The Pristine Andamans

Andaman Islands is a group of about 500 islands in the Indian Ocean, closer to Burma than to India. And for some reason they are part of the Indian Union, don't really know why:)! Anyways the islands are not on too many tourist itineraries, maybe because of their difficult accessibility or because these islands have not really

been developed for tourists. The islands, the beaches, the national parks, all are in some way as they would be without human interference. And that may be what appeals to some of the people who do end up going there, but definitely not to all. Its too raw, too uncouth, too wild for some tastes. I loved it though, it felt like a different realm altogether!

We had a long ten day vacation there, and so got a lot of time to actually explore a lot. There was still a lot more that we would have liked to see but could not get a chance to explore, more so because of the difficult accessibility to some of the farther islands.

Anyways to start with, to get to Andamans you need to take flights either from Chennai or Calcutta or ferries from these two ports. The ships take about 2-3 days to reach, so can be a bit too much. The capital city of the Andamans is Port Blair and you will be

surprised when you land there. Its quite a usual bustling little town, at least bigger than what I expected. Its as any other town you would see on the mainland, similar buildings, similar roads, similar cars and similar people! There are lot of Bengalis and Tamils settled in these islands, so you wont really see any 'locals' in the towns (which I was expecting). The locals are anyways few in number most of which are still tribals living in the jungles away from human contact.

We spent a couple of days in and around Port Blair, visiting the

sights nearby. The local marina is a nice lighted road next to the sea with nice parks to sit and enjoy. At night with the twinkling lights, this part of the town looks very pretty. (An advice to anyone going to Andamans would be to not stay in Port Blair for long, to go on to the other islands which have a lot more to do plus are less city-like.)

One place which all Indians would definitely visit is the Cellular

Jail, located in Port Blair itself, very near the Marina. Its a national memorial now, with a couple of exhibitions inside showing the freedom struggle.

The cells in the jail are hair-raising scary and the stories even more gruesome. They also have a sound and light show held at the jail in the evening, which though not great, does give an idea to how life in the jail used to be like in those years.

The other place to visit near Port Blair is Ross Island, an island

just across a small stretch of sea from Port Blair where the British had first set up their establishment. Its just a couple of minutes ride from the Marina, and has ruins of the old British buildings, with the expected church and the rest.

The beach at Ross island is also very pretty even though its very small. Also, the same ferry which takes you to Ross Island also goes to two other islands, Viper Island and North Bay where you can apparently do some snorkelling.

Another place which is not on most tourist itineraries but I loved was the Harriet National Park, which is about an hour or so away

from Port Blair. You can also take a ferry to go till there part of the way. Thats an advantage on most of the ferries in Andaman, you can take your cars also on the ferries and cross over. There is also a trekking trail which goes to a beach and a lighthouse from the park itself. We did just part of the trek though, but should be good fun I am sure!

Harriet National Park is located on the the highest mountain of

the South Andaman islands, and gives a beautiful view of the places around.

Its a national park, with a beautiful jungle drive leading up to it and nice view points when you reach there.

Also nearby is a place called 20-Rupee point, where you can take a look at the image thatis imprinted on the 20 Rupee Note. See for yourself:)

One of the days, we also went to the Mahatma Gandhi Marine Park, also called the Wandoor national park. It is a national park comprising of a couple of islands which have corals and other

marine life. The two famous islands in this park on which tourists are allowed are Jollybuoy and Redskin Islands. Only one of these islands are open at a time. Jollybuoy is apparently supposed to be out of this world. Sadly, it was closed when we went there. So we went to Red Skin island instead.

You can take a ferry from Mahatma Gandhi Marine Park itself,

which takes you through the mangrove islands and then drops you at Red Skin island. Its a nice beach, with clean and still water where you can snorkel. There are pretty fishes and even prettier coral all along the beach.

We also went and saw some of the corals and fishes around the Grub island which is just nearby.

The Wandoor national park also has its own beach,

same isolated beaches away from all population as is there for most of the Andaman beaches.

Another must visit is the Havelock Island located nearby which is actually a bigger tourist hub than Port Blair. Its the most popular island among tourists with popular and pretty beaches like Radhanagar, Elephant Island and Vijaynagar. (Another advise would be to stay at Havelock for a couple

of days rather than doing just a day trip there.) We stayed at Havelock for four days and quite a wise decision it was.

