The Emerald Islands - Unleashing Life
The second part of the travelogue!
As I had mentioned in the last post, I had decided to take a trip in the month of March, during my month long travel across the country, the destination happened to be the "Emerald Islands" in the Bay of Bengal, better known as Andamans!
Andamans happens to be a honeymoon destination, at least this is what i had heard of before, and the rooms, etc. in the hotels are also designed on the same lines. So going on a trip to Andamans with some unknown people, was a gamble in the first place. And thankfully, we played well!
My pole star had been going on trips with a travel company, and was always full of praises for them. She had been to multiple places before, and had already booked herself on a trip to Andamans. She happens to be a water baby, so, Andamans was a good choice for her. I had been hearing from her for more than 4 months about her upcoming trip, which kept on getting postponed due to some unforeseen things. While on one of our phone calls, i just told her, "next time please talk about Andaman once you are back. Till then, i am done with this word." During the same phone call, she mentioned the reason for the trip might get cancelled altogether, and out of blues, I asked her if she minds, if i can join the trip too! Don't know what made me said that, and after the call i was wondering, that this would have been probably the first time, where i had said to do something without a thought. She got back in few hours with all the details, and introduced with the travel coordinator, and by end of the day, i had booked myself on the same trip. Thankfully, the travel group agreed to all the things, and we were set to fly on 14th Mar to Port Blair! That's how i happened to be on this journey of discovering. When i was speaking to her, i had told her, "you can enjoy the waters inside, and i will enjoy by just being on the sea-side. I won't go inside waters, and no-one can keep you outside." And i think that was the deal!
A few days before the trip, our coordinator, shared the details about other women joining the group. Oh yeah, this was an all women trip. We were 8 of us, including our trip coordinator. All were supposed to meet in Port Blair, and most of them (actually all except the two of us) were meeting each other for the first time.
I had another incentive, as we were flying via Kolkata! With our small outing in the city of joy, when we boarded our flight to Port Blair, i couldn't help asking her about the itinerary. And my co-passenger, My Pole Star was dumbfounded. She said, "we are already on the flight, and will land in a short time, and you have not seen the itinerary?" To which i could just say, "am sure you have already gone through the same, why shall i put efforts into it. If you have agreed to it, definitely it's going to be a good one." All i could see was a smirk on her face!
Anyways, we landed in Port Blair on time, and thankfully our coordinator had everything in place, including the music in the car. Our hotel was outside the city, and the way was comforting with the lushed greens on one side and the soothing blues on the other.
Day 1: Checking into hotel. Our stay was at Symphony Samudra, Port Blair. A peaceful resort in middle of the greens, with rustic but comfortable cottages, and an infinity pool. Though the weather was a bit warm, and we had a few hours before our ice-breaking meet arranged by our coordinator, so i decided to take a quick shower, skipping lunch and rushing for the sunset. Here, the sun sets a bit early, it was around 4-4:30 pm. I had only 30 minutes to be in time, and it was something i would not miss for anything. Post a quick shower, and ordering room service for Pole Star, i headed out to find a cozy place to witness the sun set. Finally i could find a place by the infinity pool, and could watch the serene sun set. Enough for me to get over the hectic travel of the day.
The second best part was no network. Though it felt like a nightmare at the first, it was a blessing in disguise. :)
Realizing that i was quite late for the first meeting, I rushed for the same, and ended up being the last one there. The ladies were amazing, someone was an avid traveler, while there was one who came on the trip for the first time (without family), someone was looking for an escape from routine life, while other was celebrating a life event with the trip. We have the Lady DJ (the same lady i had mentioned about in an earlier post "Deejaying"), Ms Social Media, Ms Style, The Boss Lady, the Business Woman, Pole star and the Buddy (our coordinator). All coming from different walks of life, with one motto - having a blast in the next 7 days. The ice-breaking was good, and by the time we had dinner, we were already making plans for the next day. I guess, Buddy's ice breaking event was an instant hit!
Day 2: We had a long day, with multiple places to be visited in the city - Mount Harriet National park, Ross Island, Cellular Jail for Light & Sound Show and Corbyn Beach. A day to know the history of Andamans, and something to ponder upon, that what our older generations had to go through to get us to the place where we are today!
Day 3: This was our day to visit next island. We hopped on a cruise, from Port Blair to Havelock or the Swaraj Dweep! This place is famous for its picturesque view, specially the Kala Patthar beach. The place we stayed at, had a private beach, and was nothing less than a heaven. It can be aptly called as a paradise for the lovers of sunsets, sunrises, ocean, the beaches, and of course, someone who loves to click and getting clicked. We had fun on the cruise, and i could have the "Veg Puff" i had been craving for almost a month. Reaching Havelock, the evening we visited the "Radhanagar beach". A clean beach, with white sand, is a rare thing in India. Radha Nagar beach is known for beautiful sunsets. And indeed it was serene. Something you can not take your eyes off from. Of course, we could see a lot of couples getting clicked with professional photographers! Phew.
