Dream Dune

Talking of dreams, I had a strange dream on a weekend vacation (March 12-13) to Pondy. In the early hours of that Sunday, I dreamt that my father had passed away and that I was trying to arrange leave to go home. It was a disturbing dream to have on a vacation, and since early morning/dawn dreams are believed to come true, it disturbed me all the more. I tried to shake it off my mind and enjoy my vacation at Dune eco resort hotel in the company of a couple of V's colleagues and their families.

That night when I called home I was told that my uncle, who was half-father and half brother to me (considering that he had no children of his own and the small age gap between us) had been admitted to a hospital following bleeding in the ear. I called his wife the same day and the next, and she said things were under control. But the next day, things began deteriorating and he soon went into a coma that led to his eventual death.


I had planned this post to be on the Dune resort in Pondy, which provided a different experience from the usual touristy stuff. But the dream and death that followed could not be extricated from the vacation.

Dune is the kind of place that foreigners or even Indians living in crowded cities would develop a liking for. For a Keralite who grew up in a rural landscape, it is nothing much to go gaga over.Spread in 40 acres near the French town of Pondicherry (12 km from it), it has a neat private beach on which the waves deposit quaint shells and molluscs. It belongs to a French artist couple who live in the campus, and hence each cottage there is designed aesthetically and different from each other.

Our group stayed in the Baywatch houses built with casuarina trees. I guess we were the luckiest - we got the biggest and the best, though a bit secluded (which made us a wee bit scared in the night and we slept with the light on), of the baywatch houses which had been their director-founder's former residence. Unlike the other baywatch houses which had casuarina log flooring, Baywatch 1 had a proper cement flooring. The walls had bamboo panels while the doors and windows seemed retreived from some old Chettinadu house. To one side was the director new big house and the Artists-in-residence hall and the other was the organic farm, while the roar of the waves and the chatter of insects brought music to our ears - one needs them in the absence of the television and the Internet. One could view the sea through the pine trees from the hammock outside.

The bathroom was spacious unlike in the others, and the toiletries seemed to have been procured from Fabindia and Auroville. A frog in the washbasin gave Mira a fright, and we worried a little about snakes entering through the thatched roof or the gap in the wall. Thankfully we had a Kingsize bed with a mosquito net (but not many mosquitoes though they provided us Odomos and earplugs), which meant that once we tucked in the net no reptile could slither up our bed. There was an exra bed , which looked pretty ancient. The mini-fridge provided drinks and chocolates for a price.

Each cottage is provided with a mobile phone to contact the reception and other houses and facilities. Being an eco tourism project, private vehicles are not allowed inside; instead each house is provided with 2 bicycles (most punctured!). One has to leave the vehicles at the entrance, and luggage and guests are transported in the hotel's minivans. Check-in time is 1 pm while checkout time is 11 am - which is not fair. Since we went into Pondy town for lunch - which has some authentic French restaurants - we could check in only by 3 pm.

The pool, the play area and the beach made kids happy. But the adults did not carry their swimsuits and could not enter the big pool. Dinner at the inhouse restaurant was great though slightly expensive. The restaurant serves excellent food and the complimentary breakfast the next day provided a great variety.

I also made use of the free yoga session from 7-8 am along with a couple of French guests. The instructor was a Keralite from Palakkad. The yoga hall near the spa is a perfect place to relax and rejuvenate one's tired work-worn body . Thanks to him, I am practising suryanamaskara in the mornings aided by my inhouse instructor V.

Artists get a free boarding if they are willing to produce and exhibit their works; for others the boarding tariff is anywhere between Rs.6000 and 20,000. They have a honeymoon suite atop a tower. I liked the woodhouses - built using wood reclaimed from Kerala planters' residences - the best.

There is also a pottery class, table tennis court and badminton court for those interested. The mudtracks would have been more fun if there were avenue trees providing shade. One can also get lost in the night in the absence of proper boards for direction.

For me, sitting on the lawn in front of our cottage with the mist-laden grass cooling my bare feet early in the morning was the best part of the holiday.

The kids loved the holiday and wants a repeat.

Dune resort, Pondy (click on the pic to view the album)