Day 2, SEA SHELL BAR, HAVELOK ISLANDS, ANDAMAN
I am in an awesome bar located right in midst of palm trees next to the beach, and there is only one couple in the bar besides me with Boney M’s ”Dancing Queen” playing in background.
First things first, after I got posted to Delhi the idea of visiting Port Blair germinated and with Jo Sir, Brig Harish Joshi , there ,or should I say here now, coupled with government giving you LTC(Leave Travel Concession) there could not be a better time. So I planned and booked my tickets in advance. Though none of my friends could join me so this one happens to be my first vacation alone but I am not regretting it. The beauty of the place, the crystal clear beaches make you forget everything.
I suffer from this perpetual problem of sleeping late, and very late in case next day I am travelling so I left my place in Delhi at 3:45 AM after going to sleep at 2 AM just to make sure that I stay groggy at the airport and don’t break the jinx.
Anyhow once again I cursed myself for doing so and slept through the flight.
The islands arrived and I was taken aback with the temp of 28o C at 9:30 AM. , when it was still cold in Delhi. I was carrying a jacket which was to be made fun of later. Jo Sir was there at the airport to receive me , dapper as always but now with salt & pepper hair . We hugged and soon I was vomiting all the details of my recent life. In between he kept on feeding me with small details like Andaman & Nicobar Islands being a group of 500 odd islands (Wow!) out of which only 35-40 are inhabited. Most interesting ones , for a soldier ,was the fact about the bunkers the Japs had built all around the place when they stayed here for three years in WW II. Other interesting fact was the complete UT (Union Territory) is on generators fr electricity, guzzling tons of diesel every day. Imagine a whole city’s electricity on generators, subsidized so that these islands stay inhabited by Indians.
Though I was sleepy in the afternoon we went to a place called Chidiyatapu, Jo had scheduled it, via Marine Drive, Army golf course and the main beach of Port Blair, the name I still don’t recollect. The Army is good in building golf courses everywhere and this one has the only link course which means that there is sea between any two holes.( Naughty minds to be at bay).
The beaches in Port Blair had warning signs of presence of crocodiles. Crocodiles in sea, well it is true and that’s why probably this place was called Kalapani,during British rule
The beach in Chidiyatapu was beautiful with water cleaner than that in a swimming pool. Beer and Biryani was on the itinerary and after a late lunch we drove to back to catch forty winks. Evening was a laid back one, the one we all love, with drinks at the local Defence Club. We wound up relatively early after paying homage to the other Sunny , who made India proud recently.
Next day I was packed and ready early. I had dreamt of someone, from the past, and rains probably because Jo sir was telling me last night that it has not rained hence the water is going to be crystal clear .I boarded the Govt yatch to Havelok lugging my rucksack and soon we took off.
The water was green at near distance but very clear and blue at a distance, changing colours , so much for the refraction part of it or the beauty of nature , I thought loud. Leave beside seeing I hadn’t even imagined clearer beaches than these.
I ventured upto the Captain’s cabin, something that I believe you can not do in famous Mackruze ride. The Captain turned out to be an ex navy guy settled in Gurgaon he was a tad bit surprised to find me alone . I was wondering what a sea change would be for this guy to go back to Gurgaon, the millennium city with all the chaos and back to this place often. I enjoyed the beauty of sail from the dock and later settled for a nap. Landed in Havelock two and a half hours later and it was heavenly in every sense of the word.
Soon I settled down as the resort was quite nearto jetty. I managed tea, breakfast and a scooter and moved to recce Vijayanagar side of Havelock. The only road is more or less like a horse shoe with a tail end joining the jetty. I was mesmerized with the ride and settled down to beach number five. Beaches supposedly have numbers here for example, the resort where I am staying is beach number two.
As soon I entered the beach voila, I saw saw mermaids all over. Took a dip amongst them and then tried to look cool by opening a book with Vodka (hip flask is one of biggest invention for the guys like us). I chatted with an Isareli mermaid who was quick to point out that she is with her boyfriend. So much for my initiative, I thought. Soon I got back to Vodka & Abida Parveen.
Later a group of Isaraelis joined me who were having Kingfisher strong and Bagpiper whiskey shots with gold flake small , living it up after conscription .
Had the lesson for the day that one should not sit under a coconut tree on a beach or anywhere as coconuts do drop. This one missed me by a whisker
.Surprisingly enough I learnt to float, for the first time in my life . I guess it was the excess salt in the water as my body type does not permit too much floating. What a joy it was to be able to float and stare at the blue sky, glares help of course. Lunch was at Wild Orchid ,a Red Snapper platter and I had to head back to my room for a snooze.
