India Travel

Known in the British era as Port Cormvallis, DIGLIPUR. North Andaman’s largest settlement, is another disappointing market where you’re only likely to pause long enough to pick up a local bus further north to the coast. On the hill above the bus stand, the APWD Rest House offers the village’s only accommodation, but the chowkidar is less than welcoming and you’re better oft pressing on 9km to ARIAL BAY. where a smaller but much more congenial APWD Rest House (no phone; O) stands on a hillock overlooking the setdement’s small bazaar. Better still, continue another 9km to Kalipur, served by several daily buses, where ANIIDCO recendy opened what must rank among the region’s biggest white elephants. Occupying a perfect spot on a hilltop, with superb views inland and to sea, the Turtle Resort; a unieasibly large concrete hotel for such a remote location, has spacious, clean rooms with fans and a restaurant (residents only). Only five minutes’ walk from the hotel down the path by the sharp bend in the road there’s an excellent deserted beach, backed by lush forest and covered in photogenic driftwood. Swimming is best at high tide because the water recedes across rocky mudpools.

The staff at the hotel claim it’s possible to walk from here to Saddle Peak, at 737m the highest mountain in the Andamans, which rises dramatically to the south, swathed in lush jungle. Permission to make the three- to four-hour climb must be obtained from the Range Officer at Anal Bay, but don’t attempt the hike without a guide and plenty of drinking water. The majority of tourists who find their way up here, however, do so in order to explore the various islands dotted around the gulf north of Arial Bay, particularly Smith.

The best place to eat in this area is the Mohan Restaurant, at the far end of the bazaar in Anal Bay, which serves cold drinks and huge portions of fresh local seafood against a surreal backdrop of lurid cherubs and a poster of the racehorse Red Rum. From Arial Bay, the boat that has made its way up from the capital returns direct (Wed & Sat 4pm; 13—14hr) to Port Blair overnight.

Until the new road is finished, KALIGHAT. Where the river becomes un-navigable and the ferryboat from Mayabunder turns around, serves as the main entry point to North Andaman. A cluttered little bazaar unfolds from the top of the slipway, hemmed in by dense mangrove swamps, and when you arrive you should hope a bus is standing here to take you to Diglipur. If there isn’t, head for one of the village’s dismal little chai stalls and dig in for a wait, or turn right to see if there’s space in the three-roomed Government Rest House on the hill overlooking the end of the street. The chowkidar in this quaint wooden house is friendly, but refuses to cook for tourists so you’ll have to chance the chai stalls for a meal.

The one worthwhile place to visit in this area is Radhnagar, 10km out of town and served by hourly buses, where there’s a beautiful sandy beach backed by unspoilt forest where camping is feasible. Try to rent a cycle from one of the stalls in Kalighat though, as the beach is 2km outside Radhnagar bazaar, providing the nearest source of fresh water.

In principle, four buses per day run north from Kalighat to Diglipur (12.30pm, 1pm, 3pm & 5.30pm); they’re crammed full, but the trip only takes 45 minutes. Look out for logging elephants beside the road shortly after leaving Kalighat. Heading south, the boat leaves at Sam for Mayabunder. If you’re continuing on to Port Blair, buy a through bus ticket for Geetanjali Travels’ express video coach at PVL Sharma’s grocery store, in the bazaar; this service is timed to leave just after the boat arrives from Kalighat. If you take the second boat at 12.30pm, you can get no further than Mayabunder or Rangat the same day.

Shrouded in dense jungle, North Andaman is the least populated of the region’s large islands, crossed by a single road linking its scattered Bengali settlements. Timber extraction is proceeding apace here, despite a promise by the Island Development Authority to phase out logging by the year 2000, but the total absence of motorable roads into northern and western areas has ensured blanket protection for a vast stretch of convoluted coastline, running from Austin Strait in the southeast to the northern tip. Cape Price. Even if it were physically possible to reach this region, you wouldn’t be allowed to, but it’s reassuring to know at least one extensive wilderness survives in the Andamans. That said, the imminent completion of the ATR’s final section, which will connect the far north to Mayabunder, may herald the start of a new settlement influx, with the same disastrous consequences for the environment as have been seen elsewhere.

Mayabunder is the jumping-off place for Interview Island, a windswept nature sanctuary off the remote northwest coast of Middle Andaman. Only opened to tourists in 1997, it’s large and mainly flat, and completely uninhabited save for a handful of unfortunate forest wardens, coastguards and policemen, posted here to ward off poachers. As foreigners aren’t permitted to spend the night on the island, few tourists ever make it to Interview, but those that do are rarely disappointed. If you’ve come to the Andamans to watch wildlife, this should be top of your list.

