Andaman is the land of golden beaches. The soft golden sand slipping beneath your feet, bright blue sky over your head and that soothing clear blue water makes you feel as if there is no other splendid sight than this. All you would want to do is just keep staring as the waves come and go. You could clearly see the seafloor as the water is so clear.
Ready for our next adventure to Havelock Islands, we took Makruzz boat from Port Blair. A word of caution for fellow travelers would be to get your tickets (to and fro) done well in advance else you will have a tough time in getting them. With deep blue waters all over, we loved the ride to Havelock. They played an interesting documentary about the history of Andaman. There is no end to the sea, it seems calm and at peace with itself but the nature is so unpredictable, you never know when a tsunami would strike and destroy everything. It kind of reminds me the uncertainties in life. We never know what's coming for us. What once seems peaceful could be disastrous in a moment.
As soon as we reached Havelock, we rushed to the Dive India office as we had booked scuba diving with them. We got there and I being a non-swimmer wasn't too sure but the main guy Syed assured me that I would love it. He told us about the basic signs, what to do, how to go about, and his punch line was "don't panic and keep breathing". I was excited and scared at the same time. Thankfully, some guys who had just come back from their scuba and both being non-swimmers gave me some courage and said you should definitely do it as it is worth it. We changed into wet suits and got ready for scuba. We had our training first in shallow water with 2 trainers. They helped us put on the scuba gear and equipment and we started the training. I was comfortable and for some reason the vastness of the sea around me didn't scare me, may be because I had surrendered myself to it. The color of water was aqua blue and you could clearly see the sea floor. The sea floor felt just like a wet dessert with small sand dunes all over. Havelock has like the most wonderful white sand beach I have ever seen. Those wonderful corals and colorful fishes all around us. And I also saw "Nemo" just playing around its home. A sight beautiful enough for you to feel like a kid again wondering how little we know of God's mighty creation and we are just like a little fish on the land, unaware of the secrets of the sea.
The experience of scuba was awesome and I feel everyone should do it at least once in your life, especially if you are a non-swimmer. It is so much fun to let go of yourself and explore the secrets of the sea. It makes you believe in things, that there is more to life than just going to work and coming back. Once our scuba got over, I so wanted to spend a little more time. What fun! I was smiling all the way back to the Dive India office. These guys are really the best ones.
Next on our list was to go to our homestay “Barefoot”, as we reached we were literally starving. So we decided to eat first, the restaurant ambience was just phenomenal. Bamboo and timber used all over the place, just the look of it made us comfortable. We finally had some good food in Andaman. Lemon chicken with steamed rice and sautéed fish with tomato sauce and black olives for lunch and a chocolate salami for dessert which was just yummy. After this delightful lunch we decided to relax and take a nap before going to the beach and we went to our tent-cottage. It was a wonderful concept done well, beautiful with all the amenities, wonderfully designed so that you can enjoy a tent experience but at the same time it was safe from insects and any other spices that could harm you as we are in the Andamans.
One of the best beaches in A&N is the beach no.7 popularly known as Radhanagar beach. A beautiful white sand beach with a splendid view of the never ending sea. Wonderful blue sea in front of you, lush green tall trees behind you, white sand beneath your feet and blue skies over your head..... What else could you ask for? It was definitely a priceless moment to be in such a wonderful place to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We spend almost the whole afternoon and evening at the beach, followed by a wonderful dinner at the Barefoot restraurant. What a wonderful day for our perfect day! We decided to go by the beach at night to witness it in the soft moonlight. We spoke to the manager and he suggested that we go with one of his guys for safety. As soon as we got there, what we saw was contrary to what we were expecting. The whole sight was scary with the magnanimous sea in front of you and lots of trees behind you. You feel so insignificant that everything around you feels wild and the whole sight scares you. And as we stood there in the moonlight, I was wondering how things can be beautiful and scary at the same time. It was an experience worth the effort. We could hardly stay there for some minutes and we decided to go back to our cozy tent.
