Yesterday evening, we returned to Mumbai after spending five glorious days on the Andaman Islands. We planned this trip several months ago; it is somewhere that we would be very unlikely to travel to when not living in India owing to the logistical challenges of getting there from elsewhere, but living in Mumbai gives us the perfect opportunity to explore this lesser known part of the world.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are comprised of over 1000 separate islands in total, are a union territory of India, albeit they are closer geographically to Thailand and are formed from a mountain ridge which runs down through the Bay of Bengal from Myanmar. You can only fly there from India, specifically Chennai or Kolkata, although you can take a three-day boat trip from the east coast of India to the islands if you prefer. We wisely decided against this option, and instead flew via Kolkata to the capital city Port Blair, located on the main island Great Andaman.
I could write about the history, tribes and geography of the Andaman and Nicobar for hours, but I doubt this would be of interest to everyone, so I recommend that you visit Wikipedia for more information (this will probably mention the islands' reputation for settlers encountering cannibals in the distant past...). The Nicobar islands are all but out of bounds for tourists and most visitors instead head straight to Havelock, a tropical paradise famous for its coral and diving opportunities, a two to four hour ferry ride from the mainland. The ferries are (in)convenient timed such that you are forced to spend a night in Port Blair upon arrival, although this gives plenty of time to explore the (not very many) sights of the town.
We spent our time in Port Blair visiting the Cellular Jail. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I wasn't aware of the history of this jail before my arrival; it was built and used by the British to imprison Indian freedom fighters during the 100 years before independence, on the basis that they could be kept out of trouble when isolated far from the mainland. The British do not come out well in the museum's exhibits and it appears that the inmates were not treated terribly humanely, even once you have allowed for the anti-British bias inherent in the exhibits. The jail itself is an interesting structure, built in a star shape with seven wings radiating from a central tower, and sweeping views of the glorious bay.
From the tower, you can see the nearby Ross Island, a 1km square island located close to the mainland, which we unfortunately did not have time to visit. Ross Island was once known at "The Paris of the East" and is where the British built their colonial mansions, tennis court, club houses, bakery, church and even a printing press. The old photos of the little town look glorious, but it was hastily evacuated in 1942 owing to the Japanese invasion. The only saving grace for the depiction of the British in the jail museum is that the Japanese come off even worse than us, which isn't really much of a compliment. Sadly, Ross Island has since been left to crumble ever since (a dodgy survey conducted after the war concluded it is sinking at one inch a year, which probably isn't true and didn't help its revival) so it is now a collection of ruins which hint towards its former glory.
We stayed at a simple but functional hotel which did its job in terms of looking clean, safe accommodation and air conditioning, but left me with a hundred (I'm not joking) ant bites, and I found a cockroach in the bathroom, so I was more than happy to leave to catch the ferry in the morning. The ferry was run by a private company and was very swish (relatively) so we had a smooth journey over the Havelock, arriving at our destination by mid-morning after a well smooth crossing.
We had planned to stay three nights on Havelock and I'd splashed out on the most luxurious resort on the island; a eco-friendly haven with no internet, no mobile signal, and no basically no outdoor interference of any kind. This wasn't a plush 5-star place with lots of fancy facilities, but I struggle to fault it. The wooden cottages and tents were perfectly in keeping with the jungle and beach surroundings and the wonderful beach, supposedly one of the best in Asia, was reached by a short walk through a forest and was truly unspoilt. This concern for looking after the environment is critical and rarely seen in India, making this resort a breath of fresh air. There was no lighting of walkways at night, every guest was given a small torch, and shoes had to be taken off for the (great and well-stocked) bar and restaurant. Relaxing with a beer at the bar surrounded by jungle and reading a good book was magical.
We didn't do a lot whilst on Havelock; the temptation to while away the days eating, then reading and pottering around on the beach between meals was a little too great. We went exploring one day to find a hidden beach (a long a very sweaty walk), though failed, and caught the local bus to the main jetty to instead travel to this beach by boat the next day. There are two roads on the island, so navigation without Phil's ipad wasn't difficult. This was well worth it in the end, with crystal clear warm water and shoals of fish and coral close to the shore. There were also lots of local tourists paddling around in rubber rings which reduced the idyllic atmosphere slightly, but it was all very entertaining.
