I always had fascination for Andaman Islands from my
childhood. After waiting for so many years and unsuccessful plans, finally I
was able to visit this spectacular place in Dec 2011 with my wife Deepika and kid
Puru for a week vacation.
The planning and booking started in July 2011 so that I could get cheaper air fare for the peak season (24 Dec – 31 Dec 2011). The cheaper air fare was still very expensive and ate about 50% of my vacation expenses.
The planning and booking started in July 2011 so that I could get cheaper air fare for the peak season (24 Dec – 31 Dec 2011). The cheaper air fare was still very expensive and ate about 50% of my vacation expenses.
The travel started early morning
from Delhi and we had a 1 stop flight, via Kolkata, to Port Blair. The JetLite
flight was good and we were expecting to enjoy a lot of scenic beauty of
Andaman from the window. Soon we got the news that a cyclone had hit Andaman.
The turbulence increased my anxiety of possible return of flight to Kolkata.
But we were fortunate enough and the flight landed in Port Blair in first
attempt. We could enjoy the scenic beauty from a few thousand feet above only.
From flight I could imagine how wonderful my vacation would be. I could see the
excitement in my family and Puru was showing all his excitement to the
co-passengers.
We had our taxi waiting outside
the airport. I had booked my suite in Sea Princess resort at Wandoor. The hotel
staff suggested refreshing at another hotel in Port Blair and visiting a few
tourist places in Port Blair before going to Wandoor.
So we visited Mahatma Gandhi
Marine Museum , an aquarium, some local handicraft shops etc.
Skeleton of Whale: Naval Museum
After visiting a few spots we
reached at Cellular Jail. A huge 3 stories building was very well maintained. A
part of it has been converted into civil hospital. Walk around and from the
roof of the building you get a spectacular view of the sea. The sea was rough
due to the heavy winds of cyclone that had started engulfing the island. Well
later in the evening they had Light and Sound show. It started drizzling but
the show was breathtaking. The arrangement of colorful lights and sound effect
was great. Although we were very tired due to the travel but we enjoyed the
show. And later we moved to Sea Princess resort at Wandoor. It was already dark
and it was still drizzling. I could not see much on the way. But I could
understand that we were passing through forests, a couple of small villages.
From most of the places the sound of sea was audible. Wandoor is about 30 min
drive from Port Blair.
Amar Jyoti : Cellular Jail
Cellular Jail
Cellular Jail : A view from top
Corridor: Cellular Jail
Light and Sound Show
The welcome at the reception was
warm. A special barbecue party was arranged in the lawns near the beach. We had
a nice dinner and we retired soon in our room. The whole night I could hear the
soothing sound of sea and heavy rains. One thing I always see as advantage on
sea beaches is you get up early in the morning and don’t feel sleepy throughout
the day. So we were up before 6.00 AM and
from the veranda of our room we could have a nice view of sea through the
coconut and beetle nut trees. I walked around the resort a bit and I must say
the resort was more beautiful than the pictures on the website.
Wandoor Beach: A view from cottage
We packed our luggage and started
our trip to Port Blair to catch a ferry to Havelock Island. To our
disappointment all the ferries were cancelled due to the rough sea. We did not
have option but come back to Sea Princess resort in Wandoor. Luckily I had
booked the resort both in Wandoor and Havelock from the same group of hotel. On
our return to resort we were welcomed again with same warmth and were given the
suite again. We just relaxed at sea beaches for the rest of the day.
Fortunately the sea was not rough in that area. The Wandoor beach was like a
picture postcard. Nice sand, tall trees, few rocks, sea shells, small islands
at some distance. The big trees that were uprooted in 2004 Tsunami are now
lying on the beaches and they add to the beauty of beaches. Puru had a great
time playing with other kids on the beach and collecting the sea shells.
Wandoor Beach
Wandoor Beach: Full View
Wandoor Beach: The remains of Tsunami
Well, I thought of following the
news on cyclone on TV channels and surprisingly there wasn’t any news on the
channels. I later relied on my mobile phone to check the weather update. I
could imagine, reading the forecast, that there would not be any ferries at
least for next couple of days.
The sleep in the night, in fact
for 2 consecutive nights, wasn’t pleasant. The heavy rainfall was scary,
especially when you are 100-200m away from the sea shore. There was no power
backup and during the power cut in the night it was complete dark. I could not
see anything lying next to me. It was scary but enjoyable.
Sunset at Wandoor Beach
Next day I contacted the hotel
booking staff to check if we could travel the Havelock. I got the expected
answer “No”. Alternately, they sent us to visit Chidiya Tapu. It was again
breathtaking travel along the beaches and through dense and peaceful forest.
Since I had a driver I could enjoy sipping beer. Puru was all excited to see
tall trees and rough sea.
On the way to Chidiya Tapu: Effect of Cyclone
Magrooves : Chidiya Tapu
Chidiya Tapu has a zoological
garden that has a rich collection of birds and small beach. Well, due to the
rain we could not spot any birds. The sea shore was great with mangroves and
small islands at some distance. All we could do is get wet in sea water.
Beach: Chidiya Tapu
Lucky enough to find a closed Sea Shell
On return to Wandoor we stopped
in Port Blair to have lunch at a much known restaurant “Annapurna”. It is a
vegetarian restaurant and I must say the food was really good. We also tried
the Lemon Tea which was freshly prepared (must try).
