Andamaan

This is about a journey to the Adventure island. Island of the I had visited Andaman in the summer of 2006. Me, along with my parents started from Chennai on 10th June. Jet and KF Lite connect Portblair to Chennai and Kolkata. Its a 2 hours jour from either part.

We took a flight from Chennai. Awesome journey. and specially the landing. As one approaches Portblair, you see submerged island, blue water and the runway is situated at the egde of Portblair. You feel like you are being dropped into mid-ocean.

You can take a taxi to nearest market/ guest house. There are a range of accos available in Andaman. Food is a bit costly as the source of these is the main land subcontinent. We went to the SBI guest house – part leased out to SBI and part for other commercial use.
Nice place. The owners were busy planning their son’s wedding but still the reception and hospitality was too good. Most of the residents speak tamil but they are good at Telugu/ Hindi and English too.

We started our sight seeing from the infamous Cellular Jail. The light and sound programme at the end of the day is a must see for every Indian. It portrays the tortures and pains to the path to freedom. The story has to be listened there only....We also had a look at the Guard watch tower which is situated right at the top of the center of the star like structured jail.

There are few more thing you can check out while you are on the main island. There is a sports complex where you can get Rowing Boats, Paddle Boats, Kayaks, Aqua-cycle, Aqua-glide, Bumper boats, etc. and Adventure water sports such as Water-skiing, Wind-surfers, Speed boats etc are also available....

Corby's Cove is the only beach of Portblair island. Its around some 7 Kms from the town. There's the coconut palm fringed beach, ideal for swimming, surfing and sun basking. One can also visit the museums:

• Anthropological Museum
• Fisheries Museum
• Naval Marine Museum
• Zoological Survey of India Museum Museum
• Forest Museum
  

Saddle peak is the highest point of the island. One can get a great view of things around from the top. For some strange reason, we found lotsa cats there...
Not the wild ones though....There are lotsa trek

options available from this place. A 7 km trek will take you the bottom of the peak and back which you can cover in half a day. There are also 1/2 days treks available for people not traveling with parents :(

The rains had started in Andaman. So, we had to rush on the day. Artificial huts as seen in the pic is one of the few places one can take shelter for a short while. After clicking few pics from the top, we left the place....But believe me, one has to have an SLR to make the trip more memorable.

We called it a day and headed back to our guest house. Next morning, we woke up to see the active volcano. The best time to visit the monster was around 4AM in the morning. We got up at 3AM. A taxi/boat trip will get you to as close as 1 km from the volcano. It was freaking hot there. All we could manage to see was some smoke. We came back and completed our sleep.

There’s an NH which connects Portblair to Baratang and other southern islands separated by sea at some places.. Awesome journey. One can see the Jarawa tribes on the way. The protected area will require you to be escorted by forest department jeeps. Boats work as connectors between the islands. Charges – 50Rs/ Car and 5Rs/ Person.

There are multiple attractions on Baratang island. There is a mud volcano which coughs up mud continuously. So much so that you have to actually climb up a mud mountain to see the opening. Smoking is prohibited for obvious reasons.

There is a lime stone cave estimated to be a million years old. The path to the caves is breath-taking. You carry the risk of being stuck at the caves indefinitely in case of a low depression/ Tsunami/ High- tide.

Chidiya tapu is the home for more than a million Parrots. The aviators have chopped the mangrove tree tops to convert it into a plane. One can be there around sunset to experience the homecoming of a lifetime. Lacs of birds come flying down from all directions. Arguably my best experience in life till date.

The locales share their experience and tales of the island country. We got to know that there are multiple breathtaking islands which are restricted from humans/ tourists visits.
We returned to the capital the next morning as the connecting route is operational from 10AM- 4 PM everyday. The journey was tiresome.
The next day we went on a boat trip. It covers 3 nearby island.

Ross Island - Once functional as Japnese buker, is a naval base today. Must see is the 100 odd years old banyan trees which have destroyed and protected the ancient structures.

North Bay Island -

A brief visit to the coral island was fun. Guided scuba diving tours will help you check out some coral reefs. The lush green islands are a treat to the eyes. The third island also had some historic importance which I am unable to recall.

We came back to the capital city that evening. Next morning we had a flight to catch to Kolkata and from there we were to reach Bhubaneswar.

The Tsunami hit islands still has lotsa wonders to offer. A place every Indian must see…..

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