There are regular ferries from Port Blair which take you till

Havelock, called the Havercruz. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can also take the helicopter rides that are available for tourists. You will be there in 15 mins, plus get quite a beautiful over view of the islands. Its at Havelock that you can do scuba diving at a couple of good sites. I did scuba diving at South button island, the Wall and the Aquarium. The sea life is breathtaking, the visibility great and the variety of fishes unbeleivable!

Also around Havelock, there are tons of very nice resorts to stay,

right next to the beaches! Its the perfect place for people to relax, do a couple of water sports and generally have a good time. The beaches next to the resorts are mostly average though. Not too deep, with green blue water which during low tides recedes a lot.

Our next stop was to Baratang, which is an island on the middle

Andamans. The drive till Baratang is again very pretty, through fields and villages and hills and junglesi! Its during this drive that you notice that Andamans is a lot more developed and richer than most of the Indian mainland. Most of the villages have pucca houses, light, electricity, cars and excess employment. It was quite surprising actually, I always imagined Andamans to be very backward and underdeveloped.

Also another thing you notice while driving through the islands was that at a lot of places, there were inland water bodies. Its all the remnant from the tsunami times, when water came inland and was not able to get back to the sea. Now all the trees in these areas have withered and these places are no longer suitable for cultivation.

While going to Baratang, you will have to pass through the Jarawa Reserve, which is essentially a reserve where the Jarawa tribes still stay. The government tries to minimise the interaction between the tribes and the outside world, and so there are rules regarding the the passage of people through this area. The tourists are not supposed to stop their vehicles or give the Jarawas anything or take their photographs. Of course all these rules are flouted by all!!

Till a couple of years back, the Jarawas did not interact with the outside world and used to kill the passerbys with poisoned arrows. Now that has stopped though!! Tourists passing through the reserve have been giving the Jarawas food, clothes, money etc, and now they are no more hostile! In fact the Jarawas come and meet the tourists who pass by on the roads, asking them for food and 'paan'! As the guards in the area say now, they have been corrupted by humans, as they have been introduced to money!

Anyways we came across lots of Jarawas on the way, sitting next to the road, eating, collecting fruits, or just basking in the sun. They have negroid features and live very wild lives still. Was quite interesting to see people still live like this in our own country!!

In Baratang, we visited a limestone cave, to see the stalactities and

stalacmites as well as a mud volcano. The ferry till the caves goes through mangrove forests, like the photo here.

The highlight of the trip however was the visit to the Parrot Island. Its an island slightly away from the mainland, where you can only go by ferry. Its a very small island, not even 500 mts wide I guess, and full of the mangrove forest. Thousands of parrots stay on this island and everyday at sunrise they all fly off, and during sunset all of them come back to this island.

It is a sight to behold when at sunset, hundreds of these birds fly back from all directions, chirping loudly and creating a ruckus, all of them getting together and then landing at the island! Its a sight I cannot describe, but can just be experienced. Also, the island is fully trimmed, the leaves on the top are fully cut by the parrots who live there.

I also saw the best sunset ever while going to the island. Here are some photos of this ride.

The last of what we saw in Andamans was Chidiya Tapu, a beach where apparently hundreds of birds used to come before the tsunami. Now there is just a beach, and of course a beautiful sunset to see.

On the whole, Andaman offers a complete vacation with activity, fun, relaxation, beauty and history. And not too much of it man-made.

Fort of Chittorgarh

It was a short flying visit we had at the fort of Chittor, 'Chittorgarh' while on our way from Mumbai to Delhi. And what a magnificient fort it was, rightly called the greatest of all forts in Rajasthan as well as of India. Wish we had more time to explore it, but guess thats for another time...

Anyways the first look that you get of the fort if from the town

below.. And what a grand majestic view it is...Seated on top of a hill in the middle of the plains, its a sight of splendour. Its a huge fort, with an entire township settled inside, and the fort walls run all around the hill..

