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Angkor and Alcatraz of the Andamans

Today I explored Port Blair’s sights … it was set up as a penal colony by the British to incarcerate political prisoners, ie. freedom fighters for the independence movement. Ross Island:  Angkor of the Andamans I took a boat across the harbour to Ross Island which was the headquarters for the British in the area.  […]

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Leaving paradise with the nicest high-brows

Leaving my island paradise Check-out was at 0930 today but my ferry from Havelock Island back to Port Blair isn’t till 1630.  Despite previous information, there was no earlier ferry.  I easily killed the day with a long breakfast, a long lunch and an Ayurvedic massage in between. I’m not a big fan of Ayurvedic […]

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Ticketing frustrations

Naughty Ticketing Tricks After a leisurely breakfast I teamed up with Merja from Finland who was my dive buddy yesterday.  We thought we’d go to Radha Nagar beach near Village No 7, which is supposedly the best beach around. I opted for a detour into town to buy my ferry ticket back to Port Blair one […]

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Havelock Island

Above:  It is possible to scuba dive with an elephant. In the Andaman they have one of the last swimming elephants.  You can snorkel or dive with the elephant … if you pay … it is about INR10,000 (NZD300) for one snorkel or dive.  That’s like 3x the going rate for two normal dives.  I couldn’t […]

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Diving Havelock Island

Above:  It is possible to scuba dive with an elephant. In the Andaman they have one of the last swimming elephants.  You can snorkel or dive with the elephant … if you pay … it is about INR10,000 (NZD300) for one snorkel or dive.  That’s like 3x the going rate for two normal dives.  I couldn’t […]

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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 […]

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Oh! The humanity!

Above: Dinner near my hotel and railway station. I said goodbye to Ammi, Salome and Jackson Pollock in the morning. I was bound for Chennai at 1235 flying Oman Air. With the time difference flying eastwards, it was surprisingly and pleasantly cool when I landed at Chennai at 1730. It was neither hot nor humid. […]

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Reflections before leaving Oman

Upon landing in Muscat at 2325 I made my own way to Ammi and Salome’s place. They had kindly done some of my laundry during my few days away. Unfortunately I must have left a piece of tissue in one of the pockets and it left bits through the load, but Salome tidied it all […]

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West on the Sarfait Road towards Yemen

Job’s Tomb I picked up a rental car from Avis at the airport last night … it was the first time I had driven a left-hand drive and on the right side of the road. John, April and I set off to Job’s tomb about half hour’s drive from Salalah.  Job is a prophet to […]

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Outing to the east

Chris, a friend of Vicky and Steve’s took us out for a big outing today.  John and April (Vicky’s uncle and aunt) and I were lucky enough to experience Chris’ knowledge of the area and bird life. We travelled east of Salalah in his 4WD to several springs (yes, in the desert) where birdlife was […]

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