My Andaman trip

vpsingh

I visited Andamans during 3-8 Sep with my wife. We both loved it. We went from Kolkata with Air Deccan both ways. Ticket cost me around Rs 20k for two person. It is monsoon season but it rained only first two days (with quite long breaks). It was hot, sunny and humid. Less number of tourists and very few non-Indians.

Here is my travelogue -

Day 1 Took Air Deccan flight from Kolkata. Huge rush at security check and long queues for boarding (part mismanagement of airport and part pathetic handling by Air Deccan).
It was raining heavily at Port Blair when we arrived and we were lucky that pilot didn't decide to turn back to Kolkata . Landing was rough but we all survived. A few European tourists enjoyed the landing and were clapping/whistling (crazy white people, thought everybody else ).
No pre-paid taxi at airport. Taxiwallah charged Rs. 100 for Aberdeen bazar (I later realised real cost should be Rs.50).
After lunch at Annapurna (in front of Model School, best bet for vegeteranians in Aberdeen Bazar), visited Anthropological Museum. Small but good if you are interested about the aborigines here. Then went to Gandhi Park and water sports complex. Only water sport available there is paddle-boats. Lake is very small, but park is OK. Most of other visitors couples looking for privacy and few local enjoying evening walks.
Went to Cellular jail. It had closed for visitors but Light and Sound show was about to take place. Fought around 200 people for tickets, reached in and found all chairs taken already . Sound was poor, lights even poorer. Photography was prohibited during show but people shamelessly continued doing so. Wife decided she didn't want to enjoy the show after it started raining and mosquitoes started biting us. We left and spent sometime in the small lawn (Veer Savarkar Park) in front of Cellular Jail and Marina down the road. Street lights during evening look lovely on road around coast.

Day 2 Left after a tasteless breakfast at YMCA for Marina. Purchased ticket for 3 point boat trip. Costed Rs 250 per person. It was sunny that time.
Visited Ross Island. It contains ruins of erstwhile British capital of Andamans. Lovely photography opportunity.
By the time we were back for next point, it started raining. Didn't dare get down at Viper Island and all my view of Harbour cruise was blocked by umbrellas in umpteenth directions.
Went to North Bay as our final point of day. Rain stopped and we all could breath easy. Eating place is so dirty, we decided to stay on tea only. Went for glass-bottomed ride to see corals. It lasted almost 10 minutes. It was cold so decided not to go swimming. Soon it started raining really heavily. We all spent our return trip cursing rain .

Day 3 After breakfast at Annapurna hired autorickshaw to visit Corbyn Cove beach. Was charged Rs 120 for trip. Beach is clean but small. We shared beach with large number of small crabs busy in their chores. Good scenic beauties.
Returned to bus station and took bus to Wandoor. Costs Rs 10 per person. Get down at Wandoor beach (last stop). Enjoyed the clean and long beach. A few people went for boat rides to Jolly Buoy and Red Skin (for seeing corals). I preferred the beach resting doing nothing. Tried some strange looking dishes for dinner, ever eaten cocktail idli ? Asked guesthouse people to get tickets for Havelock trip next day.

Day 4 Left really early to catch 0630 boat to Havelock from Phoenix Bay jetty (Rs 25 from Aberdeen Bazar in an autorickshaw). Costed Rs 400 return per person. Missed breakfast, didn't like the one being offered in boat canteen. Sunny and dry, best weather in our whole trip so far. Reached Havelock at 1100. Had a return ticket at 1400. Cursed my luck a lot. Had lunch at beach#3. Hired an autorickshaw for next 3 hours for Rs 200. Visited beach #5 and beach#7. Both really good but hardly any soul. Had whole of beaches for self. Can bath and swim. Change facility available and one life guard at beach#7. Came back to catch return boat at 1400. Should have stayed one night there . On return trip saw flying fish, dolphins and rainbow. Reached Port Blair at 1800.

