being renovated, and soon they were on their way to the hotel. DJ picked up some souvenirs from an emporium, went back to their hotel, had dinner, and slept like babies.
