I traveled for a couple days to Pondicherry, which is a beach town that is three hours away from Chennai. I went to the beach and a cafe called "Bread and Chocolate." Unlike most of India, which was colonized by the British, Pondicherry was colonized by the French, and a lot of residents of Pondicherry are either immigrants from France or Indians who hold a dual citizenship for India and France. Pondicherry is known for its beaches, seafood and pastries.
At Bread and Chocolate, I tried passionfruit kombucha, a strawberry pastry, toast with a dark chocolate spread and hot turmeric tea. At the beach, I walked by the Mahatma Gandhi memorial and the rocky shore. I also got to ride a boat through the mangrove forest in Pondicherry. Mangroves are trees that grow in water.
The farthest I have traveled from Chennai so far is to Bangkok, Thailand. I went for three days. Bangkok has amazing food. I got to try a steamed pandan pancake, a crispy crepe filled with egg pudding, mango sticky rice, Pad Thai (noodles), Tom Yum (lemongrass soup) and Thai green curry. I also got to visit a lot of temples and ancient ruins. During the 11th century, the Chola Dynasty (from present day Tamil Nadu) invaded Southeast Asia, including Thailand. Because of this, a lot of the older ruins I saw had Hindu influences.