Woke up in the evening and decided that I have to clear my head of vodka , cigarettes and Isaraeli mermaids so, decided to go for a jog .Nothing works better to clear your head. The jog was on the beach which, because of low tide looked devastated , beautiful like an old beautiful woman . The pleasured jog was cut short because of dogs on the beach which Dulal , the owner at the resort, told me later bark only at Indians and not foreigners . Nobody knows why ,some racism these dogs practise, I wonder.
Another highlight of the day was clicking a live octopus, which the guy in the resort had somehow caught. A drive to the local market in the evening on the scooty to have the single egg rolls at the market to satiate the urge that I have developed due to regular egg rolls at Satya Niketan after the gym .
And now it is VAT 69, which is pretty cheap here, only 100 Rs for a small which is being compensated by the VAT in the hip flask. I love the guy who made hip flask. Tomorrow is another day of introspection , as Jo Sir puts it, I am on four days of introspection, while scuba diving and ZNMD, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara , time.
P.S. Bharat the bar guy who played Boney M , chatted with me and later on request played country with the closing song being “You pick a fine time to leave me Lucille, with 400 children ( very late in life I realized it was 4 hungry children and all these years it was 400 for me ) and a crop in the field”.
DAY 3 ITS REALLY A DIFFERENT WORLD OUT THERE , MUNJOH ON A FRND ‘S RECOMMENDATION(HIP FLASK STILL LIVES)
Woke up fresh in the morning excited as a child to hit the beach. The place was nearby and I could see some Indian fucking tourist also before me. Anyhow I changed fast and attended a five minute theory class which was to be followed ten minutes class in water. The water was amazing and there was a mermaid too.
Anyhow I was quick to get into water, like always, and practice my newly learnt floating. It’s amazing to gaze at the sky while floating. The Andaman beach are custom built for scuba diving and snorkelling. Crystal clear beaches with no waves apart from Radhanagar beach, which I discovered later. I was enjoying myself in the water and waiting for my turn when I thought of practicing snorkeling on my own since I was carrying a set , given by Jo sir I asked for the errand boy to get my bag and took out the set given by Jo, and soon I was snorkeling and it was a nice feeling to have these small fishes move around you and being with them in clear water. After about five ten minutes of it I heard some noise and I saw a guy waving at me. My turn had come.
I guess I have had enthusiasm written on my forehead (remember Tom Cruise in Cocktail) I was given just two minutes of trial and just a dip to practice breathing and the guide said I was ready to go. Initially the breathing was erratic but I soon got the hang of it.
Here we go, I thought when the guide took me for diving. He accompanies you throughout. The initial reaction was ecstatic. It was amazing with those fishes in all colours, transparent, opaque, transluscent moving around me. I saw minuscule mounds of sand which resembled tiny volcanoes sometimes erupting. Fishes appears and vanish around you as you go deeper. The whole sight is colourful, all the fishes, look different, some cute, some naughty, some menancing; looking at you trying to question your existence in their world. Slowly we moved from warm to cold water towards the reef and deeper.
I was, as if in a trance seeing things unknown to me earlier ,the corals, and things moving in them some just like them with their colour and shape ,some different. I have no idea besides the fact that it was heavenly. It was a different world out there. The flight of fancy continued and I had to squeeze my nose and push air out through ears to equalize the pressure time and again as we went deeper. The guide was good in continuously pointing to everything beautiful around us. He once pointed towards a thing with jelly tentacles and made me touch it, it initially for a split second it stuck to hand then like “touch me not “ recoiled .He later told me that it was home of Nemo.
We had facebook moments also when he made me stand next a rock and took pictures and a video. Sometime he would let me alone but kept pointing a hole at me, sign to say everything good.
He did the tentacles jelly thing again and since I was ready for it it was amazing. All this was happening eight metres down in the sea .I did try to look up to guess how deep we were but couldn’t guess as the water was very deep. We stayed down for about fifty minutes, you come to know that you are out of reef when you feel the change in temperature of water .While I was down and still reeling under the after effects I could think that only one thing can come close to this high and that would be jumping from the sky, which apparently is next on the agenda.
I came out of water, I bathed in the sun and the experience for some time- and later hit the water again.
My camera went kaput , yet again, and I thought of going to market to eat something . When I went to their office I realized it was only thousand rupees more for extra dive on same day and pronto I booked myself for that .My brunch was two egg rolls and I was back to the diving centre for the second dive.
Second dive lasted for about forty 40 minute this water had some dust and my suit was little tight but again it was an amazing experience. Seeing my enthusiasm he , the guide ,took me to fifteen metres depth which is normally not allowed and I really had to keep pinching my nose, very often, to maintain the pressure and when we were done we had to take a safety break at 2- 3 m depth to get the nitrogen out of our body which is required to be done when you go really deep.
