Blogs from Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India, Asia

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Monday 12 March 2012. Today we woke up and thought we had died and gone to hell. What a DUMP! Our "hell" was the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups far out in the Bay of Bengal. They are part of India but this archipelago of 300ish coral islands is very remote, lying closer to Myanmar, Thailand and Sumatra than to India. The peoples of the Andamans and Nicobars are quite distinct from those on the Indian mainland. Until the 17th century they were populated almost exclusively by several distinct tribes having different characteristics, traditions and languages. Since the 17th century they have been colonized by newcomers from both sides of the Bay of Bengal and by the British. As a result, the aboriginal tribes, some of the oldest peoples in the world, have been pushed to ... read more

Option A: Half Day tour: Rs 500/head Leave your heels and fancy shoes behind: this one’s for the adventure and nature lover. Don’t forget to apply mosquito repellant even during daylight hours…it’s pretty much a jungle out here. Remember the hat. This 30 acre mass of overgrown flora, legally referred to as ‘The 5th Island’, is nothing more than an organic island-plantation. Situated six km from the airport by road, the last point of drivable land ends at the Attam Pahad village football field that doubles up as a parking lot. From there it’s a 300mtr stretch of offroad, followed by another 200mtrs of a walkable path that ends in the sea. This sea is part of a bay called ‘Flat Bay’. And from this final point of land you will be transported to this Island ... read more

A friend of mine is going through a real rough patch in his relationship. So he has a ton of questions for the female species: Q.1. What do you want from us? A.1. DRAMA. Okay, to spell it out, it’s all about that effect that one person has on another. We’re not looking for looks, or muscles or bone structures or facial hair or skin type… we’re looking for that effect. What effect: It’s like that song, by Elvis Presley: All Shook Up, we want your hands to be shaking and your knees all weak, where you just can’t seem to stand on your own two feet; Your tongue gets tied when you try to speak, your insides shake like a leaf on a tree; you’re proud to say that I’m your ‘buttercup’, coz your in ... read more

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH What's the point. If someone doesn't do something quick, someone's gonna get shot. And although my aim's not that great...I am motivated. I've just posted this to not only mark how ridiculous our political representatives are but also our media. This is the same member of parliament who wants to commission a railway line that runs through the andaman islands from port blair to diglipur right where the great andaman trunk road currently stands. He's talking about a bridge that will join two islands.... Get me some f@#k^*g water to drink first. Everything sounds like something out of a god-d@mn sci-fi movie. We've started getting fresh water supply now ONCE in four days for twenty minutes. That's twenty minutes of water supply every four days!!! And to think that we are suppose... read more

The last day on the islands was for Port Blair local sight seeing. We loaded ourselves with the delicious masala dosas at Annapurna hotel and headed to Chatam Saw Mill, the largest and the oldest saw mill in Asia. Established in 1883, the mill uses the techniques and machineries for wood logging and sawing prevalent in 1950s. Instead of being ashamed of it, we make it a tourist destination ! It has a completely forgettable and haphazard museum and a second world war bomb pit. The next stop was Samudrika, a naval marine museum , a small but very interesting museum. The inspiration is 'Sangar Manthan', the mythical legend where the gods and demons churn the sea to dig out the hidden treasures. The section on Andaman and Nicobar islands talks about the geography and history ... read more

After the blissful Radhanagar beach, we headed to Baratang 90 kms from Port Blair. The selling points for this day trip were the glimpse of remote Jarwaa tribe, active mud volcano and spooky limestone caves. My suggestion stick to the sun washed, white sand and crystal clear water beached instead of wasting the day on this trip. The day started quite early at 4 am. A bus from Win travels which conducts daily package picked us from the hotel and went on to collect different families and groups who had bought the package from their respective hotels. Inevitably in such cases, there has to be a family which will show up late. In our case, it was a family of three from Malad, a Mumbai subarb. The girl was the center of attraction on our bus ... read more