Dussera is one of the longest vacation time for the kids in Karnataka (Oct mid). My son is in his LKG, and our parents were looking forward for his vacations to take him to our native. Even he loved going to Kerala to play with his cousin brothers and sisters. A few months ago, he stayed with my parents, and he was very happy with his stay. No wonder he was so happy, as he was treated a King there. All his wishes and more were granted - which was something that did not happen when he was with us. Our parents also enjoyed being with him, in fact they forgot the rest of the world when they were with him. So his appointment was booked for the entire vacation by Manju's and my parents; on a time sharing basis. 

It is then we thought of a trip we could make to some new place in the face of this planet instead of just staying lazy with our routine daily activities. So I started asking the modern mirror, which has a name now - Google - for any questions I had. I started going through some popular vacation plans. We shortlisted a few plans like visiting Punjab, Gujarat, Lakshadweep and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. 

Punjab brought to mind a scenery where there were green agricultural lands which had a lot of 7 foot tall sun flower plants (something like the one Sharukh Khan and Kajol would run through towards each other for more 5 minutes before they could hug each other.). The Punjabi food was another attraction, mostly imbibed by the Punjabi who had opened a dhaba very close to our home. We have been visiting this dhaba once a week for the last 2 years or so - and we still like his food. Another attraction was the Waga border where we could see what we had lost 63 years ago.. the beautiful Pakistanis ladies! Also, Punjab was an option we had considered last year, but could not make, due to some unforeseen circumstances. I contacted the travel agent I had talked to last year again, and got details from him about the places that could be visited. On further information gathering, we felt that the rainy season would have ended there, and cultivation would just have started. We wanted to see lush green farm lands, farm lands with lots of flowers, which is not something we could have seen if visited during this season. So we decided to give some grace time to all the Monus, Sonus and Buntys in Punjab to have the farm lands ready by then time we visited them. Thus the trip to Punjab was postponed to somewhere in Feb. We decided to visit Gujarat also during that trip.

Now comes the islands and the beaches that surround them. Lakshadweep, which comes under the Kerala jurisdiction, is a wonderful place to be in. But I heard that vegetarians could have a very difficult time there, as fish, especially Tuna, is the major food available there. I was not prepared for that, nor was my wife. So we closed down on Andaman Nicobar islands. We were able to search and find a few resorts and multi-cuisine restaurants in Andaman. So we finalized our trip destination to Andaman Nicobar islands. In fact this was a place we always wanted to visit.

A very close family friend of mine, Mr Anoop also wanted to come along with his family and was all excited about the planning part and was with me through the above described planning phase. But unfortunately he had to back out from the rest of the phases due to some personal commitments. We were going to miss Anoop, Rinju and Nimay badly! :(

Life has to move on. So we decided to proceed with the vacation plans. I started "googling" for any details pertaining to Andaman, the first being how to get there. There were a lot of operators who had all kinds of vacation plans for Andaman. I spent about 3 days considering all the options, and felt MakeMyTrip had the best offer, even better than if I planned everything on my own. I closed the deal with them, even though there were numerous complaints about them in a wide range of sites. Most of them were about the last minute plan changes they made, and the last minute confirmations. Any ways, there is no fun in going for a trip with everything taken care. So we decided to go ahead with MakeMyTrip. Let us see what we had in store. Probably I might repent the decision, and hopefully learn a good lesson.

The initial payment session with MakeMyTrip went very smooth, and I was even contacted for a feedback of the same. The booking was made somewhere in mid August, and we planned the vacation from Oct 13th to Oct 18th - A 6 day/5 night vacation plan. A month passed with no more communication from MakeMyTrip and by Sept mid, I was contacted for the remaining payment. I was told that the air tickets and the resorts would be booked just a week prior to the departure. Since we didnt have the kid with us, we not very concerned about this. We were ready to face anything that came up.

Oct 6th: I received the air tickets from MakeMyTrip. The resorts, they said would be booked a couple of days prior only. The trip was ex-Chennai, as the Bangalore airport was quite far away for us. Since the flight scheduled was at 10:20 AM, we decided to reach Chennai the previous night. I booked a room at Mahalaya Residency at Pallavaram, very close to the airport. I also booked tickets from Bangalore to Chennai in the Janashadabdi express. We had not travelled in Janashadabdi yet. By Oct 10th we got the full package details. TSG resorts were booked for us at Port Blair (TSG Grand) and Hawelock (TSG Blue). We were all set!!!