After second dive I was so tired that I skipped lunch and went to sleep because I wanted to see the sunset at Radhasagar beach. I woke up in time and drove to Radhasagar, beach number seven, which has been voted as the best beach in Asia. I reached in time the sun was setting and the beauty of the beach with the setting sun was spell bounding. I was numbed, just sat there and later lied down on the white sand to savour the experience of sun producing various hues of colour in the sky. Its pristine beauty of white beach with waves hitting it at regular intervals unlike other beaches of Havelok that I had seen so far. After the sunset , which was captured on my phone I took a walk on beach. In the distance in the sky a maverick had left his mark. The walk was soothing so was the sight a two years old kid playing in the sand with his doting dad capturing all the moves on a camcorder.
After the walk tried to have food in Bare Foot Resort which is nestled deep in jungles, well preserved but since these guys did not take card had to go back and do with a lousy veg sandwich.
Dinner on reference was at Munjoh , whose board almost read like Munich. The ponytail guy was kind enough to allow me to drink from the hip flask , food was tantalizing and so was the clear sky when I drove back to my room after dinner.
DAY 4 EL DORADO AND THE MERMAIDS
Day began with a short drive to the jetty after applying little sunscreen and arranging for a snorkeling trip to Elephant beach. After a wait of an hour we took off to Elephant beach where water was again very clean, an obvious requirement for snorkelling.
I was ready before everyone else and required no lessons but before we went for snorkelling there was this that ride in a glass bottom boat which would give us a exquisite view of the corals. Before the ride there was this boy who was cleaning up the bottom of boat from under the boat that is under water. The sight was unusual but amusing and I couldn’t help but take a picture from the phone. The short sail was very beautiful with oohs and ahhs coming from fellow passengers. Another interesting observation is that 50% of Indian couples are honeymooners here. After the ride in the glass bottomed boat it was snorkeling time . I took a 20 minutes swim and came back satiated and hungry for more. I had four of such trips till I was tired.
The first half was well spent, Snorkelling is a fix which needs to be experienced. You feel in the frame to draw a parallel- it’s like driving an open jeep and scuba diving is riding a bike. You are in the frame. My jest for getting in the frame makes me explore more I guess and the more I explore I find there is more to explore.
Had plans to go to Radhanagar beach for the coconut fish at the Bare foot Resort but was tired and after the gulps of Vodka and the shower I felt like sticking to rest. Had vodka with egg curry and saw Sachin batting in form , thought he might strike a ton but he got out soon .
When I was going to my room I met the French couple who were staying in the same resort with two cute kids . I thought of complimenting their kids by calling them cute but it was hard to explain the meaning of cute to them. One my head was heavy with vodka and two it seems that they don’t use the word normally.
The couple have two kids one of them is by the name of Machis whom I am going to teach cricket tomorrow morning. The couple has been staying here in the same resort for a month now and have a content look. Once I found them clearing the beach of the bottles something that we cant even think of.
I just took initiative and helped two Russian mermaids. I like my initiative streak.
Hand too much to drink in the afternoon watching India struggle against Sri Lanka and went to sleep after Sachin got out. Woke up late and toyed with the idea of going to Radhanagar beach for a jog but since it was late I decided to hit the road itself and a small jog of 22-23 minutes did clear my hand again of Vodka and sumptuous lunch of egg curry and rice.
Evening was for drinks at the resort with Dulal the owner of the place who told me that its 572 Islands and only 37 are inhabited and also about the famous Coco Islands which are part of Andaman & Nicobar Islands but with China now with a airport at that place.
After couple of drinks with Dulal I went to a shady bar called EL Dorado .Royal Challenge is for Rs 30 a small. What else can you ask for .Two babes smiled at me and I helped them in choosing a drink but soon they were joined by their male friends. Though later after the inhibitions were down I chatted with all of them for quite some time.
DAY 5 BEACH SIDE BAY VIEW
El Dorado was really cheap and good.
Woke up in the morning and it was time for cricket with Machis and Tiu. I began with customery and amusing ‘Thank you God for cricket’ howl on the beach (remember the “Beach”) and made Machis follow it who is a cute nine yr old with mischievous eyes.It was fun with cricket on the beach . Both the kids had a knock of hitting the ball.
Snorkeling followed in Bay View reef which is now preferred for diving. It was mesmerizing again , at one particular spot there were so many colours on the rocks which were opening and closing. Violet, brown, sandy making a heady mix. The diver told me that they are clamps and if you put a finger inside it bites and then its difficult to get it out. Machis in the meanwhile seems to have taken a liking for me and he was trying to wave at me during Snorkeling too.
