Thursday, November 10, 2005
The paradise on earth
The cabin crew announced the approaching of Port Blair airport. I tried to take a peek down from the window. Oh God! I think this is what called love at first sight. I could only see a combination of different sheds of blue and green. The green isles with dots of thatched roofs floating across a vast expanse of emerald blue water. Are there so many shades of blue? As the plane started lowering itself, I could see different shades of blue & white water, how it varies from; white at beach to light blue, dark blue and blue and blue.
When we decided early September, the mid rainy season for my holiday to Andaman & Nicober Islands on Bay of Bengal, I was told this is not the best time for a trip to this part of the world. However I, sick of maddening crowd of peak season, wanting a quite romance with nature, packed my baggage and took the early morning flight from Chennai.
The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, a total of 572 islands, islets and rocks lying in the South Eastern Part of the Bay of Bengal. They lie along an arc in long and narrow broken chain, approximately North-South over a distance nearly 800 kms.
Distance by sea (in kms)
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1190
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1255
Between Port Blair to Visakhapatnam1200
Distance by Air
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1303
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1330
TIME magazine on its November 22nd, 2004 adjudged its’ beaches as some of the finest beaches around the world.
Day 1
The arrival at airport and subsequent transfer to the hotel may be termed a routine one except one got a feeling of leisurely life around here. Being Sunday, a journey to Govt. tourist office was of no help. We let the day go by just walking around Aberdeen bazaar, water sport complex and sitting at the restaurant of Hotel Fortune Bay Island, which gives a panoramic view of the sea front. A lazy swimming at the saline water swimming pool of the hotel helped my appetite to have a real feast of dinner at the restaurant.
Day 2
Port Blair is the capital of the union territory of Andaman & Nicober Islands. I have come here to have a leisurely trip, but I need to know the place, its history, ethnicity, and demography.
The Andaman & Nicober Islands comprise of 572 islands, so it will only be proper to visit a few islands. To begin with I decided Ross Island, which is a 20 minutes ferry journey from Port Blair. Ross Island, the erstwhile capital of Port Blair during the British regime, is a tiny island standing as guard to Port Blair harbor.
On 10th March 1858 Dr. James Pattison Walker arrived in Port Blair aboard the East India Company’s steam frigate ‘Senuramis’. This island remained under British occupation till 1942. During WW II, from 1942 to 1945, the island was under Japanese occupation. The allies reoccupied the island in 1945 and later abandoned it.
During British occupation, this island was the seat of power of the British Empire. It was developed into self-equipped township with all facilities required for a civilized colony. Dr. Walker, Chairman of the Andaman Committee, established the infamous and the dreaded Penal Settlement with 200 convicts. The Britishers even persuaded the aborigines to come and live in some huts at Ross Island and even established an Andaman Home for them in 1863. Later on the services of these Andamanese were used to catch the escaping convicts from Ross Island.
Presently I was walking amidst the ruins of old buildings like Ballroom, Chief Commissioner’s House, Govt. House, Church, Hospital, Bakery, Press, Swimming Pool and Troop Barracks, all in dilapidated condition, reminiscent of the old British regime. I felt the pimple gooses growing all over my body, thinking about the bygone era when the path I am treading on were reverberating by the boots of the imperial power. One gets a sense of smallness of human power in these surroundings.
Navy has established a museum on the Island Known as ‘Smritika’ depicting the history of the Island.
Port Blair is associated with the infamous cellular jail. It is just natural that my next destination is Cellular Jail.
‘Cellular Jail, located at Port Blair, stood mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this Jail. The Jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged, puce-colored building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.
The penal settlement established in Andamans by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonising story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular Jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this Jail, where many perished. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose hoisted the tri-colour flag to proclaim Independence on 30th December 1943 at a place near this Jail.
This three-storeyed prison, constructed by Britishers in 1906, is a pilgrimage destination for freedom fighters. This colossal edifice has mutely witnessed the most treacherous of inhumane atrocities borne by the convicts, who were mostly freedom fighters. Now dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial.”
The above quoted descriptions are from official website of A&N Islands.
The walk through the corridors of this (in) famous building is experience of its own. It seems the history stand still here. My eyes were looking for as if prisoners will come out from any of its numerous cells. There is a Museum, an Art gallery, and a Photo gallery reminding us the history of the bygone era.
I could not miss the Son-et-Lumiere – light and sound show shown daily inside the jail compound at 6.00 PM (Hindi) and 7.15 PM (English)., The saga of the heroic freedom struggle is brought alive in a moving commentary. It was the Hindi show I have chosen. At the end a heavy heart was coming out of the gate and was I feeling lucky, as it is said that rarely any of its inmates were coming out alive.