Oct 8th: A cyclone was reported to be coming from Philippines, and was expected to cross the Andaman islands on 11th, to reach the Indian sub-continent on 12th. This was a cause of concern as the severity of this was predicted to be high.

Oct 12th: My in-laws had reached my place a few days ago. They were returning today to Kerala, with our son. By 2 PM, we started off to the Majestic railway station to catch the train to Chennai, which was scheduled at 4:30 PM. The cyclone is said to have gained strength, and we were concerned about whether the schedule was still on and about the climate in Andamans. I re-confirmed that the flight has not been cancelled by calling the MakyMyTrip executives. They were very prompt in responding, and helped with any questions I had. At 4:30 PM, we boarded the Janashadabdi express. I was a bit upset with the engine of the train. It didn't have the look of a fast train's engine. It had a dark fat face, and I was expecting a bullet train like face! People were rushing into the train as if the seats were on a first come first serve basis. We waited for everyone to board, and then got settled down.The interior was very nice. The service in the train was excellent and we were served 3 meals by the time we reached Chennai, and we couldn't eat anything more! Upon enquiring, we were told by a co-passenger of ours that we have to walk a few minutes and take a sub-way to the sub-urban railway station. We dragged the two heavy but wheeled baggage and ourselves to the Park sub-urban railway station from where we would get a train to Pallavaram, where I had booked a room for that night. The Central railway station was really crowded and we had to squeeze ourselves between the cars to the exit. Pallavaram is 30 kilometers from the Park railway station. The ticket price was 10 rupees for the two of us! We reached Pallavaram in 30 minutes. We caught an auto to Mahalaya Residency, which was about a kilometer from the railway station. By 11 PM, we checked into the hotel. The room was very nice. Had a shower and went to sleep. We were planning to get up by 6:30 to have a quick breakfast before we checked out and went to the airport.

Oct 13th: Woke up at 6:30 and got ready for the complementary breakfast we were offered. The breakfast was sumptuous with Iddly, Dosa, Vada, Bread, Corn Flakes, Tea, Coffee, Juice etc etc.. By 8:30 we were given a complementary drop to the airport also. By 9:30, were were done with the check in of baggage and the security check. By 10, we were in the plane (Jet airways). Even though the schedule was to take off at 10:20, we took off by 10:10 itself, as everyone was on board by that time. By 12:10 we started seeing the islands at far distance. The sight was wonderful. Most of the islands were surrounded by a light  greenish-blue water belt. Somethings which we see in some wallpapers and all. We touched down by 12:20. We collected our check in baggage and came out of the airport. I saw all a lot of people holding placards of all kinds of travel agents.. But MakeMyTrip was nowhere to be seen. But then we saw a guy running towards us with a wonderful smile, holding the MakeMyTrip banner. We smiled at him, and he (Mr Karthik) wished us a very warm "Welcome to Andamaan, Sir". Woow. That was a great feeling. The manager also welcomed us, and took the check in bags from us and asked us to wait for the next available pick up they had arranged. In 10 minutes, a family came and stood near us. It was Dr Puneeth Mishra, Mrs Nandini Mishra and their sweet daughter Miss Punya Mishra. We got introduced to each other, and Punya was soon playing with me. A couple of chocolates, and some magic (only applicable to children below 6 - any one else would clearly understand the trick) did the trick. We were told to sit in a mini van, and was taken to TSG Grand where we would stay for the night. The hotel from outside, was not that welcoming. It had that old look which neither me, nor my wife liked. We gathered at the reception, and the tour manager briefed us the plan for the day. We will be going to Corbyn's cove - a beach nearby, and then to attend the light and sound show at the cellular jail. We had 3 hours to have lunch, and get ready for the first sight seeing. Manju had a headache, so thought of skipping lunch. But after getting a shower, she felt better and came with me to the restaurant. We were happy to see that they had curd rice. We never expected to have anything better. We ordered one. The curd rice tasted great. Manju also liked it, and we ordered one more. We assembled back in the reception by 4. We all boarded the van, and Karthik gave a brief about Andaman. One interesting thing he told was that we wont be allowed to set foot on Nicobar Islands. So this tour is not of Andaman and Nicobar, but just Andaman. Even people who belong to Andaman are not allowed there without prior permission, and the permission to visit that island which is much south of Andaman was difficult to get. We reached Corbyn's cove beach by 4:30. Manju was excited to see the high speed boats and the water bikes (called jet ski). Soon both of us tried the jet ski (350/head). It was a great experience. 