Snorkeling and cricket tired me out but I pulled myself to Radhanagar beach where the water had waves. After a customery dip sat in the shade as it was hot ended up disturbing the romantic moods of a newlywed couple who due to heat had decided to share my shade.
I decided to finally have lunch at Bare Foot. I had been sipping vodka at the beach and ordered one at the resort .I asked waiter if I could add my own sprite , he obliged not knowing that it was already spiked with Vodka. I did try to look cool by reading a book but seriously enjoyed it too.
. The resort is nestled in middle of jungle and it was known as the Jungle Resort earlier and everywhere you have to go bare foot (that’s why the name) . Lunch was Thai red fish curry which was delicious. Rushed back after the lunch as was damn sleepy, cricket plus Snorkeling plus Swim plus Vodka had done me in.
In the afternoon I dabbled will the idea of going to Radhanagar beach or playing cricket. Finally I pulled my frame and drove to Radhanagar just in time for a short jog all along the beach to clear my head. It was fun jogging next to waves where the sand is little firm and at times the waves try to kiss your feet and you dodge them every now and then. The sunset was beautiful with sky bringing up hues of red and yellow. Crimson red would be perhaps the right word. One old couple was enchanted seeing me jog and sad hello , when I finished my jog. I am sure the guy would have loved running himself.
Radhanagar a beach or beach number seven is a long elongated white sandy beach with the width around two hundred metres lined with thick tropical forest. It’s an amazing view. The sunset had clouds from one side like space ships from the movie” Flash Gordon” which I saw way back as a kid. To make the picture perfect there was a yatch just kept on sea for the purpose of making it picture perfect. I felt like taking picture but since neither the camera nor the phone was not with me so had to keep it in my memory only. I sat there for a long time trying to savour it. There have been so many times when you feel that your eyes were a camcorder capturing things beautiful. I can’t go on to tell you the number of times, as for me it’s a huge list .Simultaneously it is unfortunate that no camera or camcorder can capture the real beauty of a place or the joy that it gives you.
The venue has changed after two drinks and two rolls I am now at Wild Orchid where the bar girl is a beautiful dusky woman. After the sunset it was time to head back home after a Nariyal Pani. The drive was a cool one as I had just sweated out started Vodka in my system.
While coming to the Wild Orchid when I stopped at the only tiny local market to have egg rolls the masseuse ,who works for Wild Orchid,whom I have met couple of times offered to take me along to beach at night . I thought he made a pass as his smile was a little crooked. I managed to ask him plainly as what the plot was he but didn’t come out with his plan. Any how he has told me that he will wait for me tomorrow night at the same place for the some drinks , walk on the beach(with me) and gup sup .Eewh .
Well I am not here tomorrow. Tomorrow after a early morning cricket session with Machis and Tiu I am off to Neil Island and then to Port Blair. My stay in Havelok has come to end. Next time, next LTC it will be Diglipur so that I travel till Diglipur by a sea plane & stay at Havelok too.Not to miss, I love a fascinating tan .
The bar at Wild Orchid has a smoking corner which gives eye a full view of sky above. The clear sky of village or unpolluted places always reminds me my childhood. The bar closes early and I couldn’t bear overhearing any more the conversation of the two newly married couples in the bar next to me where the men were still trying to impress women and women were trying to act happening by bragging of their escapades. I reached home and I realised I stayed for four days at Havelok and not even once did I switch on the TV in my room .
DAY 6
Woke up next day and found Machis looking for me for cricket. Soon we, that is , Machis , Tiu his brother and I were on the beach again playing cricket. Must have played for half an hour or so and soon it was time to go.
The Havelok jetty looked very pretty with lot of birds hovering around. The cops at the entrance mistook me as a foreinger and asked for my passport and pass, I had to tell him twice that I am an Indian.
It is like hour and half to Neil Island from Havelok. Neil looked equally beautiful with equally clean water
.
I was told that it has a population of just 4000 whereas Havelok had a population of 10,000. I had just a couple of hours at Neil so the cab driver took me to Rock formation , Laxminagar beach and then to Bharatpur beach.
At Rock Formation , a secluded place deep inside Neil, we startled two gorgeous looking women in their two pieces who were frolicking in water without a care in the world. With a customary hello and smile we walked past and repeated the same while getting back.
The Bharatpur beach was beautiful with very few people, you could literally count them on your fingers . It is a amazing feeling letting your body sink in the crystal clear water and just to float and gaze at the clear sky.
