The Andamans, Just Another Day in Paradise - Dec 25 2014- Jan 25 2015

Despite Daniel's original reluctance ("what will I do on an island for one month? Do they even have temples there?") I succeeded in "dragging" him to the Andaman (and Nicobar)Islands, one of my favorite places in India, to what would be my third time visiting this little piece of heaven. We flew from Chennai on Christmas day (2 hour flight to Port Blair) and, wanting to skip the hassle of the government ferry, were able to miraculously find tickets to the sold-out private Makruzz ferry (950 Rs) thanks to an exceptionally helpful rickshaw driver.

Our first stop was Havelock Island, the main and most touristy island and the one I've been too before, where my parents joined us for 2 weeks of perfect relaxation; lounging on the white sand beaches (when not disturbed by the many bothersome stray dogs who inhabit the island),  getting our tan on (responsibly of course), swimming (or in my case floating  on an inflatable mat) in the crystal clear water, mesmerizing at the ever-changing sea constantly moving between low and high tide, chilling in the hammock and reading lots of books, stretching and breathing in (almost) daily yoga classes with skilled teacher Maxim (me and my mom) or going for morning runs attracting weird looks and gaining a reputation on the island as the crazy "runner" (Daniel of course), hiking through the jungle to eerie Elephant beach, scattered with uprooted trees (no elephants but good snorkeling), playing endless rounds of Yaniv (a popular Israeli backpacker card game), drinking pineapple juice, Foster or Kingfisher beer, snacking on samosas, juicy red pomelos from the market, or Daniel's favorite peanut snack aka  peanut chikki or as my parents affectionaley nicknamed it mahagigi, 

and enjoying delicious  food (mainly excellent fresh seafood, minus vegan Daniel who stuck to his beloved curries) at Anju Coco (great ceviche and tuna fillet), the eco-friendly Full Moon Café (the only place where the food wasn't too spicy for my mom, good coffee too), Lee Meridien Restaurant and German Bakery aka "the German" (our favorite breakfast spot, good shakshuka and vegan cinnamon bun), Welcome restaurant at the market (nice eggplant curry), Fat Martin (good Dosas and vegan cold coffee) and the more fancy (and pricey) B3  restaurant at the jetty (good pizzas and tuna sashimi) and the Wild  Orchid's Red Snapper (good red snapper obviously).

We stayed in the popular Sunrise "resort" at beach #5 (Vijaynagar beach) and scored one of the most sought-after beach facing huts (500 Rs) where we made some great friends and got in touch with our inner Israeli backpacker side, while my parents stayed at the fancier Wild Orchid owned by the lovely Lynda and Benny (friends of good friends of my family) who were wonderful hosts to us and great company, celebrating New Years with us at their resort and welcoming us into their AMAZING house for a charming evening of good food and great company, introducing us to a lovely group of their friends from Mumbai.

We watched beautiful sunsets at the famous beach #7 aka Radhanagar Beach, where we also encountered an elephant being bathed at the lagoon by tourists who apparently paid for the attraction of "swimming with elephants" (legend says the elephant was brought to the island for a movie production and left back as no arrangements were made for his return transport, to be later adopted by the Barefoot group who own several resorts and restaurants at Havelock), and made several attempts to catch a good sunrise from beach #5 but with not much luck as we were once more betrayed by the clouds.

blue moon rising 

elephant beach

maybe not 5 stars, but best views
on the island!

Before seeing my parents off back in Port Blair we sailed together to the nearby and somewhat spooky Ross island, the former  British administrative headquarters of the islands, where abandoned and dilapidated building are now taken over by huge Banyan trees, surrounded by loads of wild deer, some peacocks and  even a few rabbits! We also visited the infamous Cellular Jail used by the British to   imprison many freedom fighters, the tribal museum (entry fee 10 Rs) which provides a peek into to the lives of the mysterious indigenous tribes who populate many island of Andaman and Nicobar, and the Chatham Saw Mill (Asia's largest and oldest saw mill, entry fee 10 Rs) where we learned about the local timber industry from a lovely guide Kalyani.