Me doing jet skiing





Manju doing jet skiing





The sea, sky and the moon



[For larger images, please visit my Picasa page]

By 5, it gets dark in Andaman during this season, and by 5:30 it was totally dark. We roamed around until 6 there, and reached back the van to go to Rajiv Gandhi Sports complex. We reached Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex by 7. We were given 45 minutes to roam around. This basically is a park with great walk ways. This also acted as a boat jetty to go to the other islands nearby. The weather was very good, with a cool breeze. There was a police band that was playing hindi film songs at one end of the walk way. We listened to it for a couple of minutes. By 7:40, we were back in the van. I met Mr Nachiketa Sen who had come with his family - Mrs Bipasha and their lovely daughter, Miss Trisha from Guwahati. He is working with Tata AIA as a Asst Vice President. We then went to the cellular jail to view the light and sound show. The show was emotional, but were not happy with the light show. In the show, a peepal tree which has been a witnessed the whole history of the cellular jail tells us what it has seen. Photography was banned during the show, but lots and lots of people kept on blinking their camera flashes. It was so disturbing when these brainless guys flash their camera into our eyes. I am sure no one would have got any of the shots properly. Manju slept from the beginning to the end of the show. We were then taken back to the resort. By then both Manju and I also had a bad headache. We planned to skip dinner. We were briefed about the plan for the second day by the tour manager. We were supposed to check out from the hotel by 8 AM. We will vist Ross island and will then be taken to Hawelock Islands in a Makruzz. (Makruzz is a luxury passenger day cruise vessel connecting the most sought after tourist circuit in Andamans: Port Blair – Neil and Havelock.) Back in the room, we called my parents to check, but bad news was waiting for us. Our son (Devadathan) seems to have been bitten by some insect, and he was crying. He wanted to see us badly. We were in a deli-ma as to whether we should return back, or to continue the tour. In half an hour, my parents called us back and said he was ok, and had slept.

Oct 14th: Woke up by 6. Called up my parents to ask how Kannan was. They said he slept well, and was ok. Manju was still having headache. She wanted to skip breakfast also. I forced her to have something as we were planning to travel quite a bit. The breakfast was as rich as what was provided to us at Mahalaya. She had some corn flakes. We brought our bags to the reception and kept it there with the others. The check in bag of the whole troop would be taken care by MakeMyTrip. That was a great relief (a very unexpected one, in fact). We just had to keep it at the reception, and getting the heavy luggage at the destination would be taken care by them. By 9 we were all in the van that would take us to the jetty from which we will be taken to Ross Island. During the trip, we were shown the market place (Aberdeen Bazar). Most of the items we get here are shipped from the Indian sub continent. I was surprisingly happy to see this building - "Hotel Annapoorna - High Class Vegetarian Restaurant". Andaman is not that bad for veggies!!! By 9:15, we reached Ross island. Ross Island is a beautiful island full of deer, rabbits, peacocks, bulbuls, ducks etc.. 

Me with a deer at Ross island

It used to be an island which had all the luxuries the English enjoyed here. But now all their amenities have been destroyed, and large trees grow on them. 

There were once luxurious buildings of the English

A great lady named Anuradha Rao, who was our guide there reached the island by 9:30 and welcomed us to the island. She would come here everyday and would feed the animals there. No one else was supposed to bring food and feed them. The moment she entered the island, all the animals, and birds were surrounding her. They would obey her when she asked them to sit in a row for their guests (we) to see them. 