I was tempted go for guided snorkeling at a spot which was a little distance away when it was praised too much by the guide saying that it is much more beautiful than at the Havelok island. He was right, the corals were little lower placed than at the Havelok and the guide showed a spot for which I had to go down by 4-5 metres to spot the lobsters among the rocks and I succeeded in third attempt.
. Quick Vodka sips and a hurried lunch of fish curry and rice and I had to rush to, literally rush , run , to catch the ferry which was about to leave. The sail back was fun with me trying to finish a book back in the backdrop of a couple of south Indian guys singing. One of whom was a really good singer who kept all the passengers enthralled. The evening was spent with catching up with Jo sir at Port Blair.
DAY 7
Day had a mandatory trip to Ross Island, where to catch the ferry I again had to run. I am getting tired of this running around business. It was a nice morning with a cool breeze. I settled myself in the ferry whose owner seemed to be stuck in a time wrap, where he has stayed Kumar Sanu fan, which brought back teenage memories.
You come across all kinds of people while travelling and otherwise too . I was quick to help one very old lady escorted by a relatively younger woman and family. The relatively younger woman who had seducing eyes of a tease , reminiscent of her lucid past, did not lose any time to tell me that the old lady is mother of IG Police of Andaman. I also did not lose any time to give her the look that if she speaks more I might eat her bus ticket (Dev D )
Ross was beautiful like everything else here. The first and foremost thing which struck me was the tactically ,strongly built Japanese bunkers which are still in good shape. Ross Island was the place where Britishers stayed during their stay it is now controlled by Indian Navy and has a beautiful pathways which take you meandering through the complete Island where you get to see the ruins of British Army’s Institutes and you cross path with deers who are are raised here and move freely on the Island.
A mandatory trip to souvenir shop, a quick lunch in the Mess where I curbed my introverted side and chatted freely with a lady on the meal table.
Evening was for a visit to Cellular jail and the light and sound show. The light and sound show was really worth it. I stacked up on history on India’s freedom fight.
DAY 8
Next day early morning was the trip to Baratang reserve which is a lagoon famous for crocodiless and limestone caves. The trip takes you through the habitat of Jarawa tribes which one of the very few nomadic tribes left in the world. There is one single road which is controlled by police. The vehicles move in a convoy escorted by police. When you pass through the jungle, the habitat of Jarawas, no one is suppose to take snaps of the tribal people but who can stop the Indian fucking tourists. I was quite sleepy so onward journey was spent in sleeping only. Baratang was a nice experience though it was very hot ,and to top it all Indian fucking tourist added to irritation by clicking romantic and facebook snaps in limestone caves.
For many years now I have this word for a class of India tourists, I call them Indian fucking tourist. They have been following traits :-
(a) They are totally inappropriately dressed, high heels in place like national park.
(b) They are loud, very loud they all become Punjabis of Delhi.
(c) They all are interested in ticking one more place that they have seen and not in enjoying it
(d) They are interested in clicking their own picture in all kinds of poses, we are really high on vanity I guess.
(e) They have special knack of making a place noisy and dirty.
Any how after I came in terms with my irritation for Indian tourists it was a nice trip and on the way back to Baratang jetty we spotted a crocodile in the river.
Afterwards there was this quick trip to the only live mud volcano at Baratang. On the way back from Baratang we got lucky we spotted the Jarawa tribes on three different spots which is considered to be lucky enough. Stark naked supple & strong bodies with strong thighs and protruding bums, mark of a strong tribe looking at us they way we look at them. I also spotted one Jarava hunter taking back to his hut a wild boar on his back. Since he was alone I assumed that he would have killed it himself.
The existence of Jarawa tribe in midst of normal people like us is astonishing, a perfect balance is maintained though I am sure this too would be stage managed . I believe the Supreme Court had some objection on this road which passes through their habitat . God alone knows as to how many years more they can survive or the government can manage to keep them alive. Its akin to virgin sand dunes at Sam near Jaisalmer which are kept barren for tourist attraction or the artifacts placed outside the shops on the main meandering road of Jaisalmer town where the shop keepers deliberately keep them to get a antique look on them.
The evening was again with Jo Sir in Mess and I also managed to get his bamboo ashtray for our binges which now adorns my room I am yet to write a story on that.
The trip came to an end. My first vacation alone which never gave me a reason to rue over it. The plane took off from Port Blair. I sank deep in the chair, looked outside on the mesmerizing islands, closed my eyes, thought of myself scuba diving and thought its really a different world out there.
WRITTEN: 2012, After the Andamans Trip . I visited Andamans in 2019 , by then the domestic tourism had skyrocketed , "I had grown older and you had grown colder "
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