Trip To Andaman (In Andaman & Nicobar Islands)

First Week of April of 2011, Witnessed My Trip To Andaman & Nicobar Islands (A&N).. On The Bay Of Bengal, Its A group of 394 Islands Divided Into Two Groups. Its Union Territory of India, With Capital of Port Blair..,

It Was 6 Days Trip [From 5th -10th April 2011] & Began From Bhopal With 4 Hours Direct Air Journey To Chennai And Next Day 2 Hours Flight To Port Blair From Chennai... The Aerial View of Islands When My Flight Started Approaching Port Blair, Was So Mesmerizing.. With Small Islands, Their Little Sandy Coasts , Sea And Small Ships Sailing Nearby.. Its What They Say, Is Breathtaking.. :)!

I Reached Port Blair, Small But Beautiful City.. The Hills & Bay View Make The Whole Place Lovely.. I Stayed There At Sinclair's Bay View Hotel Which Has An Amazing Sea View Location.

For Rest of The Day, It Was All About Visiting Local Places Like Anthropological Museum (Must Visit As It Gives General Idea About Andamanese & Nicobarese Tribes & Other Human Settlements Over Islands) And Cellular Jail Complex (With Its Museum).

Cellular Jail Has Its Own History, Built Up By Britishers To Give Severest Punishments To Indians (Esp Freedom Fighters) During Colonial Times.. Its A Huge Structure Which Had Seven Wings (Out of Them Three Survived Now After Natural Calamities & Japanese Attack In WW2).. This Cellular Jail Punishment (Including One On Viper Island) Were Known As "Kala Pani Ki Sazaa" Named After Black-Blue Water of Bay of Bengal! There I Attended Light & Sound Show Which Provides All Information.

Next Day On 7th April It Was Tour To Near by Places By Inter Islands Ferry,

First Ross Island. It Is A Small Island, Situated Very Near From Port Blair. It Was An Administrative Capital of Britishers During Pre-Independence Years.. There You Can See The Whole Erstwhile Glory of That Time With Ruins of Little British Colony Where They had Everything From Church, Bungalows, Club, Water Purification Plant, Park, To Cemetery.. It Was Worth-visiting Best Place For Anglophile Like Me Who Just Love Such British Legacy In India!!

After Ross Island, Rest of Two Places To Be Visited, Were Viper Island (Famous for Its Jail) And North Bay Island (A Place Near Port Blair To Watch Corals & Related Things).. I Did Snorkeling Here & Saw Kinds of Corals And Water Bodies.. A Marvelous Experience

On 8th April It Was Trip To Havelock Island Via Inter Island Cruise For Almost Two Days.. Havelock Island Is Lovely Small Island Situated 55Km On The North Side of Port Blair. It is Full of Natural Beauty Just Like Rest of A&N Islands, Famous For Its While Sand Beaches & Crystal Clear Water... I Stayed At Sea Shell Resort Which Was Itself A Nice Place With Lots of Coconut Trees, Cottage Type Rooms & Its Private Beach...

The Main Attraction of Havelock Is RadhaNagar Beach Which Is Declared Best Beach In Asia By TIME Magazine In 2004.. Its A Wonderful & Best Beach I've Ever Visited In India!!

Later In The Day I Explored The Bazaar Area of Havelock And It Was Surprising To See One Small But Decent Super-Market In That Far & Remote Island. Next Day I Visited Elepant Beach Where You Can Either Reach By Jungle Trekking Or Motor Boat By Sea.. Its A Small Beach But Famous For Its Corals Watching..

In Evening I Went Back To Port Blair And Next & Final Day of 10th April, My Trip Completed With Coming Back To Bhopal via Chennai!!

Some Other Point:

-Tourism Is Generally Permitted On Andaman Group of Islands As Entry Is Restricted In Nicobar Group of Islands. Even Indians Need Special Permit To Visit Latter.. In Andaman Itself, The Standard Travel Itinerary Is The Same I Described Here.. Entry To Tribal Area is Not Permitted Either

- As India Observes One Indian Standard Time Zone, So Its Fun For Indian Like Me Who Live In The Central Part of Country, To See Sun Rise At 5:15am Due To Andaman's Eastern Position From Mainland Indian Part, (It Was Just Opposite In Compare To On My RADAR!!: My Trip To Kutch (Kachchh/Kuchchh) Where Sun Rises At 7:15Am.)

