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Published: December 29th 2009
The journey to the beautiful Andaman Islands was an interesting one to say the least. A jeep with no clutch, a train with cockroaches to touch and a night in Kolkata where you sweat too much. But we made it to Port Blair, getting off the plane with a sigh of relief and excitement at the island adventure that awaited us.
The Andaman Islands that sit 1000km east of mainland India were not originally on our itinerary, but who needs itineraries when you’re in India. Since landing in Delhi people had told us of the little secret that is these deserted islands and after being in the cold Nepali mountains we decided to find some cheap flights and go there, which subsequently enabled us to see Darjeeling. The even colder Darjeeling left us yearning for sun and we were not to be disappointed. It was a blaring hot day in the port as we arrived and the small yet busy town still felt like India but more tropical. It was the beaches and jungle we were after though so we bee lined it to the jetty to book our ferry tickets to Havelock Island at the infamous ferry booking terminal.
The inter-island ferries are the main mode of transport on the Andamans but we had been led to believe it was quite a hassle getting a ticket in crowded, hot, pushy queues. As we strolled up to an empty, late afternoon booking terminal, no queues in sight and booked our ticket for the next day we thought this ticket business is all plain sailing…we were to be mistaken later in our trip.
The sun sets early in these parts, as it’s still on mainland time, but Hannah wanted to see Mount Harriet before we left for Havelock the next day. I was interested in scaling the second highest peak on the Andamans and sitting there at sunset, while Hannah was more interested in honouring her sister’s name. In the end we did neither as it turned out to be more of a challenge than we had envisaged. By the time we got off the boat at the foot of the mountain the sun was setting and it looked slightly higher than was explained in our book. We didn’t give up though and instead took a jeep to save time, but as we entered the top section of the mountain
we were stopped and asked for a “National Park fee” of 500 rupees. Nobody’s gonna “National Park” me, and such a ludicrous sum of money for what would have been a brief visit. So sorry Harriet we went back down. On the way down we were reminded just of where we were by the driver who asked if we had any big animals in England. We replied “no not really, only cows I suppose”, he looked puzzled by this and said, sincerely, “not even elephants?”.
Our ferry to Havelock was not until 2pm and we used the time to get a few amenities as our tropical island rained. It’s not all sun here people. It was a pleasant, rainless 2 hour crossing and as we stepped off the boat onto deserted island life we were swarmed by rickshaw drivers looking for our business...still in India. We looked at a few beach hut shacks before settling on El Dorado where we had a simple bamboo hut for 100 rupees a night or just over £1. It was a beautiful place set just back from the beach with a bar, a restaurant and all so cheap.
The beach was a
white sand, palm fringed, stunning wonderland with warm seas and a gentle breeze, deserted apart from us and a surprisingly large amount of Israelis. Our days consisted of swimming, eating great fish, reading and just lapping it all up. We eased into the life and bought a hammock.
Having found out that our restaurant was overpriced we headed further afield and found some brilliant spots around the market to have dinner. Fish thali for 40 rupees at Swapan Restaurant, or tin shack, all made by the irrepressible Mr. Swapan himself, giving a “very good price” as he always assured us. One evening we were schooled in how the bengalis eat fish. The answer...they eat everything, including the head and eyes. Wanting to experience all customs on our travels I duly obliged and ate my first fish eye. An interesting, chewy and oddly intriguing taste ensued, all to Hannah and the waiter's amusement. The people were all so friendly here and there was no hint of the hassle you get in some parts of india. It seemed as though people living here were happy with their life and who could blame them.
Dive centres were the big thing on
the island, making the most of the crystal clear waters and arrays of fish. We were almost coaxed into doing a PADI certified dive course but the sums were just too expensive for our long trip. Instead we chose to go snorkelling at South Batton, 2 hours north of Havelock. The snorkel spot was shallow enough for us to see all the fish that the divers could and it was a colourful, aquatic treat of fish and coral. The fish, however, were a distraction to the blazing sun and by the end of the day we were slightly burnt, but happy with our excursions.
After more than enough days of walking around the island we decided to rent a scooter and feel the breeze on our face. Being mobile on the island was cool and we tripped inland and from north to south. As we burned back along the south of the island we were halted by four elephants making their way along the road led by two rather helpless trainers. The elephants thudded right past us and then veered onto the beach and into the sea, much to the trainer’s displeasure. It was a beautiful sight as we
watched the elephants cooling down in the water, as we had done only minutes earlier.
Another draw card to the already alluring Havelock Island was Radhanagar Beach, which is said to be among the top ten beaches of the world. Lying on the west of the island, about 12km from where we stayed, only a scooter or bus could get us there. It lived up to its name, and really was a unique spot. Miles of white sand with the clearest azure seas that I have ever seen lapping against its shore. We bought a coconut, strung our hammock under a palm tree and quenched our beach thirst. The sun was hot and the sea was warm, enabling us to swim for hours and bodysurf the small waves that drifted in. At sunset it got even better as the sky took its evening colour and turned the sea pink, leaving it even more irresistible for swimming. The following days we could not help but be drawn to Radhanagar and so caught the ever-unreliable, rickety old bus to and fro, making sure we got the last bus back after sunset, which conveniently stopped at the beer & wine shop (the
only one on the island) for a brief restock.
We had also met some really nice people on the island. When you come this far you generally seem to have a bit in common with people and we shared some great nights with the guitar playing Arie & Mitel as well as some long queues with Joni & Uni.
After 10 days or so on Havelock we were ready to experience some more of the Andamans and wanted to visit Little Andaman, the furthest island south. Trying to get a ticket there, however, didn’t fit with the languid island pace we had adjusted to and became a bit of an island hell instead.
We queued, along with Joni & Uni, for three days in a row for over two hours each time only to be told that “tickets to Little Andaman are sold out, come back tomorrow” or “advance booking is not available on Saturday’s”. It became a bit of a joke and we seriously contemplated staying on Havelock. The queues were hot; we couldn’t get a ticket and the cheeky Indian men, who couldn’t queue properly, became more annoying each day. We persisted though and Hannah
and Uni, standing in the not so pushy ladies queue, whilst Joni and I looked on in hope, managed to get us four tickets to Little Andaman. We had done it, finally, and we all celebrated as if we had hit the jackpot….Little Andaman better be good we thought.
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mouty
non-member comment
Happy Festive Season
hello both of you, William and I have just enjoyed your last three blogs, being a bit behind with our space to sit down and read! Thankyou for your amazing travel writing, you both bring everything so alive. The pics are wonderful, but not as great as the atmosphere you create of your life on the travel road. What you write brings incredible memories to me, I can almost touch and feel and smell it all, including the grotty bits. So great to read and also to hear from you. lots of love, Mouty