Visit to Andaman Islands( Oct 2010 )

Blog on our Vacation to Andaman Islands from 10 Oct 10 to 17^th Oct 2010

Day 1 1010/2010:

We departed from Bangalore at 5.15 a.m. in the morning by Kingfisher Airlines and reached Port Blair at 7.30 a.m. It was a 2 and a half hour journey covering a distance of 1800 kms. As we were alight at Veer Savarkar Airport in Port Blair, we had a breathtaking view of the islands from above. There were many bunches of green islands scattered in the blue ocean of Bay of Bengal.

It was raining in Port Blair when we reached. From the airport we were transferred to a Jetty. We got into a luxury cruise vessel," Makruzz" for journey by sea to Havelock Island at around 9.a.m. There were approximately 300 passengers on this Singapore made vessel. It was a comfortable 45 min journey. Havelock is a beautiful island about 30 kms from Port Blair.

On reaching Havelock, we were taken to SeaShell Resort. This resort has condos and has its own private beach. We freshened up and had a stroll on the beach. We played tic-tac-toe on the sand and also built sand castles. After lunch, we took a 2 km walk from the resort to the Jetty. It was still raining and the surroundings looked lush green. We returned back around 4pm. It had already begun to get dark. Since we were tired from the journey we fell asleep till 7 p.m. Woke up and had dinner and after a stroll till the beach in the night we called it a day.

Day 2. 11/10/2010
Daybreak is very early by 5.a.m.When we woke up at 5.45, it was very bright. It was drizzling. Just took a walk around the resort and checked the water level at the sea. It was still low tide there. Had a nice breakfast and got ready to go to Elephant Beach for snorkelling. Though it was a bright day it was still raining.

We reached the Jetty and got into wooden boats to have the ride of our lives. The tides were pretty strong, the rain was lashing, and the boat was going hunky dory tossing us around. All of us slowly picked up our life jackets and of course there was a lot of screaming happening around. We were at the mercy of the sea for half an hour before we reached Elephant Beach. People were doing Scuba diving and snorkelling there. We had a gala time playing in the waves. We were sceptical about our return journey in the boat, but the sea had calmed down a bit. On reaching Havelock we considered ourselves lucky!

Went back to the resort totally drenched and drained but disappointed on not being able to do snorkelling. After lunch we headed to Radhanagar beach. It was Asia's best beach in 2004. It is a beautiful beach with white sand, literally untouched. It was raining very heavily. But it did not stop us from venturing into the sea. We had a whale of a time. We were just floating on the waves.

On the way back to the hotel, our bus slipped and went off the road. We all got off the bus and finally it had to be pulled out by a rope with another big truck. Whew! That was bit of an adventurous ride. When we reached the resort at 5.45 it was pitch dark. We rested for a while.

We played Housie in the evening and we were lucky to win full housie. It was a lot of fun. After a good dinner we wound up a pretty long day.

Day 3 12/10/2010
Had our breakfast, packed our bags at checkout at 10a.m. We reached the Jetty and boarded the ship Makruzz at 11.am. The weather was bad, the sea was rough and it was a roller coaster ride aboard and it made quite a few people suffered from sea sickness. It was a memorable ride though.

On reaching Port Blair, we checked into TSG Emerald Hotel at 1.30 p.m. After having lunch, we took a walk in downtown, went around the bazaar area, purchased T Shirts and shorts, ready for another wet day. Must mention that the city is very neat and clean. People are very polite and friendly. Saw a lot of camaraderie between people of different states and religion. We came back all the way back by walk. Had dinner and called it a day.

Day 4. 13/10/2010
Started the day with a good breakfast . Began the day by visiting Cellular Jail. The guide explained a lot of details about Veer Savarkar Jail. Built in 1852, has around 752 cells; saw various heinous punishment techniques meted out to prisoners; saw Veer Savarkar's cell – he had written Marathi poetry on the wall; had a view of Ross island. Spent about an hour in the jail. It made us quite numb to hear the sordid tales.

Then we went to Anthropological Museum. Lots of info about tribal people; the way they lived, their weapons, dressings, huts, food, community style, etc models were kept.

Then we went to Samudrika Museum. Saw Aquarium - had star fished, sea anemones, clown fishes, corals, shells, etc..

Later we visited Chhattam Saw Mill. Saw various wooden furniture, cutting of logs by machines, transportation by trams etc.

Came back to the hotel around 1.30 pm.

In the afternoon at 3 pm. We went to Corbyn's Cove Beach. Nice beach, it was a lovely afternoon. We did a lot of swimming.

On the way back we shopped for Sea shells in the shopping area – Middle Point. We tasted some delicious samosas and kadak chai.