The only way to reach Interview is to charter a private fishing dinghy from Mayabunder jetty. Arrange one the day before and leave at first light. Approaching the island, you’ll be struck by its wild appearance, particularly noticeable on the northwest where the monsoon storms have wrecked the shoreline forest. If you can, however, get your boatman to pull up onto the beach at the southern tip of the island, which has a perennial freshwater pool inside a low cave; legend has it that the well, a nesting site for white-bellied swifts, has no bottom. At the forest post, where you have to sign an entry ledger, ask the wardens about the movements of Interview’s feral elephants, descendants of trained elephants deserted here by a Calcutta-based logging company after its timber operation failed in the 1950s. When food (or potential mates) are scarce, the elephants take to the sea and swim to other islands (sometimes, it is said, all the way to Mayabunder).

Until the last strelch of the Andaman Trunk Road and a bridge across the narrow strait to North Andaman Island just west of Mayabunder are completed in 2002, the shortest crossing is the ferry ride to Kalighat (2 daily; 3hr). The first departure of the day leaves at 9.30am, on a boat that’s hopelessly small and cramped, so come prepared for hours of relentless sun (or torrential rain in the monsoons). That said, the journey is very memorable, especially towards its latter stages when the mangrove-lined sides of the creek close in as you approach Kalighat. The other boat leaves at 3pm when the early morning buses from Port Blair have arrived, making it possible to get all the way from the capital to North Andaman in a day, though it’s a back-breaking journey to attempt in one go.

Heading in the opposite direction, buses to Port Blair are regular but it is advisable to book ahead, with tickets for the daily government departure (at 6am) going on sale from 3pm the previous day at the bus stand, 2km from the jetty near the bazaar. Of the private services, the fastest and most comfortable is the one operated by Geetanjali Travels, which links up with the arrival of the first ferry from Kalighat, leaving the jetty at 7.30am (you can buy tickets on the bus). The trip takes nine to ten hours, depending on how long you have to wait at the two ferry crossings along the way. There are also four or five additional services to Rangat the first at 8.30am from the bus stand.

About two hours further north by road, perched on a long promontory right at the top of the island and surrounded by mangrove swamps, is MAYABUN-DER; springboard for the remote northern Andaman Islands. The village, which is home to a large minority of former Burmese Karen tribal people who were originally brought here as cheap logging labour by the British, is more spread out and more appealing than Rangat, but again there is little to hold your interest for long. At the brow of the hill, before it descends to the jetty, a small hexagonal wooden structure houses the Forest Museum/Interpretation Centre (Mon-Sat 8am-noon & l-4pm; free), which holds a motley collection of turtle shells, snakes in formaldehyde, dead coral, a crocodile skull and precious little information. Next door, the APWD Rest House is large and very comfortable, with a pleasant garden and gazebo overlooking the sea, and a dining room serving good set meals. The only other reasonable accommodation nearby is back in the centre of the bazaar at the S&S Lodge, which has clean but unattached rooms; the dilapidated and cockroach-infested Lakshminarayan Lodge should be avoided at all costs. Further afield at Karmateng beach, 14km southeast, there’s another ANIIDCO hotel, the Swift let Nest but nothing else. Two buses are supposed to go there daily, failing which there are taxis or auto-rickshaws.

For most travellers. Middle Andaman is a charmless rite of passage to be endured en route to or from the north. The sinuous Andaman Trunk Road, hemmed in by walls of towering forest, winds through miles of jungle, crossing the strait that separates the island from its neighbour, Baratang Island, by means of rusting flat-bottomed ferry. The island’s frontier feeling is heightened by the presence on ‘the buses of armed guards, and the knowledge that the impenetrable forests west of the ATR are the Jarawa Tribal Reserve. Of its two main settlements, the more northerly Mayabunder is slightly more appealing than characterless inland Rangat because of its pleasant setting by the sea, but neither town gives any reason to dally for long.

Just off the southeast coast of Middle Andaman, Long Island is dominated by an unsightly plywood mill, but don’t let this put you off. Served by only two boats per week from the capital (usually Wed & Sat), and two daily lumber launches from Rangat, it sees far fewer visitors than either Neill or Havelock, but boasts a couple of excellent beaches, at Marg Bay and Lalaji Bay, both of which are most easily reached by chartering a fisherman’s dinghy from the jetty. The latter beach is earmarked as the site of a new private tented accommodation enterprise, which should be running by late 2001. Otherwise, you could try your luck at the APWD Rest House, or camp. This is a good island to head for it you want to sidestep the hordes at Havelock. but don’t have time to tackle the long trip north.

