Beach

Andaman & Nicobar – Port Blair

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There were some water sports facilities like scooter which I tried. There is a small rocky island a little inside the water which our driver told is frequented by sea snakes so it is also called as Snake island. From there we went to most prominent attraction of the island which is Cellular jail. The road from Corbyn’s to Cellular jail hugs the coast and gives magnificent views of the sea.

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North Goa beaches and more in monsoon on a shoe-string budget !

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From Mira Mar I went to the Town bus-stand, and then I left by bus to a place called Calangute, about 20 kms distant, supposedly Goa’s most beautiful beach. There a Goa Govt. Hotel had dorm beds for ₹ 280 (how sweet !), and aghast with Govt. efficiency, I first strayed north towards Baga beach, but soon retraced my way and set off southwards along the beach to Aguada (where the Taj Resort has, may be ? 5000 dorm beds!) It is a good 10 kms walk on the beach, and on the way I saw a grounded ship, palm thatched resting places of fisher folk, fisher folk cleaning their nylon nets, and in an isolated stretch was brow-beaten by lashing sea winds, when a sudden storm caught up with me, drenching me to the bone. I passed beaches with picturesque names like Candolim and Sinquerim, really fishing villages. By 5pm I was in Panjim Town Bus-stop, and after keeping my bag at the Udupi dorm, I set off again with my camera for Old Goa, where the old Goan Portuguese churches are. However I got to see them only from the outside that too in failing light, and to top it off I ran out of film! Beholding these old edifices before me, I felt for the first time, that it was probably only divine glory that propels men to build such lasting edifices. I decided to attend the Sunday Mass at two of the churches, the next day at 8 in the morning. Back, at the Udupi dorm, I supped on a “sea food” thhali, with pomfret pakoras and oyster curry! The oyster was much too spicy and rubbery like an old boot! Then I chatted with the dorm inmates for an hour and went to sleep with the bloodthirsty bugs!

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Kanyakumari to Kovalam sightseeing

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I was getting nostalgic and remembering my goa days. The hotel manager was very nice, I did speak to him to seek further guidance, he advised us to take car to the light house from other side and not to walk in the sun to take the stairs. He offered to stay for 1 night there. Indeed a good idea to spend one night in kovalam. However, we had our luggage in Kanyakumari so we cannot stay there. We had to move on.

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A beautiful short trip to Andaman…

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Around 07:00 in the evening we reached Port Blair and decided to spend some time on “Rajiv Gandhi Water Sports Complex”. For dinner we found another famous restaurant in Aberdeen Market named “Annapurna”. Annapurna is a pure veg restaurant with wide varieties of North Indian n South Indian dishes. The quality of the food was also very good and the prices were also reasonable. We were so impressed by the food that we decided to make this our permanent stop for Breakfast and Dinner.

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Goa calling… Again

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Finally the Gods rescued us and we found a (good) restaurant right on the beach, a perfect ambience and the sea-breeze in our hairs. We ordered quite a number of dishes- mainly chicken as I am unable to ingest the typical seafood like Mr. H or his friends or my friends.

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Picture perfect beaches on Jolly Buoy

The Emerald Islands of Andaman and Nicobar

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The view from underwater is breathtaking. Corals, oysters, sea weeds, colored fish  and the surrounding blue water is mesmerizing. Touching endangered species such as corals are  not allowed. The best part of the sea walk actually came when we fed pieces of bread to the  fish. As soon as you hold up the bread pieces, fish of different colors gather around you and it does get a bit ticklish but it is definitely a wonderful experience.  After 20 minutes of  “seawalking”, the divers  escorted us back up to the pontoon. When you climb up, one is likely to experience  the pressure factor again . At the end of it, the whole experience leaves you spellbound and the sparkling blue water always tantalizes you to go back underwater.

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The mysterious Naga Sadhus and humbling return journey

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Very soon the faint evening glow, which was prevalent in the sky, vanished. The vessel did not have any light in the upper deck area. All the lights we had, was only the cosmic glow in the sky. I could not see anything ahead. The person sitting next to me was a mere silhouette. Up above there were innumerable stars and glowing planets travelling with us and below there was infinite quantum of water through which we were moving.

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Trek to DudhSagar Falls: Trek along the Railway Track

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We hired a place to sleep at night near the beach only, 600 rs per day and then left to explore the night life of GOA. We left for the Anjuna beach where there is a secret pub called Curley’s. You can not reach there on car. You will have to park it around a km before the actual place. The ambiance at the place was just ecstatic, with a mixed Indian and foreigner crowd, the place was too good for the prices quoted. We had another pint of beer, checked about the dance party every night there. It was scheduled to start by 10 30, so we thought we won’t join it, as we wanted to start early morning next day towards Dudhsagar. Came back to the baga beach grabbed a bite and then went off to sleep.

Next morning we started towards Castle rock station, around 80 km from Panaji. To reach dudhsagar falls, one has to do trekking atleast for 2 km. There are 4 routes to reach the place, of which the Castle rock railway track trek is the longest 14 km and the best one too. We opted for the best. Reaching Castle rock by 9 30. We got ready for the trek, by giving away the extra luggage at a food shop on the station. Took idli from the shop, and started our trek. It was difficult to walk on the track and there was no parallel way to walk on. The enthralling views and the desire to reach the destination kept us moving.

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