Anuradha Rao explaining each and every detail of the island. You can see a lot of birds behind her, and deers walking around her. She also took care of a young rabbit (which she is holding in her arms) until it was ready to be released to the island.

 We witnessed a peacock bringing its little one (a couple of days old) when she asked for it. We saw how the English had established heavy machinery to convert sea water to drinkable water. But according to her, no English men could live beyond 40 years here, because of skin problems. She was saying that Mother India was punishing them who were keeping the Indians as slaves there. We saw the place where Tsunami had hit, and she explained how the animals in this island had protected the defense personnel in that island by pushing them to a church at the top of a hill in that island when Tsunami came. The animals knew about its arrival a couple of days ago, and they seemed to be very restless. There was also a tree which was about 500 years old. When bidding a farewell, we gave some cash to the great lady. She initially refused to accept it, but then accepted when we said its for the food for the animals. We also gave a suggestion to her and the people maintaining the island to make the island plastic free. We reached the jetty by about 1 PM (after stopping at a couple of places for buying fruits, water etc). MakeMyTrip had got tickets for all of us. All of us were asked our ID proofs before going to the jetty (We were told about this requirement by Karthik yesterday itself). At the jetty, there were a couple of beautiful sea-hostess. I inquired about the price of the ticket, and they said the economy seat was for 900/-. That's expensive for 70 KM of water travel! We started our cruize by 2 PM. None of us had lunch, and the cruize didn't have anything much to eat. The seating plan was totally a mess. No one knew where we were supposed to sit. Karthik told us to sit where ever we wanted. I was totally upset with the cruize guys, as no one seemed to do anything to address the confusions. People were running around not knowing where to sit. We settled down near a window seat. All the windows were darkened, probably for better cooling effect. So we could not see the real beauty of the islands that we saw. We were given a meal box with a few snacks and juice. I think it was complementary from MakeMyTrip. Karthik told us not to eat much as there are chances the sea would be rough, and we will have a vomiting sensation. But luckily, the sea was very calm. Last week during the cyclone, everyone was vomiting, and some where lying on the ground!!! Thank God for scheduling the cyclone a week prior to this! By 4 PM, we reached Neil Islands. A few passengers got down there, and we continued to Havelock. By 5 we were at Hawelock. We collected our check in baggage, and came out of the jetty.

Manju with our baggage after we disembarked from Makruzz.

Suddenly, rain started pouring. Luckily we had got into a shop, and saved ourselves from being drenched. In 10 minutes the rain stopped, and we were taken to a van arranged by MakeMyTrip to take up to the respective resorts. Two resorts were booked for the group - SeaShells and TSG Blue. We had rooms booked at TSG Blue. We reached TSG Blue after travelling about 12 kms. By 6:00, we reached TSG Blue. We were briefed by the MMT (MakeMyTrip) manager on the plans for tomorrow. He also conveyed a sad news that the whole island was running on generator, and were were told that hot water will not be available due to shortage of power. Night had already fallen, and we waited for our turn to collect our keys to the cluster cottages. There were people who were queuing up for the keys, so I thought of staying back for the crowd to leave. Once everyone got their keys, I went there, and they said all the cluster cottages have been booked! Oops.. But surprise!!! they had a few independent cottages too, and we got one independent cottage. I saw a few envious eyes staring at us!!! :) The cottage was beautiful. Spacious and posh.

