Andamans: The Heavenly Islands

Old Jan 7th, 2014, 09:42 PM
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Andamans: The Heavenly Islands

India as a tourist destination has a lot to offer - from the Himalayas in the north, the jungles of central India, deserts of Rajasthan, beaches of Goa and a lot of monuments. One does forget that India also has the Andaman islands, which can compete with any global destination in terms of its beauty.

I had a chance to visit the islands on a family vacation in September of 2012. It was a short 4-5 day trip with Port Blair, the capital of the islands being our base location. We made day trips to Havelock islands (a 2 hour ferry) and also to the North Bay and Ross Islands (across the bay from Port Blair).

Havelock offers great beaches and great water sport opportunities. North Bay is a closer-to-Port Blair version of Havelock islands, where one can do all water sports (though it is recommended in Long Island or Havelock Island). Ross Island was the administrative capital when the British were ruling the islands.

Port Blair as a city also has things to offer to tourists in the form of beaches and the Cellular Jail (where a number of Indian freedom fighters were imprisoned by the British).

You can read the complete trip report at : http://wanderer-abhijit.blogspot.in/...y-islands.html
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Old Jan 8th, 2014, 03:26 AM
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thanks for posting your blog, wanderer. I have marked it to read later.

The Andamans had never occurred to me as a holiday destination - the only thing I know about them is that they crop up in a Sherlock Holmes story. I hadn't even realised that they were part of India - I apologise for my ignorance.

I'm looking forward to reading your blog.
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Old Jan 8th, 2014, 12:50 PM
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a great report, wanderer.

Your take on India's colonial past was interesting and challenging - we in the UK tend to forget the awful things we did and concentrate on the trains.

Though I'd love to visit India [my mother and grandmother were born there] I've never thought of visiting the Andamans - perhaps now I will.
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Old Jan 9th, 2014, 01:40 AM
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Thanks Ann,

Really glad you enjoyed the report. India really has a lot to offer to tourists.

With regards to the colonial rule, I guess it was the same everywhere - some good and some bad things. No hard feelings are present currently.

In case you require any help in planning your trip to India (places other than Andaman as well), would e happy to provide advice.
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Old Jan 9th, 2014, 10:24 AM
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Hi abhijit,

that's really kind. It's a pipe dream at the moment, perhaps brought a little closer by our trip last year to Sri Lanka, which we really loved. Some people call it "india light" - so perhaps we're ready to start thinking about the real thing!

we had a long [for us] trip to OZ and NZ in November and December last year [2013] so we won't be able to think about another such trip for another 18 months or so, but no harm in planning, i suppose.

I would like to go to Chennai [my Grandma was born there in about 1900] and interestingly i see that you can get a flight from there to the Andamans, so we could add them in, then perhaps a third place? I see that you went in September which seems to have worked out pretty well. What is the best time of year to go there? Where else in that part of the world would be a good destination to match with it? I'd love to see Jaipur, and that area, but I'd also like to go to one of the places where you can live on a houseboat!

please excuse my ignorance - my actual knowledge of India is sadly very vague, though I grew up hearing many stories about it. Where do you/your family live?
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Old Jan 11th, 2014, 05:13 AM
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I've heard so much nice things about the andamans and absolutely want to visit them soon! Very inspiring, Thanks!
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