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Published: January 21st 2011
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After peeling ourselves away from Goa we took a short plane ride to Bangalore. We were only there for an evening and half a day but what we saw of it we liked a lot. All of the walls were painted with murals, the weather was just right (not too hot and not too cold) and our hotel was very nice for the price we paid (the staff were a bit grumpy but that seems to be the way in cities everywhere).
So after a nice rest stop and a bit of auto rickshaw action we head over to the station to catch an overnight train to Chennai in the East. The journey was only 7 hours and was surprisingly comfortable. We both had a top bunk each (unlike the people below who were sharing their beds) and once asleep I didn’t think about the cockroaches I saw on the curtain by my feet or by the person’s head below. We didn’t even construct the mozzie net/washing line contraption, although I think it would’ve been very funny if we had.
We arrived first thing in Chennai. We couldn’t book any accommodation before hand as everywhere we contacted was fully
booked. Thinking that this couldn’t possibly be the case we were quite surprised to find that actually Chennai was pretty much full. Feeling a bit tired out and confused as to what to do next we found an equally confused English guy called Tom who was having the same problem.
Off we went, the three of us, bags on backs going in and out of hotel after hotel until we finally managed to come across one with two rooms free. Being a girl, with girly needs for cleanliness I was quietly unhappy with the choice on offer. It wasn’t until Tom said that there was no way he’d stay there that I beamed, happy with my new friend. Eventually we found a place, over priced and under bleached (not to mention the broken shower and the loo that flushed straight on to the floor of the bathroom, but it was a damn site better than the only other option.
We were all exhausted and so, after a lunch of masala dosas and tea, we hit the hay. We were up at 5am the following day to catch our flight to the lovely lovely Andaman & Nicobar Islands (although
tourists are forbidden to travel to the Nicobars). Flying in to the place was spectacular, seeing all of the islands and the shallow reefs making the waters look turquoise. Our excitement was growing by the second and our diving glands were screaming out ‘sod being sensible - spend all your money on me’.
As we arrived in Middle Andaman we had to fill out forms and gain permission slips to enter. After that we had to find a place to stay in Port Blair for the night before we could catch a boat to Havelock the next day. We had a bit of a rigmarole firstly finding a place to stay within our budget, eventually we found Shah & Shah - a very friendly place but again a bit of elbow grease in the bathroom wouldn’t have gone amiss. Secondly, buying tickets for the boat; we should’ve expected a ream of different forms to be filled out, photocopies of our permission slips etc. etc. but by this time we just wanted to get there and was feeling the frustration of the Indian bureaucracy after queuing for 20 mins only to find that the form we needed was in another
counter with another bulging queue.
Writing this now though, all of those feelings have dissipated because we are in paradise. Life is one long ‘ooo what shall we do now? Chill a bit more?’ ‘OK then’. Luckily a couple of months back after we decided to visit here, we had read about how hard it can be to find accommodation at this time of year so we searched and searched and searched and came across a blog which recommended Coconut Grove. Over the course of three phone calls and a bit of persuasion we managed to blag our way in to a hut here. We’ve seen countless people rocking up in auto rickshaws looking for a place to stay and being turned away (this is one of the last places along the road and all of them are booked full). It makes you wonder where all of these people are staying.
Well, being chuffed to bits with our bamboo hut (with en-suite minus a sink), a big comfy bed with a fantastic bug net that keeps us safe at night, we sat down on our first evening here and promised ourselves that we wouldn’t go in search of
diving deals until halfway through our stay (to keep down our spending as we’ll just talk ourselves in to much more than we’d planned). So, as I was saying we were sitting on our porch flicking through the leaflets, that we had shoved in our hands as we left the dock, we found that Barefoot diving was offering a 6 day/12 dive package. 12 hours later we were booked on and we were underwater on our third day here. Tusk.
It’s wonderful to be making bubbles again (and logging our 100th dive); that feeling of rolling backwards off the boat with all your kit on, bobbing around waiting for the rest of your group and then descending like a parachutist jumping from a plane, wondering what’s waiting for you below. We love it. You just can’t beat the calm, excitement and I’m still amazed by how deep 30m is. The fish have been great too, all out to play, but in some of the shallow dives the corals have suffered from bleaching and unfortunately didn’t recover. Some dives have been so sad, it’s been like diving over a coral graveyard. All is not lost though and there are still
some fabulous dives sites around; Jackson’s, Dixon’s & Johnny’s.
Well, our diving has finished and our time here is nearly up. We’ve hired a bike and will be spending our time whizzing around the island seeing a bit of the land for a couple of days. It’s crazy to think that this time next week we’ll be in the UK. We’re a mixed bag of emotions; sad to be leaving the beach, weather and beautiful waters but itching to get back to see you all and start living our lives again.
Lots of scuba dooba doo love
S&S
XoXoXoX
We were quite happy when we found this internet place a few days ago until we got up to leave and discovered a 900 rupee bill waiting for us. It seems that satellite internet costs more than a small hut for a week in Havelock. I wonder how much this blog has cost to upload. Hmmm.
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Joan
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What a wonderful way to end your trip. Have a safe journey home and we look forward to seeing you in February. Lots of lovex