Monday, March 9, 2009

Extending Paradise

The Andaman Islands. Wow. If you dont know where they are look it up on a map. These little islands, in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, belong to India but they are actually much closer to Myanmar and Thailand. We are staying on a small island called Havelock. This is my paradise on earth. We both love it so much that after only 4 days we had to come back to the main island to change our flights and extend our visas (we'd initally only booked for 1 week).

I dont think the words I know will do this place justice in describing it. The water is pristine. You can see clearly down almost 10 meters. We went snorkeling the other day and I've never seen so many colorful schools of fish and brilliant corals in my life. I had heard that there was world class diving here but not being a diver I didnt really understand how great that is. I'm taking my PADI course this week... 6 dives. I can't wait.

And it's not just the water and the beaches that are amazing. It's not touristy like Goa. There are many westerners of course, but it doesnt feel like Goa. I haven't once been called into someones shop to buy something nor have I been approached on the beach to 'just loooook'. I think these might be the only beaches left in India where you can actually sit alone and not see someone else or be harrassed to buy necklaces or have your body covered in henna tatoos.

Havelock is pretty small, there is no internet or ATM and its a 2.5-4 hour ferry ride away depending on what ferry you luck out with. The accomodation is basic, but stellar. Everyone is very friendly and the only real nusance is the Isreali crowd, if you know what I mean. We of course found some other Canadians on the island and have shared a few bottles of Rum while exchanging travel stories. One of them, Rick, is a founder of an orphanage in Cambodia and is going to set me up with a place to stay if I'm interested in working there for a while. This is what I love about traveling.

Yesterday was an Isreali holiday, and I'm not lying here, we were told by several different groups that the objective of the day was to 'drink until you can't remember'. Apparently it's in the bible or something. So I did what I was told. haha. Good thing Jess was there to turn the lights out and put me in my mosquito net otherwise I may have woken up attacked by hornets, I guess they like to come out around 3-4 am and are drawn to light.

But other than last night partying is pretty rare in that sense. It's a real laid back vibe and even as far as parties go, this was small and reminded me how few people are actually on the island.

One thing I've learned is that they will be opening an international airport here next year. The thought of this really breaks my heart. Right now you have to enter India and then make your way to the Andaman's so it keeps them relatively under developed. Once they start flying here from Bangkok or Singapore our cozy little beach huts will no doubt be leveled to make room for 5 star hotels. What is even more sad is that the locals are excited about this because they see it as an opportunity to make more money.

So I recommend to everyone, if you come to India you must come here. This is my favorite place, not for cuture of course, but for just relaxing and enjoying the unrreal and untouched beauty of the islands.

OK, one last thing I have to mention is about my short time in Chennai. After a 12 hour overnight bus from Kodaicannal we found a basic room and headed into the city. I wanted to get a haircut and I really needed a shave so I thought I might knock them both off at the Indian barber. We were in a local, non-tourist area of the city and when you're a white person walking into a barber shop there it's just assumed you want, and can afford, the works! So what I expected to take 20 minutes took 2 hours. I had my head massaged, my hair cut using only sissors, no electrical tools here, head massaged again, face massaged, washed, shaved with a straight razor, and washed again. There was also a short break for chai, of course. Then he proceeded to put a facial mask on me, washed my face again, applied a new mask, washed, massaged my head and face, then we breaked for chai again. Then I got the finishing touches around the edges with a straigh razor, had my head and back massaged and handed the guy 200 Rupees ($5). All in all a pretty fun experience. Maybe not so much for Jess, she wasnt planning on spending 2 hours in the barber shop drinking chai and watching cricket with the Indians :)

Happy Birthday Dad!

1 comment:

  1. Steve, it sounds like you and Jess are having an Amazing trip!!! I'm enjoying reading your blogs and checking out the photos, keep it up =)
    And I've now put the Andaman islands on my list of "places to go to".

    Hope all is well, miss you guys!
    Cass

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