A few hours after my parents left we welcomed our good friend from home Omri who came to meet us for a 2 week holiday. Following a night at the nice Hotel Lalaji Bayview whose owner was a great help to us and a wonderful source of information, we returned to Havelock to rejoice in some more island life together, though unfortunately the weather was not in our favor and we braved almost a week of clouds and heavy rain. We still managed to have good time accompanied by a group of fellow Israelies, adding to our list of daily actvities playing with bubbles on the beach and going on nightly swimming excursions searching for the sparkling plankton in the water. 

playing with soap bubbles
at sunset, beach # 7

We packed our bags and moved to the quieter Neil Island for the last few days of Omri's stay, where we got a higher dose of sun and tranquility. When we were not waiting for mediocre food (which somehow unanimously took ages  at all restaurants on the island, with an average wait of 1.5 hour for a dish!) we explored the island on bicycle, lazing around the even more untouched beaches, watching a captivating sunset while munching on pakoras and Maggi Noodles, collecting sea shells, building stone sculptures in the sand, and marveling at the beautiful natural bridge.

We once again returned to Port Blair with Omri, said our goodbyes and with the help of the owner at Lalaji and our loyal rickshaw driver hurried to catch a 10 hour bus up north to the rather unexplored North Andaman Island. It was a bit crazy considering we only had 3 days left until our flight from Port Blair back to Chennai, but we didn't want to miss the chance to see a different side of the Andamans and decided to go for it. The journey itself was an experience, passing through restricted tribal area where we joined a police guarded convoy of vehicles (and managed to catch a lucky glimpse of a tribal family on the roadside), watching a magnificent sunset from the ferry when we crossed between two islands (the bus was on the ferry too!), and befriending a sweet girl who joined us for the bumpy ride at the back seat and comfortably slept in our lap. We reached the sleepy town of Mayabunder at night and stayed at the Sea n' Sand run by a nice Burmese family. 

The next morning we continued further north to Diglipur, splurging on a private jeep for the 3 hour ride as I was exhausted and somewhat traumatized from the long and bumpy bus ride the night before. In Diglipur we caught a  motor boat (2500 Rs including a permit) to the phenomenal twin islands of Ross and Smith, connected by a thin bar of sand at low tide, where we swam in the crystal-clear turquoise water and gasped once again at the postcard-like scenery. After the two hours designated for visiting the protected islands (one is wildlife reserve) we returned Diglipur and drove to our guesthouse in the nearby village of Kalipur, the serene Pristine Beach Resort where we were welcomed by the friendly and knowledgeable owner Alex who is an active promoter for tourism in the North Andamans (and was also shocked to hear we are only staying one night after coming all this way). 

After settling in a nice duplex hut (1000 Rs) we had lunch at the resort's restaurant, savoring delicious veg curries with a cold kingfisher. We strolled down the quiet Kalipur beach watching over the small picturesque Cragger Island just a swimmable 50m away, which is an out-of-this-world snorkeling spot as we later found out from amazing underwater Go-Pro videos Alex showed us, though regrettably we didn't have time to check it out ourselves (I guess there will have to be a next time). We returned to the restaurant for an excellent dinner and went to bed early, prepared to wake up again at midnight to go witness turtle nesting on the moonlit beach a few meters away. Accompanied by two rangers who work at the turtle reserve we quietly watched a huge female turtle lay eggs and bury them in the sand. After she returned to the water we observed the rangers skillfully recover the 150 some eggs (!), taken to be carefully incubated at a safe place away from human disturbances(the turtles are returned to the beach once they hatch).

Next morning we hopped on another 10 hour bus (at least AC this time) and reached Port Blair in the evening, boarding a flight to Chennai the next morning and saying a sad farewell to the amazing Andamans.