Incredible !ndia (part 2)

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Our adventures in India continue!

We traveled to the Andaman Islands - 2 hours by flight from Chennai, India. The Andaman Islands are part of India, but located in the Bay of Bengal, closer to Myanmar and Thailand. The landscape was similar to Cambodia (and other parts of SE Asia), but the people who currently populate the Andaman Islands come from all areas of India.

So, to continue:

Monday, 1 November
Arrive Port Blair, Andaman Islands. Eat! Nap! Informal sightseeing tour of Port Blair - the Islands' main city. 2 hour ferry to Havelock Island. Find hotel. Sleep.

Tuesday, 2 November
Travel by 30-year old, barely-working bus (seriously, it was ghetto) to Radha Nagar Beach - the #1 beach in Asia! Wanted to ride an elephant (for only $1!), but the elephant went home early. 😞 Daron went snorkeling; Kirstin laid on the beach. Wonderful, relaxing day!

Wednesday, 3 November
Explored the island by foot. Lots of delicious food and good times with friends.

Thursday, 4 November
We travel to the ferry ticketing office to purchase tickets to journey back to Port Blair. Dan and Meryl will leave on the 5th. We will leave on the 6th. We are informed that no ferries are running today - they have all been canceled because of bad weather (a cyclone?)! "Will they run tomorrow?" we wonder. "Maybe 50% chance," we are told. We try not to worry, but make plans to arrive at the ticketing office early the next day to get an update.

Friday, 5 November
Arrive at the ticket office at 8am. Lots of people around, but the office remains closed. A ferry is rumored to depart at 9:30am. The ferry never appears and the ticket office remains closed. We take shifts: some sit in front the ticket office and listen to the rumors while others find breakfast, then lunch, and visit the bathroom. Noon. Still no official information (only gossip) and the ticket office remains closed.

(Keep in mind, Daron and I are scheduled to fly out from Port Blair on Sunday (2 days), but Dan and Meryl have a ticket booked for Saturday (tomorrow) at noon. And, the only way off the island is by ferry...or helicopter!)

2:00pm, still no info; office remains closed. Suddenly, 2 ferries arrive from Port Blair! But, the ticket office is still closed. Do we remain in the ticket line or line up to board the ferry and hope we can purchase a ticket onboard? We decide to try to board the ferry. We make it all the way up to the ferry entrance...and are denied. We needed to have ticket! But! 2 more ferries are coming! We run back to the ticket office (which has now - finally - opened) and elbow our way towards the front of the line to purchase a ticket! Success! We run to one of the new ferries and are allowed on board.

It's not over. We travel back to Port Blair through the worse storm...ever! We travel up and down and into massive, 10-15-foot waves, while I try to fight seasickness and Daron tries to stay aboard the boat. 2 terrible hours later, we arrive at Port Blair...

It's Diwali! The Hindu festival of lights. We celebrate that evening (after my stomach settles) roaming the streets, watching the fireworks - while trying to avoid the ones going off 10 feet in front of us. Finally sleep.

Saturday, 6 November
Dan and Meryl depart for Chennai, with no further complications. We stay in Port Blair one more day to tour the old British Cellular Jail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail and brave another ferry to nearby Ross Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Island_%28Andaman%29

Sunday, 7 November
Our plane is scheduled to depart at 12:45pm. Delayed to 2:00pm... Canceled!!!

(Part 3 coming up next week...)

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