- There Is No As Such Andamanese & Nicobarese Cuisines But Sea Food Is Available Everywhere.. Vegetarians Need Not To Worry As You Can Get Your Kind of Food There Too.

- These Islands Are Famous For Water Sports & Related Activities Like Scuba Diving etc Among Tourists

- Ship Facilities Are Available To Reach Port Blair From Mainland Cities Like Kolkata, Chennai But They Usually Take Two-Three Days To Reach As Port Blair Is Approx 1o00KM Far Via Sea From Mainland India.. So Its Best To Go There Through Flights.

-Its Best To Avoid Going There In Monsoon (Rains) Months Which Starts There Early In May.

-One Better Inquire About The Check Out Time Esp At Havelock Island Resorts Where Its Around 11Am Due To Inter-Island Cruise Arrival Timing.

Andaman Region Is GORGEOUSLY Beautiful.. Everyone Esp My Fellow Indians, Must Go There... Natural Sceneries, Fine Beaches, Colonial History, Scuba Driving (& Snorkeling), etc Can Inspire You To Be There And Feel How Incredible INDIA Is!

My Trip To Kutch (Kachchh/Kuchchh)

After A While, I'm Here Again To Write About My Visit To Kutch (Kachchh/Kuchchh) Region In The State of Gujarat In India.. Gujarat, The State I Like After My Home State of Madhya Pradesh, As My Mother's From Gujarat And I Take Pride In Being Kind of Half Gujarati..! This Time I've Planned To Visit Its Western Region of Kutch. I Reached Gujarat In The First Week of March (4th March) .. I Stayed At Ahmedabad (Prominent City of Gujarat & My Mom's Home City) For One Day And Then Next Day I Proceeded To Bhuj (District Head Quarter of Kutch) With My Father.

It Is 400Km Approx Far And Took Me Almost 7 Hours To Reach Bhuj By Road, Overall Roads Are In Excellent Condition. I Went Via Surendnagar & Rajkot Districts & While Entering Into The District Of Kutch, I Crossed One Little Portion of Gulf Of Kutch. Throughout Journey, I Was Watching The Development Aspect of This State, With Industries, Wide Roads And Various Business Set-Ups.

Next & First Day In Kutch, (on 6th Match) I Roamed Around In The Little But Beautiful Town of Bhuj, With Old Royal Legacy of Kutch Princly State Clearly Reflecting In Old Buildings And Palaces. Out of Them I Visited PragMahal of Kutch's Erstwhile Rulers.. Its In Italian Gothic Style.. Then In The Same Complex, There is A Section Called Aina Mahal, Which Is Full of Mirrors & All Glass Decorative Things.. (Below Is Prag Mahal Palace In Bhuj)

After Leaving Bhuj, I Proceeded To North Side of Kutch, To The Area of Great Rann Of Kutch, Its A Seasonal Marsh Land, And Full of Salt.. Actually Due To Creek Located In The West Side of it, Sea Water From Arabian Sea, Comes Into It And Due To Being Low Land Area, Water Goes Inside Upto Large Extent And Could Not Retreat Back.. And Then Sunlight Dries All left Water Gradually And What's Left Is Salty Salt... (Below Is Panorama View of Rann of Kutch)

I Went To Dhorado And Kalo Dungor, Dhorado Is A Small Village, Is Known As Gateway of Rann And From Here U Can Enter This Rann And Walk On It.. There Govt of Gujarat Promoted Tourism By Developing Resorts And Organizing Rann Festival.. Rann Festival Is Annual Celebration To Promote This Area And Every time They Organize In Different Parts of Rann Area So That It Gets Proper & Balanced Attention. Kalo Dungor Is a Small Hill Located Bit Far From Dhorado Area, Where One Can See Large View of Vast Rann From It.. (Below Is View of Rann Of Kutch From Kalo Dungor Hill)