To uplift the sagging spirit, we decided to treat ourselves with marine food in one of the few restaurants, and what a treat it was? When I asked for speciality item of marine food, the waiter brought a plate of raw lobster, crab and a few other species of marine samples for me to choose from, to be served cooked, as per my choice. We went for the crab curry. It was a wonderful evening.
Day 3
The Fortune Bay Hotel, where we were staying, has a beautiful restaurant overlooking the seafront. One can spend hour together by just sitting there watching the parade of various kinds of water vehicles; the single fisherman on a small dingy boat busy in fishing here and there, big steamer with it’s load of passenger and cargo passing through, small motorboats hired by tourists whirl past you. One thing caught my eye; launch carrying passengers to a nearby beach. It seems that is the North Bay, where tourists are heading for a little snorkeling to coral reefs. Why am I sitting here? Here I come North Bay.
A small drive from water sports complex brought us to (coral Island) North Bay. Glass bottomed boats are available to have glimpses of coral reefs. I joined a group of geeks in snorkeling and had my first journey to a new world, coral reefs. It’s a different world. There were riots of colors and shapes of corals and fishes. I never knew I had so much energy to spend hours together exploring the depth of the sea.
There is a lighthouse nearby. We dragged our tired bodies to the top of the lighthouse. I pity those lesser human beings who stayed back due to fatigue. They really missed a lifetime opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of the islands surrounding.
Back to hotel for a hearty lunch of what else? marine food. Today I took an oath; I will forget all red and white meat during my stay here. For me only prawn, lobsters, fish and crab.
We went for a leisurely evening at covyn’s cave – a small beach with coconut trees, a few sea bathers and us lazing around.
Day 4
It was decided to have a leisurely day of panoramic city tour of Port Blair covering Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Forest Museum, Samudrika (Naval Marine Museum), Anthropological Museum, Sagarika, Andaman Water Sports Complex, Marina Park, Gandhi Park, and Aberdeen bazaar.
Day 5, 6. 7. 8
I have been always a creature of land only. My only interaction with sea are the beaches of different places on earth. Most of them were attractive. But I never had the opportunity to have a long journey through sea. I missed a rare opportunity at Melaka, Malayasia. Anyway this time I had to take a journey to Havelock Island. As expected I was not the only one running up and down the deck and cabin all through the journey, there were quite a lot mad tourists on the board.
At Havelock Island the only thing one can do is laze around the beaches and go for scuba diving and snorkeling. The beachfront hotel is having only one background music that is of unending waves. The notes of this music changes not with the band of a bandmaster but with the passing of time. It has different note at morning and goes on changing as time passes. We had a few days’ of unforgettable hospitality during our stay. Unfortunately the sea was not so kind during this season and hence my desire of maiden venture of scuba diving remained unfulfilled. Some of the diving points:
Mak Point mostly hard corals and their inhabitants are found. Usually good visibility, dugongs have been spotted here
Aqarium is a fringing reef with lots of fish traffic. Usually good visibility, mostly hard corrals.
Barracuda City, Tons of fish, sometime turtles, mostly hard and some soft corals. Rather suitable for experienced divers.
Turtle Bay is an easy pleasant dive site not exceeding 14 meters. Rays are found in the sand and with luck turtles.
Seduction Point A huge rock with different kind of aquatic life. Napoleans can be seen. The shallow part is full with stag horn corals and its inhabitants.
Lighthouse is a huge dive site, suitable for any kind of dives. Huge variety of soft and hard corals. Perfect for night dives.
The Wall is a huge dive submerged rock. The wall drops down to a maximum of 55 meters and is full with life. Huge forests of soft corals plus schools of fish circling you, makes it always a memorable dive.
Pilot Reef near to Havelock is a huge block of pristine hard corals. At the bottom (max 24 meters) ‘canyons’ are stretching out. Leopard and White Tip Sharks have been sighted.
Minerva ledge at Havelock is even bigger block of hard corals. Tons of fish even bigger blocks of hard corals. Tons of fish, usually good visibility and the possibility of seeing sharks makes it one of the top dive sites.
We were so engrossed in our sea bathing, swimming, lazing around the beaches, walking down the white sandy beaches, and jungle walk here and there, that we could not notice how these 4 days had gone by. But all good things end and we have to get back.
Day 9
The return journey to Port Blair, as it happens normally are a subdued one. Only occasion, when I was thrilled, was at the Neil Island jetty, where our steamer stopped enroute. The name of the Neil Island must have been derived of some Mr. Neil, but it would have not been improper if it could be called Neel (Blue in Hindi) Island. Here I found the blue waters are entirely different. My heart was aching to stay back there for a day, but time did not permit.
