Glorious Andaman Islands
It is raining today in the Andaman islands, so I as I sit on the porch of my thatched bamboo hut I will say a little about my experiences here so far. I have been on the island of Havelock for 11 days and soon I will head off to Port Blair and, ultimately, Delhi. The first three days here were relaxing, but a little boring. It’s all in the people you meet. I was hanging out with expats from Chennai that came over for a few days to take a diving course. Nice people, but all they talked about was Chennai and I thought Chennai sucked. Since then I have found a good group of people, most of whom are staying on the island for 3 or 4 weeks. I am a little jealous. Not jealous enough to try to change my flights, but that is the kind of vacationing I have grown to really enjoy. The Irish in particular are always lots of fun. There were a couple birthdays and a festive atmosphere every night.
Havelock is a smallish island. There are only two or three roads on the island. Most of the ‘resorts’ are all along one road that runs parallel to the beach. The views are unbelievable. As I type I can look up and see the ocean 150 yards away. The water is clear and calm. The sand is very fine and white. Because the coast is so shallow and the sand so light the water has light aqua color. You can wade for 2 or 3 hundred yards before the water gets past your chest. If you want to see what I am seeing right now change your background picture to the beach shot that comes with windows. It is like that. So nice, so cheap, so under developed, so chill. There are no touts, tour guides, or trinket salesmen. Yesterday I went with a Canadian to a little shack by the side of the road to buy sea food. The guy didn’t even have electricity; just a giant cooler in a bamboo hut stuffed with crushed ice and loads of fresh bounty from the sea. We bought lobsters and a snapper. Each lobster was 1.75 pounds and the fish was another pound. We took it to a local restaurant and they cooked it up for us. The whole deal was less than 20 bucks. Unbelievable. I am having it again in my last night.
I am not sure if it is the season or what, but the island is full of coconut trees and they have been falling on a regular basis. They hit the tin roof of my hut with a crash. Several times I have been narrowly missed by falling nuts and even whole branches. I figure if I get taken out by a coconut it is at least more interesting than a car wreck in Texas. Most places have thin tin roofs and it is not uncommon to hear an alarmingly loud crash made by falling coconuts and mangos. What a life eh? Fresh coconuts and mangos with all the fresh fish you can eat all in your backyard. The locals are a friendly helpful bunch, but the concept of urgency is largely lost on them. It is not uncommon to wait 45 minutes for your food or even to have to order some things two or three times before they actually arrive. That is not such a big deal though, because there is not much else to do and you have all day to do it. My days are spent laying in a hammock staring at the glory around me or reading a book. At night I usually meet up with other travelers for dinner and beers until they restaurant kicks us out.
I have been on four dives since I arrived and I love it. It is an amazing feeling to float among schools of fish and colorful coral formations. I got inches away from things that I used to see only on the Discovery channel. This time I saw manta rays, sea snakes, octopus, scorpion fish, jacks, tuna, groupers as big as me, lobster, crabs, Nemo fish, and all kinds of other brilliant plant and animal life. The sensation of weightlessness and moving in two more dimensions is really cool. I can’t wait to do it again. I came here to relax and get ready for my imminent return. I did both. Even though I have been a seemingly endless weekend, it is often work to get around. India in particular can be frustrating. Eleven days of ultimate relaxation was just what I was looking for. I could easily have stayed there for a month though. Well, next stop….Dehli.