Day 5. 14/10/2010

We had the morning off to ourselves. We visited Marina Park in Port Blair. It is a beautiful place in the heart of Port Blair with many memorials of II World war, Subash Chandra Bose, Kargil, etc.

We did some swimming in the sea water. Then we did Jet Skiing in the sea water. It was an awesome ride, jutting off at 40 nautical miles per hour on the Jet Ski. Truly thrilling!

In the afternoon we went to Viper Island by boat. It houses the first jail built but later used for female inmates. It is almost in ruins now, caused by the tsunami. On the way back, we sat on the deck, enjoyed the sunset and the cool breeze.

Got off the boat and headed straight to the Cellular Jail to watch the Light and Sound Show. It was pretty dark by 5.30 pm. There was a huge audience and chairs were put up in the jail. The story of how the jail came into existence, the happenings, about the brave prisoners, etc were told using light and sound effects. After the show most of us literally had tears in our eyes, to realise that we are enjoying freedom because of the struggles of so many Indians who fought for our independence. This show was a memorable part of our trip.

Day 6. 15/10/2020

After breakfast, at 9.00 am we reached the jetty to catch a boat to Ross Island. Ross Island was the British Capital and Administrative Centre. It is surrounded on all sides by water. On alighting on the island, we were dumbstruck to see how well planned it still looks today. There was a tennis court, bakery, cafe, swimming pool, power station etc. We were taken around by a fiery and passionate guide Ms. Anuradha Rao who commanded our undivided attention. She has dedicated her life to the island and is so familiar with it that even bulbul birds line up at her beck and call. Even the deer come running to her when she calls them out. Prithvi did what he loves the best – feeding the deer with bread. She was one of those rare guides whom we cannot forget. We learnt that Port Blair was saved from the wrath of the tsunami, as Ross Island took the first hit.

Had refreshing Coconut water and got on the boat to head for North Bay. All of us were very eager to do Snorkelling. It was a lovely day, lovely weather. We changed into swimming gear the moment we got down and were off to swimming. We put on the snorkelling gadgets,(goggles and the blow pipe and tube) and were taken quite deep into the sea by a snorkelling guide. We saw a lot of corals beneath the sea. Some hopped onto a boat with glass floor and took a look at the corals without getting wet! The underwater marine life is really mesmerising! We decided we must definitely go Scuba Diving next. We had a nice picinic, as we had packed lunch from the hotel. Half heartedly we got on the boat to get back to Port Blair. We had a splendid time in the water.

We reached Marina Park and we hung out there. We did Paddle boating with my son at the wheels. We treated ourselves with hot samosas and it was a delight to eat them sitting by the sea. On the way back we saw Durga Pandals put up for Vijayadashami, Bengali style celebrations. We tasted Rosgulla and Sondesh.

Day 7 16/10/2010

Woke up at 3.am. to go to Baratang Island. We got into a Tata Sumo, and a convoy of vehicles moved on along the 90 km stretch for 1 ½ hr. We reached the checkpost at 6.30 am.
Thereafter, the convoy was escorted by the Forest police as we travelled along the area inhabited by the Jarawa tribe. There were a lot of Jarawa tribal kids along the way waving and cheering. Some of them had dressed up in flowers, some had smeared ash on their face and some were holding spears and arrows. They were as eager to see us as were to see them. We reached a place and we were transferred to Baratang Island by a ferry. Then we got on a boat and had the best boat ride in the sea. We were cruising along and there were lush green mangroves on either side, and many small islands were scattered along. There was pin drop silence and we heard only the sound of the waves. After about 40 mins, the boat suddenly took a deviation and we were in for a surprise. We had entered a canopy of the mangroves, and the only word that came out from everyone's mouth was "AWESOME". It was a beautiful sight as we moved into the mangroves slowly. We got off and took a 3 km trek to see the lime stone caves. The walk was wonderful as we moved carefully in the rainforests. The limestone caves were dark inside, and with the help of a torch light we moved inside and saw the myriad images formed by the limestones. It was a wonderful experience.

We walked back the 3 km stretch, most of us exhausted, got on the boat, enjoyed the scenery on the return journey, back the same way through the Jarawas territory and reached the hotel around 4 pm.

We had just had a glimpse of the real Andaman that day. We realised how rich Andaman is in its flora and fauna, heritage and culture.

The evening was spent in exchanging emails and phone numbers with other members of our group and we all were feeling sad that our trip had come to an end.

Day 8 17/10/2010
Checked out of the hotel at 6.30 and reached Veer Savarkar International airport. Our flight was at 8.15 am.We thanked our Makemytrip guys, expecially Shyam who was an excellent co-ordinator. We waved one last good bye to Andaman and reached Bangalore at 11 a.m. with a lot of wonderful memories.