Well it was the time of the year for the big trip, and unlike last year in Ladakh, we planned things ahead for a change. We reached Port Blair airport on the 3rd and then took the government ferry to Havelock island, then logged into Barefoot resort at Radha Nagar beach.
Huge ancient Mahua trees near Radha Nagar beach, Havelock Island
5 September
7 am: On Monday, we headed for Beach no 3 at the PADI resort, filled and signed the waiver form for SCUBA diving. We put on the diving suits, carried our fins and masks, and took a motorboat to beach no 2. This is where we strapped on our cylinders and went diving to check out the world under the surface. By the way, these are not oxygen cylinders, just regular air. We went through a training session on breathing and communication skills and headed for the deeper end. Though it was raining heavily through these days, we had a spot of luck with the sun out in the first half of our diving day. The entire duration underwater was for 30 minutes and we went as far as 6 metres down. After a while I could feel my ears due to the increasing pressure. One thing about the whole experience- aqua life has to be experienced in person. Fish going about their lives in shoals of over a 100 each, just a metre away from you, huge multicolored species in visible range- this is a dwindling ecology. Carrying my camera was pointless because the moments worth capturing were underwater, and I did not have the waterproof cover. Thankfully the diving instructors- Anne, Steve and Karan had an underwater cover for their camera, so we have some photos. The fish we saw down there were parrot fish, clown fish, sea urchin and a whole lot of other species I have never seen before. Ocean life is way too vast and extensive to know what's going on down there. And thanks to evolution we will never 'cover' everything.
6 September
The next day at 7 am we headed for Henry Lawrence Island for snorkeling, which took 2 hours by ferry from Havelock to reach. Two other Australian couples were with us on the boat. This is an uninhabited island and we banked at 'Tamarind camp' which was basically just a hut and a dog on it. Since I was a total non-swimmer, I had to use the lifesaver and be guided along the corals. I could breathe comfortable with the snorkeling gear, and see the sea bed very clearly. The Aussies were experienced divers and they clearly saw much more, diving down to 5 metres in a single breath to check under the corals and fish closer to the sea bed. The water was much clearer around this island- thanks to lack of human intervention. We had some luck again with a clear day which let us see down below till the sea bed. This time we saw more types of fish and creatures. Clearly more dives were needed to understand this world down below.
We had lunch- pasta and olives, picked up some shells along the beach and headed back.
My first SCUBA dive at Havelock
7 September
9 am: We left Havelock island by Bambooka- a government ferry.
Reached Port Blair at noon and checked into our hotel. Went to Naval museum which has the history of A&N islands documented in forms of paintings, information boards, shells and relics collected from tribes, Samudrika- the aquarium museum and later Cellular prison. The sound and light show did a very standard job of recreating the history of the freedom fighters' ordeal here. There was so much scope with shadow cutouts and props. Of the 6 wings, four were destroyed and a hospital was built on the same land. The other three wings serve as a memorial.
Rainbow spotted over Cellular Prison, Port Blair
Boat in Baratang
8 September
3 am: we headed for Baratang island. 50 km from our Port Blair hotel we reached the Jirkatang checkpost. Baratang ferry point was another 50 km through the forest. Our group of 20 odd cabs was escorted by armed cops through this distance. On the way we saw the Jarawa tribals. The people have not changed through the ages. Originally of negro race and retaining the same physical features, the tribe's lifestyle remains unchanged. They still hunt and dress the same. One young man with a bow and arrows was looking out for food from passing cabs. Later we saw a youngster who had hunted wild pigs and had them on his back. Then we saw a family of three also on the road. Later two women dressed only in red head gear and red dresses were trying to get people's attention from the passing traffic in hope of food and stuff. It is illegal to interact, feed or photograph the tribals, so I have no pictures of them. At the ferry point, 4-5 young tribal men seem to be comfortably hanging around here. I got chatting with the driver to learn more about them. Their population is apparently around 500 and this tribe is protected under government law. The Jarwa people had surrendered to the government 12 years back. They looked misunderstood, misplaced and under-privileged. But then maybe thats my perspective from the warped 'civilization' I come from.
From the ferry point we took a ferry to the other side, from where we hopped into a motorboat. After an hour we got into a mangrove canal which took us to the limestone cave. Later we saw the mud volcano. This is an active volcano which is still bubbling mud.
Sept 9- Port Blair to Bamboo Flat was by ferry. Heading for Hariet peak which had a 16 km trek path but it was raining so heavily we had to pass. There is a suicide point in this park. Anyways it started raining heavily so we got out of there. There is a view from here that is apparently the same as what you see on a 20-rupee note!
Monks in prayer, Golden Temple, Kushal Nagar, Karnataka
From there we headed for Coorg and spent 4 days there in the coffee plantations. From here we moved around to Abbey falls, some local temples and to Kushal Nagar which has a huge monastery. Headed back to Delhi on the 14th.
Abbey falls, Coorg
Baby elephant in Coorg
We visited the Mysore palace just before catching our train to Chennai. The palace is currently under restoration, though visitors are allowed inside. I was honestly surprised at the level of committment shown in the preservation of the art- paintings, sculptures and personal belongings of the Wodeyars royal family. My personal favorite were these bronze leopards in various places on the palace grounds. I spotted at least eight of them.
