Andaman - a nature lover's delight

You could go to Andaman with myriad plans and still feel like you've done nothing at all. The place can deceive you into feeling just that despite your muscles protesting after all those water activities. Activities  centered around the water, is a serious  occupation for the islanders. Be it deep sea fishing or scuba diving or island hopping or snorkelling/ kayaking or sun bathing or lazing around the beautiful beaches' (oh yeah, that sure is one pleasurable 'water' activity).

Port Blair

Why we went - This trip was sort of a pending honeymoon for S and I. And since we both love nature and love to laze about, Andaman seemed like a good destination.

When we went - We planned our trip for February, which was supposedly the end of the tourist season. The climate was bright and sunny, just right for the snorkeling and kayaking plans we made.

How we went - We had booked a Kingfisher flight to Port Blair from Chennai. It was a non-stop flight, with a tired looking staff. We left Chennai two hours behind schedule as the weather conditions were not good in Andaman. This is how it looked from the plane. Don't know much about flying conditions, but we were happy seeing the puffy clouds.

The food in the plane

View from the plane

But of course, they might have been right, because we couldn't see a thing when we were approaching the island.

I was excited to see the Veer Savarkar International Airport. It was a quaint little one and we walked to the buildings from the tarmac instead of being taken by bus. The buildings and houses in Port Blair(PB)  seemed to be low and built mostly of wood, which was quite charming. The roads were winding up and down just like it is in Kerala and it was a relief to see such light traffic after Chennai's mad rush.

Where we stayed: For day 1 of our trip our travel agent booked us into Megapode Nest which is on the outskirts of the town and very near to the Phoneix Jetty, from where all ferries leave to Havelock island (one of the most soughted and popular islands in Andaman). I would rather have stayed in TSG Emerald View, which had received some good reviews on the internet, through out our stay in PB but our agent said it was full.

 This was Megapode Nest. We hurried to the restaurant for lunch as were very hungry, thanks to the 2 hour delay. The good thing about this hotel or glorified resort is the view.

This is what you see from the restaurant. They seemed to have capitalized on the view. I think other than Fortune Bay resort, no other resort could boast of such a view in PB. Other than the view, the food is very very unremarkable and that can be said for almost all hotels in PB. The rooms are functional and clean. It definitely urged us to move on to Havelock as soon as possible.

How we got to Megapode: Barefoot Scuba resort, a professionally run resort in Havelock will, if you pay for Meet and Greet service package, take care of your pick up and drop from Airport, to the ferry, across the sea, to and from Havelock, back to PB and then off to the airport. This is a good thing to do for first timers. if you are budgeted, you could still be pleasantly met and greeted by the local auto and taxi drivers. But standing in queues for the ferry ticket can be quite a challenge. Plus it needs to be done a day earlier.

What we did - We wanted to see the much talked about Cellular Jail and the Sound and Light show on Day 1 itself, as we were staying in Havelock for most part of our trip returning only on Day 4 evening to PB. I wanted to check out Jolly Buoy or Red Skin island for which we had to come back to PB from Havelock as all the ferries leave only from the capital.

So after a brief rest, we set off by taxi to Cellular Jail ( a cheaper option would be to hail an auto if your lodgings are in the town). When we reached there at five pm, we came to know that the ticket counter was closed at 4:15pm itself. I was dejected. But a good samaritan taxi driver took pity on us and managed to get us in asking us to hurry back by six so that we could pick up tickets for the light and sound show. S and I were touched by his concern. He did all this without even expecting money.

The Cellular Jail

The corridor with the prison cells on one side

One of the 6 wings of the prison

Oil expeller in the prison

One of the front runners of the riot in the prison

Amar Jyoti

So after a quick tour of the well maintained jail, we were back at the ticket counter for the 6:45pm Light and sound show in Hindi. Hindi shows were on all days but English shows were only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We had gone on a Thursday. The ticket queue was serpentine but the ladies' was better off.

A glimpse of the queue

Just before the show started

Maybe our expectations were high after reading that this show was definitely one of the things to see when in Andaman, but we were disappointed by the show. I don't know why I expected a bit of laser and stuff which was not to be. The show was quite boring and did not give a good account of the plight suffered by the prisoners in the hands of the British. But what was amusing was the number of pictures taken when the lights came on in any one segment of the prison, in spite of it being dark and all that people were taking were the heads of the people in front of them. More like paparazzi stalking a celebrity!

From there we were off to Annapurna restaurant for dinner. Four stars for the yummy Indian food serving restaurant. Tummy full, we went back to Megapode to sleep the night off and take the fast catamaran Makruzz to Havelock.

Whew that's quite a long post. Shall write the rest in next post.