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.

The English Countryside : Cotswold

Cotswold is an area to the north west of London, about 2 hours drive from there, right into the heart of the English countryside.

Such a beautiful area existed in England, I never knew (and was unable to visit even though I tried several times!!)! It is just so unreal, so unbeleivably beautiful.. I was completely mesmerised and bewitched when I reached there!!Went there for a one day weekend driving trip and ended up staying another day!!

The drive is beautiful, and in the summer such a rich green, its very soothing too!

Once you cross Oxford, you get into the Cotswold area and you feel you are in a different world altogether.. Small narrow lanes through small villages.. strewn with cottages and sheep and cow.. just what I always visualised the 'countryside' to be like which we read in countless english novels .. you just get that feeling when you reach this area...

Anyways we drove on randomly and landed up at a village called Broughton-on-the-River.. A small cosy village next to a small stream.

Our first view of the village was of a local group playing cricket. Wouldn't you want to play in such a setting too? Then we walked to the village centre. And this is how it looked!

Isn't it unreal, a placid small stream with stone houses in brown on both sides:). And of course the English pubs and food places. And lots of people just sitting next to the river, enjoying the sun and a drink and the complete peace and calm all about.

We were to come back to London the same day, but I just couldn't. I had to stay back, I think I had no choice:). Went in to a couple of hotels round the stream

but they were all 100% occupied by old people:). [Most such places in England are almost always full with retired people enjoying their old age]

Anyways I got a place to stay at the Rose Cottage with an old English couple, and so I got another day to explore this area. There are lot of walks you can do around this area, walk through the fields up and down through villages, to enjoy the fresh air and the countryside living.

Anyways next day, I did a short walk around as I lacked time for a longer one. From Bourton to Upper Slaughter to Lower Slaughter, a 3-4 hour walk through hills and fields and villages.

Lower and Upper Slaughter were again small queer little villages, with a famous Chapel at Upper Slaughter and a mill with freshly made icecream at Lower Slaughter. With the weather being beautiful, you just feel like clicking everywhere! Here are some shots I took, on the way. Not much I can express in words, can I?

Walking through that area, the calm and peace you experience is something you miss so much in today's life.. An ideal place for a weekend away from everything...And wouldnt you just once want to spend a long week being there, just doing nothing?Am surely going back there once more...There are some more villages to visit, maybe next time:)

Dolce Vita : Pisa, Florence and Cinque Terra

Among the countries in Europe, one of the most traveled and popular is Italy I think. And it has a lot to offer too. From the Alps to the islands to ancient history to fabulous beaches to Venice! It has it all! I myself have visited Italy at least 3-4 times, and still there are so many supposedly fabulous places there to visit.

My first trip to Italy was in Easter 2006, to Tuscany and close by areas (Pisa, Florence and Cinque Terra). We landed in Pisa, and were there for half a day. In Pisa, the only worthwhile place to visit is the Leaning Tower of Pisa, else don't much see the point of going there.

The Leaning Tower is located in an enclosed park-like area with green grass (which is very good for sleeping in the sun, especially if you are from a sun starved place like London!!), where there are three buildings : The Tower, the Duomo and the Baptistery. In fact, all three of them are tilted but possibly because of its height, the lean in the Tower is a lot more visible. The typical photograph taken by anyone who is visiting the Tower is with your hand superimposing the tower, as if its you who are pushing it down! Its a must for anyone visiting this wonder of the world.

There is a ticket to go up the Tower, a bit expensive, but if you are there, you may as well climb it! The climb is not too strenuous, and you will realize while climbing up that you start walking at a tilted angle, same as the angle of the tower! The climb does get a bit scary, specially when you are on the top and you realise that the building you are standing on is actually tilled and someday expected to fall down:)) In fact even when you get down, you will walk tilted for sometime. You get a good view of the Pisa town from the top of the Tower.

You can walk around a bit in the Pisa town, its like any other Italian town, light brown in colour, with old houses, and the mandatory river flowing through. The area around the Tower is also very touristy, lot of shops selling tourist ware. One thing you definitely should do while in Italy is to have the Gelato (ice cream). The flavours are varied, and its available (and needed) everywhere given the heat.