Chittorgarh is an epitome of the valour which the Rajputs are so famous for. The fort has been seiged and won over thrice, and each time the women of the fort committed jauhar, while the men went out to their deaths.

The road to the fort is winding and goes through multiple gates, or 'pol' as they were called. Apparently it was quite an impregnable fort, very difficult to conquer.

Once inside the fort, you can get a view of the town below, and the view extends till far away...

There are a couple of good places to visit inside the fort.

The Vijay stambh and the Kirti Stambh built to the valour of Rajputs. The Jain temples and the Meera temple (where Meera was supposed to have vanished and become one with Krishna)

and the Padmavati Mahal.

We just had a fleeting view of all these places, and read up on the fort later on. The fort has quite a long and interesting history. Wish I had more time to spend at the fort and hear of all these stories...Anyways till next time!

The lost cause of Calcutta..

Or Kolkata to be correct. But frankly, no one cares. Either about the name (thankfully!! unlike Mumbai!!) or about the city either (sadly!), or actually I think Calcuttans do care about the city.. Its the authorities which lack that feeling! A renowned city of old, and look at what it has become now? Surely no one cares about what its called since there are much more and bigger problems in the city to worry about.

Anyways, I had a short stay in Calcutta and am just writing about what i saw and felt about the city during this stay. Of what all the city could have had to offer, if.. Calcutta was a grand city built by the British long ago and in the typical British style. You can see the remnants of the grandeur still, wide roads, huge stone buildings, built to beauty, parks and open spaces left for leisure... Yes, that is how the British had built the Calcutta of old.

Of the places to visit in the city, the main attraction is the Victoria

Memorial of the same British times, a grand building celebrating the British empire. It sure is beautiful, with attractive gardens all around. In the evenings, lot of people gather around eating the roadside stuff and generally strolling in the gardens nearby.

In stark contrast is the Calcutta of today, a city of chaos (yes, its an exaggeration, but it is so ironic, given how the city was originally built !!). The traffic is terrible, there is a general lack of driving sense, cars are parked on roads blocking the traffic, people drive wherever they want to with no respect for rules, what else can you call it but chaos? The time it takes to reach from one place to another is always at least 1.5 hours, irrespective of the distance and the time of the day!! Crazy!!

The hand pulled rickshaws still abound in the city and that sight will hit you whenever you see them. How can something like this still exist? Well in Calcutta it can.

Another sight native to Calcutta (I have never seen it before, or

thought it possible) is of the traffic police holding people with a rope to prevent them from crossing the road! I was shocked to see but apparently this is usual!! If the police does not hold the crowd, they will continue to cross the road and the cars will not be able to pass!!! This was very funny actually:). The traffic police is present everywhere in the city though, they are essential to the working of the city. Wonder what would happen without them managing the traffic!!

The government for one does not really seem interested in the development of the city (or the state for that matter!). This is evident from the time you enter the city: at the airport itself. I would rate Calcutta airport as one of the worst in India. The toilets actually stink!! I did not know that this can happen at airports also! Its actually a shock, that this is what the state of Bengal is coming to. With Bengalis being one of the most educated people in India and since a long time, its a shame how little development happens in their own state!

Enough of the cribs now though:), time for some positives for the city! Shopping being the major one and puchke being the other one:). The puchke of Kolkata are sooo tasty, their huge size which is difficult to eat in one go, the yummy spicy water, its just heavenly!! A must-have for anyone in Calcutta even if for a short time!

Also the shopping for embroidered stuff in Calcutta is one of the best in the country. The designs, the quality of embroidery and the variety is something you may not get in other cities of the country. We did most of our shopping at Burra Bazaar which is the Chandni Chowk of Calcutta. Its tough to get there with the traffic, but once there you will be pleasantly surprised with the amount of stuff available in the market.

Shop after shop with tons of stuff, your mind will reel with what all is available there. Sarees, lehengas, suits, all kinds of work and countless designs. If you are fond of value-for-money shopping, this is the place for you.

Jewellery in Calcutta is also good, with countless designs available. And lastly, if ever in Calcutta, definitely visit Sree Leather, you can get whatever you want in leather, shoes, bags, purses, belts, jackets and so on, all at throwaway prices. For someone buying such stuff for much more in branded shops, the shop will make you go crazy. Its a must visit again.