One can never get enough, on a beach, and leaving it always leaves unfulfilled. We all had a similar feeling while returning from Radha Nagar beach. Having a private beach in hotel, was a bit palliating. And i was just waiting to finish dinner, and rush to the beach side within hotel. Sitting by the sea side, with some nice music in background, facing the breeze, with moon shining bright in the sky and the waves crashing at your feet, is probably the best thing! And yes, it was somewhere around full moon night. Tides were strong, and the moonlight was equally bright making a perfect ambience to gather your thoughts. Somewhere i was lost in the surroundings that i didn't even miss writing.
Day 4 of the trip, we headed out for the water sports. We took a speedboat to Elephant beach, where all the water sports are available including the deep water snorkeling. I was in two minds for snorkeling, being an aquaphobic, and at the same time ecstatic for other water sports like water scooter, etc. The group was on the same level, for different activities, and a few for the local food and just being in the water. Our guide had told the first thing we do is Snorkeling, and then we go for other activities, and last for Parasailing. For me the first and last were the must dos and the most difficult ones too, as i am both aquaphobic and acrophobic. Though i came to the trip for just fun, by the time we reached the sight, i had decided to get over these phobias of mine, so i had registered for all the possible activities i could do. Still, i was nervous, scared and had panic attacks oblivious to others. We had to go for snorkeling in pairs, and thankfully Pole star opted to pair up with me. She once again proved to be the rock! When i came out of water, i was overwhelmed. It is difficult to describe the feeling that i had, all i could do was cry, i was over the fear of water to an extent. Once i had left the under water sea walk before even starting it, and today i had done the Deep water snorkeling, it was a big thing! Water sports are always mad fun, and we had a blast. Our guide was at a loss, as it was difficult for him to catch hold of us crazy people, and every time, he would collect us at one point to kick off an activity, he would loose at least one of us. Eventually he decided, that your group would be the last one to do Parasailing, and honestly we did not give any damn about it. All we were bothered was, just ensure that we do not miss on parasailing. And guess what we were bothered about? The local food! We had discovered that almost everyone of us was a foodie! Or may be the water sports had drained us, and our body and brains could only make sense of food. Doing parasailing as the last ones, turned out to be one of the best things. When i was up in the air, all i could see was infinite blue waters, and the surrounding hills on the islands, with a view of sun preparing to go down, and the state of tranquility! Once i was up in the air, i didn't want to comeback. I wished that i just keep watching this infinite view and time stops here. I did give a hard time to the guy who had to click pictures of us doing parasailing. He finally gave up, and hardly clicked any.
On returning from Elephant beach, we headed to another beach, which probably is the best beach of India. The most clicked one, and the one representing Andamans. It is known as "Kala Patthar beach", as at some point of time, there were a lot of black rocks on the beach, and today there are just a couple of them. This beach was the cleanest of all. It is impossible to describe the beach, its view in words here and in pictures. Still i would let the picture speak for the place . :)
It was indeed the best day, i was on cloud nine, and ended up with a bang. Oh, I had literally banged my head on a low lying tree extension, leaving my head spinning for a few seconds. It took me a while to get hang of what had happened. Probably, it was God's way of saying come back to real world! I had actually checked two of the most difficult things for myself.
Our buddy mentioned that this place is known for beautiful sunrises. This alarmed the four of us in the group and we decided to comeback next morning to watch the blissful sunrise. Our buddy was sure that whatever we are planning is all in airs, and none of us would turn up. So she kept confirming the same throughout the day. At last we told her, pls get us a car and we would be ready at whatever time you ask us. And of course how could we skip the sunrise. Eventually, only three of us visited the beach again, and this time, neither words nor pictures can do justice to the view! I would not say much about it, and would leave it for you to visit and experience.
Day 5: We had to board another cruise as, we were supposed to hop to the third island as per the itinerary. We were going to Neil island, known for unparalleled biodiversity and unexplored span of dense tropical forests and greenery complemented by white sand beaches and rich coral reefs. Thereby, also famous for Scuba. Though Scuba can be done in Havelock as well, it is better to do in Neil, as scuba should be done in bright sunlight, in the day hours when sun is at its peak, it helps to see clearer and better below water. In Havelock, scuba is done in the morning hours, while Neil provides scuba diving options in afternoons. Hence, we had decided to do Scuba in Neil. By the time we reached Neil, some Cyclone warnings had started looming over. We were happy that we could do water sports, and now onwards, all water sports activities were put on a hold. And thankfully, no such instructions were there for any activities happening in Neil islands, so our Scuba dive was safe, except that the sea was a bit choppy giving a good adrenal rush!
