Bliss - Andaman & Nicobar Islands ❤️

Serenity and bliss at it's best!! Oh yes, that's Andaman Islands for you! I've always wanted to visit this place and last month, I finally made it to this wonderful archipelago of India ❤️

Mine was a short 4D/4N trip so I wanted to fit in as many places as I could. But let's face it, our destiny has it's own plan!

I was traveling with my best friend so it was all the more beautiful - this trip!

I'd sorted everything out from airport taxis to Hotels/Resort and taxi back home too! Yea well, that's how I'm! A little Monica-ish if you get it 😛

We wanted to try the lounge in Bangalore Airport so we took off to the airport on 22nd April around midnight. Our flight was at 4.20 in the morning so lounge did help! I'll review the lounge in another post.

Day 1 -

We landed in Port Blair at 6.50 am. It was a hot & humid Tuesday morning. As soon as we came out of the airport, we were conned! Yeah you read that right! Since we had only a few days there, we wanted to book ferries across Islands as soon as we land. So we asked the taxi-wala to take us to Aberdeen Jetty and the guy took ₹ 150/- from us and dropped us God knows where! So yes, that was our very first experience in the island. We couldn’t believe whatever happened and just laughed at our foolishness to let that happen to us even though we had OFFLINE MAPS downloaded in our dear phones 

The misery isn’t over yet! We were tired of lounging and so after this, we just wanted to get to our hotel, rest and then come back. We took an auto and reached our hotel only to find out that they haven’t recieved any booking from Oyo! Infact they hadn’t registered on Oyo  We got to know that since 5-6 months, Oyo forcibly sends people to this hotel and then the guests get frustrated and return! I couldn’t believe whatever was happening with us. There’s really poor network in the island so I couldn’t reach Oyo customer care. After lots of attempts, I finally connected with them and after more than an hour of speaking with the damn agent, he booked us a homestay!! Finally some place to rest!

Around 2pm we went out for lunch and then visited the Anthropological museum. It’s all about the tribal history, so you must go if you visit Port Blair. We then went to IPNT office to book our ferry to Baratang Island the next day. That’s where we could see the tribes (if lucky) on the way. We then visited the famous Kala Paani (Cellular Jail). Got us all patriotic. We then had dinner and called it a night!

Woke up early, freshened up and went to Phoenix Bay Jetty only to find out that the damn ferry has been cancelled 😂 We were so heartbroken. We decided to visit Ross/North Bay Islands as we couldn't do it the previous day owing to all the drama. But when we reached Aberdeen Jetty, we found out that Ross Islands is closed on Wednesdays! I knew this already and that's the reason I'd planned it on Tuesday 😏

I literally gave up and actually started half-hating (if that's a word) the island!! We didn't have breakfast again because of all this. I think we both gave up and sat there outside Aberdeen Jetty with no plan in mind. Everything we thought we could do was, well you know!!

After a while, we started walking towards a petty shop to buy water and as we were drinking it, a bus stopped right in front of us! It was going to Wandoor! Wandoor was on my list but owing to the time, I'd to drop it. We looked at each other and without uttering a word, hopped into the bus smiling. We didn't know what was in store for us. After a 1:30 hour journey, the bus halted so the driver and conductor can have breakfast. It was just 9am then. That was the very first time ever that I'd faced so much till 9am in the morning 😂

We had to wait for 20 mins until the guys take us to the Wandoor beach. There were people objecting to wait and so one of the guys gave up his breakfast and started the bus. I was still low on energy after all my plans flopped. But this was just for 5 more minutes. I'd no idea what I was going to see after 5 mins 😍 As I was sitting there watching the road pass by almost lost in thoughts, my friend sweared! I looked at her in shock only to see her mouth open wide 😂 I slowly turned my head to my left and it was the best moment of my life so far ❤️ Blue water!!!! Clear blue water!! I was dumbstruck at the beauty in front of me. It was all things beautiful, I swear to God!

I ran towards the beach happily. The driver adviced us not to get deep inside water as there is a risk of crocodiles coming by anytime there. We drank tender coconut there and enjoyed the beach/water and clicked a lot of pictures.

We then had breakfast, sat on the beach again and sinked in the view as much as we could. I saw different water animals on the shore as the waves come in. This is a totally non-human intruded place! Lovely ❤️

Around noon, we took a bus back to Port Blair. We had realised by now that a no itinerary day is worth enjoying too. We reached Port Blair, had lunch and took a bus to Chatham. The oldest saw mill there was closed but we weren't disappointed. We noticed a queue and went near by. People were buying ferry tickets to some place (I don't remember the name) The lady issuing tickets told us that's where Mount Harriet is - the mountain behind our ₹20/- notes. We hopped in paying just ₹ 10/- each and we reached the place. Had some fun there and returned back.