Back to Port Blair. The last evening we spent for shopping of handicraft souvenirs etc.
When we decided early September, the mid rainy season for my holiday to Andaman & Nicober Islands on Bay of Bengal, I was told this is not the best time for a trip to this part of the world. However I, sick of maddening crowd of peak season, wanting a quite romance with nature, packed my baggage and took the early morning flight from Chennai.
The Andaman & Nicobar are a group of picturesque Islands, big and small, inhabited and uninhabited, a total of 572 islands, islets and rocks lying in the South Eastern Part of the Bay of Bengal. They lie along an arc in long and narrow broken chain, approximately North-South over a distance nearly 800 kms.
Distance by sea (in kms)
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1190
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1255
Between Port Blair to Visakhapatnam1200
Distance by Air
Between Port Blair to Chennai 1303
Between Port Blair to Kolkata 1330
TIME magazine on its November 22nd, 2004 adjudged its’ beaches as some of the finest beaches around the world.
Day 1
The arrival at airport and subsequent transfer to the hotel may be termed a routine one except one got a feeling of leisurely life around here. Being Sunday, a journey to Govt. tourist office was of no help. We let the day go by just walking around Aberdeen bazaar, water sport complex and sitting at the restaurant of Hotel Fortune Bay Island, which gives a panoramic view of the sea front. A lazy swimming at the saline water swimming pool of the hotel helped my appetite to have a real feast of dinner at the restaurant.
Day 2
Port Blair is the capital of the union territory of Andaman & Nicober Islands. I have come here to have a leisurely trip, but I need to know the place, its history, ethnicity, and demography.
The Andaman & Nicober Islands comprise of 572 islands, so it will only be proper to visit a few islands. To begin with I decided Ross Island, which is a 20 minutes ferry journey from Port Blair. Ross Island, the erstwhile capital of Port Blair during the British regime, is a tiny island standing as guard to Port Blair harbor.
On 10th March 1858 Dr. James Pattison Walker arrived in Port Blair aboard the East India Company’s steam frigate ‘Senuramis’. This island remained under British occupation till 1942. During WW II, from 1942 to 1945, the island was under Japanese occupation. The allies reoccupied the island in 1945 and later abandoned it.
During British occupation, this island was the seat of power of the British Empire. It was developed into self-equipped township with all facilities required for a civilized colony. Dr. Walker, Chairman of the Andaman Committee, established the infamous and the dreaded Penal Settlement with 200 convicts. The Britishers even persuaded the aborigines to come and live in some huts at Ross Island and even established an Andaman Home for them in 1863. Later on the services of these Andamanese were used to catch the escaping convicts from Ross Island.
Presently I was walking amidst the ruins of old buildings like Ballroom, Chief Commissioner’s House, Govt. House, Church, Hospital, Bakery, Press, Swimming Pool and Troop Barracks, all in dilapidated condition, reminiscent of the old British regime. I felt the pimple gooses growing all over my body, thinking about the bygone era when the path I am treading on were reverberating by the boots of the imperial power. One gets a sense of smallness of human power in these surroundings.
Navy has established a museum on the Island Known as ‘Smritika’ depicting the history of the Island.
Port Blair is associated with the infamous cellular jail. It is just natural that my next destination is Cellular Jail.
‘Cellular Jail, located at Port Blair, stood mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this Jail. The Jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged, puce-colored building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.
The penal settlement established in Andamans by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonising story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular Jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this Jail, where many perished. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose hoisted the tri-colour flag to proclaim Independence on 30th December 1943 at a place near this Jail.
This three-storeyed prison, constructed by Britishers in 1906, is a pilgrimage destination for freedom fighters. This colossal edifice has mutely witnessed the most treacherous of inhumane atrocities borne by the convicts, who were mostly freedom fighters. Now dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial.”
The above quoted descriptions are from official website of A&N Islands.
The walk through the corridors of this (in) famous building is experience of its own. It seems the history stand still here. My eyes were looking for as if prisoners will come out from any of its numerous cells. There is a Museum, an Art gallery, and a Photo gallery reminding us the history of the bygone era.
I could not miss the Son-et-Lumiere – light and sound show shown daily inside the jail compound at 6.00 PM (Hindi) and 7.15 PM (English)., The saga of the heroic freedom struggle is brought alive in a moving commentary. It was the Hindi show I have chosen. At the end a heavy heart was coming out of the gate and was I feeling lucky, as it is said that rarely any of its inmates were coming out alive.
To uplift the sagging spirit, we decided to treat ourselves with marine food in one of the few restaurants, and what a treat it was? When I asked for speciality item of marine food, the waiter brought a plate of raw lobster, crab and a few other species of marine samples for me to choose from, to be served cooked, as per my choice. We went for the crab curry. It was a wonderful evening.