Since, we had to rush for Scuba just after checking into hotel, we did not have any time for lunch. As the sea was rough, and with drizzling, it took us sometime to complete the dive and get back to shore. Scuba experience was mesmerizing. No words can ever be enough to describe it. It can only be experienced. The underwater life or the aquatic life is peaceful. Once again, i was convinced of the fact, no wonder, we humans are the most reckless creatures, everything else in nature is pretty acquiescent. Again we were the last ones to do Scuba, and post that the activity was shut down by the security, owing to cyclone warnings.
Once we were back to shores, we had to rush to reach the next point, where the rest of the group was, (only three of us went for Scuba). Hence, we had to skip our lunch, and hop on the car to reach the "Bharatpur beach" also known as "Natural bridge". Another picturesque place. When we reached, our group had already finished the tour. So we three, had a separate tour, and it was fun! Though we missed sun set, on another beach, we enjoyed the tides on this natural beach with dead corals. The waves hitting hard, on the rocks, gave ample opportunities to click some best pictures.
At, last we reached to "Laxmanpur beach", where the rest of the group was waiting for us. We reached and finally could eat something. We had nothing post breakfast, and after scuba and other things, we were starving. Having Maggie with a nice view is something else. I generally do not enjoy Maggie much, but, i had the best ones with the best views - one was in Rohtang after doing skiing, and another was at this beach after Scuba!
Once we were back to hotel, we got to know that the Cyclone had already hit one of the islands in Andamans, and is expected to make a landfall in Port Blair in the next two days. Next day, before taking cruise, we visited one last beach, "Sitapur Beach". This is again a serene place, but very different from rest of the beaches we had seen earlier.
Finally, we boarded the last cruise which would be carrying tourists to Port Blair, and post that everything would be closed for a couple of days. We had earlier planned to see the bioluminescence in Port Blair. Night kayaking would have been the icing on the cake, but the universe had different plans. We could already see the effects of Cyclone, as the entire city was on a standstill. The city was on alert, as Cyclone was expected to make a landfall by 4 pm same day in Port Blair. We had to reach hotel, which was outside the city. By the time we reached hotel, it had started raining. And what we were witnessing were rain lashes just before a Cyclone hits!
Oblivious to the fact, how Cyclone was going to affect our travel plans, we as a group decided to party on our own in the hotel room, as a parting gift to each other, and completing the trip on a high note. In the middle of the party, our Buddy was informed, that the flight a few of us were supposed to board next day has been cancelled owing to Cyclone, leaving everyone in a state of panic. Next few hours, some were trying to get a seat on a plane which was flying out, and a few of us including me were wondering if our flight was taking off or not. We had no clues, as there were no updates anywhere. Surprisingly this time, our phones had internet unlike the starting few days of the trip.
Next day, three of us who were supposed to fly to Delhi via Kolkata, checked out and started for the airport, wondering even if we board the flight, when and how safely will we be reaching the mainland. Again, ours was the last flight to take off that day from Port Blair, and every other flight was cancelled for the day. The rest of the group had to extend their stay in the hotel as they had flights in following days.
And an amazing trip of hopping the islands, a journey to discover oneself, get over the phobias, exploring the nature's divine creations was over. We had witnessed hot, humid, windy, stormy, rains, thunderstorms, all in these 7 days in the three islands!
Overall, the highlights or must do things could be:
- Sunrise at Kala Patthar beach, Havelock Islands
- Sunset at the Radha Nagar beach, Havelock Islands
- High tide at Natural bridge (actually just before high tide)
- A day at Kala Patthar beach. This place is heaven to your eyes. (Don't forget the glares and sunscreen!)
- Italian food at "Something Different Cafe", Havelock Island
- Water sports at Elephant beach
- Shopping at Sitapur beach
- The light and sound show, Cellular jail
- Night kayaking (we missed this due to cyclone)
- Mount Harriet National park
- Ross Island
- Ofcourse, some really good sea food. Can not recommend anything, as i didn't give it a shot being a vegetarian.
For me, trip summed up to be something discovering myself, and getting over fears:
- Got over water phobia, did Deep water snorkeling
- Scuba diving done
- Parasailing
- Living without network for 7 days straight!
- Engaging with new people, complete strangers
- A trip completed without reading a single page of any book :P
- A trip without writing anything
- Realized i enjoy clicking a lot. (Andaman's album has more than 5K photos) 😍
- Sunsets and sunrises are my poisons
- I can proudly say, am a beach person!
- A trip where i did not plan a single thing, and just went with the flow! Guess a big deal for someone like me.