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| On our way to Radhanagar Beach |
Radhanagar beach lived up to its reputation of being named the Best Beach in Asia in 2004 by Time magazine. The fierce afternoon
sun glinted off the blue water, making me squint in spite of my shades. The
sand though powdery and soft, was hot on the feet. So S came up with a
brilliant plan. He had seen a path going off parallel to the beach and wanted
to investigate it. He thought it would lead to Barefoot Scuba resort’s rich sister: Barefoot
at Havelock resort. He was right. But that’s for later.
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| The parallel path |
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| The small woods beyond the path |
I was happy to follow S, and boy was I rewarded. The path led to a woods that had such tall trees that it seemed to have been there from time immemorial. I simply couldn’t understand how such tall trees could exist so close to the shore. It’s quite a sight and it gives us a feeling of how insignificant we are. We spent a couple of happy hours hugging these huge trees with a girth that is so wide that it would need probably five people holding hands outstretched to measure it.
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| Just check out the height of this tree |
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| S tries getting the positive energy of the tree. I'm not joking! |
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| This would be my postcard from Andaman...ah bliss. |
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| Isn't this a classic 'James Bond'-ish shot? |
After
we took in all of that calm and beauty we made our way to the Barefoot at
Havelock resort which is reached through a small path from the beach. There is another way for the guests to enter
the resort.
When we walked in, we saw a
fresh batch of foreigners, most in their fifties and sixties.
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| Barefoot at Havelock resort |
We had our coffee in their in-house restaurant, with its
highly polished wooden floors on which you could see your face and since one wouldn’t
want to stamp their own faces with footwear, the resort requests you to leave
your footwear out. So we walked barefoot and had coffee and bruschetta with a
nice light dip. The service was nice and personal. The waiter came in to remind
us of the sunset and how it would look wonderful from the beach. We paid up and
hurried to the beach just in time to take some wonderful snaps of the setting
sun.
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| Long shadows left by the setting sun |
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| A beautiful yacht anchored in the water |
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| The beauty |
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| Couldn't resist this 'Qayamat se qayamat tak' type shot |
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| Another classic shot. God was kind to me. |
By the time we drove back it was getting dark. But since
there is only one road that connects the beach to the rest of Havelock, it was
pretty easy finding our way back. We had time to check out the neighbouring
resort, Symphony Resort's restaurant, Charcoal, which was part of my list of restaurants to try out in Havelock. They
were serving mainly a buffet but we settled for naans and gravy which was
pretty adequate. There seemed to be a heavy North Indian influence in the menu
and judging by the number of North Indians sitting around me, I could
understand why.
The next day, our last day in Havelock, we checked out of
our wonderful resort and drove down to Kalapathar village. The passing scenary
was breathtaking. I don’t think one could capture that so easily in a camera.
So immersed were we in the beauty around us that we didn’t realize that we were passing
through Kalapathar village.
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| We overshot Kalapathar |
We drove on and on through verdant rice fields,
watching farmers go about their work, avoiding healthy cows calmly chewing
their cud. Then all of a sudden the road ended. Just like that. We came to
know that the sea on one side of the road and the white rocks on the other, was
actually what we had come to see. Since I was looking for a literal translation
of Kalapathar – black rocks, I missed the place. When we returned we saw that there were indeed a few black rocks to prompt that name.
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| But whose complaining? |
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| Cool board |
The beach is lovely and gives a lot of privacy. One can sit here for ages if it's the sea they love. Since S and I had already checked out of our hotel and we had time to kill until lunch, we happily sat and took it all in - the incessant sound of the waves hitting the shore, the sudden silence before the next wave forms (divine), the chirping of birds somewhere, the cool sea breeze blowing through ...I could go on.
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| The calm sea, but with floating debris |
We had lunch in
Red Snapper restaurant in Wild Orchid resort. This is a little upmarket restaurant, known for it's seafood dishes.I wanted to try out seafood here, though S
and I were not big fans of it. Still, we had come to Andaman after all, and if
not here then where? So I ordered batterfried prawns with dip for starters and chickened out
with chicken pasta. The prawns portion size was big, especially since it was
just me eating them. But it was delicious all the same. The prawns were fresh
and succulent. The pasta however was as dry as the sand in the beach. I was so
disappointed, given the cost of the item. I gave my feedback to the maitre d
and so the next time you go there and find your pasta just of the right
consistency, don’t forget to thank me ;)
These are just a few snaps of Barefoot Scuba resort. I loved the place, the people working there, the services given to us...I will definitely stay here the next time too.
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| The sea facing cottages |
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| The hub - the water activities reception |
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| The sea view cottages in which we stayed |
So the meal signed off our trip to Havelock, and as far as S
was concerned, signed off our Andaman
trip. He was loathe to get back to Port Blair and seemed like a petulant boy.
Pretty cute I must say.
I for one was looking forward to visiting the other
islands, like Jolly Buoy or Red Skin Island. But on reaching PB we came to know
that
these islands are closed on Monday. I was surprised that nowhere was it
mentioned that the islands are closed to public on a weekday. None of the websites
I had checked had given this information. I don't know if this was probably a new rule of the Government. But please do take care to check this up the next time you plan for a vacation there. So, were forced to go to Ross Island
in the local ferry filled to the capacity with other tourists.
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| The picturesque jetty which masks the confusion of boats coming to dock |
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| Our cracker of a er...captain(?) |
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| The jetty at Ross Island |
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| The ruins in Ross Island |
Ross Island is a ruin of the administrative headquarters of the British in Andaman and Nicobar. There is clear evidence of an opulent, carefully planned past. The hospital, the church, the officers club, mess, desalination plant etc.Gnarled roots of trees grow over
some of the structures giving them an eerie look. The ruins gave me goose
pimples. I felt as if English ladies in their flouncy skirts and British
officers in their crisp uniforms would walk out any moment and startle us with
their laughter. I couldn’t quite brush off that thought, as I walked into an old
church with its hidden rooms and ancient stairs. Next to the church was the
hospital and the graveyard. By the time S and I had checked out the tombstones which showed almost everybody as being dead in their early twenties, we were left alone by other tourists who had come with us.We were alone amongst the tombstones and that was enough to spook me. I egged S to move on quickly, much to his amusement.
So friends, I couldn't complain of having an uneventful day in Ross Island. Maybe we'd make another trip to check out Jolly Buoy or Red Skin island ;), that is, if I get S to move out of Havelock Island this time.
This is definitely the end of my update of our Andaman trip but believe me, the memories will remain with me for ever. Every trip has it's ups and downs. I am glad that ours included a lot of 'ups', largely because, the beauty of the place lends itself to everything. So don't forget to include a trip to Andaman in your must-see places. I'm sure you will not be disappointed. Ciao!
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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