Cottage given to us at TSG Blue

We never expected such good hotels, after reading all the comments I read in sites like mouth-shut. By 6:30 the MMT manager came to our room and informed us that a scuba dive instructor has come, and if we wanted to do scuba then next day, we could talk to him and take a reservation. we went to the place he was explaining things. He was charging about 3500/- for an hour. I felt that it was a bit high considering that more than half the time will be lost in going through the basics which i had already gone during my professional scuba diving training. Even Manju was not very interested. So we dropped the plan. In addition there were a few hi-fi idiotic specimens (typical - just married, show off couples who were not satisfied with anything, and looked down on everything around them) who were asking such stupid questions, that I felt the scuba trainer himself will stop his job if he takes them for a dive. We had our dinner at 8 PM. Breakfast and dinner were also a included in the MakeMyTrip package. The dinner was so nice that both of us ate much more than what we usually do. We had soup, salads, Roti, 3 types of veg curry, Veg Pulao, plain rice and 2 types of sweets. There was also a non-veg dish which we didn't (have to) try. After the dinner we strolled down the resort. The resort was wonderfully maintained. The AC in the cruize seems to have taken a toll on my health. I started feeling feverish. We were running out of Paracetamol tablets, and I wanted to buy a few. I went out of the resort to see whether I can get a few. There was only one small shop open outside. I went there and asked whether there were some medical shops. He smiled and said.. yeah... its just 11 kilometers from here! I went back to my room. Had a paracetamol, took some inhalation with the coffee maker. Radhanagar beach, which is one of the best beaches around, was just 5 minutes walk from the resort. We decided to go there the next day early morning. By 8:30 we were sound asleep.

Oct 15th: By 3:30 AM, we were woken up by a cock-a-doodle-doo by a cock, standing in-front of our cottage. The cock kept on doodling until we were out of the bed by 4:30 AM. We freshened up and walked towards the beach. The feeling was great. It was a mini-Kerala, with lush green vegetation all around you, birds singing, cows mooing, but.. there was something missing.. the sound of the sea! In 5 minutes we reached the beach.

Manju at Radhanagar beach

There was no one else on the beaches. The waves were very low. There were a few dogs running around here and there. One of the pairs somehow found us interesting and started following us. Manju was scared to death even when they came near us. I patted one of them, and that's it. It never left me. They were doing all kinds of circus to gain more attention. Finally somehow we were able to shoo them away. I had a bad lung congestion, so I decided to do the sudarshana kriya which I have been practicing for a couple of years, and from which I have gained a lot of relief with respect to the respiratory infections. I did it, and I was able to clear the chest to a large extent. During then Manju was experimenting with the camera, and took a few wonderful photos of a few corals she collected.

The beautiful corals and the Radhanagar beach

We then walked along the beach. We spotted a tree house at a distance. I climbed on it even though that it was locked. Soon I called Manju also, and we had a very good view of the whole beach from there.

Radhanagar beach from the treetop

By 7:15 we climbed down and returned to the resort. On the way we saw our team mates Jonathan and Barbara (who are from Switzerland, and who run an IT company in Bangalore). Barbara was expecting, and we were amazed to see how she was so active. Manju had even before drawn a lot of inspiration from Barbara when ever she had a headache or tiredness. We were supposed to be ready at the reception to go to Elephant islands by 9 AM. So we quickly had a shower, and had the breakfast. The breakfast was simple great. By 9 we all assembled at the reception, from where we were taken in a tempo-traveller to the jetty where Makruzz dropped us. We were soon taken in a boat to Elephant Islands. Its in this island we have all the water activities like snorkeling, scuba diving, and a few boat rides. The island is a treat to the eyes. We changed our attire and wore the swim suits we had carried, and did snorkeling. It was the first experience for Manju. Since I was doing a professional scuba diving course, it was not new for me, but the view that I had underwater was beyond something I can describe in words. We saw a lot of bright colored corals, fish with all kinds of colors and patterns.. In short that was a fresh, bright, peaceful world beneath. We came back to the shore, and went for an adventure activity too. Its called banana ride, in which we will be made to sit on an air filled cylinder which is tied to a speed boat. The speed boat will drag us far of the shore and once it has attained a high speed, it will topple us down. Two guides will come with us who will tilt sideways to topple it, and then will help us reach back. While falling, under water, we will have no idea of which way we should swim to reach above water. We just have to remain calm, and the life jacket will soon pull you up. I don't seem to have seen any others from our troop who has done this circus! After this, we changed our dress back to dry ones. We met an elderly person who was playing a mouth organ beautifully. He was playing old Hindi film songs. I recorded a couple of his songs, and was happy to see me do it. Manju and a few ladies did some dance steps while he played some fast tracks. He did a few more for me. He was saying that the instrument is being played by a very few people now. As lunch we had a fruit bowl, and a few guava fruits. By 2:00 we bid farewell to the island, and reached Havelock by 2:30. The beach had wonderful scenery.