After a good night sleep in our wonderful cottage, we decided to catch the sunrise early morning. So we were back to the beach and the view was splendid just so fresh and ready to begin a new day. There is something about the sound of the waves coming and crashing, it has special power that soothes and calms your nerves down.
We packed our bags and left for Port Blair. It was a fun ride as we were taking a govt. ferry because Makruzz was full. As soon as we got to Port Blair we rented a bike and had a simple lunch at "Icy Spicy". Two important things about A&N is that people here are simple, polite, helpful, and can speak very good Hindi. They will ask you how the food is, if you are happy with it. And if you want to change it, they are happy to do so.
Next on our agenda was going to Mount Harriet on our rented bike. Believe me that long bike ride was splendid, just reminded me of those good old college days. No matter which mode of transport you use, I personally feel bike still seems to be the best one. We went all the way to Chatum jetty where there is a vehicle ferry that takes you to the other side and you can take your bike. We got down from the ferry and continued to go up Mount Harriet. It was a king drive up the hill but it was awesome thanks to wonderful roads in A&N. With no one around, lush green surroundings and company of some unseen beautiful birds made the bike ride splendid.
Once we got to the Mount Harriet you could see the whole A&N from up there. The landscape which you generally see at the back side of a 20 Rs.(INR) note is the same scenery over there. Colorful benches with picturesque surroundings, you just want to sit and chat. There is an interesting spot once you get to the top of Mount Harriet and that is almost an hour’s trek on the nature’s trail to “Kalapather”. Since by the time we got to Mount Harriet it was almost sunset so we were sure about the trail. But we both gathered courage and started the trail. After going on for like less than a kilometre, the visibility started getting poor and the whole trail was just surrounded by tall trees. It got a bit scary and we were not even carrying flash lights so we decided it might be a wise decision to go back.
Back to our homestay, we crashed and finally realized our wonderful journey is over. Looking forward to many more yet to come…….
Ready for our next adventure to Havelock Islands, we took Makruzz boat from Port Blair. A word of caution for fellow travelers would be to get your tickets (to and fro) done well in advance else you will have a tough time in getting them. With deep blue waters all over, we loved the ride to Havelock. They played an interesting documentary about the history of Andaman. There is no end to the sea, it seems calm and at peace with itself but the nature is so unpredictable, you never know when a tsunami would strike and destroy everything. It kind of reminds me the uncertainties in life. We never know what's coming for us. What once seems peaceful could be disastrous in a moment.
As soon as we reached Havelock, we rushed to the Dive India office as we had booked scuba diving with them. We got there and I being a non-swimmer wasn't too sure but the main guy Syed assured me that I would love it. He told us about the basic signs, what to do, how to go about, and his punch line was "don't panic and keep breathing". I was excited and scared at the same time. Thankfully, some guys who had just come back from their scuba and both being non-swimmers gave me some courage and said you should definitely do it as it is worth it. We changed into wet suits and got ready for scuba. We had our training first in shallow water with 2 trainers. They helped us put on the scuba gear and equipment and we started the training. I was comfortable and for some reason the vastness of the sea around me didn't scare me, may be because I had surrendered myself to it. The color of water was aqua blue and you could clearly see the sea floor. The sea floor felt just like a wet dessert with small sand dunes all over. Havelock has like the most wonderful white sand beach I have ever seen. Those wonderful corals and colorful fishes all around us. And I also saw "Nemo" just playing around its home. A sight beautiful enough for you to feel like a kid again wondering how little we know of God's mighty creation and we are just like a little fish on the land, unaware of the secrets of the sea.
The highlight of our scuba was spotting Andaman's black-white water snake that was almost coming towards Vivek and the trainer moved the water to guide the snake away. And then the snake went between the legs of another fellow scuba enthusiast. I am sure he didn't know but this sight was splendid and scary at the same time. For that moment, my heart almost skipped a beat. Snakes I feel are the most beautiful things on earth. Their beautiful yet complex patterns, the elegance with which they move has always fascinated me. Another highlight of the scuba was me getting stung by a jellyfish. Yeah I know, “it hurts badly”. It burns and the salt water just makes it worse. Thanks to our wonderful trainer who helped me with some vinegar and I could feel the burning sensation to hold on for a while. But it troubled me for at least for the next two days. But believe me, I would still do scuba again.