Afternoon, I Return Back To Bhuj And Went To Sea Side At South of Kutch. I Reached To Mandvi, Place Famous For Its Calm Beaches.. Actually Here Its A Gulf Portion of Arabian Sea And Enclosed By Land From Three Side, Which Made Gulf Water Less Rough With Light Waves And You Won't Feel The Presence of Sea If You Stay Nearby! That Made It Famous Among Visitors Who Want To Enjoy Calm Sea... I Esp Visited In Mandvi, The Summer Palace (of Erstwhile Kutch Rulers) Known As Vijaya Vilas Palace (One Portion Is Converted Into Museum) And Royal Private Beach Near By Palace Which Has Sea Side Resort. I Relaxed There For While On Beach And Enjoy The Sea.... (Below Are Pics Of Mandvi Beach & Vijaya Vilas Palace)

Second & Last Day In Kutch (On 7th March) I Took Coastal Highway And Been To Various Places While Going Back To Ahmedabad, I Saw Mundra (Industrial Area And Port Town) And Gandhidham, Another Major City In Kutch... Meanwhile I Visited Anjar & Bachhau Too..

[Note: Kutch Area Witnessed A Major Earthquake of 7.7 Magnitude, In 2001, Which Destroyed Some of The Cities There... Its Impact Was Felt As Far As Ahmedabad. City of Bachhau In Kutch Was Completely Destroyed In Earthquake. But Developed Again Along With Other Affected Parts.. The Whole Earthquake Affected Kutch Progressed And There Is No Mark Of Destruction By Earthquake Remains Now]

The Unique Place I Visited Later, Was Village Named Adhoi Near Bachhau City. This Village Was Severely Effected In The EarthQuake.. But Here Govt Re-established Villagers Near By And Preserved The All Old Destroyed Buildings For Study Purpose Related To Impact of Earthquake For Specialists Who Research On It And Also For General Public Who Can Visit This Site.. For Me It Was Memorable Experience To See Such Place And Observe How Men Is Helpless In Front of Fury Of Nature. (Below Are The Pics From Same Village)

After All These Places, I Went Back To Ahmedbad via Taking Other Route of Going Through Other Gujarat's Cities Like Morbi, Wakaner, etc. In Evening I Reached To Ahmedbad.

I've Been To Gujarat Umpteen Times Due To My Family Connections But It Was Only Limited To Visiting Only Ahmedabad But Only This Time I Traveled So Extensively In Gujarat. It Was Very Memorable & Exciting... And Special Part Was Visitng Rann..

(Link of Gujarat Tourism Video - Kutch)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojVT6GH0FHs

[Some Little Thing About This Trip]

-While On 5th March, Before Going For Kutch, I Took Some Time Out And Went With My Cousin, To One Historical Place Located In Outskirts of Ahmedbad City. This Place Is Called Adalaj And Its Known For Its Queen's Step Well, (Rani Ni Vav) Created By Queen Ruda In Memory of Her Husband Vaghela Chieftain, In 1455 AD.. Its Famous For Its Architectural Beauty. (Below are two pics of Queen's Step Well)

- This Time I Enjoyed Kathiawad Food Cuisines ( The Southern-Western Portion of Gujarat Is Known As Kathiawad) And Their Food Is Slightly Different From Traditional Gujarati Food Style..

- In Gujarat, If You Go In Tea Stalls, They Give U Tea With One Cup And Two Plates As Here its Tradition of Sharing Tea Between Two or More Persons You Are With..

-Kachchhi Language (of Kutch Region) More Resembles With Sindhi Language And Its Not A Sub Language of Gujarati Language, As Mostly Consider So.

-People of Gujarat Have Great Business Skills And That's Why They Are Number One In All Finance, And Stock Marketing And Other Business Related Aspects..

- In Bhuj, As Rainfalls Are Less, So If City Lake Gets Filled In Monsoon, Local Administration Declares Public Holiday..