Day 3
The Fortune Bay Hotel, where we were staying, has a beautiful restaurant overlooking the seafront. One can spend hour together by just sitting there watching the parade of various kinds of water vehicles; the single fisherman on a small dingy boat busy in fishing here and there, big steamer with it’s load of passenger and cargo passing through, small motorboats hired by tourists whirl past you. One thing caught my eye; launch carrying passengers to a nearby beach. It seems that is the North Bay, where tourists are heading for a little snorkeling to coral reefs. Why am I sitting here? Here I come North Bay.
A small drive from water sports complex brought us to (coral Island) North Bay. Glass bottomed boats are available to have glimpses of coral reefs. I joined a group of geeks in snorkeling and had my first journey to a new world, coral reefs. It’s a different world. There were riots of colors and shapes of corals and fishes. I never knew I had so much energy to spend hours together exploring the depth of the sea.
There is a lighthouse nearby. We dragged our tired bodies to the top of the lighthouse. I pity those lesser human beings who stayed back due to fatigue. They really missed a lifetime opportunity to have a bird’s eye view of the islands surrounding.
Back to hotel for a hearty lunch of what else? marine food. Today I took an oath; I will forget all red and white meat during my stay here. For me only prawn, lobsters, fish and crab.
We went for a leisurely evening at covyn’s cave – a small beach with coconut trees, a few sea bathers and us lazing around.
Day 4
It was decided to have a leisurely day of panoramic city tour of Port Blair covering Chatham Saw Mill, Mini Zoo, Forest Museum, Samudrika (Naval Marine Museum), Anthropological Museum, Sagarika, Andaman Water Sports Complex, Marina Park, Gandhi Park, and Aberdeen bazaar.
Day 5, 6. 7. 8
I have been always a creature of land only. My only interaction with sea are the beaches of different places on earth. Most of them were attractive. But I never had the opportunity to have a long journey through sea. I missed a rare opportunity at Melaka, Malayasia. Anyway this time I had to take a journey to Havelock Island. As expected I was not the only one running up and down the deck and cabin all through the journey, there were quite a lot mad tourists on the board.
At Havelock Island the only thing one can do is laze around the beaches and go for scuba diving and snorkeling. The beachfront hotel is having only one background music that is of unending waves. The notes of this music changes not with the band of a bandmaster but with the passing of time. It has different note at morning and goes on changing as time passes. We had a few days’ of unforgettable hospitality during our stay. Unfortunately the sea was not so kind during this season and hence my desire of maiden venture of scuba diving remained unfulfilled. Some of the diving points:
Mak Point mostly hard corals and their inhabitants are found. Usually good visibility, dugongs have been spotted here
Aqarium is a fringing reef with lots of fish traffic. Usually good visibility, mostly hard corrals.
Barracuda City, Tons of fish, sometime turtles, mostly hard and some soft corals. Rather suitable for experienced divers.
Turtle Bay is an easy pleasant dive site not exceeding 14 meters. Rays are found in the sand and with luck turtles.
Seduction Point A huge rock with different kind of aquatic life. Napoleans can be seen. The shallow part is full with stag horn corals and its inhabitants.
Lighthouse is a huge dive site, suitable for any kind of dives. Huge variety of soft and hard corals. Perfect for night dives.
The Wall is a huge dive submerged rock. The wall drops down to a maximum of 55 meters and is full with life. Huge forests of soft corals plus schools of fish circling you, makes it always a memorable dive.
Pilot Reef near to Havelock is a huge block of pristine hard corals. At the bottom (max 24 meters) ‘canyons’ are stretching out. Leopard and White Tip Sharks have been sighted.
Minerva ledge at Havelock is even bigger block of hard corals. Tons of fish even bigger blocks of hard corals. Tons of fish, usually good visibility and the possibility of seeing sharks makes it one of the top dive sites.
We were so engrossed in our sea bathing, swimming, lazing around the beaches, walking down the white sandy beaches, and jungle walk here and there, that we could not notice how these 4 days had gone by. But all good things end and we have to get back.
Day 9
The return journey to Port Blair, as it happens normally are a subdued one. Only occasion, when I was thrilled, was at the Neil Island jetty, where our steamer stopped enroute. The name of the Neil Island must have been derived of some Mr. Neil, but it would have not been improper if it could be called Neel (Blue in Hindi) Island. Here I found the blue waters are entirely different. My heart was aching to stay back there for a day, but time did not permit.
Back to Port Blair. The last evening we spent for shopping of handicraft souvenirs etc.
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