Havelock is the largest island in Ritchie’s Archipelago, and the most intensively cultivated, settled like many in the region by Bengali refugees after Partition. Thanks to its regular ferry connection with the capital, it is also visited in greater numbers than anywhere else in the Andamans. In peak season, as many as three hundred tourists may be holed up here, and at such times Havelock’s much-photographed Radhnagar beach, often touted as the most beautiful in India, can feel overwhelmed. Party- lovers from Goa have also turned up over the past few winters, complete with rave gear and full-on sound systems, so the writing may well be on the wall for Havelock. On the plus side, the boat journey here from Neill, skirting a string of uninhabited islets with shadowy views of South Andaman co the west, is wonderful, and wildlife - both on land and in the sea - remains abundant despite intensive settlement and deforestation.

Havelock’s main jetty is on the north side of the Island, at the village known as Havelock #1.There are three small lodges as you turn right from the jetty, on the mangrove-lined outskirts of the village. Best of these is the friendly Maya Sea View, which has attached and non-attached rooms as well as a couple of open bamboo shacks. Further along is the similar seafront M.S. Guest House and the U.S. Lodge is a fallback. You’ll find basic restaurants at the lodges and snacks to be had at status in the village. Otherwise, rent a moped (Rsl50 per day) or cycle (Rs50 per day) for a few days and head straight inland to the bazaar, 2km to the south. Further accommodation listed below is available at beaches #2 to #5, really one long unbroken strand, which you get to by turning left at the main junction, or at Radhnagar (aka #7 beach), 12km southwest, reached by turning right. An intermittent bus service also covers these routes, but you could find yourself waiting all day for it and missing out on a room.

The first place to stay on the east coast is Eco Villa at beach #2, whose ten huts are not the best value but the cook is famous for concocting rare culinary delights. At beach #3 is the base of the excellent Andaman Scuba Club (for details). Next up is the Sunrise, with more huts set in a picturesque palm grove, followed by the rather overpriced cottages of ANIIDCO’s Dolphin Yatri Niwas at beach #5.This is also the only place on the island to change money in an emergency but the rates are dire. The last and best of the places along this stretch is the Coconut Grove, which has sturdy huts of varying sizes and the most sociable restaurant.

Heading past a string of thatched villages hemmed in by banana groves and paddy fields, the road towards Radhnagar drops through some spectacular woodland to a kilometre-long arc of perfect white sand, backed by stands of giant niowhar trees. The water is a sublime turquoise colour, and although the coral is sparse, marine life here is diverse and plentiful, especially among the rocks around the corner from the main beach (to get there on foot, backtrack along the road and follow the path through the woods and over the bluff). Radhnagar has two places to stay: ANIIDCO’s Tent Camp, rows of canvas tents of varying size and comfort and a toilet block, and the upmarket Jungle Resort,, run by a Swiss-Andaman family, who offer luxurious wood-and-thatch cottages and a few more basic huts in a clearing behind the beach. They also have a good restaurant and there is a string of basic food shacks lining the road down to the beach, of which Travellers is justifiably the most popular. As the nesting site for a colony of Olive Ridley turtles, Radhnagar is strictly protected by the Forest Department, whose wardens ensure tourists do not light fires or sleep on the beach.

Tiny, triangular-shaped Neill is the most southerly inhabited island of Ritchie’s Archipelago, three hours’ ferry ride northeast of Port Blair. The source of much of the capital’s fresh fruit and vegetables, its fertile centre, ringed by a curtain of stately tropical trees, comprises vivid patches of green paddy dotted with small farmsteads and banana plantations. The beaches are mediocre by the Andamans’ standards, but worth a day or two en route to or from Havelock. Boats leave Port Blair four or five times each week for Neill, continuing on to Havelock and Rangat.

Neill boasts three beaches, all of them within easy cycling distance of the small bazaar just up the lane from the hotel (you can rent cycles from one or other of the stallholders from Rs20-30 per day), The best place to swim is Neill Kendra, a gently curving bay of white sand, which straddles the jetty and is scattered with picturesque wooden fishing boats. A more secluded option, Lakshmangar, lies a little over 3km north: head right at the ANUDCO hotel (see below) and follow the toad for around twenty minutes until it dwindles into a surfaced track, then turn right. Wrapped around the headland, the beach is a broad spur of white shell sand with shallow water offering good snorkelling. Exposed to the open sea and thus prone to higher tides. Sitaput beach, 6km south at the tip of the island, is less appealing, but the ride across Neill’s central paddy land is pleasant.

The island now has three accommodation places. From the jetty, a two-minute walk brings you to the AN11DCO Hawabill Nest, a dozen or so clean, carpeted rooms with sitouts, ranged around a central courtyard and restaurant, best booked in advance from Port Blair. The two private options are both at Lakshmangar: the Pearl Park Hotel has some small huts and posher a/c bungalows, while the Tango offers much more basic bamboo huts. Apart from the restaurants at these three establishments and a few stalls around the jetty, the only other place to eat is the highly recommended Qyan, halfway along the road to Lakshmangar.