Andaman... a lovely place to visit

Been to Goa? Been to Vizag, Chennai, Mumbai? Still Andaman is a place to visit. It is a scenic beauty and more natural place. Just imagine clear waters where you can see 7 to 8 ft into it. Imagine that at a magnitude of Ocean.

Be prepared to travel a lot, in water and on road. When we started for 6 days, people said that it was too much and we should cut it to 3 or 4 days. Believe me, 6 days is nothing. We could have stayed for 6 more days. We had advantage on both lodging and roaming prices, so we could have stayed for 16 more days ;)

Few things to know. Flights are available from Chennai, Vizag and Kolkatta. These places are connected by water too. But in any case, book tickets early enough not to see surprises. The roads are good and wide. People speak Hindi majorly, Telugu, Tamil and Bengali are also very common. Airtel, Vodafone and BSNL the mobile masters there. Sun rises by 5am and sets by 4 30 or 5 pm. There will be rains in every season. You should be as lucky as us to have no rains in your trip. The rule says that you can't take any natural property without proper channel. There are lots of beautiful stones with designs formed due to corals. You can bring smaller ones back home with no problem. And finally about food. Tiffins in road side centers are good and local people suggest them than restraunts. You find all from regular menu in restraunts, Biryani, meal and rotis. As a caution, don't try tomato soup. They make it from sauce and tastes very bad.

Before I say about good things, Chatam mill, Corbyn's cove and Mount Harriet can be avoided.

Lets talk about must see places.

The first thing, Andaman Cellular Jail. Do visit it and you will understand the pain fighters had. Sound and light show was not so interesting, it was more boring. But at that time of day, it will already be dark and it is good choice to see the show than staying at lodge.

Wandoor beach, you have a snorkeling point near Wandoor. Go there and it is not so famous and crowded place as Jolly Buoy, and it is more effective. It took Rs.750 /4 persons for the trip there. Takes just 4 hours.

North Bay, another snorkeling point. There are boats from Port Blair, just few km away. But be careful, this beach is not so neat. Two of us got our feet cut in water due to some glass pieces. If you know how to swim you can take the glasses and respiration pipe for rent and enjoy.

Ross Island is the East India Comp. head quarters at that time. So the tourist places are ruined offices and township. It is good enough, but there is lot to walk if you have to cover the entire island. There is no beach and swimming place there. Its a half day trip.

Chidiya Tapu is also called sun set point. You can spend lot of time here roaming and playing in water.

Havelock island, Radhanagar beach is the must. Silver sand, clean sea water and lots of scope to play in water. The water is not so deep even at 100mts into water. This is a place to visit for the honeymoon couples. Book tickets in advance if you want to travel in speed boat(Rs 250). Tickets are available in normal boat unlimited. This takes a whole day. Select normal class(Rs 90) if travelling by regular boat. If you can stay there at night, there is another island nearby.

Baratang is the best for travel. It costs around Rs 750 per head. Starting with jeep, to a ferry and then a boat. Limestone cave and mud volcano are the visiting spots. I should not miss mentioning a point here, we came across a lady who's an exact copy of Divyabharathi. This takes an entire day.

Incidentally, the tourism festival started in the same time when we were there. It is a good chance to shop from varieties from all over the country.

There are marine museum where you can buy some corals and some archaeological museum etc.

There might be many place we didn't visit, but these are the most recommended at that time. But am sure this place will excite you.

We had great time, thanks to Rajesh's relatives. They made us feel at home and helped us thru the trip. The hospitality is wonderful. B4 closing, pics from our trip are here.