Day 5 Took autorickshaw to Chatham (Rs 25 from Aberdeen Bazar in an autorickshaw). Hardly anything to see there. Boarded ferry to Bamboo Flat (Rs 3 per person). At Bamboo flat hired a jeep to Mount Harriet visit. He charged Rs 300 (later realised it should not have been more than Rs. 250 but I didn't bargain much). It is a picnic spot and you can trek from top to otherside of island which is around 16kms but I guess I don't have that much stamina. No restaurants etc. here. Bring all eatables from jetty itself. Many kind of butterflies to watch. Returned back to guesthouse. After lunch, visited Fisheries museum. It is small but quite good. Later visited some emporium and souvenier shops. All very costly and most of the stuff is brought either from Tamil Nadu or Indonesia/Vietnam (strange!!) so decided not to buy anything. Souvenier shop at Anthropological museum is however reasonably priced. Wife purchased wooden bangles from there.

Day 6 Left for Kolkata. This time, autorickshaw charged just Rs 30 for airport. Really, really long queues at baggage checkin, security checkin and boarding. We reached three hours early but still just avoided missing our flight.

Lodging, fooding and travels cost us less than Rs 8k (the cheapest tour I was offered was Rs 9k per person but with better hotels which I don't think really matters since most of hotels are alike unless you spend time in Fortune Bay Resort or Barefoot Resort).
Now that I have blurted out everything, may be I should go back to work.

__________________
Don't follow the herd, grass is already eaten!!

capt_mahajan

Interesting report, except Air Deccan, of course.

Thanks.

Radjesh

share some photos dude

rkbharat

no pics ?????????????

__________________
Cheers.....
Rajiv
http://www.wheelsandroads.com

hemarprasad

Hi,

A friend of mine wants to send his parents (aged 62 and 65) to Andaman for a 5 night/ 6 day kind of vacation sometime in October. He has corresponded with Barefoot Jungle Resort in Havelock over email and they have sent their standard reply in response to his specific concerns and questions about comfort, safety and activities for older people.

From the reviews I have read so far, I get a feeling that Barefoot is not a great option for senior citizens. (especially people who are not very outdoorsy and up for adventure sports). Having said that, I have a few questions:

1. Does Andaman as a vacation option make sense for older people who might have a few minor health related concerns?
2. I have read contradictory reviews about Barefoot Jungle Resort in Havelock. Some people swear by the property while others seem sorely disappointed with their poor service and facilities. If that's the case, can my friend take a chance and risk sending his parents to a resort which might not be very attentive to his parents despite the high tariff?
3. Are there any small boutique hotels/ homestays on the island, which might be better suited for older folks? I haven't come across any on the net so far.



Thanks
Hema

vpsingh

I have seen Barefoot resort. It is really good. But, Havelock has hardly anything but beaches. If you are not planning to swim/dive etc. will get bored in a day or two.
Instead I will suggest an itinerary spread over more than one place. Port Blair is best place to stay since it is the biggest town there with all the best facilities there can be in remote areas. You will get cheaper option of stay there.
I have seen many old couples and people with large families touring and there should not be any issue as such with age.

shahronakm

Barefoot Jungle resort is supposed to be the best place to stay in Havelock. There will be no activity at havelock for older people as Scuba diving & snorkelling are the two main activity over there. However they can spend some quieter moments at Radhanagar Beach (Where Barefoot is located) & also visit other beaches on the island. But please note that there are hardly any medical facilites at havelock.

As VP mentions Port Blair would be an ideal choice for them as there are no. of sight seeing options which can they cover at their ease.

Ronak.

vpsingh

I have uploaded a few of photos that I took in Andamans at following location-

http://www.virendra.org/gallery/album/andaman/

Hope this will inspire some more to visit the lovely place.

nomad

interesting, i was also in andaman see but on different set of islands

http://rverma.smugmug.com/langkawi

__________________
Rahul Verma
http://rverma.smugmug.com
www.pbase.com/rverma