Flying into uncharted territory

Above:  Flying into the Andaman Islands.

Uncharted Territory

I’m flying off into uncharted territory today … uncharted by me, anyway.  Port Blair, the capital of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands is 2 hours from Chennai.  It’s also accessible from Kolkata … but really, it is closer to Banda Aceh (Indonesia) and Phuket (Thailand)!

For some reason, I woke at 0330 despite the time change travelling eastwards.  My body should have wanted to sleep in.  With time on my side I took a relaxing train ride to the airport for INR6 instead of INR350 by taxi (through traffic).

I was worried that the slight late running of my Kingfisher Airlines flight, scheduled at 1005, could jeopardise my ferry connection to Havelock Island.  Even though I landed fifteen minutes late at 1230 (in the same time zone), and the ferry departure was 1400, I had one hour to spare.  This was due to good planning … I was seated at the front of the aircraft and got through the immigration quickly.  The islands have separate immigration controls from the rest of India and foreigners get a permit FOC upon arrival.

Do I look Indian to you?

The ferry ride took 2.5 hours and upon reaching Havelock, foreigners had their permits checked.  I was asked “Are you Indian?” by an officer, as Indians are exempt from the checks.    One forgets that India is diverse and I could easily pass as an Indian of Tibetan or Burmese descent … amongst many of the minorities.

Since then I’ve been spoken to in Hindi … then followed by “Are you not Indian?”

Where are the native English speakers?

What surprises me is the absence of native English speakers (eg. UK, US, Canada, Australia, NZ) in so much of my travels. Germans and French seem to be more adventurous and are to be seen in many of my travels, including here.  Increasingly I’m meeting more Eastern Europeans.

There were also many Israelis on board the ferry.  I learnt that they kinda travel in large groups but not quite … while they don’t travel together strictly all the time, many coordinate through web forums to meet up in certain towns and stay at certain places.  A bit like a flash-mobbing holiday, perhaps.

I rarely meet Israelis on my travels and they seem to love India.  I noticed them in Rajasthan few years back, and now here.  I suppose, India is probably the nearest country to their east (excluding immediate neighbours) that they can visit.

Coco Chanel and Coco Channel

The water north of the Andaman Islands is called Coco Channel!  And on Havelock Island, they have villages named after perfumes … Village No 5, Village No 7 etc … like the perfume, Chanel No 5 etc!  Yeah, right!

Once my ferry arrived at Havelock, I boarded an auto-rickshaw for my hut at the Emerald Gecko near Village No 5.  Here are some photos of my lovely home for a few days.