We were back to our resort in
Wandoor. The hotel staff was pissed off due to heavy rush and chaos created due
to cyclone. Mostly tourists were after hotel staff for arranging site seeing
and ferry to Havelock. While I and my family remained calm and I left
everything on hotel staff. Next day they managed to get the permission for
limited guests for a visit to Jolly Buoy Island. The Jolly Buoy island remains
closed during that period of the year. But the hotel staff and other tour
operators pressurized the forest department and they agreed to open the island
for limited duration and limited number of guests. It was sunny day and I was
relaxing on the beach and the resort manager came running. He had a short time
to take us to the boarding point for Jolly Buoy Island. We were instructed not
share the information with other tourists (an advantage of trusting the hotel
staff and booking directly with them).
On the way to Jolly Buoy Island
Jolly Buoy Island
Beach: Jolly Buoy Island
The bottom glass boat ride was
the first experience of my life and we could see the marine life in their
natural habitat. It is even important for small kids as they cannot do
snorkeling or scuba diving. Well later I did snorkeling and I paid extra to the
instructor to take me for a longer distance. It was one experience and I got to
see so many colorful small and big fishes, colorful and different shapes of
corals. The instructor spotted an octopus which was hiding inside the coral and
I had a clear view of the octopus. The 15-20 minutes of snorkeling was one
experience. There was something enigmatic about it.
Deepika, after some apprehension,
agreed for it. On her return she was all excited. The excitement of Puru on
beaches and then seeing Deepika’s expressions after snorkeling paid my
vacation.
On our return from Jolly Buoy
Island we could see a small island from a close distance. This island was also
visible from Wandoor beach. The golden sand glows in sunlight. This island is
under Forest Department and tourists are not allowed to visit. The island
stands in the middle of sea giving a nice picturesque view.
Property of Forest Department
After another relaxing day, when
the cyclone was faded out, ferries started plying we started our travel to
Havelock Island. Despite the heavy rush the hotel staff could manage to board
us in government ferry. The first I did, after the ferry started sailing, to
reach at the upper deck. Next 2 hours Deepika and I just enjoyed the sound of
sea waves hitting the ferry, the splashing water, immense blue water till
horizon, dense forest on visible small islands. Later near the Havelock Island,
when ferry slowed down, we brought Puru on the upper deck as well to enjoy the
wind, sun and splashing water.
Havelock Island, a mesmerizing
and breathtaking island with immense blue sea and dense forests. We checked in our
resort Silversand Resort. As the name suggests the resort was on a beach with
silver sand. Unfortunately, the effect of cyclone was clearly visible with
fallen trees and branches of coconut trees, dirty beaches etc. Well blame it on
the cyclone.
Sea Princess Resort : Havelock Island
During sunrise at Havelock Island
Afternoon we visited Radhanagar
Beach. It is claimed to be Ranked No 2 beach of Asia after Bali. It was huge
beach with golden sand. I think it would take about 1 hour to walk from one end
to another end of the beach. A place for complete relaxation. It was a peak
season and the beach was crowded. All the families were discussing about the
disruption in their travel plans due to cyclone and cursing the tour operators
for mismanagement. Well I was lucky enough that we were taken a good care by
the hotel staff.
Radhanagar Beach
Sunset at Radhanagar Beach
The next day we wanted to go for
scuba diving but the bookings could not be arranged. Due to the cyclone the sea
had become dirty (the sand had not settled down till then) and because of this
only fewer spots were open for scuba diving. And the operators were not taking
new bookings. We regret missing scuba diving till date. To settle down
alternately they sent us for other water sport like snorkeling and Jet Ski. But
again the water was dirty as the sand had not settled down, huge crowd and Jet
Ski operators were busy negotiating. We decided not waste time there and
returned to our resort and relaxed for rest of the day.
The next day, we had to return to
Port Blair as we had a flight on the following day. It is always advisable to
return earlier to Port Blair as there are risks of cancellation of ferries. So
we were back to Wandoor and the same suite was ready for us. In the evening the
Hotel Manager arranged for a special Barbeque only for us and another family
from Europe.
The next day we had our return
flight to Delhi. I thought of extending my holidays for a couple of days but
rescheduling the flight was not an option for me.
In all it was a 7 days trip and
we felt that Andaman is not a place for 7 days vacations. We needed at least 15
days to enjoy Andaman fully.
Our holiday was very well taken care
by the Sea Princess Resort, Wandoor and Silversand Resort, Havelock. The
Andaman has occupied a special place in our hearts and picturesque landscapes
of dense forest, immense blue sea, silver and golden sand beaches are always to
remember.
On our return we realized that
indeed the place is a treasure. We will certainly visit Andaman again and
again. Yes for sure we will not visit in peak season as it is more expensive
during peak season and very crowded. Also the locals suggested that the month
of December is never great as generally the cyclones hit the island during that
month.
The only thing I felt bad is
Indian tourist care little of the treasure. They litter waste anywhere and you
can see polythene bags, plastic bottles, beer bottles etc on roadside, beaches
and in still sea water near shore. The place is not dirty yet. But if the
administration remains lenient, in few years the place will lose all its
beauty.
After a couple of days of our
return to Delhi I saw the news on TV that briefly covered the cyclone in
Andaman. As you can judge from my story above the cyclone had faded away about
a week ago. Such ignorance by the media of a great treasure of ours is
disappointing. Whereas, the same Indian media gives a full live coverage on the
hurricanes in US.
Special Thanks to Vibha Malhotra (Founder Literature Studio : http://literaturestudio.in/) for guidance in editing the content of this story.
Rajat Rajvanshi