The Andamans - a retrospective

namaste! (check out my hindi...i believe that means hello)

hello again to the ever swelling gonefoacurry readership. latest ratings suggest we have broken into double figures...which i think you'll agree is a real landmark.

We're now in Kerala in the tea growing heartland of Munnar. Rolling hills of tea everywhere which are absolutely beautiful. looking out over the valleys gives you an almost surreal visual blend of well manicured british hedgerows and something resembling the teletubbies landscape. Odd yet breathtaking. However at the moment Kerala seems less like the verdant sunny utopia you might imagine and more like a wet weekend in winchester...its absolutely bucketing it down and i smell a bit like a wet dog for some reason.

Anyway, Holly posted a picture of some elephants we saw on the beach in the Andaman Islands so i thought i'd write a bit about our time there. We've got some more pics we'll put up shortly.

We flew 2 hours east out of Chennai to get to the Andaman and Nicobar islands which comprise of about 200 islands. Most of which are off limits to tourists as well as Indians as there are still a great many indigenous tribes living on the islands, some of which have never come into contact with the outside world. Apparently one particular island has never been set foot on by anyone because every time a boat pulls up to the shore its met with a hail of arrows! There's something quite nice about that still happening in 2008 i think.

Our first port of call was Havelock Island which was amazing. We ended up staying in a place called Happy Resort which was essentially around 10 or so bamboo huts in a semi circle on the beach. We got stuck there for 9 days it was so nice... not to mention cheap (about a pound each a night.) Havelock is home to 'the best beach in asia'...whether thats true or not i don't know but i certainly dont think i will ever see a more perfect beach in my life. Rada Nagar beach (or beach #7 as its less romantically known) is a 2km stretch of powdery white sand, or should i say flour, backed by lush tropical jungle and huge ancient trees. Im talking BIG trees. We went there several times and there we're never more than 20 people on the whole beach. At one end the beach curls round creating a crystal clear lagoon which was our spot of choice. Elephants walk around, parrots fly about and its absolutely silent. No boats or jetskis out in front of you...no buildings behind you. simply genius.

We then hopped on a ferry across to Neil Island which made Havelock seem like New York City. 'Laid back' is not the phrase. They dont have any computers on Neil island not to mention the internet. What they did have was more beaches, bamboo huts and bikes which we rented and went exploring with. it was ace. apart from one day when i got stung by god knows what and my arm swelled up into something resembling a tennis ball.

We were out there for just over two week, then we got the plane back to Chennai and hopped onto a sleeper train to Kodai Kanal (imagine a cross between prison bunking and a hospital on wheels...very friendly inmates though). Kodai Kanal is a Hill station 2200 mtrs above sea level. On the coach up the mountains we saw monkeys, wild buffalo and inhaled the delightful aromas of euycalyptus, cardammon and an elderly Indian lady yakking up behind us for the last hour. Spent a couple of days there and did an amazing trek around the mountains (dad you would have loved it)

Anyway...thats a bit of a rushed summary but it gets us neatly back to Winchester.

Hope everyones well...what i wouldnt do for a glass of rioja and a nice bit of roast beef. speak soon. xxx