Beautiful people at the exotic Elephant island

Water activities being held at Elephant island

Once everyone from the troop reached, we were all taken back to the resort, and then to the Radhanagar beach for the sunset. Radhanagar beach is very famous for the beautiful sunsets there. We had a spectacular view of the sunset.

Sunset clips/Photography experiments at Radhanagar beach

Since Manju was having a headache, we did not try bathing there. We were one of the very few who didn't. We walked back to the resort and as usual, by 8 we had dinner. What a life!!! Until then all from the troop were thinking that we were a newly married couple, and hesitated to come near us thinking they would disturb us. But we told a few that we were actually not, and were married much before a few of them. Dr Puneeth visited our cottage on our way back, and we had a good chat with him on what he was working. He was a part of the WHO, and was a team lead in controlling epidemics. Manju went with Nandini to their cottage and had a good chat. Soon Nachiketa Sen also joined us, and we discussed a lot of things. Nachiketa and Puneet have traveled a lot, and they were describing the places they have been to. By 11 Puneet and myself went to Puneet's room. Punya was fast asleep by then. We talked for a few minutes and Manju and myself came back to our room. All of them were excited about our description of the beach in the early morning. We all decided to go to the beach the next day early morning.

Oct 16th: It was 6:30 when we got up, and I had a bad chest infection. So we decided not to go to the beach, as we had to be ready by 8. We were travelling back to Port Blair today. By 9 we all reached the boat jetty. We will visit Neil island on our way back to Port Blair. There seemed to be activities in Neil island too. I was running a bit short of cash. The cruize was scheduled at 9:30, and it was 9:10 already. The only ATM in the island is about 2 kms from there. So I told Urvaksh (The MMT manager in charge of Havelock island) about my situation. I told him that will take an auto and get the cash from the ATM, and be back in 15 minutes. He personally took me to the ATM in his bike, and brought me back in 10 minutes. Really appreciate the attitude the managers had! By 10 the Coastal Cruize (a govt run cruise between the islands) which was supposed to take us to Neil reached, and we all started our journey soon.We reached Neil island by 11. The water there was so clear that we could see the sand base and the corals which decorated them from the top the the jetty itself. We first went to Bharathpur beach. There they had activities like Snorkeling, Glass Bottom boat and speed boat. We paid for all the rides which cost me 600/- per person. 

We were first taken in the glass bottom boat, which is a normal boat with a glass panel instead of an opaque bottom. We were able to see a lot of corals and a lot of fishes. We might have gone about a kilometer into the sea where we stopped for doing snorkeling.


Watching corals and fishes from the glass boat

The sea would be about 5 to 6 people deep. Lots and lots of corals were seen there. So were different type of fish. I did the snorkeling without a tube or a life jacket, and without a guide. I gave them an impression that I was a professional diver. 

Me snorkeling

Nachiketa and Puneeth also did the snorkeling. None of the troop mates did it. They don't realize what they were missing!!! We came back to the beach and went again for a speed boat ride. The ride was awesome. By 12 we finished all these activities and were treated with a complementary MMT Naariyal ka Pani! The coconut was so huge that I heard every one say.. "abe, iske andar ka pani khatham hi nahi hota hai!!" We were given a complementary lunch from Sea Shells on our way to to Lakshmanpur beach. We took a few snaps in the Sea Shells resort too.

At Seashells resort after lunch

This beach is famous for its white sand. The water here also was very clear that even if you are standing in a 3 feet deep water, you can see the corals beneath you very clearly.

At Lakshmanpur beach - The water is knee deep!

