* One's destination is never a place, it's a new way of experiencing life **
A holiday to Andaman & Nicobar Islands is a once in a lifetime
experience. Andaman & Nicobar is full of amazing nature and
stunning marine life. Andaman Islands are a group of islands in the Bay
of Bengal and a Union Territory of India. The place was known as "Kaala Pani" because
of the Cellular Jail. This place became a tourist's spot only after
2000. Tourists can visit Andaman group of Islands as the Nicobar is out
of reach for any kind of tourism activities and we need government
permit to visit them.
My trip to Andaman was with my family in Oct 2016. Our flight was
from Chennai to Port Blair, the capital of Andaman. It was a 4 day trip
with stay and site seeing of Port Blair, Havelock island, Ross island,
Bartang island and Neil island. A typical day at Andaman begins with
sunrise as early as 5 AM in the morning and sun sets at about 4.30-5 PM.
There are 2 monsoons in Andaman and it rains anytime, just like
Bengaluru!!😁😁
Day 1- On our first day we covered all the tourist spots of Port
Blair like Chattam Saw Mill, Samudrika Naval Marine Museum, Rajiv
Gandhi Water Sports complex and The Cellular jail. Our day ended with
light and sound show in cellular jail, which illustrates the torture and
inhuman treatment of the prisoners. The vibe of cellular jail gives you
goosebumps!!
Day 2 - We were ready at 4 AM for our first mini cruise ride to Bartang
islands. It is famous for its beautiful beaches, mangrove creeks,
mud-volcanoes and limestone caves. You can see
thousands of parrots at Parrot Island in the evening. Naturally
limestone caves are magical and you will be amazed to see these natural
creations here. A jetty ride to the limestone caves from the island in
the rain was thrilling!!
Day
3 - Our third day was the best day of our trip to Havelock islands, a 2
hour cruise ride from Port Blair.. Fine white sand, turquoise blue
waters of exceptional quality and a lot of serenity were the hallmark of
this enormous island. It's a paradise for water sports lover. One can
enjoy scuba diving, snorkeling, bird watching, game fishing kayaking and
much more. I was waiting for this day since a long time as it was my
first "Scuba Diving experience". After a happy time at the beautiful
Radhanagar beach, we went to the Ocean dive centre for scuba diving.
They give the dive suit with oxygen cylinder followed by 1 hour of basic
diving training and instructions. You don't have to be a swimmer for
scuba diving. After getting trained in 6 – 8 ft. water, I was ready
for my first dive, both scared and thrilled.
There
is nothing like breathing underwater. You feel your throat dry up, and
try blowing air from your nose but you can’t. In the struggle of
breathing from your mouth, you can’t help but swallow the salty sea
water. And then you make a conscious effort to try and convince yourself
to breath from the mouth. What fascinated me thoroughly was the sound
of my own breath underwater, it was hypnotizing. When I entered in the
deep blue sea, my heartbeat was really fast and it took me few minutes
to relax myself under water. Scuba gives us the chance to unveil the
mysteries and the wonders of the environment which covers the majority
of our planet. It was really a great experience, to see the beauty of
sea wildlife, fish , corals etc. I also found Nemo( Clown fish) 😅😁 It
was totally a different world. It was so quiet. We were inside the water
for about an hour. When we came back I got to the real meaning of the
shayari from Movie "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" . Just Kidding, it happens
only in movies. But it does give you confidence to overcome your fears!
It was just one word "AMAZING".
Day
4 - The day was a bit relaxing as we didn't had to wake up at 4 that
day. We had only Ross island and Neil island to cover and it is a 20
minutes jetty ride from Port Blair. Ross island has Indian Naval Post
and a beautiful Light house. Ross Island has thick forests. To any
onlooker it may give the impression that it has no "life" — in the sense
that there is no human habitation. Spotted Deers and peacocks are
mostly found in the island and they just roam around casually with
humans, just like cats and dogs here.
Day
5 - We had a flight back to Chennai in the morning and we were upset
and cribbing as we didn't want to leave Andaman. With heavy hearts we
departed from Port Blair with extra baggage full of amazing memories.