P.S. I know a lot of people who love the city and am sure Calcutta has a lot to offer. This article is just based on my short stay in the city, and just on my experiences. I am sure its not the full picture, but its at least my picture of the city, just my view that there is so much more that the city can become, which right now it isn't. Hope I dont offend anyone:)

Dilli Darshan : Red Fort

Even though we passed the Red Fort multiple times when in Delhi, we never really went in because it was just there, we could visit it whenever we wanted, isn't it? Anyways finally when I got in a Dilli Darshan mode, we made a trip to the Chandni Chowk area and the Red Fort: places we had seen and heard of in movies countless times, but never really seen in reality.

The Delhi metro has made this a lot more comfortable and feasible though, thank god for that! You sit in the metro and there you are!! Right in the middle of the dilli of old, with narrow gallis, famous shops, crowds everywhere and a lot of history hidden at every turn..

We walked on to the Red Fort through long queues and through the covered market selling touristy stuff at throwaway prices; and on towards diwan-e-am and diwan-e-khas inside the fort. The Red Fort from the outside is a sight to behold: grand, majestic and royal; from the inside though, it barely retains its original grandeur. It still has beautiful structures, and artistic paintings but a lot of it has already been lost to years. The gardens are green, the buildings have beautiful paintings and the whole place has a spacy and airy feeling about it.. Very pretty.. As for the history, we didn't really bother for a guide, so not much time was spent on that. Just admiring the works done so long ago, a lot of which we've already managed to lose.

After that we did a short trip around chandni chowk. You can buy any kind of stuff, clothes, toys, accessories etc etc at unbeleivable prices there. You bargain hard but still feel cheated as the shopkeeper still sells u stuff at that price! We also ate at the famous jalebi wala there, was a let down though.

A must visit when here would be the Gurudwara. An oasis of calmness in the chaos outside. Its a nice big structure, revered by many. One thing you would definitely notice about the place would be the cleanliness there given its in the heart of the crowdiest part of the city!

Mumbai Weekend Getaways : 2

RAIGAD FORT : SHIVAJI'S BIRTHPLACE

In summer desperation of not being able to go out anywhere during the Great Indian Summer (and a very very long one this year!!), we did a short one day trip to Raigad, a fort near Mumbai.

Surprisingly though, the short relaxed trip turned out to be a packed one. It was HOT and sunny the whole day, but surprisingly we enjoyed:). And as with any weekend trip outside Bombay: it was short and sweet and cheap too!

The usual start, leaving early to get out of Mumbai fast, eating at dhabas on the way, driving through the Marathi countryside, yellow and dry at that time of the year..

Our first stop was river-rafting in Kolar. It was tough to find the place where river rafting happens in season as we were there in the wrong season anyways. So we just somehow landed up at the lake where the rafting ends. It was peaceful, calm and an oasis of coolness in the hot summer.

We found a deserted pump house next to the lake where we could just rest for sometime.. and then into the water!! Took a short nap also on a tree bark, it was soo quiet and cool. you could even hear people talking 100 mtrs away! Imagine anything close to that in Mumbai:))))

After that we landed up at the Raigad fort and were pleasantly surprised to see that there was a ropeway going up to the fort!!

Why are such places not marketed by the tourism department? Imagine we were living just 3 hours away from the place, and we had not even heard about it all! The ropeway up was scary though, with views of the ghats below.

The fort was interesting too with a lot of history. Spread out in a huge area, good architecture, and though mostly in ruins, there were still some structures still standing strong!

Raigad is also the birthplace of Shivaji and there is a monument within the fort erected in his honour.

On the whole, the fort was a good place to spend sometime looking at the views around. (And wonder, how did they manage to build such places ages ago!! ) There is also an MTDC resort at the top of the hill near the fort, a must-stay I would say. Anyways we spent some time at the fort, roaming around the ruins and then were back to the city life, quick enough:)

KHANDALA

Khandala and Lonavala, however much people may crib about these

places being ordinary, sometimes they end up being the only choices for escaping Mumbai. And frankly, quite beautiful escapes too (at least during the rains)! The drive on the expressway being a pleasure, driving through the clouds at high speeds, rain all around, the hills lush green all the way, what more would you want (or need) when looking for a break?