Post lunch at the "Lighthouse Restaurant", we attended the Light and Sound Show at the Cellular Jail and it got me very emotional. The pain our ancestors had to go through for Indian independence is beyond describable. Only prayers for them. We were too full of emotions that we skipped dinner! Ah well, we had eaten a lot for lunch too. We sat there in a food court near by and called our next hosting Resort guys if the booking via Goibibo is confirmed. We had learnt this the hard way! The booking was confirmed so we finally took a relaxing breath and went back to our homestay and called it a night. We had to visit Havelock Islands the next day in a private mini-cruise ❤️

We took an auto early morning and left to Haddo Jetty. Our cruise left at 6.30 so reached around 5.50 am. My friend went to enquire about the Cruise after checking in. She came back telling me the cruise had already left! I was furious at our fates now. This was too much!! I took my bags and as I took off in anger, my friend said she was kidding 🤐 Aaaah the agony! I punched her literally and then we sat there in calm hogging on the biscuits/chips were bought. The next 2 days went as planned 😃 Finally! We took the cruise and boy was the experience fantastic! I was drooling at the site all along. Dark blue water, scorching sun, fast moving cruise - oh so lovely!

We reached Swarajdeep Islands at around 9.30 am. Auto/taxi guys tried to loot us again as soon as we got out of the jetty. But this time, we were cautious. We rather took a bus which would drop us right outside our resort. The bus driver was pretty punctual I tell you! He said the bus would leave at 9.42 am and it did exactly at 9.42 am.

We checked in to our wonderful resort with little hammocks everywhere and lots of books to read - Outback Resort is the name. Being a Potter head, I quickly picked up "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" book. We ordered breakfast, hired a bike with the help of the manager, hogged, freshened up and went beach hopping! What else would you do in Swarajdeep apart from beach hopping and water activities? Let me know if there's something else 🤷 We went to Vijayanagar beach and Govind Nagar beach. Post lunch, we went to Radhanagar beach - 3rd best beach in Asia. Surreal experience I must say. We witnessed a beautiful sunset and it got too dark so soon. We had tender coconut, samosas, did a little shopping and got back to our resort. I then got into my Pajamas, took my book and went straight to the hammock. Pure bliss I tell you. My friend just lay around in another hammock.

Later we had dinner, spoke a lot with the manager and helper guy. I asked them about sunrise at Kala Patthar beach and they definitely recommended it. We shared stories with each other. Interacting with locals is my favourite thing to do! It was almost midnight and since we had an early exciting day, we called it a night.

We woke up around 4 am and got fresh, took the bike, started off to Kala Patthar beach for the sunrise. Wow! Just wow! An amazing sunrise I witnessed there. Such a soothing experience ❤️ We sat there doing nothing but watching the sun rise after clicking some pictures of course! Later around 5.45 am, we came back to our resort. I'd booked us a scuba diving experience 😍 so we had to get ready for the same. Scuba was at 7 am so we left after some time from the resort. A wonderful experience Scuba diving was. Oh so lovely!! You are at peace with yourselves when you are diving. I can't even begin to describe the experience. Good job almighty!

Post scuba, we had delicious breakfast served hot in our resort. We checked out and since we had a lot of time left before our cruise leaves to Port Blair, we decided to trek to Elephant beach. We hired a guide and after 40 mins of walking, we finally reached the beautiful beach. It was the most crowded beach in Andaman Islands. This beach is famous for water activities and thus the crowd. We did Jet-skiing and banana boat ride 😃 It was great. It got really hot in there so we left with our guide for the next 40 mins of trekking. "Swarajdeep is a crime free island" - the resort manager had said me the previous night during our chit chat session. He was true indeed. We had left our key in the bike with some cash and after 3 hours when we came back, the key was still in the bike. Thank goodness!

We then reached the resort again where we had left our luggage, bid them good bye, returned the bike, shopped for some lunch in a super market and left to the Havelock Jetty. I didn't want to leave Swarajdeep islands. I'd the best time there. I promised myself to come back again and left with a heavy heart.

We reached Port Blair after sunset, reached our hotel which was confirmed 😂 (thank God!) We freshened up and left for a walk around the town. I always like a calm walk around the bazaars wherever I go. We walked around Aberdeen Bazaar, saw the clock tower, had 2 plates of Gol Gappe, (we got 7 puris for ₹ 10/-, so cheap!) strolled around the streets some more and then went to have dinner at Lighthouse Restaurant again! The food there is delicious. Plus we had made a friend there, so we had to bid him goodbye.

Post dinner, we sat in a garden kinda setup outside Lighthouse Restaurant, sinking in the view in front of us. There was Nehru Sports Complex and it was well lit. Later, we took an auto back to our hotel, watched some TV, went through all the photos we clicked and slept.

Travel day -

Our flight was at 7.30 am so we got ready early, checked out and left to the "Veer Savarkar International Airport". We bid Port Blair good bye and in the airplane, we bought chips & cookies for ourselves, took a short nap and reached Bangalore in no time. How much I missed the pleasant weather here ❤️ It was too hot there! We parted ways and left to our homes in the pre-booked cabs.

My Andaman experience taught me something really important in life - "Nothing goes as planned", "Everything happens for good" and "Never give up because of some negative experiences". Major life lessons you know! What did you learn from this? Let me know 😃

And yes, I'll be writing about the "Thugs of Andaman" 😂 and how to prevent yourselves from them. Be sure to check that out. Thanks for reading! Cheers ❤️