We spent some quality time there and by 3:30 reached back the jetty to catch the cruize back to Port Blair. By 4 we were again in the cruize. In the cruize we had a small song party. There was this guy (an employee of the cruize) who played with his guitar. Soon we all joined him and sang some songs. We never knew how time flew. This trip was much better than the boring one Makruzz was providing. By 6 we were back in Port Blair. Our check-in baggage, which until now was handled by MMT guys were returned back to us for identification. We collected our baggage and kept it at a single place from which MMT guys picked it to the resort for us. We reached back TSG Grand by 7:30. We were never late for the dinner.. in fact dinner started becoming late for us. We would wait in front of the buffet hall until it was 8. We had a nice dinner. Tomorrow was a day which was let free to us. There were a few things we could do - Go for Sea walking at North bay, Go to Baratang for seeing the tribals, or go for a city tour which will be arranged by MMT. We decided to opt none of them. We thought of sea waking as an extended version of snorkeling, and we had to pay 3500 for that. The trip to Baratang was a 100 km drive one side. Since Manju was just stable enough only for short trips we decided not to go for it too. Nachiketa and Puneth were planning to go for sea walking. A few others (including Dr Lakshman, Mrs Lakshmi, 5 star brothers) were planning to go to Baratang. Since we didn't want to go without Nachiketa's and Puneeth's family, as we were by now very close, we decided to roam around ourselves. We dozed off by 10.

Oct 17th: We didn't have any plans for the day. We were being pampered by the excellent service by MakeMyTrip guys.. no need to carry our check-in bags, no need to wait for any transportation, no need to stay in any queues.. Everywhere we were given a above than average priority. Karthik would call out.. "All MakeMyTrip waale is taraf aajaayiye", and he would find some way to make us through, without much waiting. So we decided to explore Andaman as if we had planned it ourselves. We planned to go to an island called North Bay. North Bay is the island that you have a picture of, on the back side of an Indian twenty rupee note. We discussed with the MakeMyTrip managers, and they told us there is nothing much to see there, its just a place where they do all water activities like Sea Walking, Glass Bottom boats and scuba diving. Another option we had is to rent out a bike from there and drive somewhere. The nearest place we could go was Wandoor beach which was about 40 kms from this place. So we decided to go to North Bay. We caught an auto from the resort to the jetty. The moment we reached the jetty, a guide came to us and asked us where all we wanted to go. We did not entertain him, but as any guide would do, he stayed and kept on asking questions. Finally we told him that we did not want to do any water activities, and just wanted to go to an island and roam around there. He listened to what we planned to do, and suggested North Bay (for water activities) and Viper island. Viper island did not have much to see except a place where some lady was hung to death. Dead ladies did not interest me much. :P. So, we decided to go to North Bay. It costed 520/- for a 30 minute normal boat ride! The guide gave his mobile number and told us that he can get us some water activities with a discounted price. He also introduced us to a scuba diver cum instructor. They explained a lot about scuba diving, until I said I am a professional diver. Hearing that he stopped the explanations, thanked us for our time and left us. We had Jon and Barbara also in the boat. The boat started at 9:30, and it was going so slow that it was 11 by the time we reached the island. In the boat, descriptions of scuba, glass bottom boat, sea walking, speed boat etc were made, and tickets for the same were also sold. We didn't buy any of them, as we had already tried most of them. After a lot of waiting, we were taken to the beach in a separate boat, as they were very careful about the corals on the beaches, and only small boats which did not destroy them were allowed there. It is their only way of income, and they have to preserve them. There was an entry ticket of 10/- per person to the island. The island had a small fenced area where you can roam around. The rest of the area was marked private property. The area where we could roam around was full of scuba divers, like street merchants. I asked about the charge for a scuba session, and one guy said 3500/-. I said I am a professional diver, and I just needed the gear (suit and the mask with cylinder). He reduced the price to 1500/- then. Manju wanted to sit quietly for some time, and so we decided not to inquire more. There were a few shops here and there which sold shells, corals, and T-Shirts. There was not enough good spots for people to just sit and relax. We need to get prior approval to go to the light house in the island which was outside the fenced area. We sat down at some stones kept there. After some time we got bored, and walked around. We bought a couple of T Shirts and a couple of "Valam Piri Shanks". These are special shells used for pooja. The shells costed us about 300 per piece.