There's also the amazing stain glass in the 'marriage hall' area-
Here's a video of the whole trip. It's a 3 minute montage of just trees and Abbey falls-
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eQJL6ZOM80]
Huge ancient Mahua trees near Radha Nagar beach, Havelock Island
5 September
7 am: On Monday, we headed for Beach no 3 at the PADI resort, filled and signed the waiver form for SCUBA diving. We put on the diving suits, carried our fins and masks, and took a motorboat to beach no 2. This is where we strapped on our cylinders and went diving to check out the world under the surface. By the way, these are not oxygen cylinders, just regular air. We went through a training session on breathing and communication skills and headed for the deeper end. Though it was raining heavily through these days, we had a spot of luck with the sun out in the first half of our diving day. The entire duration underwater was for 30 minutes and we went as far as 6 metres down. After a while I could feel my ears due to the increasing pressure. One thing about the whole experience- aqua life has to be experienced in person. Fish going about their lives in shoals of over a 100 each, just a metre away from you, huge multicolored species in visible range- this is a dwindling ecology. Carrying my camera was pointless because the moments worth capturing were underwater, and I did not have the waterproof cover. Thankfully the diving instructors- Anne, Steve and Karan had an underwater cover for their camera, so we have some photos. The fish we saw down there were parrot fish, clown fish, sea urchin and a whole lot of other species I have never seen before. Ocean life is way too vast and extensive to know what's going on down there. And thanks to evolution we will never 'cover' everything.
6 September
The next day at 7 am we headed for Henry Lawrence Island for snorkeling, which took 2 hours by ferry from Havelock to reach. Two other Australian couples were with us on the boat. This is an uninhabited island and we banked at 'Tamarind camp' which was basically just a hut and a dog on it. Since I was a total non-swimmer, I had to use the lifesaver and be guided along the corals. I could breathe comfortable with the snorkeling gear, and see the sea bed very clearly. The Aussies were experienced divers and they clearly saw much more, diving down to 5 metres in a single breath to check under the corals and fish closer to the sea bed. The water was much clearer around this island- thanks to lack of human intervention. We had some luck again with a clear day which let us see down below till the sea bed. This time we saw more types of fish and creatures. Clearly more dives were needed to understand this world down below.
We had lunch- pasta and olives, picked up some shells along the beach and headed back.
My first SCUBA dive at Havelock
7 September
9 am: We left Havelock island by Bambooka- a government ferry.
Reached Port Blair at noon and checked into our hotel. Went to Naval museum which has the history of A&N islands documented in forms of paintings, information boards, shells and relics collected from tribes, Samudrika- the aquarium museum and later Cellular prison. The sound and light show did a very standard job of recreating the history of the freedom fighters' ordeal here. There was so much scope with shadow cutouts and props. Of the 6 wings, four were destroyed and a hospital was built on the same land. The other three wings serve as a memorial.
Rainbow spotted over Cellular Prison, Port Blair
Boat in Baratang
8 September
3 am: we headed for Baratang island. 50 km from our Port Blair hotel we reached the Jirkatang checkpost. Baratang ferry point was another 50 km through the forest. Our group of 20 odd cabs was escorted by armed cops through this distance. On the way we saw the Jarawa tribals. The people have not changed through the ages. Originally of negro race and retaining the same physical features, the tribe's lifestyle remains unchanged. They still hunt and dress the same. One young man with a bow and arrows was looking out for food from passing cabs. Later we saw a youngster who had hunted wild pigs and had them on his back. Then we saw a family of three also on the road. Later two women dressed only in red head gear and red dresses were trying to get people's attention from the passing traffic in hope of food and stuff. It is illegal to interact, feed or photograph the tribals, so I have no pictures of them. At the ferry point, 4-5 young tribal men seem to be comfortably hanging around here. I got chatting with the driver to learn more about them. Their population is apparently around 500 and this tribe is protected under government law. The Jarwa people had surrendered to the government 12 years back. They looked misunderstood, misplaced and under-privileged. But then maybe thats my perspective from the warped 'civilization' I come from.
From the ferry point we took a ferry to the other side, from where we hopped into a motorboat. After an hour we got into a mangrove canal which took us to the limestone cave. Later we saw the mud volcano. This is an active volcano which is still bubbling mud.
Sept 9- Port Blair to Bamboo Flat was by ferry. Heading for Hariet peak which had a 16 km trek path but it was raining so heavily we had to pass. There is a suicide point in this park. Anyways it started raining heavily so we got out of there. There is a view from here that is apparently the same as what you see on a 20-rupee note!
Monks in prayer, Golden Temple, Kushal Nagar, Karnataka
From there we headed for Coorg and spent 4 days there in the coffee plantations. From here we moved around to Abbey falls, some local temples and to Kushal Nagar which has a huge monastery. Headed back to Delhi on the 14th.
Abbey falls, Coorg
Baby elephant in Coorg
We visited the Mysore palace just before catching our train to Chennai. The palace is currently under restoration, though visitors are allowed inside. I was honestly surprised at the level of committment shown in the preservation of the art- paintings, sculptures and personal belongings of the Wodeyars royal family. My personal favorite were these bronze leopards in various places on the palace grounds. I spotted at least eight of them.
There's also the amazing stain glass in the 'marriage hall' area-
Here's a video of the whole trip. It's a 3 minute montage of just trees and Abbey falls-
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eQJL6ZOM80]
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