The experience of scuba was awesome and I feel everyone should do it at least once in your life, especially if you are a non-swimmer. It is so much fun to let go of yourself and explore the secrets of the sea. It makes you believe in things, that there is more to life than just going to work and coming back. Once our scuba got over, I so wanted to spend a little more time. What fun! I was smiling all the way back to the Dive India office. These guys are really the best ones.
Next on our list was to go to our homestay “Barefoot”, as we reached we were literally starving. So we decided to eat first, the restaurant ambience was just phenomenal. Bamboo and timber used all over the place, just the look of it made us comfortable. We finally had some good food in Andaman. Lemon chicken with steamed rice and sautéed fish with tomato sauce and black olives for lunch and a chocolate salami for dessert which was just yummy. After this delightful lunch we decided to relax and take a nap before going to the beach and we went to our tent-cottage. It was a wonderful concept done well, beautiful with all the amenities, wonderfully designed so that you can enjoy a tent experience but at the same time it was safe from insects and any other spices that could harm you as we are in the Andamans.
One of the best beaches in A&N is the beach no.7 popularly known as Radhanagar beach. A beautiful white sand beach with a splendid view of the never ending sea. Wonderful blue sea in front of you, lush green tall trees behind you, white sand beneath your feet and blue skies over your head..... What else could you ask for? It was definitely a priceless moment to be in such a wonderful place to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We spend almost the whole afternoon and evening at the beach, followed by a wonderful dinner at the Barefoot restraurant. What a wonderful day for our perfect day! We decided to go by the beach at night to witness it in the soft moonlight. We spoke to the manager and he suggested that we go with one of his guys for safety. As soon as we got there, what we saw was contrary to what we were expecting. The whole sight was scary with the magnanimous sea in front of you and lots of trees behind you. You feel so insignificant that everything around you feels wild and the whole sight scares you. And as we stood there in the moonlight, I was wondering how things can be beautiful and scary at the same time. It was an experience worth the effort. We could hardly stay there for some minutes and we decided to go back to our cozy tent.
After a good night sleep in our wonderful cottage, we decided to catch the sunrise early morning. So we were back to the beach and the view was splendid just so fresh and ready to begin a new day. There is something about the sound of the waves coming and crashing, it has special power that soothes and calms your nerves down.
We packed our bags and left for Port Blair. It was a fun ride as we were taking a govt. ferry because Makruzz was full. As soon as we got to Port Blair we rented a bike and had a simple lunch at "Icy Spicy". Two important things about A&N is that people here are simple, polite, helpful, and can speak very good Hindi. They will ask you how the food is, if you are happy with it. And if you want to change it, they are happy to do so.
Next on our agenda was going to Mount Harriet on our rented bike. Believe me that long bike ride was splendid, just reminded me of those good old college days. No matter which mode of transport you use, I personally feel bike still seems to be the best one. We went all the way to Chatum jetty where there is a vehicle ferry that takes you to the other side and you can take your bike. We got down from the ferry and continued to go up Mount Harriet. It was a king drive up the hill but it was awesome thanks to wonderful roads in A&N. With no one around, lush green surroundings and company of some unseen beautiful birds made the bike ride splendid.
Once we got to the Mount Harriet you could see the whole A&N from up there. The landscape which you generally see at the back side of a 20 Rs.(INR) note is the same scenery over there. Colorful benches with picturesque surroundings, you just want to sit and chat. There is an interesting spot once you get to the top of Mount Harriet and that is almost an hour’s trek on the nature’s trail to “Kalapather”. Since by the time we got to Mount Harriet it was almost sunset so we were sure about the trail. But we both gathered courage and started the trail. After going on for like less than a kilometre, the visibility started getting poor and the whole trail was just surrounded by tall trees. It got a bit scary and we were not even carrying flash lights so we decided it might be a wise decision to go back.
Back to our homestay, we crashed and finally realized our wonderful journey is over. Looking forward to many more yet to come…….