North Bay

By 1:30, we started our journey back. The boat first went to Ross island, and then to Rajiv Gandhi Sports complex to drop us back in Port Blair. We were planning to go to the Annapurna Veg restaurant, which as far as I remembered was 5 minutes walk from there. Jon and Barbara were also with us, and we got an auto for them, and asked the driver to take them to a good hotel. The auto guy was not sure of it, and was asking me back.. "Ye acha hotel ab idhar kaha milega??". I told him some of the good hotels that I had seen on the way, and Jon asked him to take them to MG Road where he has seen the hotels. The auto guy was unaware of MG Road also!!! Then we talked to another guy who seemed to be sensible, and he named the auto guy some hotels there. The auto guy nodded, told 30 rupees for which Jon agreed and took them. Later we came to know from Jon and Barbara that the auto guy messed up the whole thing, and finally they ended up in a bakery. We had a wonderful lunch/curd rice from Annapoorna hotel. After that we visited a few shops and bought a few shells and coral bangles. From there we took a bus back to the resort. By 6 we were back in the resort. By 7:45, as we were waiting for the dinner, we saw Nachiketa and Puneeth coming in an auto with their families. They said that the sea walking was very exciting. By 8:30 we were done with the last dinner at the Andamans. Tomorrow, we plan to visit the cellular jail, The anthropological museum and the aquarium. There were a few people who had gone for the city tour today, and according to them, the cellular jail was a very hot place, and we should carry enough water, and if possible, umbrellas. The aquarium and the anthropological museum were not that interesting according to them. We, at any cost, did not want to miss the cellular jail.

Oct 18th: We assembled at the reception after checking out from our rooms and our breakfast by 8:30. We were given feedback forms by MakeMyTrip people. We never had any problems with the whole trip, and in fact was very happy with the way they had handled the whole trip. I didn't have to think twice on what rating I had to give the whole team. I believe that it was the same case with the whole group. We reached the cellular jail by 9:30. The tickets had already been bought for all of us, and a guide was arranged for us. The guide explained us about the "Swatantrya Jyot", which is an eternal flame that continues to glow 24x7 from 2012. The fuel is supplied by IOC free of cost. This is dedicated to all the sung and unsung heros who spent their life in torture under the cruel British jailors (esp jailor David Barry). The cellular jail itself was constructed with the prisoners as the workforce.

The cellular jail inside and outside.

The construction was completed in 3 years, spending close to 18 lakh rupees. The guide also showed us the gallows and the related places. The bodies of the people who were hung were taken to Ross island via a tunnel, and then dumped in the sea.

We also went through the wing where Veer Savarkar was kept for about 10 years. He was sentenced for a period of 50 years, and it is told that he replied the English that before he would complete his term, the English would have to leave our country. The amount of mental and physical torture he had suffered was immense, but he never gave up. During the visit, we met Stalin, son of Mr Karunanidhi. We had a quick chat, and he invited us to the unveiling ceremony of the DMK leader Anna Durai. But since we were busier than him, we had to reject the offer. Stalin did make quite a good impression on us. He was soft spoken and down to earth. We then visited a museum in the cellular jail, but couldnt spend much time there. It was 10:30 by the time we came out. We then went to the aquarinum, where a lot of fishes were shown. They had a very good collection of it. By 11:30 we started our journey back to the airport. People flying to Kolkata bid farewell (Nachiketa and family) to us, and proceeded to the anthropological museum. Puneeth and family, Jon and Barbara and ourselves checked in our lugguage, where the authorities asked us to remove the few shells and corals we had collected from some beaches. Our flight took off at 1, and we reached Chennai by 3. The janashadbi express for which seats were booked for us in Talkal by the great Manu Mekkad yesterday was at 5:30. We took a sub urban train to Park railway station and got into Janashadabdi at 4:40. We reached Bangalore by 10:30, from where we took a volvo bus to our place. We were thouroughly exhausted. Lucky that we had two days to rest! 

Thus ends a trip which we have been so keenly looking forward for. But the memories of the trip will definitely remain in our hearts for a very very long time.

In short, the trip was very good, very well planned and executed. The place is a must see place. The people at Andaman are very polite and tourist friendly. The govt has taken great interest in eliminating plastic and make the place very green. There were boards all around asking us to call a help line if we found plastic waste somewhere. Special thanks to What'sApp for keeping us connected to a lot of people in Bangalore, and updating them our whereabouts! The only miss we had was Anoop Mullappally and Anoop Krangad and their families, who initially were ready and excited to come along with us! I wish them the very best for a better trip to the Andamans very soon.