We had another a recent weekend out at the Duke's retreat

at Khandala. The resort is nice, at least the rooms. They have a beautiful view of the cliffs of Khandala and the table-top. The cottages are not that great though!

Duke's offers one of the best views of Khandala and that

is reason itself for staying at this resort! The pool, the events during the day to keep kids busy, the puppet show, the games at night, the beautiful views from the cafe and restaurant.. surely a great place for relaxation.

Rest of course, is the same at Khandala as Lonavla.

A trip to Bushy dam, stop at the lakes, eat butta and enjoy the greenery around. Totally relaxing and heavenly!

HAJI MALANG

Haji Malang is a short trek near Mumbai that you can go to [when the weather is good, that is:)]. Its located quite close to Mumbai, nearer to Kalyan and takes about 2-3 hours to reach. The road till there is quite bad in patches though.

Midway during the trek is the Haji Malang majaar. The way till there has stone steps. So its good as well as bad. Good since its easier to walk and you can't lose your way! Bad because there are lots of crowds on this trek as the majaar is well revered. Also, there are lot of vendors selling all kinds of things all the way, so that does get tiresome and irritating.

After the majaar though, the trek is good and the view from the top beautiful. There is also one part of the trek where you cross across the stones on ropes. We did not do that part of the trek, but apparently thats quite fun and dangerous too!

BHANDARDARA

Bhandardara is a huge huge lake located near Igatpuri, off about 40 kms or so from the Mumbai Nasik highway. Somehow it is not a well know tourist spot near Mumbai, but it surely is one of the most beautiful and serene places around: perfect for a weekend getaway from Mumbai.

The drive from Mumbai till Bhandardara is beautiful. First on the

Mumbai Nasik highway, beautiful three-laned roads, through hills and ghats and green fields and forests. Even though we started on a hot afternoon from Mumbai, the weather just got so much cooler on the highway. It was a very pretty drive, with green hills on both sides, , chilly cool air and of course the awesome highway.

Once you get off the highway, there is a 40 km drive across the countryside, single laned road through villages and hills, forests and plains. Its just so relaxing to drive here, it feels so fresh and pristine!!

Once at the lake, you can stay at either the MTDC resort or

Anandvan. The location for both the resorts is pretty, just next to the lake with a beautiful view. MTDC resort is reasonable but poorly maintained. Anandvan is much more expensive though.

But this place definitely needs two days to be able to enjoy yourself. Enjoy a morning walk next to the lake, trek on the Kalsubhai peak nearby (the highest peak in Maharashtra) and generally enjoy time out for youself!

The perfect place to spend a nice weekend out of Mumbai.

CHOKI DHANI

An advantage of going on treks north of Mumbai towards Kalyan is that you can get to have dinner at Choki Dhani!!

This is a Rajasthani theme based eating place where you can spend a

nice evening out. It opens from 7pm itself, and has enough of things to do to spend a couple of hours with friends here. You can see the Rajasthani dances, puppet dances, get mehendi done, sit on the camel, take photos in Rajasthani costumes, play the local games etc etc (the usual toursity experience of Rajasthani life!!) and of course have a nice tasty Rajasthani meal, all for Rs. 500!

Again a must go for Bombayites...!

Caves of yore : Ajanta & Ellora

Aurangabad is located in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, about an overnight train journey away from Mumbai. Its the central location used for visiting the Ajanta and Ellora caves, as well as it has some places of interest in Aurangabad itself. Ellora is about 30 kms away from Aurangabad, and takes about an hour or so to reach from Aurangabad while Ajanta is 120 kms away, taking about 2-3 hours to reach there.

The three major differences (according to me) between the two sets of caves is that the Ajanta caves are famous for their paintings, while Ellora for their sculptures The second would be that Ajanta was built about 2200 years ago from second century BC till fourth century AD, while Ellora is relatively new and built about 1600 years ago from the fifth to the eighth century AD. Lastly, Ellora caves were never lost to human civilisation, hence they are still relatively in good condition. However Ajanta had been completely lost and forgotten for centuries till in 1819, it was re-discovered by a British officer. Years of neglect and erosion have led to the Ajanta paintings being in a dilapidated condition now.