The Andamans are genuinely undeveloped and unspoilt, although the islands are becoming more popular. The time required to get here means that the number of visitors is naturally controlled and efforts are made to conserve its natural beauty. This beauty was tragically threatened in 2004 when the islands were nearly wiped out by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Many islanders were killed, but the locals are now back on their feet and life is largely back to normal.
The undeveloped nature of the island does have its downsides. We needed to catch the 9am ferry back to the mainland on our final day to catch our flight to Mumbai but it was seemingly not possible to buy tickets in advance so we had to queue in a sweaty scrum at 7am that morning instead. This was an experience (!) but wasn't all that fun, especially because catching our flight depended upon getting tickets. The locals are extremely relaxed but that means that things happen in their own way and at their own pace; no one is a hurry and you just have to go with the flow (not always my strong point).
As much as I liked the islands, they didn't always like me. Being in a jungle (albeit with beaches) the local insect population welcomed me in style and I am covered with bites; ant, mosquito and other, despite my best efforts covering up and with repellent. I'm also sad to say that I got a little bit sunburnt whilst snorkelling, despite my best efforts reapplying lotion every 20 minutes, and have concluded that the only way to protect myself is to look like a geeky teenage girl and wear a t-shirt over my swimming gear. Sad times.
After four calm days, we left our resort at 7am on Monday morning and arrived home at 10pm that evening; two taxis, an auto, a ferry and two flights later. If you love diving, beaches, getting-away-from-it-all and have two weeks' holiday spare, I would thoroughly recommend exploring the Andamans, though maybe in winter at a less insect-y time. The rest of India, and the world, has a lot to learn from the island's environmentally sensitive approach, and long may that continue.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are comprised of over 1000 separate islands in total, are a union territory of India, albeit they are closer geographically to Thailand and are formed from a mountain ridge which runs down through the Bay of Bengal from Myanmar. You can only fly there from India, specifically Chennai or Kolkata, although you can take a three-day boat trip from the east coast of India to the islands if you prefer. We wisely decided against this option, and instead flew via Kolkata to the capital city Port Blair, located on the main island Great Andaman.
I could write about the history, tribes and geography of the Andaman and Nicobar for hours, but I doubt this would be of interest to everyone, so I recommend that you visit Wikipedia for more information (this will probably mention the islands' reputation for settlers encountering cannibals in the distant past...). The Nicobar islands are all but out of bounds for tourists and most visitors instead head straight to Havelock, a tropical paradise famous for its coral and diving opportunities, a two to four hour ferry ride from the mainland. The ferries are (in)convenient timed such that you are forced to spend a night in Port Blair upon arrival, although this gives plenty of time to explore the (not very many) sights of the town.
We spent our time in Port Blair visiting the Cellular Jail. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I wasn't aware of the history of this jail before my arrival; it was built and used by the British to imprison Indian freedom fighters during the 100 years before independence, on the basis that they could be kept out of trouble when isolated far from the mainland. The British do not come out well in the museum's exhibits and it appears that the inmates were not treated terribly humanely, even once you have allowed for the anti-British bias inherent in the exhibits. The jail itself is an interesting structure, built in a star shape with seven wings radiating from a central tower, and sweeping views of the glorious bay.
I kept my British accent to myself...
A wing of the cellular jail - there are now three remaining
Looking down a corridor from the central tower
View from the jail roof looking out to Port Blair harbour
Walking on the roof of the jail
From the tower, you can see the nearby Ross Island, a 1km square island located close to the mainland, which we unfortunately did not have time to visit. Ross Island was once known at "The Paris of the East" and is where the British built their colonial mansions, tennis court, club houses, bakery, church and even a printing press. The old photos of the little town look glorious, but it was hastily evacuated in 1942 owing to the Japanese invasion. The only saving grace for the depiction of the British in the jail museum is that the Japanese come off even worse than us, which isn't really much of a compliment. Sadly, Ross Island has since been left to crumble ever since (a dodgy survey conducted after the war concluded it is sinking at one inch a year, which probably isn't true and didn't help its revival) so it is now a collection of ruins which hint towards its former glory.
We stayed at a simple but functional hotel which did its job in terms of looking clean, safe accommodation and air conditioning, but left me with a hundred (I'm not joking) ant bites, and I found a cockroach in the bathroom, so I was more than happy to leave to catch the ferry in the morning. The ferry was run by a private company and was very swish (relatively) so we had a smooth journey over the Havelock, arriving at our destination by mid-morning after a well smooth crossing.