Our second stop was Florence. Inspite of everyone I know who has visited the city loving it, somehow I did not feel the same. The city is like any other Italian city/town. You can choose out of a couple of walking tours in the city. We took one, where they tell you the history of the city, the old families who used to rule Florence and the rest of Italy, where the 'hole in the wall' saying came from, about the Medici family and how they ruled the city etc etc. Florence is a city of Wealth and Art. Apparently it was ruled by a number of strong families, the most famous among them being the Medici family.

They owned the city and would do what they pleased too. You can even see a walkaway from their own house to other parts of the city which was built by them so that the Medici family members could travel around the city without having to walk in the open. This walkaway runs in the middle of houses and other buildings, and this could be done just because they were so powerful!

Florence was also where Michalenaglo worked for a part of his life. There are hazaar churches, piazzas and palazzos (palaces) you can see in the city, and most of them are actually quite impressive (you can see the huge list at the train station!). Someone who loves architecture would definitely fall in love with Florence, there is just so much to see and explore!!

The Duomo is the most impressive and famous building in the city, with its watch tower and the huge dome which was built after many years of trial and errors. Apparently everytime it was built, the dome used to fall down because of its huge size. After years of remaining an open roof church, the dome was finally completed using a new architectural technique devised by Michaelangelo.

Just next to the Duomo is the Florence city square with the townhall etc. Another couple of sculptures there, and a lot of history (most of which I have forgotten!)








Another thing to note in the city was the fresco paintings in churches all over the city, apparently a technique devised in Florence itself.










There are also a couple of museums in the city, with famous sculptures. The line to enter the museums is generally long, so you may want to take the walking tours which include the entry to the museums also. We saw one of the museums, the one with 'David'. Was a decent museum, with lot of sculptures etc.

One thing you can definitely do when in Italy, and that is shop! I walked around a bit in Florence while waiting in the line for the museum, and there was hazaar shops with amazingly designed clothes and sold very very cheap. Some of the most stylish clothes i bought in Europe, were actually from Florence:)

Our last halt on this trip was in Cinque Terra, where we actually got a feel of what the Italian word , 'Dolce Vita' (the good life) actually means! Cinque Terra refers to a national park in the north of Italy,within which were discovered 5 villages. The 5 villages are Montessoro, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. [Links from Wiki photos] All the 5 villages are located on cliffs, in a straight line along the ocean. These villages were discovered quite late, as they are isolated from the rest of the mainland by the mountains which surround them. They are not reachable by road, and are completely isolated from the world. The people in these villages just enjoy a laidback life away from the world, and you would learn that too, within two days of being there! Long lunches, looking at the beautiful view, walking around spending time in the villages, and the forest and the walks and the treks. A relaxing time is what you will get here!

The Cinque Terra villages can be reached only either by train which link the 5 villages or else by trekking. The trains are similar to the mountain trains we have in India, like in Ooty and Darjeeling, and run at their own pace. The tracks are next to the sea, passing through tunnels in the hills giving amazing views of the woods and the sea, a beautiful journey... The trek between the villages is quite a favorite too among tourists, to walk from one village to the other, eat some tasty food, and enjoy the local wine and then to move on to trek to the next village! The villages are all similar, but still different. You can timepass there too, in the small by-lanes. Shopping there would be expensive though.

The treks between the villages are beautiful, and not too long or taxing, with beautiful views on the way. Frequent stops at the villages and elsewhere gives the much needed break. You can also hire cycles to cycle in the national park (which we were not able to do). Some of the

villages have beaches too, but not too impressive.








Food is one of the easier things to come by in Italy, especially for vegetarians. The pastas and pizzas that you get in Italy, are somehow (and I cant understand why) much much tastier than what you get elsewhere. Not sure what they do to it, but I guess once you have the Italian food in Italy, you never like what you get elsewhere! For vegetarians, there is always the Penne Arrabiata and Penne Pomodoro to take you through the trip. Waiters will take good care of you too, asking frequently, 'tu to ben hai'? 'ma ben hai!' (meaning something like, hope everything is fine, yes everything is fine!) :) Could'nt help laughing everytime they ask!!

Trains in Italy are as they are in India, chaotic, and never on time. Specially in Cinque Terra, the train driver starts the train only once he sees that everyone who got off the train is back on:) Timings dont really matter there, as they say, dont hurry, 'Dolce Vita'!