Andamans Holiday - Part III : The most beautiful beach in Asia

I just realized that I have not completed the Andaman story. Reminds me of the state of stupor that the Barefoot resort induced us into … no TV, no mobile connection, no internet. Lounge in the sitout area of the wooden cottage with tiled roof and listen to the myriad birds. Laze at the Radhanagar beach which was a hop, step and jump away from the resort. Build sandcastles out of pristine white sand. Not see another human being for long stretches of time. Watch the different shades of blue of the water. Play board games at the resort’s restaurant, with its floor seating. Trek through the mini forest that separates the resort from the beach. Gawk at the sight of the resort elephant – Rajan swimming majestically in the sea. Climb the hillock behind the resort and get an ayurvedic massage for the recently exercised limbs. Pure Bliss !

Attentive & helpful staff, some good food and interesting co-vacationers all added to the overall holiday experience.

The resort organized a trip to Elephant Beach, which is a good place for beginners to go snorkeling. Expert swimmers guided us to the sections that offered the best underwater displays and even a non-swimmer like me was able to enjoy the colourful coral reefs and underwater life. Snorkeling is easy after the first 10 minutes and once you get used to the idea of breathing with your mouth.



Another place that offered good value entertainment on the island was the Elephant Training Camp. They had these 4 feral elephants (2 adults and 2 calves) that were brought to the camp every morning, trained to pull logs and carry out related activity and then released back to the forest in the evening. We were offered rides which we took up eagerly – but riding on an almost bareback elephant was a little uncomfortable as you could feel every muscle in the elephants back as it made its way around the camp.


After 4 restful days at the resort, we headed back to Port Blair to catch the sights there. Some very interesting museums and a watersports centre – but the place to visit remains the Cellular Jail, now a National Memorial. We went once in the morning to look through the jail and its exhibits and returned in the evening for the sound and light show – where the old tree in the jail recounts the stories of the cruelty of the British Jailer in the gravelly voice of Om Puri.

The unique starfish shaped architecture of the prison, cleverly designed to keep prisoners isolated and preventing them from being able to communicate with each other, reinforced the feeling of patriotism that I am sure strikes every Indian who visits Kaalapani, the ominous name by which the prison was known.

After some handicraft shopping, we ended our holiday and returned to Mainland India. Could not go to Barren Island, which is the only active volcano in South Asia. The Nicobar Islands remain out of bounds as a special permit is required to visit these islands. The Resort Manager at Barefoot was mentioning that these Islands offered even better sights and when they do open to tourism, I intend to go back to A & N.

Andamans Holiday - Part II : Arrival at Barefoot

We caught the afternoon ferry to Havelock Island, a distance of 24 nautical miles covered in 2 hours. It gets crowded on the lower deck and we quickly discovered the upper deck where most people were willing to just stand or squat on the deck and watch the water and the landforms. We saw quite a few flying fish and the two hours went by quite quickly. I must add here that I found the porters who hang about the docks were quite helpful and completely trustworthy. Barefoot Resorts had organised for a jeep to pick us up and we were soon on our way down a newly laid road towards Radhanagar Beach. Interestingly, the President of India had visited this remote part of her empire only a couple of months before our trip and the islanders benefited from that visit in the form of a brand new road.

Havelock Island is only about 100 sq km and you can travel from the western part of the island to the eastern part in less than 30 minutes. The island receives its electricity from a solar power generating station and hence power supply can be a little erratic.
Most of the 'eco-resorts' are located on near Beach # 3 and Beach # 5 (that's how the beaches are named), but Dolphin (run by the Government) and Barefoot (managed by the Aitken Spence Group) are located near Beach # 7 on the other side of the island.

Spread over an area of 7 acres, Barefoot has 18 cottages, built with indigenous materials. No concrete jungle this - if you want to earn green credits, this is the place to stay !






To be continued : Part III : The most beautiful beach in Asia

Andamans Holiday - Part I : Emerald Islands

The first thing I learnt about the Andamans when I started exploring it as a possible candidate for a family vacation destination is that nobody really knows how many islands there are - but everyone agrees that less than 10% are inhabited. The total area is about 6400 sq kms, so that's a lot of real estate in limbo :-)

What swayed me was this description from the A&N Tourism site : "Here the white beaches on the edge of a meandering coastline have palm trees that sway to the rhythm of the Sea. The beat of tribal drums haunt the stillness and technicolour fish steer their way through crystal clear water." Just the thing for a family fed up of pollution and noisy traffic jams in bustling Bangalore ... so that was that - I announced to the family that the Andamans was to be our destination for Family Vacation circa 2008.

Then came the decision on the choice of 'home away from home'. After a couple of googling sessions (How did we survive in the days before Internet & Google ?), I discovered Barefoot Resorts based on Havelock Island (http://www.nivalink.com/jungleresortandamans/index.html)

and was smitten. The fact that it was within hopping distance of what Time Magazine once described as the "Most Beautiful Beach in Asia" raised its suitability a few notches. Its most famous resident - a swimming elephant - made it a 'one of a kind' place. A couple of mails later, our reservations to stay at Barefoot were done.

Getting there is quite easy - flight options from Kolkata and Chennai to Port Blair (even LCCs like Deccan operate flights to Port Blair) and then by ferry to Havelock. Total travel time from Bangalore : 4.5 hrs (8 hrs if you include waiting time at the airports). The alternative is to travel by ship, which can be boarded from either Chennai, Vizag or Kolkata, but travel time goes up a factor of 10.

To be continued : Arrival at Barefoot - Part II

In my blog, you will come across ...

a) Travel stories of actual trips undertaken
b) Travel books that are a must read
c) Memorable captures (photos)
d) Recommendations of places to stay