The luxury catamaran - highly recommended
We had planned to stay three nights on Havelock and I'd splashed out on the most luxurious resort on the island; a eco-friendly haven with no internet, no mobile signal, and no basically no outdoor interference of any kind. This wasn't a plush 5-star place with lots of fancy facilities, but I struggle to fault it. The wooden cottages and tents were perfectly in keeping with the jungle and beach surroundings and the wonderful beach, supposedly one of the best in Asia, was reached by a short walk through a forest and was truly unspoilt. This concern for looking after the environment is critical and rarely seen in India, making this resort a breath of fresh air. There was no lighting of walkways at night, every guest was given a small torch, and shoes had to be taken off for the (great and well-stocked) bar and restaurant. Relaxing with a beer at the bar surrounded by jungle and reading a good book was magical.
In our AC tented cottage. Very comfortable.
Tents from the outside, surrounded by all forms of greenery
The forest path to the beach
The beach itself - inventive named Beach 7
There were lots of jellyfish washed up on the beach, though they didn't sting (supposedly...)
Making footprints
Me in my not-very-trendy surfer shorts. I had to abandon them after a day because they are flowery and appeared to attract extra insects - particular big scary black beetles - which I didn't like very much.
Conch photography. This guy scuttled quickly across the sand. I spent a happy few minutes following him (or her) around the beach.
These patterns in the sand were amazing and looked very pretty all over the beach. If you look carefully, you can see the crab neat the hole in the centre.
Sunset
In the heat of the day
We didn't do a lot whilst on Havelock; the temptation to while away the days eating, then reading and pottering around on the beach between meals was a little too great. We went exploring one day to find a hidden beach (a long a very sweaty walk), though failed, and caught the local bus to the main jetty to instead travel to this beach by boat the next day. There are two roads on the island, so navigation without Phil's ipad wasn't difficult. This was well worth it in the end, with crystal clear warm water and shoals of fish and coral close to the shore. There were also lots of local tourists paddling around in rubber rings which reduced the idyllic atmosphere slightly, but it was all very entertaining.
From the speedboat to Elephant Beach
Loaded up for the boat journey
Excellent pancakes for breakfast
At the end of a hot jungle walk. A little bit out of equilibrium.
Lots of other tourists to the right of the beach
Peace and quiet to the left of the beach
Snorkelling in action
This dog was great. He dug himself a cool hole in the sand then curled up and settled down in it.
Enjoying a fresh fish lunch post snorkelling
Fresh juicy coconut water
Phil's view looking up whilst dozing in the shade
Dozing in the shade
The Andamans are genuinely undeveloped and unspoilt, although the islands are becoming more popular. The time required to get here means that the number of visitors is naturally controlled and efforts are made to conserve its natural beauty. This beauty was tragically threatened in 2004 when the islands were nearly wiped out by the Indian Ocean tsunami. Many islanders were killed, but the locals are now back on their feet and life is largely back to normal.
The undeveloped nature of the island does have its downsides. We needed to catch the 9am ferry back to the mainland on our final day to catch our flight to Mumbai but it was seemingly not possible to buy tickets in advance so we had to queue in a sweaty scrum at 7am that morning instead. This was an experience (!) but wasn't all that fun, especially because catching our flight depended upon getting tickets. The locals are extremely relaxed but that means that things happen in their own way and at their own pace; no one is a hurry and you just have to go with the flow (not always my strong point).
As much as I liked the islands, they didn't always like me. Being in a jungle (albeit with beaches) the local insect population welcomed me in style and I am covered with bites; ant, mosquito and other, despite my best efforts covering up and with repellent. I'm also sad to say that I got a little bit sunburnt whilst snorkelling, despite my best efforts reapplying lotion every 20 minutes, and have concluded that the only way to protect myself is to look like a geeky teenage girl and wear a t-shirt over my swimming gear. Sad times.
After four calm days, we left our resort at 7am on Monday morning and arrived home at 10pm that evening; two taxis, an auto, a ferry and two flights later. If you love diving, beaches, getting-away-from-it-all and have two weeks' holiday spare, I would thoroughly recommend exploring the Andamans, though maybe in winter at a less insect-y time. The rest of India, and the world, has a lot to learn from the island's environmentally sensitive approach, and long may that continue.
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