A Trip To Andaman
May 26 2008 | Views 674 |
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Tags: Andaman Havelock Corbyn's Cove Cellular Jail Radha Nagar Beach Elephant beach Ross Viper
Tags: Andaman Havelock Corbyn's Cove Cellular Jail Radha Nagar Beach Elephant beach Ross Viper
It threatened to be a non starter. A weekdays before the start of the trp, NDTV reported that the airport at Port Blair was under three feet of water. After considering various other options in the last minute, we decided that we need to stick to our originial choice and take a risk : at worst we will come back and get to see only a aerial view of the island. At best, we will be among the limited tourists who decided to try our luck
Lucky we were.
So here goes : a short and photogrphic recount of the trip.
We landed on a cloudy drizzling afternoon on a Thursday. Went straight to the hotel, had our lunch and set off for a set of sight seeings. First on the list was a boring little Aquarium. Lot of live and dead fishes. And then , the Must see Cellular Jail
The next was a boat tour of the main three islands.
The breakfast was great ! With view like this laden tree, anything would have tasted great !
The light and sound show was pretty cool - The story of the place was narrated by several long standing charaters - like the tree and the gallow at the prison.
It was a wrap for day two.
On Day three, the plan was to raom around a bit in the morning and catch a 2'o clock ship to another island - Havelock.
We wanted to do the standard round of sight seeing places.
We first saw the Chatham saw mill
And then moved on to a museum that talks about the marine history and geography of the region
We boarded the ship by around 2 pm.
Lucky we were.
So here goes : a short and photogrphic recount of the trip.
We landed on a cloudy drizzling afternoon on a Thursday. Went straight to the hotel, had our lunch and set off for a set of sight seeings. First on the list was a boring little Aquarium. Lot of live and dead fishes. And then , the Must see Cellular Jail
This is where the prisoners get whipped if they dont "produce" their quota of Oil. I am skipping the photos of the gallows or the place where they do the "last rites" to a live person. Its not really something you want to see !
View from the terrace ! Its actually beautiful !
View from central tower. A view available only rarely to the inmates. As we were touring the prison, it started raining - actually drizzling big. It was pretty beautiful
A view of a prison corridor - imagine three of these ( for three floors), per wing and 7 wings. That was the prison. To be frank, the "cell" was pretty huge.
View from the ground.
The stop was "Gandhi Park" A park where kids can have fun over weekend ! Not a very exciting place. But, was a good wind down for the day.
The next was a boat tour of the main three islands.
The breakfast was great ! With view like this laden tree, anything would have tasted great !
We started of the the islands tour with first stop at Ross Island. Ross island was the administrative capital of the islands and was a paradise !
Like that novel "Dr. Some one's Island" this was a planned place ! once upon a time ! But Nature has completely take it over !
What once used to be a Chapel. These things got destroyed basically in the WWII .. and then nothing got rebuilt !
But nature is in its full glory on this island.
Nature is still at it here !
The final stop on the boat tour was a beachy Island : I think the name of was North Bay island. The place had nothing but remenants of 2008 NY party. And it will not be cleaned till 2009 NY party ! Such a pity. There still was some boating happening.
The Island did have some distant beautifull looking cottages under thick trees. The light house stood out like Tom had hit on Jerry's head
Then it was the sunset. The so called cruise was great in patches. The boat was rickety, the service - non existent. But the sights and places compensated in good measure. Infact the sights and places and the history was more than a match for the lack of other things that we will forget any way.
The next stop was the light and Sound show at Cellular jail.
The light and sound show was pretty cool - The story of the place was narrated by several long standing charaters - like the tree and the gallow at the prison.
It was a wrap for day two.
On Day three, the plan was to raom around a bit in the morning and catch a 2'o clock ship to another island - Havelock.
We wanted to do the standard round of sight seeing places.
We first saw the Chatham saw mill
And then moved on to a museum that talks about the marine history and geography of the region
Also saw this strange looking "flower"(?) If some one knows what this is, please let me know !
And the coconut trees ! I love them as such. Andaman is full of them too ! this one was particularly gorgeous !!! Beautiful sight !
And then it was time to get ready for the two hour "voyage" !
It was a unique experience to be in the sea and you dont see land at all ! Its kinda scarry ! Its exciting ! It can be boring too.
Once we checked into the hotel after landing on Havelock by around 4.30 and taking some rest, we rushed to a small nearby beach and wanted to quickly take a dip before the tide rises and takes over all the walkable beach.
It was such a beautiful and peaceful place. After this and the made to order dinner at the place we stayed, it was a lightsout.
Day four , practically the last day, was promising to be the most promising. It started of with the a slight dampener : the sun was blazing. We were happily shadowed by thick clouds for the first three days. Not on the last day
And my favorite coconut tree palms against the grey heat of the sky !
And then we were off to snorkelling and some coral viewing to a "Elephant BEach" I have know clue why its called so. Its really amangrove beach. After almost a n hour of floating above corals and viewing them, we went to the beach, Amazingly, most of the beaches are only waist deep for as long as you want to go - and then beyond it .. its a sudden drop. Since you any way dont want to to as long as that - its fun !
The kids ( read every one) went on a shell collecting spree and to their amazement they realsed that half of what they collected were live and moving ! This - featured above - is one of those which suddenly grew claws as I reached out to pick it - and cooly walked off !
After Elephant beaches, it was a lunch time at a local "mess" ! With standard south indian Thali and fish fry ! it was Yummy ! And then we set of to "Radha Nagar Beach" ! It was this HUGE expanse of a beach where the forest with really TALL trees met the ocean ! With all of 8 of us having the entire beach to us, it was absolutely fantastic !
We spent lot of time here. Making Sand castles etc. ! And then it was time to catch a boat to go to Port Blair !
As we turned a corner, this lone church on the tip of the Island was bidding us farewell.
I parked myself at the top deck for most of the return journey ! With sea water splashing on to face as the ship cut through the sea, it was exhilrating !
Thought technically, the flight back to chennai was only on the next day, this technically was curtains to our trip to Andaman.
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