A travelogue to andamans!

Everyone enjoys holidays….no matter long or short!  Holidays are always welcome, u never say no to them…just as in the case of money…lol..

Last month’s holiday was special , one because I had finished with my exams and was ready to rock. Second, this time I was not gonna spend it sitting idle at home…YES, we had planned a trip to ANDAMAN….yo ho! Sounds exciting rite..? And so was I and everyone else…Had heard a lot about that place from my friends who had been there. And I guess that was the reason why I was so eager to reach there. When I told my classmates about the same..they too were equally excited..(Actually a bit more than me!lol). I guess it was simply coz, they thought Andaman was a foreign country…somewhere out of India..(I know I am being mean here, exposing my friends GK…but then I cant help it..!).But I cleared all their doubts, just like a geography teacher does…and they were convinced.

So soon after my exams ended, we packed our bags and were ready to hit Andaman’s!

We had done a lot of research about the place, the weather, travel conditions, hotels etc etc and this helped us to make just the right preparations. First on the list was a good pack of sunscreen lotion (as the temperature out there was really hot!).Second was a bit of extra clothing?(coz being an island , you’ll have to spend most of your time on the beach)and apart from these a few more tit bits!

Only two modes of transportation are available to reach there…either through Air or water! The second one may sound exciting, but eventually there is every chance that it would get boring coz it takes almost 4 days via ship! So as rational and prudent travelers we chose the 3 hr ride over the 3 days one…lol…

 

It was an early flight, and almost all the people on  board were tourists, ready to explore Andaman. I can say this so confidently coz, everyone out there was overwhelmingly excited and were keenly peeking out of the  small window so as not to miss a single bit of the place!(as if everything was visible. .humph!) .But once the flight was ready to land , almost everything was visible…and the sight was AWESOME! . There was water every where, and about hundred islands scattered all over…Everyone was delighted to see god’s yet another marvel …Andaman!

 

The flight was on time, and since we were on a package tour..Our driver was waiting for us all ready and smart!. The weather was quite hot, and all of us exchanged smiles for being clever and bringing the sunscreen lotion..haha…!(not funny?...aah..leave it;))

Our hotel was too close to the airport, hardly 1.5 km…which means it was in the midst of the city. But I doubt if u can even call it a town.. hmm..! Everything about Andaman’s was so raw, afresh, be the city or the roads …they were so unpopulated and clean.. You could hardly see any traffic there….My first impression about the place was “oh, so serene”(I had always felt kerala was the only ,green colored state of our country. But I was mistaken.. Andaman’s was also green, but yes it’s a union territory…lol!)

 

As per our package programme ,after lunch ,we were first going to visit “coastal beach”. The lunch was homely and we were ready to get baked…in between we halted to visit a  science museum (which was a bit boring I cant deny that….though I found my sister quite excited playing around with the strange gadgets…;) ) hmm…finally we again boarded our ‘omni’ and we set to reach the beach…Oh the journey was simply splendid , with all the panoramic sights .The sea was visible from all the angles and the water ..my god it was simply Blue! As blue as the one u see when "  MSwindows" starts up..lol…no a much much better “BLUE”!. The beach was simply amazing , unlike our beaches it was vacant and clean and yes the waves too..were not that strong. In every aspect it was a very friendly beach…loved the time I spend there! Our next stop spot was the much talked of cellular jail…Its designed in the shape of a spider with 8 legs ..each leg had about 100 cells which means almost  800 convicts! The English men chose this land only to build this jail…coz it was a perfect place as the convicts could never escape from this place… as it was in the midst of the sea...any attempt to run away would only end up being in sea…which ultimately be DEATH….and this was the sole reason why Andaman was also known as “KALA PANI”(which may look beautiful ,but can gift u only darkness!) We roamed around the jail free, not realizing what it would have about a 60 years back… And I guess the light and sound show arranged was for people like us…to know the real plight of our freedom strugglers!

The show was superbly done, with every emotion touched …so strong that even the stone hearted would melt!

 

 

The next day was scheduled for a 3 islands’ visit ( ross island + viper island + northbay island). A fairly large boat was waiting for the tourists to get in…and we were one among them, I could see many familiar faces there.. ..  The ones I met on the airplane..hmm. Our first destination was “Ross Island”. A beautiful island, which was once a recreational center for the Britishers  , but now its full of  old and demolished buildings and churches. The place was a bit eerie , but is a perfect place for fashion photographers …tattered yet stylish!(‘uyrrin uyree’ song is shot here!..hope you pictured it )Our camera too had a great time there!. Next was the “viper island” it was an island for capital punishment! YES as the name suggests it was venomous and vicious. Even death was not easy there, 3 ways were used to kill a living being…first was to leave the convict on the island to be bitten by viper snakes ,next was to hang them and third was to leave them in a closed room with red light which would rupture their nerves and they would eventually die!..uff…so scary rite?And to add more horror our guide commented…”After 4’oclock no one comes here!”(Undoubtedly because of the haunted souls who died there)

Northbay island was a relief from all this horror and darkness, also known as coral island is a small island best know for “snorkeling” or coral viewing .YES! The ones you get to see on discovery channel, the colorful world beneath the sea…for the first time in my life I too was equipped with the same devices a sea diver has….cool naa…! The big specs like thing with a long tube to breath underneath….and anyone can do it coz u have ur  help ready and u wont drown…coz the water is only neck deep…hmm…And once I did it …it was great...i saw all the colorful world of fishes moving around in groups…with vivid shades of aqua scenery!(this is something which ill never ever forget in my life!)

 

Our 3^rd day was meant for the “havlock island”(the names are pretty interesting rite?;))

The journey was dreadful, 4 hours on the ship…I was completely sea sick…though I didn’t puke , my head was giddy like hell..and I just wanted to get out of it somehow..!

But once I reached the shore….and saw the ‘radhanager beach’ all my giddyness vanished and I was in love with that place…it was love at first sight..lol.. Enjoyed there to the fullest, had a lot of masti, making sand homes and let the sea take them away..(oh! How  I love the sea there). After radhanagar, “govindnagar beach ”awaited us …and my god..this beach…was the best I have ever seen …with all shades of aqua colours all in one sea…green,blue,purple,violet..my god..the sight was simply gr8!

With these two beaches havlock island was done... once again we had to go through the dreaded journey…finally we were back at our hotel….the last day was meant for local sight seeing n shopping… so we could rest to our hearts content!

 

Our last day at Andaman was fun…no long drives or beaches…just a few hours of sight seeing and shopping. Though the shops are very less here…I managed to collect some key chains for my friends… the typical Andaman style with rare shells at reasonable prices…;)!

 

 

Four days at Andaman flew very fast…didn’t even realize that our holiday was at its finishing line…may be it’s because good things wont last forever! But good memories will and andaman trip is gonna be one among them!:)

 

 

 

I know it’s a pretty long post and most of you out there are dropping down with heavy eyes ,but even this is not enough to describe that spendidly beautiful place…where u can forget about your office ,study or work and just relax amidst nature …all u have to do is get into the mood of “lazy lamhein” …

 

I am sure after hearing all this ‘ga ga’ about andaman  at least few of you will make it your next holiday destination ..Wont you?;)