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Blogs from Lakshadweep, India, Asia
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December 1st 2010
På Lakadiverne er der fantastisk smukt, lige som en atol skal være, fyldt med palmer, krystalklart vand massevis af fisk, osv. Vi havde desværre ikke kamera med ned på vores dykkerture, så undervandsbillederne er nærmest bare fra vandkanten. Befolkningen er muslimer og man kan kun bo på nogle meget få øer i området i specielle resorts kørt af den Indiske stat.... read more
June 10th 2010
Friday, 4th June, Langkawi, Malaysia. After 2 hectic days in Singapore and KL we decided to give Langkawi a miss as it bwas again, stinking hot and we were knackered, but we awoke to see our ship surrounded by some beautiful islands in a lovely cove  so around 12 midday we decided to take a short bus trip into the village and find an internet café. It was a nice surprise to find a smallish village with duty free shops, small markets and an internet café. The café cost us 2 ringits (about one Aussie dollar ) for one hour. The equivalent time on the ship would have cost us around $54 AUD Although it was extremely hot and steamy we wandered around the stalls and saw some great merchandise and the people were so ... read more
January 2nd 2009
‘Saddam Beach’— the signboard with the executed Iraqi dictator’s picture greets visitors to Kavarathi, the headquarters of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Similar nomenclature on the other side of the Arabian Sea - in Kozhikode in Kerala - had hogged news space. The island doesn’t come under media radars but for its tourism potential. Despite familiar signposts, Lakshadweep has little in common with Kerala as far as politics is concerned. Elections to the lone parliamentary seat and ten panchayats are keenly contested by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, allies at national level. A poster in red letters, pasted by the nascent branch committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), blames the Congress-led Union government for everything from Israel’s attack on Gaza to erratic ship services to anomalies in granting Scheduled Tribe status to ... read more
January 1st 2009
Shades of blue span through the horizon. An electric blue lagoon, a cobalt sea and an azure sky. From atop Minicoy lighthouse, MV Kavarathi anchored off the vast lagoon looks like a paper ship. Tourists try to retrace the long boat ride from the ship to the jetty as the bored watchman regulates traffic on the narrow ladder leading up the tower. Metal halide lamps have replaced oil lamps, now showcased in the top chamber. But a thermometer and a clock, built in London at the time of the beacon’s commissioning in 1885, still work. The 41.7-metre-high lighthouse, the archipelago’s Mt Everest, illuminates up to 40 nautical miles. But even sailors voyaging the Pacific and the Atlantic dream of it. It is the first sign on their way back home. The legendary island of seafarers has ... read more
December 31st 2008
The ship is still swaying. A green line of land is visible through the cabin window. Clockwork flashes from the light house illuminate the pre-dawn grey sea. A public address system tells the passengers to be ready to disembark at Kalpeni. There are no ladders leading to the jetty, there is no jetty to land, and there is no land. MV Kavarathi is anchored a mile or so off the coast, from where mechanized boats dart towards the ship. For freshers, the adventure is about to begin. For islanders it’s homecoming. The 2.79-square kilometre atoll is surrounded by a 25.60-square kilometre shallow lagoon which keeps big vessels at bay. Watertight doors at deck 1 are opened. We get ready to disembark - to a boat bobbing with the waves. Asif Azad and M P Masood, our ... read more