Our first day in Aurangabad, we did a day trip to the Ellora caves, as well as visited the sights of Aurangabad. Ellora is a set of 34 caves of which the main ones are mostly shown by the guides and the rest you can visit if you want. The first set of 12 caves are Buddhist caves, then 17 Hinduism based caves and then 5 Jain caves. All of them have beautiful sculptures made by scuptors, artists and Buddhist monks who stayed at this site for years to work on them. The cave constructions were sponsored by the kings, and the artists continued to work for as long as the funds came in, and when the funds dried up, the artists left, leaving some of the caves incomplete.

All the caves have been dug out of the stone, and some of the structures are difficult to imagine. One of the main temples is No. 16 which is a Shiv temple, called Kailasa temple. Look here, to the depth upto which the stone was cut to make the temple. This is the photo from a Jain cave. The sculptures in these caves are slightly different based on the religion they portray, in subtle ways but on the whole they are all dug out of stone, and involve various intricate works.

The sculptures are beautiful, intricate and would have taken years to carve. Its just amazing to walk around these beautiful caves. Some of the sculptures are geometric designs while a lot are of the gods and goddesses depicting mythological stories. Some of the caves are viharas, where monks could stay, which some are temples or monasteries to pray. All of the caves are so much cooler than the weather outside too! Its quite a relief during summers, you just dont feel like getting out of the caves!! Its just so beautiful to walk through the years of work, is difficult to put it into words actually, its just something to experience, how years ago something of this beauty could have been built. Ellora unlike Ajanta caves have never been "lost", so on the whole they are in a relatively good condition too (thankfully).

The same day, we also visited Aurangzeb's tomb as well as his wife's tomb, which is also called the mini Taj Mahal. It looks like its been built with the Taj Mahal as its inspiration, isn't it?

We also had a stop at the Daulatabad fort, but did not get time to spend time to explore it. Apparently its one of the best forts in India, with multiple levels of security at each level. Take a look there if you can.

The next day, we went to visit Ajanta caves, and it was a completely different and out of this world experience. The first view which greets you when you climb the mountain out of which these caves are carved is breathtaking. 30 caves cut out on one face of the mountain and which were lost on to civilization for ages.. As you walk through these caves, you will see the ornately decorated gates and the interiors painted in beautiful colours. Imagine, this was done like 2000 years ago! and imagine what it was when it was in perfect condition, the walls and ceilings in bright colours!!!! I could spend hours just admiring that work!

The Ajanta caves are 30 in number and are all Buddhist caves.

They again have some caves designed as viharas (as in the photo) and some as monasteries and prayer halls to pray. Also, a lot of the caves are incomplete as when the funds died down, the artisans stopped working on them and moved onto other locations. Also, the caves at Ajanta have both paintings, as well as some sculptures also.

Over the years when these caves were "lost:, the overgrowth from

the forests destroyed the caves, plus water came in during rains and destroyed all the paintings. There is restoration work going on massively, however a lot has been already lost. What is left is amazing too though, just beautiful.

The colours, the paintings, the expressions on the faces, the whole stories told in one canvas, the jatakas tales, there is so much to apprecate and absorb..

Interesting facts which I still remember are that there is one cave with dragon paintings in it. Does this mean we had contact with the Chinese even then? Also, there is this painting in one of the caves, where if you shine the torch, the necklace lights up as if it is sparkling. This below is one of the most famous photo from Ajanta.

Here are some more photos from Ajanta. Just put together some good ones...

The guides at both the caves however are not good.

They hurry you through, not really giving time to you to enjoy and appreciate the art there. That is one thing which really was not too positive. Flash cameras are not allowed inside the caves so as not to harm the paintings. However given how rule-following we Indians are, people continue to use it all the time!! Otherwise, the caves were just mind-blowing. Hopefully they would be preserved well for the coming generations.

A good place to stay in Aurangabad would be the Lemontree hotel. Its quite a reasonable place, with high standards and is relatively new too. The food is nothing much to write home about though! But the service at the hotel is top-class, highly flexible and helpful. Definitely would recommend it.